Whether it’s detailed skincare routines, gut health or cosmetic procedures, TikTok is obsessed with anti-aging.
Cosmetic surgeries and injections from rhinoplasties (nose jobs) to “Barbie Botox” also reign supreme on the platform, with many people claiming the procedures help them look younger and feel better about themselves.
Now, a new trend has taken shape on the platform when it comes to Botox. Dubbed #BabyBotox, the trend involves getting smaller amounts of Botox injected into the skin as young as your early 20s as a preventive anti-aging approach.
With millions of views on TikTok, the hashtag #BabyBotox unveils people claiming that starting young with smaller doses of injections can prevent wrinkling and lines, smooth skin texture and boost confidence.
“No, it’s not Botox for actual babies,” Emily Long, a plastic surgery resident who is also a TikTok influencer, explains in one video. “It’s essentially preventative Botox. So instead of using a full dose, it’s a much smaller dose — maybe a third of a normal dose — so the patient can still move their face, they’re not totally frozen, but it’s essentially designed to prevent them from getting resting lines over time.”
Another TikTok plastic surgery influencer, @Pa_Nicola, referred to the trend as “microdosing” Botox.
“You’re going to put less units per area than you would if you were doing traditional Botox,” she explains in the video. “While this may allow you to have a little more animation [in your face], you also have to understand that with this type of treatment, your duration will be significantly less.”
TikToker @samcity_ posted a video showing her before and after Baby Botox results, noting she hoped it would reduce lines in her forehead.
“I knew if I continued my life [making this facial expression], I would develop lines there,” she says in the video. “So I got preventative Botox, and here are the results… Now, when I lift my eyebrows — you see that? — It’s like, kind of frozen, but I can still move my eyebrows.”
TikToker @hayleejoe posted a video in January discussing her experience with Baby Botox, noting she started getting injections at age 21 after noticing wrinkles in her forehead in her late teens.
“I get [Botox], like, every four months — and I love it,” she says. “Also, starting Botox so young has definitely trained my forehead to not express as much… so I don’t really have any crow’s feet or lines on my face.”
Baby Botox on the rise
Baby Botox reflects a much larger trend: The rise of cosmetic surgeries as a whole. According to the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (AAFPRS), plastic surgeons reported a 58% increase in bookings and treatments in 2022.
Three-quarters of plastic surgeons surveyed also said they saw an increase in the number of patients under the age of 30.
Experts have cited numerous factors contributing to this uptick, from selfie obsessions on social media, unrealistic beauty filters on TikTok and a post-pandemic return to in-person activities.
Either way, it has opened up a conversation about body image, anti-aging and mental health.
While many people on TikTok support getting Baby Botox as young as 18, others have pushed back against it.
“I think it’s so messed up that [Baby Botox] is a thing now,” TikToker Matilda says in one video that went viral.
“We’ve always prioritized youth as a society… but in the last few years it’s [gotten worse],” she explains. “Women in their 40s are expected to try and always look 20 to 29 — which is impossible and unattainable. You get such a narrow window in your life as a woman to enjoy the age you are, and be valued at the age you are. We get this really brief window, and we have to spend the whole time with a 20-step skincare routine, and getting Botox, and using retinols, and all these things that used to be reserved for older women… When do we get to just rest? The answer is never anymore.”
Still, it doesn’t appear that Baby Botox — or other similar anti-aging trends — will be going away anytime soon.
Nearly 80% of plastic surgeons expect an increase in prevention and early maintenance cosmetic procedures among people in their 20s and 30s, according to that same AAFPRS survey.
