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Can you get a facial after Botox?

Sorry, no! 

Right after Botox is not the best time for a facial. Botox actually has a surprising number of rules to ensure you get the best results possible.

This post will go over the rules for Botox treatment, including basic aftercare and how long to wait before any additional skincare procedures (like a facial). You’ll learn how to ensure you get the maximum results you can possibly get from your Botox.

You’ll also learn the way that people are combining a facial and Botox to get an effective, relaxing skin treatment: “Glowtox”.

Maximizing the benefits of your Botox

So, I wrote a whole post about Botox aftercare and I would totally recommend that you go read it: Can I Eat After Botox? Toxin Aftercare to Maximize Results

(And it goes without saying that we’re talking about any type of botulinum toxin: Dysport, Daxxify, Xeomin, etc etc etc.)

But basically: getting a facial right after Botox breaks a couple basic rules of Botox aftercare:

• lying down, when you aren’t supposed to be lying down for the first four hours post-treatment
• massaging/manipulating your skin when you shouldn’t be doing that in the treated areas 

Depending on the facial you’re getting, you might also be breaking these aftercare rules:

• if it’s a longer facial, you may be stimulating blood flow to the area, potentially decreasing your results
• if you’re using steam or starting in a steam room, you are increasing blood pressure, just like vigorous exercise would
• if there’s any dermabrasion, exofoliant, or active ingredient, those are too aggressive facial treatments considering you just had injections in your face!

Honestly, most reputable places won’t let you do a facial right after Botox because they know that it’s going to interfere with your Botox treatment. But I’m writing this anyway just in case you scheduled the appointment separately, or you had your regular monthly facial the same day. 

It should go without saying, but just in case it doesn’t — chemical peels, laser treatments, hydrafacial treatments or diamond glow facials are all way too invasive for right after Botox!  

So, can I get a facial after Botox? No, girl, sorry.

Why can’t I get a facial right after Botox?

Two reasons: 

1. Your skin needs time to recover! 

2. It could mess up your Botox results

A little more detail on that: 

First: your skin needs time to recover. Even though we don’t exactly think of Botox as a “skin treatment” since it acts on the facial muscles not the skin itself, it still has a recovery process. Any type of skin treatment that exfoliates, or where the skin is manipulated, can lead to greater trauma at the injection site where the needle went in. So, for example, if you got Botox for your crow’s feet, you have 3-4 tiny holes on each side of your face in the injected area. 

However gentle your facialist is, as she’s moving her hands over your face and adding products, she’s moving these little holes around, potentially tearing them open wider or getting irritating substances in the holes. Massaging of the area is not going to help you get the full effect of either beauty treatment! 

And then: it could mess up your Botox results by preventing the Botox from settling into the right places. In order to get your desired results, your Botox needs to be able to settle into the targeted muscles properly. You aren’t even really supposed to lean forward for the first few hours after recent Botox injections. After all, you paid the money, and you want optimal results. You don’t want the Botox to diffuse out of the treatment area and into another. And you don’t want the effects of Botox diluted because it all left the muscle!

“Glowtox” – a facial and Botox in one appointment

Butttttt it’s amazing to get Botox and a facial in the same appointment. Just get the facial first, okay? Then, you’re all relaxed and chilled out, and you’ll barely even notice those little pinpricks. 

You can get a facial and Botox together as long as you get the facial first. Facial, then Botox procedure. Never the other way around. 

​Skip aggressive ingredients like exfoliants or scrubs that would bring blood circulation to the face are better avoided. And you’ll want to book the facial appointment early enough that you can stay awake for at least four hours after the Botox treatment. But other than that, it’s fairly easy to combine a facial and Botox in a single appointment. 

If you do Hydrafacial treatments or Diamond Glow facials, it’s best to make sure you’re clear with the person doing the treatment that you’re getting Botox after so they use a light touch with the dermabrasion. Personally, I wouldn’t pay extra for one of those treatments if I wasn’t getting the max exfoliation though. I’d book something cheaper and then save the Diamond Glow for my next facial. 

This combination of a facial and Botox used to be called “glowtox”. But then a million medspas named themselves Glowtox and now the Google search results for it are a mess. So just check the site for your regular skincare specialist or injector and see who offers both services. 

What’s the difference between a facial + Botox and a Botox facial?!

Okay, so now you know you can get a facial along with Botox in one appointment, for the best possible results. Looking and feeling relaxed. 

But I know some people here reading are like, “Listen, girl, I know I can get a facial with Botox because the place by my house advertises a Botox facial.”

But the “Botox facial”, if you’ve seen that advertised, is something different. It’s also sometimes called “microtox” or “babytox”. Honestly the way the medspa industry names things is exhausting . They all refer to the same thing — microneedling, with Botox applied over top of the microneedled holes, usually mixed with hyaluronic acid. 

I have not had a Botox facial yet but I am obsessed with getting one. It’s not Botox in the way we’re accustomed to thinking about it, where it is getting into your facial muscles to reduce forehead wrinkles and the appearance of fine lines. 

Rather, they’re microneedling your whole face, and then spreading a diluted Botox solution over the treated areas. So, there’s no standard injections (unless you count microneedling, which I guess is like injections in some ways! 

A Botox facial works primarily on skin texture rather than fine lines — it actually treats your pores mostly! So the “freeze” of Botox happens to your pores, and as a result you get beautiful skin with the “glass skin” effect, and a younger-looking face overall!

If you want the benefits of Botox for the appearance of  wrinkles, you can still get that with regular Botox injections in addition to the Botox facial. But the Botox facial is a very cool and interesting solution for skin texture. I know microneedling is polarizing and some people can not do it no matter how good it is for your skin! (I love it so much FWIW, and I do mine at home so it’s very inexpensive.)

But if you’re open to microneedling in general, this is a cool concept. It might not be a super relaxing facial, but your skin is going to look great. 

Final thoughts

Botox and facials are both great for you, and each cosmetic procedure has something to offer. 

You absolutely can do a facial and then Botox. You absolutely should not do Botox and then a facial, and if your injector offers to do a facial after, get a new injector. 

But the good news is…after a facial, you’re barely going to feel a thing.