I've just tried Botox for the first time at 39 and here's what I think you should know

Something a little bit different today. I usually dedicate this space to one beauty product I think you absolutely must try. But I won't be saying that here because I don't believe anyone has to try Botox.

Whoops, spoiler! Well, there it is. I recently had Botox, aka botulinum toxin, aka anti-wrinkle injections, for the first time aged 39, after a good year's worth of consideration.

Regardless of where you stand on the injectables debate, there's no denying that, nowadays, the beauty conversation is as much about needles as it is pots of cream and perfume. So, the time feels right for us to have a frank chat about my experience.

My honest take on trying Botox for the first time

I touched on this before, but to caveat, it's not my position that everyone should try Botox in the way they should use the best face moisturiser. It's a personal choice and, as with any tweakment, there are potential risks and side effects.

But I also think it's important, as a beauty editor, to be honest about the limitations of a skincare routine, and about what injectables can do that creams can't. Which, in the simplest possible terms, is to make wrinkles go away.

I chose to have toxin injections because I'm very expressive (my lack of poker face is a real source of hilarity amongst my friends) and have developed a long static line in between my eyebrows, plus two increasingly-deep dynamic lines - ones that appear with movement - horizontally along my forehead.

Allow me to demonstrate via some silly pictures of my resting face, then pulling grumpy and surprised expressions, pre-injections:

Botox, as you may know, works by blocking communication to the muscles that you use to form these expressions. You can't make the expression that causes the line, thus your skin looks smoother.

I booked in at Montrose London, and this, I can't stress enough, is the most important piece of the puzzle. Who administers your Botox defines your results more than any other factor. Always go to a medically trained expert with knowledge of facial anatomy. In my case, this was Montrose founder, Dr. Jonathan Dunne, MBChB, BSc, MSc, and FRCS (Plast) Consultant Surgeon and Lead Skin Cancer Specialist at Imperial College London. It doesn't really get more expert than that.

Less importantly, but certainly a bonus for putting me at ease, is that this clinic is super sophisticated, jaw-droppingly beautiful, and very discreetly tucked away in a mews (if that's important to you)

The only surprise of my appointment was the seamless ease of it all. I went in, filled my medical questionnaire, and had a chat with Dr Jonathan, who explained that Botox "is more of an art than a science." He advised starting with a light touch, then checking back in a few weeks to see if a top-up was needed. A perfect, untimidating approach for a first timer. I was cleaned, asked to pull various faces, injected maybe five times, and back on the streets of Chelsea in about 20 minutes.

Shall we rattle through some FAQs? You're wondering if it hurt. I'd say no more than any routine injection - not much, but I have a good pain threshold. If you're wondering how I felt afterwards: A little heavy in my forehead, but fairly normal. If you're wondering how I looked afterwards, I'd say entirely normal, no bumps or bruising whatsoever. I confidently worked in a coffee shop for the morning, then headed home to my none-the-wiser-until-I-told-him boyfriend.

The injections started kicking in three days later, when I realised I no longer had a full range of motion around my brows. A week or so later, the results were in, and let's just say, nobody could accuse me of lacking poker face now.

I was far from frozen, as Dr Jonathan expertly left me with some expression (see: importance of a great practitioner), but I won't deny that things were somewhat more static up top. I also can't deny absolutely loving the smoothness of my upper face.

This deftly-administered balance of crease-reduction and movement is spot-on for me. I can tell that I've had a little something done, but nobody else can - until I proudly tell them, which I've been doing constantly because there's no shame in my game.

As for the not-so-great stuff, I continued feeling some heaviness on my brow and was mildly headachey on and off for a week. I had been forewarned this might happen, and a paracetamol more than did the job when an ache popped up.

These types of injections usually last from three to six months. I'm about two months in and definitely have some wiggle back in my brow - but thanks to the skin-creasing hiatus, my static line is yet to return.

In the spirit of honesty, I'll admit I am worried about the Botox wearing off. My lines bothered me a bit before; now I'm used to a smooth forehead they'll bother me a lot more when they come back. This is a less-discussed side effect of injectable work: costly maintenance, and how the alternative of returning to your normal skin can feel a bit scary.

It's certainly worth consideration, along with all the other aspects of this treatment. I'll put my cards on the table and say I like Botox and intend to have more, but you really must go into these things with your eyes wide open. Sounds good? Great. Let's chat next Sunday.