Middle-aged men are going under the needle to get a ‘poker-face’, says Danielle Gusmaroli
The quest for eternal youth, men are finally catching up with women. The modern male has now discovered a weapon that females have had in their armoury for more than a decade: the Botox injection.
Since its launch in Britain almost 14 years ago, Botox has become the fastest-growing treatment in the cosmetics industry.
Marketed as a quick anti-ageing fix, it is used by 100,000 Britons a year. And according to statistics published last week by Transform, Britain’s leading cosmetic surgery group, a fifth of all patients are now men. In the past 12 months, there’s been a 50 per cent increase in male patients signing up for the treatment.
The Harley Medical Group, which has 11 clinics nationwide, says 45 per cent of its clients requesting such non-surgical treatment are male, mostly from “metrosexual” centres such as London, Manchester and Brighton.
Botox for men is such big business that it’s even got a nickname: Boytox. The growing acceptance among men has been fuelled by celebrities.
“Botox is no more unusual than toothpaste,” says X-Factor judge Simon Cowell, 48. “It works. You do it once a year. Who cares?”
Certainly not Cliff Richard, 67, Donny Osmond, 49, or Peter Andre, 35, who have all admitted to some muscle-freezing jabs. Male executives are not taking to lunchtime injections in greater numbers just to smooth away the signs of ageing. The treatment – which contains botulinum toxin-A, a bacterial nerve poison that causes a serious form of food poisoning known as botulism – reduces elasticity in the forehead. This makes men look more inscrutable, which enhances their authority in the boardroom. Apparently, the same “freezing” effect that gives some women a startled appearance leaves men with a poker-faced assertiveness.

telegraph.co.uk