11: Botox - Is it For Vanity or Wellbeing?

[00:00:00] Roula lost her glasses. Here she is. Have you been recording that one? I just started it. The glasses? Can you see now, old lady? Yeah. Oh, really? Oh my god, hold on. Catch your breath. We need to keep recording because the best thing comes out when we're not recording. We're naturally hilarious.

[00:00:31] Welcome to the Rosie and Roula Show. Marhaba. G'day. I think it's my turn to ask a question. What do you reckon? Yeah, go ahead. Right. This is to do with aging, I think. This is the lens I want to... No, just wait. This is the lens I want you to look through it, okay, in terms of aging. The topic is Botox. Okay, you get my attention. Good.

[00:01:00] Because the other week, you called me, right? You're driving and you said, oh, I decided to go get Botox. And I went, whoa, that's a big decision. You're like, no, it's not the first time. I went, oh, right. And you think I want to talk about this on the podcast? Oh, sorry. No, I'm kidding. I think this is important because I haven't had anybody in my life

[00:01:29] who has had Botox. And I'm often surrounded by people who go, oh, what do you... Why do people get Botox? What are you doing that for? Like, so vague. Okay. And I don't know if this is a cultural difference or what, but tell me your thoughts on Botox because I want to learn your point of view so that I understand from somebody who actually gets it what the reasoning behind it is and how you feel about it.

[00:01:59] It's a moment of silence because I have nothing to know this question is coming. Do I have to go deep or do I have to keep it shallow? Well, you can do whatever. Do we feel like a shallow, lighthearted episode? A bit of both? You know what? There are things that, in general, everyone should be free to do whatever they want. Agreed. Yeah.

[00:02:25] And the fact that I do Botox in my forehead, it doesn't mean that I'm afraid of aging or I want to change anything in my face. Okay. So there is a difference in wanting to become a different person and have a different look

[00:02:46] and wanting just that one fresh feeling that for me is in my forehead because I have a headache and this is how it started. I have a migraine and people said Botox helps. Okay. So I listened and I did Botox in my forehead because I had pain in my forehead.

[00:03:15] And now I think I need to do Botox in my neck because I have pain in my neck. This is how my Botox journey started. That is fascinating. It is my migraine. I need to Google whether this is bullshit or not. It is bullshit because I still have migraine. Damn it. But I did not stop doing Botox. Yeah. Okay. Why? Okay. I do Botox once a year. Okay. Okay. Just in my forehead. Yeah.

[00:03:42] Because it makes my forehead relax so much that I'm not anymore having this heavy frown. Right. And it looks good. Yeah. So, yeah, it's for the look and for the purpose. It just looks good, looks fresh. I don't know.

[00:04:09] I don't think I would do Botox anywhere else because I like my aging face. I like my wrinkles, under my eyes, around my mouth. I like them. It's just in my forehead, I feel I need it because it relaxes my eyebrows. It relaxes the way I look. And this is where I was very conscient about. So, at the end of the day, I was tired from frowning.

[00:04:39] And these things I started realizing after I did Botox and I wanted to know, okay, so what difference is it making? Does it have a value? Because I still have a headache. And then I realized, yes, this not tired feeling in my upper side of the face is quite nice. So, it's a feeling as well. So, it's a feeling as well as the visual, is it? It's just very relaxed.

[00:05:09] That is fascinating. I don't have a heavy one. So, you see me frowning? Yeah, see it now. Yeah, I don't have a heavy one. Some people have Botox where nothing moves. Yeah, I'm not a fan of that. Yeah. I'm watching this series, well, there were two series on Netflix, I think, with Nicole Kidman. And one of them I stopped watching because I couldn't feel her. There are no expressions on her face.

[00:05:38] And I don't know if this is only Botox or other things. There are no expressions on her face. Yeah. And I would never want to be like this. So, I stopped watching the series because it did not make me feel anything. Yeah. So, yeah, I don't know. Did I answer your question? Yeah. I got a follow-up question. I did throw Nicole Kidman under the bus, but... Sucked in Nicole Kidman. I mean, it's easy to separate ourselves from celebrities. Maybe we should be kinder.

[00:06:07] But I get it. It's hard to connect with somebody who's not making facial expressions, especially when they've chosen to do something they don't have to do that causes that. But my question, how would you feel if your daughter's got Botox? You know, Botox doesn't change their face.

[00:06:37] They're still the same. As long as they do it with moderation. And I've seen my daughters do things that I would say, you're too young for it. Mm-hmm. The first time I did Botox, I was, I don't know, 45 or something. Mm-hmm. I was quite older.

[00:07:03] But yeah, one of my daughters have a tattoo, piercings. What's the difference? I have a big tattoo on my shoulder. Yeah. She doesn't hurt anyone. She's doing something for herself. Mm-hmm. As long as for her and for me, this message is not only for my kids. It's also for me. As long as what I'm doing is making me happy and not I'm doing it because I'm insecure. Yeah. Okay.

[00:07:31] Or I want others to see me in a different way. Mm-hmm. And unfortunately for the young generation, it's challenging because everything they see on Instagram is so perfect. Yeah. They don't know how imperfect this is and how sick. Mm-hmm. They see these things that are perfect and they think also they want to look like it. There's also wanting to be accepted if you have specific looks. Mm-hmm.

[00:08:01] Just like wearing a specific brand. Yeah. I cannot tell them do or don't. I can guide them and hope that they're doing it for themselves. Right. So it's more about the reasoning of why they're getting it. Yes. Yeah. And I think they should try. Why not? Why not? If what they try can be reversed and has no harm. Right, right. It's okay to try. Yeah. I think I was raised being scared of it and I don't know where that came from. I'm raised to be scared of everything. Wow. Yeah. So.

[00:08:31] That didn't last, did it? No. The first thing I did when I moved to the Netherlands is shave my head and have a tattoo. So. You shaved your head. I love it. Oh my God. Wow. I love that so much. You know, there's a lot of people who kind of, not necessarily friends, but people in my life, like acquaintances or parents or friends and they make comments like, you know, all

[00:09:00] the wrinkles and they want them to go away and they hate aging. And it actually pisses me off a bit because I lost both my parents young. Dad was 53. Mum was, had just turned 60. And I'm just like, you are so lucky to be aging. However, I recently lost a lot of weight and this is, I'm getting to a point here. So 40 kilos, a lot of weight.

[00:09:26] But I had ballooned and I came down and you know, when you lose weight, your face changes and it looked different. And I was looking at my neck going, oh my God, like there's a little, like I can pull skin out. I guess you call that loose skin. It doesn't look loose when I'm not pulling it. But I was like, oh, it looks a bit wrinkly. And look at my face. Like I got less muscle tone here. And I went, what the fuck, Rosie? You've never given a damn about this stuff. But I guess, you know, it's our body, isn't it?

[00:09:56] And sometimes it can be confronting to see it change. But I think similar to you, I kind of, I embrace it. This is me. And I'm quite wrinkly for somebody in their 30s. Like my webcam right now is quite fuzzy. You wouldn't be able to tell. But my forehead and my, what do they call it? Crow's feet around your eyes. And I've got a wrinkle here. Like, I think I'm just a wrinkly person. And hey, that's okay.

[00:10:24] As I get older, I'm like, hmm, I look older than other people my age. Is that a problem? Like when I was 18, it's like, hey, I look older than 18. This is awesome. But now I'm like, how do I feel about that? I don't know. It's normal. I think you're between 30 and 45. We don't want to get older. Right. Because we still have the energy. We want to live our life.

[00:10:49] And it's scary to get older because we think we will be able to do less. We're less attractive. Life has less excitement. Because I had that between my 30 and 45. I didn't want to get older. And now that I'm, well, in January I'll be 51. I'm embracing it so much. But I love being older because there is so many good things about it. Yes, my body is changing. And it's okay.

[00:11:19] The importance for me is to not neglect myself. So whether people don't do buttocks, it's fine. It's fine. As long as you just do the things that give you energy and make you look happy. And I don't know if I'm being judgmental here. Probably I am. I don't like to look at people that did not take care of themselves.

[00:11:48] That just, because why? What effort does it cost to look after yourself? And if people are not happy because they're aging, it's a mindset. Yeah, it is. It is. Yeah. So I don't think because I'm aging, for example, I should not have sex as much as I used to. Or I should not go out and enjoy my life. Go dancing. Meeting new people.

[00:12:18] Flirting. Having fun. Yes, I'm aging. But now I know how to do things better. Yeah, true. Yeah. So let's embrace it. Yeah, fuck yeah. I love that. With my buttom's forehead. Oh, I love it so much. I love it. That was really interesting for me. Can I just say thank you for not, like, shutting down that question? Because I think some people, I don't know, some people might be ashamed to share that they get Botox. I think there is shame.

[00:12:47] If they're very insecure about how they look and they're admitting that they get Botox to look the way they do, I think there is shame associated with that. There is shame. You know, if I say, I mean, I don't know how to break this up. Some people think I look the way I look because I do Botox. Because they think I have Botox in my entire face. Yeah. Everywhere. I must say, you do look really young for a 50-year-old. You do not look 50.

[00:13:16] These are my parents' genes. Yeah. My mom and my dad, they both did not look. I mean, my dad passed away, he was, I don't know, maybe in his late 70s. And my mom recently, she's 84, and she's only gotten older in the past 40 years. Yeah. So I think I have the good genes of my parents. Yeah. My sisters, my brother, they also don't look older. They look their age. And that's okay. Okay.

[00:13:41] So, yes, I hear people say, she looks so young because she has all these Botox. All these Botox. Yeah. People say that. Wow. But it's not all these Botox. How do you feel when they say that? Are you offended? No, I'm not. I'm like, you know, when you're my age, maybe you will decide for yourself. It's fine. It's fine. Yeah. No, no, I don't get offended. You're so understanding. That would piss me off. That would fire me up. I'm like, excuse me, I'm just, I'm fucking beautiful.

[00:14:10] I don't need Botox to look this way. I get it because I want it. I know. I'm fiery like that. It's okay. Yeah. I mean, I have my insecurities in other places and I'm judgmental in other places. So I cannot tell people not to say these things because, hey, do you remember this episode we made where I said that I can hate people with no reason? True. On that note, send us your voicemail, everybody. What do you think about Botox? Have you had Botox? Are you thinking about it?

[00:14:40] Has this episode changed your mind about it? It's helped me understand more about why someone might get Botox, which is cool. So thank you. You're welcome. You're welcome. Let us know what you think. I will not feel offended if you don't like Botox. Rula can take it. See you next time. Bye. Bye. If you got a kick out of our conversation today, can you pretty please hit the follow

[00:15:06] button and share it with another opinionated person? This is the easiest way for you to support the show. It also gives Rula and I the motivation to keep going. I want to stop you there. Stop telling people what to do. If they like to follow the show and share it, it's totally up to them. Guys, please, can you help us follow and share the show? Thank you so much. I'm just sad. Ah.