Why more and more men are shouting about their botox habit

I came out of the womb and I said to the doctor – ‘give me some Botox!’”

Fred*, 63, is not shy about his love of Botox – or “brotox”, as the practice of men getting the procedure has been colloquially dubbed. While the above sentiment is (one hopes) a gross exaggeration, he has been turning back the clock on facial wrinkles since the late Nineties, when he was in his mid-thirties.

“I was really happy with the results,” says Fred of that first time, now more than 25 years ago. “It’s not about the wrinkles, as such, but I’ve got one of those foreheads that always looks a bit cross. I was less focused on anti-ageing, and more on getting rid of my ‘resting bitch face’ – I don’t look as friendly as I’d want.” A friend suggested he try Botox and, hey presto, right away Fred felt he appeared “fresher”. He’s never looked back, keeping up the injecting habit ever since. “Some people say that it’s vain, but it makes me feel good,” he tells me.

Fred was undoubtedly ahead of the curve; while the toxin Botox has been administered cosmetically to smooth wrinkles since 1990, for more than a decade after Fred started, it remained largely the preserve of women. Now, men are finally catching up. There’s been a huge surge in brotox, particularly over the past five years – and the numbers are only going up.

In 2020, more than 265,000 men received Botox injections – a jump of 182,000 from two decades previously – while the amount of money spent by men on Botox rose by 400 per cent between 2000 and 2023, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

“Every year, my colleagues and I see more male patients seeking cosmetic procedures,” says Dr Akis Ntonos, founder of Aion Aesthetics and partner at Certainly Heath; Dr Leah Totton, of Dr Leah Cosmetic Skin Clinics, notes that she’s seen a 37 per cent uptick in males opting for cosmetic treatments. “We first started to see the increase just after lockdown, but 2024 is the year we have noticed the biggest increase. We now have an in-clinic male doctor to meet this demand, who specialises in male facial rejuvenation,” she says.

GP and aesthetic practitioner Dr Kaywaan Khan, who founded his practice, Hannah London, around seven years ago, has seen year-on-year increases in male clients suddenly skyrocket into the double digits. Men often come to him through word of mouth – referrals from friends are effective, trumped only by those from girlfriends or wives.

“A female patient who’s had a treatment with me will say, ‘Oh, my God, I have to bring my partner to see you,’” he says. Once a woman has introduced her male partner to the procedure, he’ll keep coming independently, adds Khan. “I think a lot of men are interested in having these treatments done – we’re all interested in improving ourselves in one form or another.”

For most of the paid-up members of the brotox club I speak to, the initial gateway was someone they knew and trusted who’d already had the procedure done themselves – and Botox is usually not uncommon among their friendship groups. Many also started early, in their twenties.

“I do have other friends who have Botox, and who regularly get this treatment,” Joseph, 28, tells me. He had his first round at the age of 27 as a preventative anti-ageing measure, and notes that geography has had a profound impact on how normalised the procedure is for men. “I’m originally from North Wales – if I was still based there, it wouldn’t be as ‘acceptable’ for a man to get Botox. However, now I live in Manchester, I would say it’s more socially acceptable. In my friendship circle, they don’t bat an eyelid.”

Richard, 31, has been brotoxing two to three times a year since he was 27. He was introduced to it by a friend who is a trained aesthetician, and it’s far from atypical within his social network: “Yes, I have a few friends in my close circle who get Botox and also know a good amount of other friends who do too!”

Though the treatment has become far more mainstream, some men are still cagey when it comes to talking about it. “I believe treatment is fairly common but perhaps less talked about among my friends, family, and colleagues,” reveals Michael, 41, who took the decision to start getting Botox as he approached his 40th birthday. “I see nothing to be ashamed of, and I try to do my part to live as an open book and answer these questions honestly when the topic comes up.”

Although “almost everyone does something injectable” in his circle, the co-founder of Aion Aesthetics, Anastasios, agrees that “some prefer not to admit they’re doing anything, while others wish they were but are afraid of being ridiculed”.

But for every man remaining tight-lipped, it seems there’s another one willing to shout about it from the rooftops. “I don’t mind telling people I’ve had Botox – it’s about breaking down the stigma around male aesthetic treatments,” explains Joseph. “I understand that it might not be for everyone, but there shouldn’t be any stigma around it.”

Whether individual men want to ’fess up or not, the concept is getting increasingly normalised, which in turn leads to more people being curious, according to Ntonos. “Today, people aren’t just undergoing treatments but are openly discussing them on social media, television, and other platforms,” he says. “This transparency has helped destigmatise cosmetic procedures, encouraging more men to consider them.”

Joe Jonas is one such man, having opened up about getting Xeomin (an injectable similar to Botox); Robbie Williams is another. “I’ve had Botox and some fillers and something done to my chin. And I really like it,” the Better Man star revealed back in 2016. “With the last few albums I put out I looked on social media [and] people were saying, ‘f*** he’s aged.’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, I have.’”

And it’s not just Botox that’s on the up. Totton has seen a range of other treatments gaining traction among her male clients, including jawline enhancement via dermal fillers, hi-tech facials such as microneedling, polynucleotides (genetic strands taken from salmon) injected into the skin to rejuvenate tired eyes, and exosomes (tiny vesicles containing growth factors and other bioactive molecules) injected into the scalp to combat hair loss.

She emphasises that men generally prefer cosmetic treatments “that allow for subtle results which are neither too instant or drastic” – they’re looking to enhance rather than transform. Men also prefer “no-fuss treatments”, opting for those that are relatively quick, require little to almost no downtime and are minimally or non-invasive.

For those who do get Botox, it might not necessarily be for their face. Khan says some male clients get their hands injected – “people are a bit more conscious about ageing hands and want to give that initial impression of doing a good handshake” – while others get their groin or armpits done. The latter isn’t for aesthetic reasons, though, but perspiration-related ones; Botox temporarily blocks nerve signals to sweat glands, reducing the amount of sweat produced. “People are becoming so much more self-conscious that if they’re working hard in the city, playing hard and going to the gym, they don’t want to smell,” says Khan.

As for the nether-regions, there’s a condition called “jock itch”, common in men, whereby excess sweat leads to an itchy groin. “It becomes a breeding ground for microbes, and some people are just a little bit more susceptible to it than others,” says Khan. “Botox works really well in this area – just below the scrotum – helping to tackle the sweat glands here and leading to less of that moist environment.”

But of the men opting into Botox specifically for their appearance’s sake, what’s the appeal? For most I speak to, self-confidence is the biggest factor. “I was concerned with wrinkles developing, and I was self-conscious about my dropping eyelid. I always struggled with saggy eyelids,” admits Joseph. A three-point treatment of forehead, crow’s feet and brow lift “opened up my face and made me look more awake and refreshed. I feel confident going out, and not having the feeling of looking tired.”

Richard “received a tonne of compliments” after his first microneedling and felt “intrinsically more confident”, while Michael says he’s also noticed “a significant positive impact on my self-confidence”. “Honestly, I was experiencing a lot of change in my life while heading into my forties,” he tells me. “Fine lines around my eyes were becoming more noticeable, and it was beginning to impact my confidence. Prior to treatment, I was smiling less and worried more about ageing.” As the effects of the treatment settled in, however, he became more comfortable with laughing and smiling in public again.

These types of insecurities, while arguably a natural response to getting older, used to affect women far more than men. Surrounded by media messaging that they must remain forever young, beautiful and sexually attractive to have any worth or relevance, women have long been stuck on the anti-ageing treadmill, attempting to forever turn back time. Why, then, have men suddenly been swept up in the same narrative?

Shifting gender roles have played a part, argues Ntonos. “Stereotypes have been largely dismantled in the past decade,” he says. “As a result, men are becoming increasingly open to exploring things that were once considered feminine.”

Social media influencers and reality shows starring “normal” yet hyper-“hot” people such as Love Island have also set an aesthetic standard for men that didn’t exist before, from gleaming teeth and Adonis bods to flawless skin and chiselled features. “The rise of male influencers and celebrities sharing their cosmetic enhancements has had a significant impact,” Ntonos notes.

Interestingly, the working from home movement triggered by the Covid pandemic has been highlighted as a contributing factor, thanks to the modern affliction of having to constantly stare at our own mugs on screen. “The first surge in demand from males was after lockdown, where men sought ways to improve their image and boost their self-confidence as they were seeing their face regularly on Zoom calls,” posits Totton.

Whatever the reason, men who have bought into brotox, and even the practitioners themselves, warn of the potential dangers. Joseph shares that, after getting Botox, his first thought was, “What else can I get done?”

“It did make me feel like I wanted more and more treatments – it can be quite addictive,” he says. Fred also acknowledges this impulse: “There is an addiction side to aesthetics,” he agrees. “If you want to improve and look fresher, of course it does feel great, and you want more. Good doctors will go, ‘Whoa, no, let’s slow down.’ But there are lots out there who don’t say that, and you’ll see someone on the street and think, ‘What’s going on there?’ because they’ve had too much done.”

He believes that filtering out practitioners is vital. “It’s now as common as going to the hairdressers, but that means there are people injecting Botox who shouldn’t be doing it,” he adds. “It’s a very skilled job; you can get droopy eyelids if it’s not the right person.”

There have been further calls to improve aesthetics regulation in the UK after a recent BBC investigation revealed that a former tattooist had been posing as a doctor at his aesthetics clinic. Sean Scott left 60-year-old Andrea “looking like a gargoyle” after giving her botched face fillers.

Ntonos says careful research is “essential”, and first-timers should consider someone’s expertise, experience, ratings, reviews and cosmetic style. “Under the care of experienced and reputable Botox injectors, you can minimise the risk of complications,” he advises.

Whether we like it or not, the quest for eternal youth is the one thing that never seems to go out of style. It looks like brotox is here to stay – even if frown lines aren’t.

*Name has been changed