The beauty industry has pushed Botox for decades, with it becoming increasingly more commonplace every year. In fact, Botox is now the most common cosmetic procedure in the United States!
While Botox is well-known for its rapid wrinkle-eliminating benefits, there are downsides to it. For starters, it’s expensive, requires appointments every couple of months, can influence brainstem activity and connectivity, and uses injections (which, let’s be frank, most of us aren’t thrilled about the idea of).
Thankfully, a new non-invasive option is available: Notox. Notox is a take on traditional Chinese medicine, which provides natural face and body treatments. Let’s explore Notox, its different options, and how Notox critically allows our bodies and face muscles to still move (which can impact your Qi (life force energy) and your ability to express yourself.
What Is Notox?
Notox comes in many forms, most of which are based on herbal or traditional Chinese medicine practices. Some examples include using a combination of acupuncture, gua sha, and facial cupping, which can create significant skin-tightening results without the more invasive and face-freezing effects of Botox. While Botox will create a faster, more complete line erasure, Notox is ideal for those looking for a more natural alternative.
What Happens When Your Facial Muscles Are Frozen?
There’s truth to the statement “use it or lose it.” One of the challenges with Botox is that it temporarily paralyzes targeted facial muscles, which softens lines but leaves the individual with a less expressive face. However, paralyzing your facial muscles may have some negative impacts with time.
May Impact Your Life Energy
For traditional Chinese medicine practitioners, paralyzing the facial muscles also presents another problem: restricting the muscle’s ability to carry out what it was meant to do and how that may impact your Qi, or life energy.
Think about it this way: every part of your body is alive, from your cells to your muscles. When you paralyze a muscle for an extended period, such as months from a Botox treatment, you’re turning off your body’s ability to move energy through it.
May Affect Social Relationships
Another potential consequence of freezing your facial muscles is the impact on social relationships. While feeling good about yourself and how you look can positively impact your relationships, nonverbal communication may suffer.
According to the University of Texas, about 55% of communication during face-to-face conversation is nonverbal. Whether you’re in a Zoom meeting for work, at a social event, or having dinner with your family, most of what you “say” is through your facial expressions and body language. If your face muscles are paralyzed from Botox, this limits your ability to express yourself facially, which can impact how what you’re saying is interpreted.
May Weaken Your Facial Muscles
Other than the impact on your wallet (Botox injections average about $528 per treatment), Botox can weaken your muscles over time. Think of it this way—if you usually run a mile a day but stop for several months, it’s going to be harder to get back into this routine. Why? Because your muscles are out of practice. The same is true for your facial muscles.
Botox freezes your muscles, temporarily paralyzing them. With continual use, your muscles lose strength and tone because they’re rarely used. According to the Cleveland Clinic, Botox use can lead to muscle atrophy (wasting of the muscle) over a prolonged period.
Notox and Herbal Alternatives to Botox
So, what are the best alternatives to Botox for those of us looking to soften fine lines and wrinkles without freezing our facial muscles or undergoing injections?
There are so many fantastic alternatives! One of the most interesting parts about Notox is that many of its treatments help to relax and reduce tension in the muscles, which eventually lead to wrinkles. Products are usually applied topically.
Some Notox procedures you can consider are:
- Facial cupping: Facial cupping uses small cups to gently pull the skin forward, increasing blood flow and rejuvenating the skin. Over time, it’s said to reduce fine lines and wrinkles. Practitioners share that it may even decrease puffiness, brighten skin, and tone the chin, jawline, neck, and other parts of the face.
- Facial acupuncture: One of the most touted benefits of facial acupuncture is its ability to brighten the complexion, reduce jaw tension, and soften the skin’s appearance. Some studies have shown that facial acupuncture improved skin texture and facial elasticity after five sessions.
Another significant part of Notox treatments is non-invasive, everyday care, including your skin care routine, sunblock application if spending significant time in the sun, and using a gua sha at home for facial sculpting.
- Facial massage: Check out our previous article with a video demonstration of a daily facial massage routine that may increase circulation, tone your facial muscles, and decrease lymphatic congestion and puffiness.
- Hyaluronic acid: Hyaluronic acid is a powerhouse skincare ingredient that is a must! It holds up to 1,000 times its weight in water and delivers a “plumping” effect to the skin that can minimize fine lines. We recommend our fabulous Face Firming Serum, Ageless Beauty Serum, and Goddess Glow Cream which all provide a massive boost of hyaluronic acid and other critical vitamins and nutrients.
- Argireline (Nature’s Botox): Argireline is often called nature’s Botox because it has been shown to reduce existing facial wrinkles and prevent line development in the future. While it does have some similarities to Botox, it’s not nearly as strong when it comes to paralyzing the muscles. Still, it delivers a softening, muscle-relaxation effect that can mimic some of Botox’s effects. Check out our previous article on Argireline’s benefits for more information. Interested in using Argireline? Try our Lifting Peptide Serum!
- Vitamins: Eating a healthy, vitamin-rich diet gives your body and skin a great baseline, but applying vitamin serums and creams can also give you a boost. Vitamin C has especially notable benefits, such as encouraging collagen production and protecting the skin against free radicals. We love our Repairing Vitamin C Serum & Repairing Vitamin C Cleanser for our everyday, skin-boosting routine!
Thanks for reading! We hope this article gave you some ideas for the many excellent alternatives to Botox that don’t have to come with a hefty price tag or injections.
Best Wishes,
Herbalist Natalie & Herbalist Leilah
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Natalie Hajdu-Voakes is a consulting herbalist and the owner of The Herb Stop, with over 28 years of hands-on experience in crafting herbal remedies and promoting natural wellness. |