Thinking About Getting Botox Or Fillers? Here's What You Should Know Before You Start.
Being a human being living in 2025 means dealing with stress. And stress often leads to worry. And worry leads to ... wrinkles. Or maybe you’re blessed to have a life full of smiling and laughing, which can ... also lead to wrinkles.
If you love the lines you’ve earned on your face, we salute you. But if you don’t, and you’ve considered using Botox or fillers, you’re probably wondering how to kick off your injectables journey and how to get the best results.
Those are questions that we — Raj Punjabi and Noah Michelson, the co-hosts of HuffPost’s “Am I Doing It Wrong?” podcast — asked Dr. Sherwin Parikh, dermatologist, professor and founder of Tribeca Skin Center, when he recently dropped by our studio.
Press play to listen to the full episode:
It helps to consider injectables as an art form, and the person who’s injecting them as your artist. And because everyone has a different idea of how they want to look, it’s crucial that your artist gets your vision — lest you turn out like a Picasso (although that’s a vibe too).
“I think you want to like your practitioner first for their capabilities — for their education, for their communication with you,” Dr. Parikh told us. “Get that sorted out first. Meet somebody, decide you like them.”
Though you want to ensure whoever you chose to work with knows what they’re doing and is fully adhering to safety protocols, there is a wide variety of individuals who may qualified to administer your injectables.
“It’s totally fine if you’re going to a nurse practitioner and they’re not an MD or a DO — or if they don’t have a board certification in dermatology. If you’ve decided they’re really good at what they do, and it suits your vibe, terrific — it can work,” he said.
Your comfort level and values are crucial in this situation, alongside your desire to achieve a certain look. And because you can’t trust everything and everyone you see marketed online, Dr. Parikh suggested taking it to the streets to crowd-source your injectables practitioner.
“Ask your friends. People do talk about it,” said Dr. Parikh, referring to the fortunate fading of stigma around cosmetic work. “At the end of a night or after dinner or drinks, people start to get a little loose. You can say, ‘Hey, listen, I love your face. Do you do anything?’ People who are your friends will tell you. Ask them who they trust. Your friends will steer you right.”
If you already have a dermatologist — especially one that you’ve developed a relationship with over several years or more — start a conversation about what you’re looking to achieve. Because the goal of Botox and fillers is often to implement a more vibrant — though not necessarily youthful — look, your derm can reflect on how your skin might have changed over time and perhaps how to address any particular thing you feel self-conscious about, Dr. Parikh said.
One orange flag? Budget Botox or fillers.
“I think you get triggered [to be suspicious about a clinic or practitioner], when you get upsold with coupons or Groupons,” he told us. If someone if offering a deal that seems too good to be true, it probably is, and that’s not chance you want to take with your health or appearance.
Ultimately, Dr. Parikh emphasized that having healthy skin is the goal, no matter how you choose to get it.
“You see so many beautiful actors who are of a certain age, who have tons of little wrinkles, and you’re like, ‘God, she’s gorgeous,’ because the skin is one milky tone or one creamy tone, and that skin tone is what also attracts someone else’s eye,” he noted. “Having pretty skin, wrinkles or not ... that’s not what it’s about, it’s [about] having pretty skin. So you can achieve that with good skin care ... and you don’t have to touch injectables.”
But if you do, a little research and some community outreach is probably your best for finding the perfect practitioner for your needs.
We also discussed who might not be a good candidate for injectables, why some treatments are far more expensive than others, and much more, so have a listen to the full episode above or wherever you get your podcasts.
After you’ve checked out this conversation, subscribe to “Am I Doing It Wrong?” so you don’t miss a single episode, including our investigations of the ins and outs of tipping, how to score the best deals on airline tickets, how to apologize or vanquish your credit card debt, how to find love online or overcome anxiety, online shopping, tips for taking care of your teeth, pooping like a pro, secrets to booking and staying in a hotel, how to deal with an angry person, shocking laundry secrets, and more.
Need some help with something you’ve been doing wrong? Email us at AmIDoingItWrong@HuffPost.com, and we might investigate the topic in an upcoming episode.