Alison Curtis: ‘I don’t want Botox or fillers, but I still want to slow things down a bit. So I tried microneedling’

DJ Alison Curtis talks about positive ageing role models, what the options are and finding the best version of your real age

Today FM DJ Alison Curtis and with her daughter Joan. Photo: Steve Humphreys

Botox is still one of the most requested treatments. Photo: Getty Images

Today FM DJ Alison Curtis and with her daughter Joan. Photo: Steve Humphreys

Botox is still one of the most requested treatments. Photo: Getty Images

Today FM DJ Alison Curtis and with her daughter Joan. Photo: Steve Humphreys

Alison Curtis

February 01 2023 02:30 AM

I am a human — a human woman who has not grown up in a bubble and therefore, like lots of other women, I don’t want to look like I am getting older. I’ve been told by everyone — TV, magazines, movies, social media — that ageing is a bad thing to do. Which is odd really, because the reality of life is that those of us who are lucky enough to grow old, are naturally going to change in appearance. And why, oh why, is this seen so widely in a negative light?

As a collective, we have yet to reach an agreement whereby a mature face is an acceptable reality for women like it is for men. , In my mid forties, I am self-conscious of the lines that have developed in my face. I get super excited when someone thinks I am younger than I am, and I have been guilty of spending a fortune on lotions and potions for the last 15 years or so.

This past year though, I really started to think about what it means to age. I actively started following different women on Instagram who are ‘owning’ the ageing process. Who are advocates for ageing and the fact that it not only is natural, it is a privilege. I wanted to normalise seeing older faces for myself, by looking more frequently at them on social media.

But despite my best efforts to be pro-ageing and to accept that I am going to change, I still wanted to slow things down a bit. What I was sure of was that I didn’t want to radically alter my face or stop time exactly, I just wanted to look the best version of my current age. So I went on a little skin adventure to see where it would take me.

My first stop was not a happy one. I stepped into the very polished waiting room of a treatment centre one autumn afternoon, a little nervous. What happened next was I was ushered into a clinical room, and forced to hold a mirror up to my face while the doctor told me my face was like a deflated balloon that would require Botox every four months for three years to even start to make a difference — plus I was absolutely going to need fillers. I thanked him kindly for removing any self-esteem I had and floated out past the receptionist, who was a bit in shock that I didn’t book my first appointment with them.

I went home and shared this experience on Instagram, and immediately got a massive response. It rolled for a few days, with DMs flying in from women sharing similar experiences and alternatives I could try. The more the conversation continued, one clear thing was that the majority of women who got in touch wanted alternatives to injectables as treatments. One suggestion that came up again and again through these online conversations, was microneedling — something I had no idea about.

At the same time, I was offered an appointment to discuss options at the Fitzgerald Clinic in Dublin. I jumped at the chance, and I went to meet Dr Deirdre Fitzgerald. From the start, I felt like I was in good hands. She did a full examination of my skin and analysed my skincare routine and the products I used.

I was very clear I didn’t want to go down the injectable route, so she confirmed what a lot of people had already suggested — that I try microneedling. But what is it exactly? Deirdre explained all: “Medical microneedling is where we use a medical grade device (such as SkinPen) to comfortably create thousands of controlled micro-injuries in the skin, in order to trigger the body’s natural wound healing process. The idea is that by creating precision wounds at a specific layer of the skin, the skin will then act to try to heal itself —and it does this by producing new collagen and elastin, in quantities that one’s skin would not have known since its early to mid-20s. Patients should notice improvements in their skin within three to four weeks,” she says.

Fast forward a few weeks, and I arrived for my appointment anxious and excited. Skin therapist Jade met me and put me right at ease. The procedure takes roughly an hour and a half, and starts with a topical anaesthetic that takes about half an hour to work properly. Jade then used a SkinPen to go over my skin in a pretty mathematical way. I won’t lie, you feel it. The forehead, as it is the least fleshy, was the most acute. I left with a bit of a red face but in high spirits.

It takes 28 days to see the full results of the first microneedling session, so I would have to be patient. For the next two days, you are only to use products designed to soothe and recover your skin. You can only wipe the skin with cool water, no soaps. You have to avoid more active ingredient products like vitamin C and retinol for a week afterwards, as well. By day three, you could still see faint red lines on my forehead, and five days later I looked like myself again — only fresher.

Botox is still one of the most requested treatments. Photo: Getty Images

While I was in the Fitzgerald Clinic, I asked Deirdre if more people are still opting for Botox versus microneedling. “Botox — or rather, anti-wrinkle injections (AWI) — is a very well-known treatment. It is certainly one of the most requested treatments. However, medical microneedling is definitely gaining in popularity — its advantages to the skin are being discussed more and more. It works in a completely different way to Botox, and they both have different functions.”

Even though Deirdre was very reassuring and medical in her responses, which I do like, I am still not sold on the idea of injectables. I am, however, much more comfortable with microneedling. Three weeks after having the treatment done, I most definitely noticed the deeper lines in my forehead were lessened, and in general, my face felt brighter and fresher. So along with my usual skincare routine, loads of water and plenty of sleep, I think microneedling is the way forward for me. Well, that and being more proactive and positive about ageing.