THE HEALTHIEST WAY TO DO BOTOX IS...XEOMIN
- hadleyhenriette
- 17 minutes ago
- 5 min read
By Hadley Henriette
The wellness crowd typically isn't big on Botox. They are usually staunchly anti-toxin. But if you pay attention, you'll notice that the most vocal opponents typically appear to be quite fresh-faced. It's easy to have such an opinion when deep elevens, drooping jowls, and forehead train tracks haven't come for you yet.
Sadly, they've already come for me. So, after much trial and error, I've decided there's only one choice for health conscious that aren't ready to let themselves go—Xeomin.
My experiences with other neuromodulators like Botox and Dysport were not so great. Every time I had treatments, the toxins made me nauseous, headachy, and downright anxious during the first 24 hours. In fact, my very first Botox treatment led to a concerned 9pm phone call to a celebrity injector because I was feeling so very badly. I was certain something was really wrong! It wasn't, apparently that's just my body’s normal reaction to toxins. Go figure!
In the end, rather than age, I always wound up going back and enduring it. I didn’t feel like I had any other choice—I was in my late thirties and frequently on camera. So I compromised by getting injections as infrequently as I could, about every 10-12 months.
Then, in 2018, I met Dr. Roberta Del Campo. She was a budding star in Miami's cosmetic dermatology scene, and luckily for me, a proponent and early adopter of Xeomin, a cleaner botulinum toxin type A-based neuromodulator.
In our first appointment, she explained that Xeomin was considered a cleaner formula because it had been purified of the accessory proteins that are found in Botox and Dysport. Merz, the manufacturer takes the extra step to remove these proteins out via a special process. The result is a cleaner, and often less irritating, immune-reacting formula.
Dr. Del Campo told me that I wasn’t the first patient of hers who’d had a tough time with Botox and she was very hopeful that Xeomin would be a better fit. She was successfully using it on the vast majority of her patients and yet to see a reaction. I was game to try it.
Miracle of miracles I had no reaction to the Xeomin. And on top of that, Dr. Del Campo did an amazing job figuring out just the right injection points to eliminate some stubborn lines above my eyebrows that other injectors had somehow only managed to deepen. She did this all while helping me maintain a “natural” look - which is her signature. I was hooked and returned to see her a number of times until Covid hit.
While we were all in lock down, Gwyneth Paltrow became the brand ambassador for Xeomin. The timing was unfortunate, however, as making your own sourdough was, for the first, and probably last time ever, becoming more popular than injectables.
By mid-2021, most people were finally flocking back to their doctors, but I stayed away. After some neurological side effects from both Covid and the jab, my doctor advised me against neuromodulators. So I went au natural, skating by on the results of previous years' injections and collagen supplements. And it looked ok—until it really didn’t.
In an effort to avoid the botulism toxin, I tried other treatments. I had two sessions of NeoGen. My face looked great—lifted and glowing, but stubborn lines persisted. I knew only a neuromodulator could erase them… and that it would have to be Xeomin.
So I called up Dr. Del Campo, who is by 2025 is a very big deal and a top cosmetic derm in South Florida, known for her skill in numerous treatments and boasting her own skincare line, Dr. Roberta Skin Science. Lucky for me, she was up for the challenge of restoring my broken-down face.
While I was not at all surprised by Dr. Del Campo’s renown, I was a little taken aback that Dr. Del Campo still has little competition in the realm of Xeomin injection in such a big metropolis like Miami. Or that aesthetic practitioners across the country still haven't jumped on the Xeomin bandwagon. Is it still that well kept of a secret?
When I got to Dr. Del Campo's beautifully appointed office, she gave me her theory. “You do have to inject Xeomin a little differently than Botox or Dysport," she explains. "You inject smaller amounts in more points. It doesn’t diffuse like some of the others, but I like that. It’s more precise, and a little more natural, I think. People get less frozen.”
Product staying in place? Smaller amounts? Precision? This is exactly what you should look for in a neuromodulator.
But it wasn't just the precision, Dr. Del Campo was initially drawn to Xeomin because of its purer, cleaner formula. “I am very into natural products and it's called the ‘green Botox.’” This is the exact reason why Ms. Paltrow likes it so much.
Naturally, as one of Merz anointed “Future Leaders,” Dr. Roberta did get to spend some time with Gwyneth during her reign as Xeomin's spokesperson. "You can tell she believes in [and uses] the product, and, just like you, she had her own story of using other injectables and she didn’t like the effects and the idea of adding these potentially toxic substances into her body," says Del Campo. “[Merz] was very drawn to her because she’s someone we look up to for health and wellness info and she is authentic."
Since Paltrow's time as Xeomin's ambassador, things have changed a bit. Her shoes have been filled by other celebs like Joe Jonas and Demi Lovato and more natural looks have been popularized. That makes doctor Del Campo's natural-looking aesthetic right on trend, as there has been a noticeable shift away from "frozen faces" that dominated our screens (and ladies' luncheons) for more than a decade. Instead, she aims for an overall softening of the face, not the total decimation of any and all lines.
Dr. Del Campo uses a number of techniques to keep her patient's appearance natural. One of them is avoiding treating crow's feet as much as possible. “It does change your expression, so I’m very cautious in that area,” she says. “We use our eyes to smile and show what we’re feeling inside, so I like to have eye movement. I may use a few drops to soften the area, but you really need to be able to squint and wink. I think it’s very important to be able to do that.”
"The healthiest way to
do "Botox" is Xeomin."
Considering “preventative Botox”? A trend among young women in their early 20s. Dr. Del Campo is not a fan.
Starting early, apparently, is not the best idea. “We are seeing patients that have become immune to Botox by early thirties. It just doesn’t work for them anymore," she says with a sigh. "When you're young, your muscles are very strong and your metabolism is very fast and you go through a lot of products. Then you need larger amounts and it may not work as well down the road.”
The fix for developing immunity, or resistance to Botox, is switching to another neuromodulator. That's because the tolerance usually comes from developing antibodies to a particular product's accessory proteins, which vary among brands. These are the very same accessory proteins that Merz removes from Xeomin, so there is a significantly lower risk of becoming immune to Xeomin.
As if we needed another reason to use Xeomin.
What is your experience with Xeomin or Botox?