With the first-ever National Botox Cosmetic Day kicking off on Nov. 20, actress and best-selling author Jenny Mollen opens up about her aesthetic routine, changing views of cosmetics and aging gracefully.
How do you balance motherhood with self-pampering?
It's always just choosing one thing over the other every day. I'm getting Botox Cosmetic, and I feel like I can pretty much manage everything else in my life. Because I feel like if you look good, if you feel good, you are able to function on a different level. Even if you're tired, at least you don't look so tired. So that helps. But yeah, it's a juggling act.
When did you start your cosmetic routine?
I was 29 the first time I tried Botox Cosmetic. My dad's a doctor, and my mom's a nurse. I'm also from out West, so there was never a stigma around this type of path. It was at that point I started to notice some forehead lines. So I said, ‘I need to fix that.’ And luckily, I live in a time when that's a possibility.
Are there psychological benefits of cosmetic treatments?
When I can go out and feel all right, at least I don't look like the disaster that I feel like on the inside some days. I'm glad that I can kind of mask with some well-placed treatments. I also have all the movement that I would have otherwise. I'm not at all constricted in any way. I can still mean business when I need to mean business. It’s all this positive movement.
What do you tell your friends who don’t believe in the practice?
I don't think there's any shame around it. Again, I grew up with parents who did this. So for me, there isn't that same stigma of, 'Oh, I better not let anybody know.' I mean, let's just be honest about it. If you can make things look a little bit better or make a line not so noticeable, isn't that the same distinction as I prefer short hair to long hair? What's really the difference? I'm not trying to turn back the clock and look 18.
How are you planning on changing your routine with age?
I think I have to gradually let it happen. I'm trying to wrap my head around that. But the problem is that you don't really have a choice to look 25 or look your age. You have a choice to look fake and overly done or look great for your age. So that's really the path that I have to choose.
Photography by: Courtesy of Allergan
