Stylist’s senior fitness writer, Chloe Gray asks how young is too young for Botox and challenges the cosmetics industry’s iffy age regulations.

There are no legal age restrictions in the UK on who can get Botox. That means vulnerable young women are being given doses of Botox for wrinkles that don’t exist. We sent Chloe Gray to investigate.

“The idea that a woman of any age needs Botox is problematic,” writes Gray. “But beauty companies are capitalising off of teenage insecurities, offering them treatments that are both unnecessary and ethically wrong… The main thing I noticed is that no one questioned why I wanted Botox. I can see why young girls are going in the salon and coming away feeling like it’s a really good idea, because no one is telling them they don’t need it.”

One doctor told Gray that even though she looked younger than 16, she would benefit from the procedure. “He was very persuasive, he drew diagrams, kept telling me how good it would make me look, offered me loads of different options, and I don’t think I would have known how to say no if I was a vulnerable teenager.

“Overall, the whole experience has left me very confused about the industry. On the one hand, you’ve got people with a moral compass and that’s great. But on the other, you’ve got people who are just in it for money. It shows why we need to regulate the market, to protect vulnerable young people.”

“Am I too young for Botox?”: Chloe Gray explores the dangerous lack of age regulations in the Botox industry