Since it was first approved by the FDA in 2002, Botox has become the Kleenex of wrinkle-relaxing injectables; a brand name virtually interchangeable with the category itself. The most common cosmetic procedure in the United States is a form of botulinum toxin type A, the most acutely lethal toxin known, a neuromodulator that can both cause disease and treat it — which, injected in small doses into the underlying muscles of the face, paralyzes the muscular function responsible for wrinkles to create smooth, furrow-free skin.
Even with newer competitors like Dysport and Xeomin on the market, Botox remains the gold standard: It’s safe, it’s effective, and it’s proven. But this past February, the FDA greenlit Jeuveau, the first new neurotoxin approved for aesthetic usage in nearly a decade (and most likely the first ever to earn a New York Times piece about a controversial advisory board meeting-turned-launch party at the Ritz-Carlton in Cancun).
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