Another day, another TikTok beauty hack to test. This time, it’s supposedly do-it-yourself Botox you can make with flaxseed, a pot of boiling water and a cheese-cloth strainer. But is this homemade Botox actually capable of tightening your skin and eliminating wrinkles?
We asked Davie, FL dermatologist Lesley Clark-Loeser, MD if this viral sensation could be bonafide, but honestly, we weren’t surprised by her answer. “No, this is definitely not a replacement for Botox,” Dr. Clark Loeser says. “I have never heard of this. Though, at most, you would be getting essential fatty acids and fiber on your skin. But that’s it.”
This TikTok demonstrates how boiling flaxseeds produces a gel-like substance which is high in soluble fiber. Wellness sites promote the many uses of flaxseed gel, which also include the skin-tightening effect it produces while drying. That’s the magic this TikTok user is experiencing, which explains the name: homemade Botox.
But let’s be real, there are a lot of masks that produce this temporary tightening effect, we even have a handy list of dermatologist-approved ones here. But Botox is in a completely different category.
“Botox is a medical toxin that is produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum,” explains Melville, NY dermatologist Kally Papantoniou, MD. “It works by interfering with the chemical signaling pathway that occurs between many of our nerves synapses and muscles. This effect lasts on average 3-6 months.”
If you’re seeing improvement in your skin quality from boiling and straining flaxseed to put on your face, that’s great! But you should know that the impact you’ll see from a mask like this needs to be repeated frequently to maintain the results you want. And that’s not a replacement for Botox or other neurotoxins in the aesthetic industry.
The idea of a ‘homemade Botox’ is certainly tempting, but it’s a pretty big exaggeration for the effect you’re going to get.
