The application of botulinum toxin in hairdressers, by
people without clinical training, is a risk that anyone who wants to erase
“imperfections” but does not have the means to do so safely is subject to.

Chiara Pussetti coordinated the project “EXCEL – In search
of Excellence”, developed by a multidisciplinary group of researchers from the
Institute of Social Sciences (ICS) and the Faculty of Medicine (FM) of the
University of Lisbon.

Over the course of five years, this team identified several
irregularities, such as the sale in Lisbon of skin whitening creams, with
prohibited substances, but also an ease in finding people who apply botox,
without the training to do so.

“In our work we found that there is a lot of medical
intrusiveness, the use of these injectable technologies by people who are not
trained for this or who are not doctors, who are not dermatologists,” she said.

In an interview with the Lusa agency, the anthropologist
said that it is the “much lower” price of this procedure, when performed
illegally in hairdressers and dental offices, that determines the choice for
those who want to get rid of wrinkles.

“It is a very serious problem”, she said, referring that
more and more people are also ordering botox over the internet and applying it,
following online tutorials and videos, in a practice called “Do it yourself”
(DIY), with obvious risks to health.

“Today we live in a society where we can get almost anything
we want in one click online. Therefore, we can buy botulinum toxin online,
without any problem, to apply at home. And there are loads of tutorials and
videos on YouTube,” she explained.

Financial possibilities determine the choices in this area:
“A clinic on Avenida da Liberdade will never have the price of a clinic in
Amadora, despite the treatment being the same”.

“Many people who turn to these ‘low cost’ solutions – such
as industrial silicone, to create curves, and things that can enter the blood
system and are extremely harmful to health – live in situations of
precariousness and economic vulnerability”.

They are therefore intended for “a public with low
purchasing power. Anyone from a middle class, or upper middle class, with a
minimum of purchasing power, prefers to go to the doctor and the guarantee of
someone who, if there is a problem, knows how to provide a solution, how to
help”.

“Availability at a very low price seduces many people.
That’s why I say that the search for perfection is extremely transversal, but
it seduces many people whose income is very low and in which sometimes their
appearance, beauty, body is the last resort to have some professional
mobility”.