What to Expect From Anti-Wrinkle Injections

An Honest Before and After Timeline

Written by Kerri Lewis, Co-Founder, The Skin to Love Clinic, St. Albans. Medically reviewed by Nurse Natalia Ostrowska, RGN INP. The Skin to Love Clinic is CQC regulated and Save Face accredited. Written May 2026.

The best results from anti-wrinkle injections are the ones nobody can quite put their finger on. Your colleague says you look well. A friend asks if you have been on holiday. You know. They don't.

That is, of course, exactly the point. And it is also why researching this treatment can feel so frustrating… because the before-and-after images that tend to circulate online are rarely the subtle ones. They show the dramatic, the kind that leave you wondering whether natural is even an option.

Here is something worth knowing: static photographs are actually quite poor at capturing the results that matter most. They can show a change in skin texture or a softening of lines at rest but they cannot show you how a face moves. The slight ease around the eyes when you smile. The way a brow sits just a little less heavy. The overall impression of someone who looks rested, not altered.

That is what we specialise in at The Skin to Love Clinic. The goal is never unrecognisable transformation. It is refinement; smoother skin, a less tired expression, a version of you that looks like you have simply been sleeping well and drinking enough water. Still completely yourself. Just quietly, unmistakably refreshed.

So here is the honest guide. What to expect before, during and after treatment, week by week and what a medically led consultation in St Albans actually looks like in practice.

Before Anything Happens: The Consultation

This is the part most skip past when researching online. It’s human nature to just want to see the results, but the consultation is actually where results are made.

The consultation is not optional. It is, in fact, a legal requirement; wrinkle relaxing treatment is a prescription medicine, which means that by law, a qualified prescriber must assess you in person before any treatment can go ahead. This applies everywhere.

What varies is the quality of that conversation. At The Skin to Love Clinic, a CQC-registered practice with a fully medically qualified team, the assessment is also a genuine clinical priority.

“Your practitioner will look at how your face moves, not just how it looks at rest, because expression lines behave very differently in motion than they do in a photograph. They will ask about your medical history, any previous treatments and what you are hoping to achieve. And they will give you an honest picture of what is realistic, which is, frankly, one of the reasons you want a medically qualified practitioner in the room.” Explains Nurse Natalia.

This is not a sales conversation. It is a clinical one. And it is the part of the process that determines everything that follows.

Timeline: What Happens on Treatment Day

“The treatment itself is quick.” Says Nurse Jane. “The appointment duration is typically 15 to 30 minutes depending on your personal treatment plan, however the treatment itself will likely take just half the appointment time”.

A very fine needle is used to make small, precise injections into targets facial muscles. Most patients describe it as a quick scratching or pinching sensation, nothing more.

You can drive afterwards. You can do school pick up. You can go back to the office. There is usually very little, if any, sign that anything has happened at all.

That said, it is an injectable treatment using a prescription drug. It should only ever be carried out by a fully qualified practitioner following a full consultation; this is the minimum standard you should look for.

At The Skin to Love Clinic in St. Albans, every treatment is prescribed, performed, and overseen by fully qualified, insured, and vastly experienced medical practitioners. This isn’t a marketing line, it’s simply what compliance and safe, ethical practice looks like.

The After: A Week-by-Week Timeline

Here’s the part you probably came for.

One of the most common points of confusion around anti-wrinkle injections is when to judge the results. The answer is: not immediately.

The treatment works gradually and understanding the timeline helps you set realistic expectations… and avoid the disappointment that comes with checking your reflection every few hours in the week following treatment.

Week 1: The Quiet Beginning
“Most patients notice very little in the first week.” Nurse Natalia tells us. “The treatment will have begun to work but the effects are subtle and can go unnoticed. Some may spot a slight softening in the intensity of their muscle movement towards the end of that first week. Most do not”. This is normal. This is expected. Do not panic.

Weeks 2-4: The Gradual Shift
This is where most people start to see what’s happening below the surface. Movement in the treated areas becomes noticeably softer. Lines begin to look less deep at rest. The effect looks gentle rather than dramatically frozen at this stage which, for most of our patients, is exactly what they’re hoping for.

“This is the window in which you’ll have your review appointment. Your medical practitioner will assess your results and discuss them with you. If a small tweak is required to perfect your results, this will be done at this time, with our compliments.” Nurse Natalia explains.

Weeks 5-7: Peak Results
By this point you’ll be seeing the full effect of your treatment. This is the sweet spot; the point at which the results look natural and their most you-but-more-rested. Not frozen. Not strange. Just refreshed.

Nurse Jane tells us “This is the point at which we usually recommend timing your results for if you have a special event, like a wedding or a party, where you want your results to be optimal”.

Weeks 8-12: The Slow Return
Slowly, slowly movement begins to return to the treated muscles. This is the nature of the treatment, temporary by design. The gradual return is part of what makes the treatment so appealing to many.

Weeks 12+: Planning Your Next Appointment
The majority of our patients have this appointment scheduled in before they leave the clinic following their review appointment. If they don’t, then it’s usually the time when they’re reminded to book as the effect have largely faded.

The typical treatment pattern is every 3 to 4 months. Your practitioner will advise you on this.

The Subtlety Question

Let’s address the thing that is often left unsaid.

The fear is not really that the treatment won’t work. The fear is that it will work more than they want it to; that you will look like a strange, stiff, emotionless version of yourself.

“It’s a valid concern.” Says Nurse Natalia. “And it is one worth taking seriously, because it can happen. Usually, this happens when treatment isn’t tailored well to the individual; the same approach is applied to every face regardless of skin quality, unique anatomy differences, or personal preference”.

At Care Quality Commission-regulated clinic, the starting point is always you. You are at the centre of the care provided. How much movement do you want to preserve? What areas are bothering you the most? What, if anything, have you tried before and how did you feel about it? The discussion in your consultation shapes the treatment, not the other way around.

Our goal isn’t to eliminate expression entirely. It is to soften the signs of repetitive movement whilst keeping you looking unmistakably you.