Smooth in the summer wedding photos, creases back by autumn. Here is how anti-wrinkle results build and fade, and the rebooking rhythm that keeps them even.
You loved the photographs from the summer wedding, smooth brow and bright eyes in every frame. By autumn, the two little creases between your brows have crept back. Did it wear off too soon, or is that simply how it works? Anti-wrinkle injections at Dr Joney De Souza Clinic in Marylebone come with a clear answer, and a rhythm to go with it.
| Performed by | Appointment | Downtime | Results |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dr Joney De Souza or Dr Mattia Parducci | About 15 minutes | None, straight back to your day | Begin in three to five days, settle at two weeks |
Three to four months is the answer for most faces. When researchers followed 80 women treated for frown lines for a full year, most kept the benefit for three to four months, and some held it for up to twelve. Our own experience at the clinic matches that curve.
The effect arrives gently, peaks, holds, and then fades just as gently as the muscle wakes up. Knowing that curve is what lets you time each visit so the lines never fully return between appointments. Every treatment here is planned and placed by Dr Joney De Souza or Dr Mattia Parducci, who map your muscles in motion and use small, measured doses.
On the day itself you leave with nothing to show but perhaps a faint pink dot or a tiny bump at each point. Those settle within an hour or two, well before you reach the end of the street. Your face moves exactly as it did that morning, because the treatment has not yet begun to work.
Knowing that curve is what lets you time each visit so the lines never fully return between appointments.
Somewhere between day three and day five, the change begins. You frown at your phone screen and notice the skin between your brows folds more softly. Crow’s feet appear when you laugh, but they are finer and fade faster once the smile has gone.
The softening builds through the second week. By around day fourteen the effect has fully settled, and this is the true picture of your result. Under the harsh overhead light of a lift mirror, the forehead looks calm, smooth and evenly lit.
Your review appointment falls at two to three weeks. The doctors look at your face at full effect and make any small adjustment it needs. You can read how each area is mapped on our anti-wrinkle injections page, which includes the full list of treatable lines.
The treatment works by temporarily easing the nerve signal that tells a muscle to contract. Over the following months, that signal gradually finds its way back. The muscle regains its strength little by little, and the lines it creates return just as slowly.
This is one of the most reassuring things about the treatment. There is no sudden morning when the forehead snaps back into deep creases. Instead you notice a faint line in a photograph, then a little more movement when you raise your brows at the breakfast table.
The pace differs from face to face. A strong frown muscle that has worked hard for decades tends to reawaken sooner than a lighter one. Your first round also teaches the doctors a great deal about how your particular muscles respond to each dose.
The 2005 trial is useful because it did not stop at the usual few weeks. Each woman was seen monthly for up to a year after a single treatment, and her lines were scored at rest and at full frown. That long view shows the whole arc rather than the peak alone.
Dose made a clear difference to how long the result lasted. On the lightest of the four doses the lines had returned in most women by four months. On the three higher doses only around a third had relapsed by then. Satisfaction stayed high across every group.
For you, that means the length of a result is partly a choice made with the doctors. A lighter dose keeps more movement and returns sooner, and a fuller dose holds longer with a stiller brow. The doctors tell you which way your plan leans before the first point is marked.
The rhythm that keeps results even is simple. Book your next treatment as you first notice movement returning, usually around the three to four month mark. Treating at that moment means the lines are never allowed to deepen fully. The skin then stays smooth from one visit to the next.
Waiting until every crease is back is perfectly fine, but it gives you a few weeks of full movement each cycle. Rebooking slightly earlier keeps the face consistently fresh, which many people prefer when they have photographs, presentations or a busy social season ahead.
Booking before a big occasion follows the same logic in reverse. Count back at least two weeks from the event so the effect has fully settled, and ideally three so the review can fit in. A wedding, a milestone birthday or a holiday then lands right at your peak.
Three or four visits a year is the usual pattern. Some people settle into a seasonal habit, with a visit as the clocks change. Others simply book the next appointment as they leave, so the forehead you see in the mirror stays smooth from one season to the next.
Not every area follows exactly the same arc. The forehead, the frown and the crow’s feet share the familiar three to four month pattern. The frown is a compact, powerful group of muscles, so you may notice the two little vertical lines stir slightly before the forehead does.
The neck bands keep a rhythm of their own. The platysma is the thin sheet of muscle that draws the neck into vertical cords. Relaxing it softens those bands and eases the downward pull along the jawline. The neck then reads smoother in photographs and the line from chin to collarbone looks longer.
Smaller areas such as the chin, the bunny lines at the side of the nose or the corners of the mouth take tiny doses. They follow the same broad rhythm and are usually refreshed at the same visit as the main areas. The whole face then fades and returns together.
A mini brow lift relaxes the muscles that pull the tail of the brow downward, letting it sit a few millimetres higher. As the effect fades, the brow eases back gradually rather than dropping. Your eyes look open and bright for months before any change becomes visible.
Some patients find the effect lasts a little longer with regular treatment. A muscle that is repeatedly relaxed grows used to working less hard. Over a year, that can stretch the gap between visits and keep the skin calmer for longer between each one.
The long-term picture is striking. A 2006 report in the Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery compared identical twin sisters, one treated regularly in the forehead and frown for 13 years and one treated only twice. The regularly treated twin showed no lines etched at rest in those areas, while her sister did.
Each time a line is spared from folding, the skin above it has a chance to rest. Fine creases that were starting to etch into the forehead soften over successive rounds, and the light falls more evenly across the brow. The clinic’s overview of anti-wrinkle treatments covers the different areas in more depth.
Anti-wrinkle injections relax movement, but they do not rebuild skin that has thinned or fill a groove that stays etched when your face is still. Those changes sit in the skin itself. Profhilo restores bounce to thinning skin, and our guide to wrinkled skin sets out the other options the doctors pair with injections.
Many faces need a little of both. The injections keep the muscle from folding the skin again, and the skin treatment improves the surface it folds. Your VISIA images or a close look under the clinic light show which part of a line belongs to movement and which to the skin.
Your first visit is with Dr Joney De Souza (GMC 7008632) or Dr Mattia Parducci (GMC 7635663). They watch your face move, check your medical history and agree the plan and dose with you. The treatment itself takes about fifteen minutes and needs no anaesthetic.
Some questions shape the timing as much as the dose. When were you last treated, and how long did that result hold for you? Are you pregnant or breastfeeding, do you take any regular medicines, and is there an event in the diary? Your answers set the date of your next visit as well as this one.
Every area is mapped from your own expressions, and the Nefertiti neck lift is planned as an area of its own with its own rhythm. The plan and its investment are set out at the consultation, so the top-up schedule you leave with already fits your face.
On average, people return three or four times a year to keep things even. The consultation gives the real answer for your face, because how quickly your muscles wake up is something the doctors learn with you over the first round or two.
The clinic is in Marylebone, close to Harley Street, a short walk from Bond Street and Oxford Circus. It is easy to fit a fifteen-minute appointment into a working day in central London. More than 270 Google reviewers have given it a 4.9 rating.
If your last result has faded and you would like the next one to stay even, come in and set your rhythm with the doctors. Anti-wrinkle injections in London work best as a steady habit, and a smooth, rested brow all year is easy to keep once the timing is right.
Short clips filmed at Dr Joney De Souza Clinic in Marylebone, so you can see how anti-wrinkle injections is carried out before you book.
Whether this is your first round or your fifth, Dr Joney De Souza and Dr Mattia Parducci will plan the timing that keeps your face smooth all year. Call us on 020 7043 0748, or message the team on WhatsApp to book.
Timing is the topic people ask about most once they have had a first treatment. These are the questions we hear at the clinic, with answers that help you plan each visit.
Most people spot the first softening between day three and day five. It tends to show first in the strongest muscle, often the frown, and then spreads across the treated area over the following days. Give it a full fortnight before judging the result, because the last few days bring the final smoothing.
Strong muscles sometimes reawaken sooner, especially in a first round, when the dose is deliberately cautious. The review at two to three weeks is the best time to fine-tune this. If your result fades early, tell the doctors at your next visit, and they will adjust the plan with that history in mind.
Not at all. Letting the effect fade fully is safe and simply means a few weeks of full movement before your next visit. The only trade-off is that lines have time to fold again during that gap. People who want a steady, even look tend to rebook slightly before the effect has gone.
For most faces, every three to four months keeps the skin smooth. The right gap is the point at which you first notice movement creeping back, so it is personal. After a round or two you will recognise the signs, such as a faint crease reappearing in a selfie, and book accordingly.
For some people, yes. Muscles that are relaxed again and again can grow accustomed to working less hard, and the gaps between visits gradually lengthen. In one 2005 trial, a few women held their result for up to twelve months. It is not guaranteed, and the doctors track how your result holds from one round to the next.
The neck follows much the same timeline as the forehead, with the cords at the front softening over the first fortnight. The platysma is broad and thin, so the doctors spread small doses along each band rather than at a single point. The effect then holds for a few months, and treatment is repeated to keep the neck smooth and the jawline clean.
You can, as long as the timing allows the result to settle. Booking a little early, rather than waiting for full movement to return, means you arrive at the occasion with the treatment at its best. Mention the date when you call and the team will help you choose the right appointment.
Aim for three to four weeks before the day. That leaves two weeks for the effect to settle fully and time for the review, should anything need a small adjustment. Booking much earlier than six weeks ahead is fine too, since the result holds for several months and will still be strong.
The review is part of the same treatment rather than a new one, so it does not restart the clock. Any small addition made there simply evens out the result you already have. The three to four month lifespan is counted from your original appointment, which is why booking the next one follows that date.
Your face simply returns to its usual movement over the following months. As each muscle regains its strength, the lines it creates come back gradually. You can restart at any point, and the doctors will map your face afresh when you return, starting from how your muscles move on that day.
