When I told my 21-year-old daughter I was considering having Botox, she spat: "What are you having that for?"

I looked into her peaches and cream face. She's at that perfect age when the blemishes have gone and the lines haven't appeared, and I thought, maybe she would consider a little help when she is my age.

Growing older is difficult. Every morning when I look into the mirror, the face that looks back at me is not the face I recognise from ten, 15 or even a few years ago.

"Look at Ann Robinson she looks fantastic after her face lift." I retaliate.

I might not be as brazen as Ann, and go under the knife, but a few injections to smooth away those frown lines, laughter lines and lines around the mouth can't be that drastic.

Plucking up the courage, I went to see Dr Bob Khanna, who has a clinic at Mulberry's in Beaconsfield. He has been a cosmetic dental surgeon to the stars, footballers' wives, and names glamour model Jo Guest as one of his clients.

Dr Khanna looked into my face. I wondered how many lines he could see, and whether I was a hopeless case. Had I left it too late?

His verdict was positive he could take away my frown lines, lines around my eyes, and smokers's lines.

"Smokers's line! I don't smoke," I retorted.

"We call the lines around your mouth smokers's lines," he said.

Botox was to be used to take away the lines around my forehead and eyes. And Hydra Fill, a dermal filler, was to give my lips more definition. Although both treatments smoothe out the lines, they are very different.

Botox is a toxin derived from the Botulinum Bacterium.

The thought of having a toxin injected into my skin did concern me.

"It has no toxicity in the dose used for cosmetic purposes," Dr Khanna reassured.

For it to be toxic more than 3,000 units had to be used, the amount used in the treatment is less than 100.

Botox works on specific muscles in the face which are responsible for habitual frowning, or laughter lines around the sides of the eyes, and these muscles are carefully targeted by using the correct dose to immobilise the muscle in that position, whereby reducing or eliminating movement of that area of skin, and thereby reducing or softening the appearance of the line and wrinkles.

Anyone can have Botox, except for pregnant and nursing mothers, people on certain antibiotics or blood pressure tables or certain allergies.

When I asked him what was the best age to start having botox, expecting the answer to be around 35 to 40 I was years out.

"When you start noticing lines on your face which you want to prevent from getting worse. There is no upper age limit, but we will wait for the person to stop growing. Generally you shouldn't administer Botox before 21, having said that, in America it is not uncommon for 16 to 18 year olds to have it done as a purely preventative process."

The reason to start having Botox the moment you see a little furrow or a thin laughter line is that you can actually prevent the lines from appearing.

"If you keep up regular sessions with Botox treatment, the less you will need, because the muscles you are targeting are becoming weaker. The next time you need treatment, the less toxin is used to immobilise that muscle," explains Dr Khanna.

Initially the treatment lasts for three to four months, but people who have it done regularly it can last up to a year.

As with any treatment there are side affects drooping of the eyebrow and eyelid, redness and bruising.

Fearing this, I lay back in the chair, and Dr Khanna, armed with his needle, pricked my forehead as if it was a pincushion. It wasn't painful, though, and over before I could say "face lift".

Having the dermal filler was a different matter entirely.

Dermal fillers is a gel-like substance which is designed to be injected in the skin to enable the plumping up of the area.

Dermal fillers is made from collagen or hyaluronic acid (HA).

Unlike Botox which only required tiny pin-pricks, with a dermal filler the area around your mouth is anaesthetised first.

"I don't want big lips," I insisted. With Lesley Ash's trout-lips firmly imprinted in my mind.

I was assured that I wouldn't, although swelling of the area along with redness is a short-term side effect.

Shahla Moody, a cosmetic nurse, administered the dermal filler. My lips felt like I'd been stung by a bee, and they did become swollen. The swelling was noticeable for a couple of days. For a week my lips felt hard, and I did have that pouting look, but it did go.

Don't have your big occasion where you want to look fabulous the day after you have had Botox and dermal fillers. It takes about a week for the treatments to settle down.

Now when I look into the mirror, the person staring back at me no longer has those tired lines around her eyes and lips.

But the best compliment came when I bumped into a friend a week later.

"What have you had done? Your face it looks so much brighter."

Botox really does work, after all.

Hydra Fill costs from £190 and Botox costs from £205. Mulberry's, at 22 London Road, Beaconsfield, is having an informal medical suite open evening on Wednesday, September 14, 7pm - 9pm. Topics covered are cosmetic surgery, hair removal, brow freezing, collagen, micro dermabrasion, permanent make up and colonic hydrotherapy. Cosmetic surgeons Mr Yannis Alexandrides and Mr John Dickinson will give advice. On the evening there will be a prize draw with one guest winning cosmetic treatments. Admittance by ticket only.

Tickets: 01494 689068.