No more Botox parties

The administration of Botox will now become a medical procedure, under new guidelines issued by the UK's General Medical Council.

The drug has only ever been available through doctors, but formerly it could be administered by anyone - including you or me - and the new guidelines are designed to tighten up this loophole.

Botox has come under much criticism in recent months for being too readily available at parties, or as a lunchtime procedure - even being injected into women who were drunk, and with no records kept of who had used it or where. Since it works by causing facial paralysis, it's good to see that its use will now be more closely monitored by the medical profession. 

Personally, I am against the use of Botox, but this is entirely on feminist grounds - I feel that men and women alike should embrace our facial expressions and be proud of the changes that occur in our faces and bodies as we age. I also dislike the idea of injecting a deadly toxin into my face.

However, there is very little evidence that Botox is actually harmful - it has been used by doctors for decades to freeze facial tics and twitches. 

I hear that Simon Cowell, the darling, doesn't know anyone who doesn't use Botox, according to the Daily Mail. Well maybe he should get out more. Its applications are clearly limited. Using Botox may be making him look younger, but it hasn't made him less of a shit, has it?