If you’re looking for Botox in Scottsdale, you have a lot of choices and most of them look the same from the outside: a price per unit, a before-and-after, a “book now” button. This page is different on purpose. It tells you how we dose, what things actually cost, which areas respond, and the one thing almost nobody explains: why Botox seems to stop working for so many people, and what to do about it.

I’m Beatrice Moorefield, an aesthetic registered nurse and licensed aesthetician, and the protocol on this page is mine. Botox here is injected by me or by a certified aesthetic registered nurse who is also a Certified Laser Technician on my team, under the oversight of our Medical Director, Abbey Jensen, MSN, FNP-C. We’d rather give you slightly less than you need and see you back in two weeks than give you too much and have you avoid mirrors for three months.

Schedule your free consultation — new clients hold their spot with a $50 deposit, credited to treatment or refunded after the visit.

What does Botox actually do, and which areas can it treat?

Botox temporarily relaxes the small muscles that fold your skin when you frown, squint or raise your brows, so the lines those movements make soften and the skin gets a rest. It is FDA-approved for frown lines, crow’s feet, forehead lines and vertical neck bands, and experienced injectors also use it in several areas that are not on the label.

The neck-band approval is recent: the FDA cleared Botox Cosmetic for platysma bands in October 2024. Everything else we treat is off-label, which is normal in cosmetic medicine but worth saying out loud: bunny lines, gummy smile, lip flip and masseter slimming are off-label uses, and Allergan’s own announcement of its masseter trials states that Botox Cosmetic is currently not approved by the FDA for the masseter. Here we treat:

• Forehead lines
• Frown lines, the “11s” between the brows
• Crow’s feet
• Bunny lines on the nose
• Brow lift
• Lip flip
• Gummy smile
• Chin dimpling
• Neck bands
• Masseter, for jaw slimming and clenching

Botox does nothing for lines that are etched into the skin at rest, sun damage, loss of volume or texture. Those are skin problems, not muscle problems, and we treat them with laser resurfacing, RF microneedling and a real home routine, often alongside Botox rather than instead of it.

Will I look frozen? How we dose for natural-looking results

No, if it is dosed to your face rather than to a standard number, and the way we make sure of that is to under-do your first visit on purpose. Every new client here gets a deliberately conservative dose and a complimentary check-in at two weeks, because adding a few units is easy and taking them out is impossible.

I tell every new client the same thing: because you’re new to me, I’m going to inject you more conservatively than you may be used to, even if your last injector gave you a lot more. I don’t know your muscles yet. A conservative first dose is safer, it saves you money, and it avoids the side effects people hate most, like a heavy feeling across the forehead or a mildly droopy lid. If you want more at two weeks, the follow-up is normally complimentary, and that visit is where I learn what you actually want your face to do. The reason I can afford to be conservative is that I book the follow-up for every client, not just the ones who ask.

That’s also why the “frozen” look happens elsewhere. It isn’t the product; it’s a full dose given to a stranger on the first visit with no plan to see them again.

How many units of Botox do I need?

It depends on how strong your muscles are and how much your lines show when you make expressions, not on a menu. The same area can take five units in one person and thirty in another, which is why we assess you moving, not just at rest.

These are the ranges I have actually used in this clinic, not textbook averages. For clients 30 and over, I start at the low end and let the two-week visit tell me if more is needed.

Area	Units I have used here	Approximate cost at $12/unit	FDA label status
Forehead lines	5 to 30	$60 to $360	On-label
Frown lines (11s)	6 to 30	$72 to $360	On-label
Crow’s feet	4 to 15 per side	$96 to $360	On-label
Masseter (jaw)	from 12 per side on a first visit; more for established clients	from $288	Off-label
Bunny lines, brow lift, lip flip, gummy smile, chin, neck bands	assessed at consultation	varies	Neck bands on-label; the rest off-label

The most common mistake I see isn’t too few units, it’s too many too early. If someone has been getting 60 units in the forehead for years and is still frustrated, more units are rarely the answer; the skin underneath is usually the problem, and that’s the next section.

How much does Botox cost in Scottsdale?

At Skin With Bea, Botox is $12 per unit, so a first visit for the frown lines usually lands between $72 and $360 depending on how many units you need, and a complimentary touch-up is included on each of your first three Botox visits. The consultation is free; new clients hold their spot with a $50 deposit that goes toward treatment or products, or is refunded on request.

Per-unit pricing is the honest way to price Botox, because it means a conservative dose costs you less, not the same. “Botox specials” that quote a flat price per area tend to work the other way: the clinic has already decided your dose before seeing your face. If you plan on maintaining results, ask about our membership at your consultation; it’s built for clients who come back on a schedule rather than for one-off visits.

What you’re paying for beyond the vial is judgment and a follow-up. Both are included.

Why did my Botox stop working?

True resistance, where the body makes neutralizing antibodies against the toxin, is uncommon: a 2022 review in Aesthetic Surgery Journal put the overall rate at 1.8%, lower still for Botox itself. Far more often, the skin underneath has kept aging, so each visit needs more units and holds for less time.

This is the number one reason new clients come to me. They tell me their Botox “stopped working” and they are looking for an injector who can make it last longer. What very few people have told them is that Botox only relaxes a muscle; it does nothing to the skin. If you spend years in the Arizona sun without sunscreen and never use a retinoid, your skin keeps thinning and creasing while the muscle underneath is quiet, so the lines come back sooner and need more product to hide. It’s worth knowing that the Botox label itself says more frequent injections and higher doses may lead to a greater incidence of antibody formation, so “just inject more, more often” is the one strategy that can make the rare problem more likely while doing nothing for the common one.

So when you come in, you don’t just get injected. We look at the skin, and we build the part of the plan that makes Botox work better: daily broad-spectrum SPF 30 or higher, which the American Academy of Dermatology calls the single most important thing you can do for premature aging (the sunscreen we recommend is in the shop), and a retinoid, which the AAD describes as reducing fine lines and wrinkles. Clients who do that part notice, over the following year, that their Botox starts working better, that they need fewer units, and that it lasts longer. That’s the whole goal here: skin that protects you no matter how old you get, so you’re not dependent on a syringe to look like yourself.

How long does Botox last, and when does it start working?

The label says results last about three to four months, and that is what most people should expect; the manufacturer says you may start to see results in 1 to 2 days, with full results by 30 days. In our clients it has ranged from three months to eight, occasionally longer, and the difference is almost always skin health rather than metabolism or exercise.

Two clients, same area, same 80-unit question. A 32-year-old came to me who had been getting Botox regularly since 25. She works outdoors, drinks at events in the sun, and had stopped wearing sunscreen because she’d read it causes cancer. At 32 she needed 80 units across the upper face, and by two months her lines were fully back. A client in her sixties, treating the same area, needs 40 units, and her 40 units have lasted up to eight months, because she has used a prescription retinoid for years and protects her skin outdoors. The research points the same way: a 2019 study in the Journal of Clinical and Aesthetic Dermatology found heavy alcohol use was associated with more upper facial lines, on top of what sun does. Most people assume the fit, active, outdoorsy client burns through Botox faster because of exercise; in my experience it’s that outdoorsy and sun-protected rarely go together.

We book your check-in at two weeks because that’s when the result has settled enough to judge, and when the effect fades the muscle movement and the lines simply return, whether you loved the result or not.

Masseter Botox for jaw slimming and clenching

Botox in the masseter, the big chewing muscle at the angle of the jaw, relaxes it so it gradually shrinks, which can slim a square lower face and take some of the force out of clenching. Slimming builds slowly: a 2025 study in BMC Oral Health measured change by four weeks, with the greatest reduction at twelve.

For a first masseter visit I start at 12 units per side and reassess, because the goal is a softer jawline, not a hollow one. It’s an off-label use, so we go through it properly at your consultation; for units, cost, side effects and who it isn’t right for, see my full guide to masseter Botox in Scottsdale.

When should I start Botox? Preventative and “baby” Botox

Start when lines are beginning to show at rest, not when you reach an age. If you’re 23 and your skin is smooth when your face is relaxed, Botox has little to prevent yet, and sunscreen and a retinoid will do more for your 40-year-old self than any injection.

“Baby Botox” just means a lower dose over the same areas, which, as you’ve read, is how every first visit here works anyway. Where I do slow people down is at both ends. Someone under about 23 with no lines at rest will hear from me what to expect, which is usually “not much yet,” and I’d rather send you home with a routine than a bill. And someone 40-plus whose skin is visibly sun-damaged needs to know that Botox alone is unlikely to give them the result they’re picturing; unhealthy, thinned skin doesn’t bounce back just because the muscle is quiet. In that case we start the skin work first and try Botox in three months to a year, when it can actually show.

What should I expect after Botox, and what should I avoid?

Expect a few tiny bumps that settle within the hour, maybe a small bruise, and nothing visible for a day or two while the product starts to bind. The American Academy of Dermatology’s advice is simple: do not rub or massage the treated areas, and wait two hours before strenuous exercise.

You may hear of a “four-hour rule” about staying upright; we ask you to stay upright for 2 hours. Makeup can go on gently once any pinpoint marks have closed. If you get a headache in the first day or two, that’s a known, temporary effect. Your two-week check-in is already booked before you leave, so if anything looks uneven, or you simply want more, you don’t have to ask.

Is Botox safe? Side effects and who shouldn’t have it

Botox’s side effects are well mapped: in the label’s clinical trials, eyelid droop occurred in 3% of people treated for frown lines, and headache in 9% of those treated for forehead lines, with brow droop in 2%. All of these are temporary, and the conservative dosing on this page exists largely to make them rarer.

Some people shouldn’t have it, and we screen for this at the consultation. Per the label, Botox is contraindicated with a known hypersensitivity to any botulinum toxin product or an infection at the injection site, people with neuromuscular conditions such as ALS or myasthenia gravis need medical monitoring, and there are no adequate studies in pregnancy or breastfeeding, so we don’t treat during either. Botox is a prescription medication; here it is ordered under our Medical Director and injected only by a registered nurse.

Who should inject my Botox in Scottsdale?

Someone licensed to inject it, working under a medical director, who assesses your face in motion, doses conservatively and books your follow-up without being asked. Credentials matter, but the follow-up is the part that separates a good injector from a busy one.

At Skin With Bea your injector is Beatrice Moorefield, RN, LE, LSO, an aesthetic registered nurse and licensed aesthetician and a member of the International Society of Plastic and Aesthetic Nurses, or a certified aesthetic registered nurse who is also a Certified Laser Technician on her team following the same protocol, with medical oversight from Abbey Jensen, MSN, FNP-C. Nobody here works on commission, so nobody is paid to sell you more units. And because the consultation is free and includes a skin assessment, you leave with a plan even if the plan is “not Botox, not yet.”

Looking for Botox near you in Scottsdale, Paradise Valley or Phoenix?

We’re at 7054 E Cochise Road B100, Scottsdale, AZ 85253, on the Paradise Valley side of Scottsdale, and we see Botox clients from Phoenix, Arcadia, North Scottsdale, Fountain Hills, Cave Creek and Tempe. Hours are Monday to Friday 10am to 6pm and weekends 11am to 5pm, by appointment.

Schedule your free consultation or call (480) 405-0100. New clients hold their spot with a $50 deposit; after the visit it goes toward your treatment or products, or is refunded on request. Not ready for us yet? See how a consultation works and start on the part that makes Botox work better: the skin.

More questions I get about Botox

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Written by Beatrice Moorefield, RN, LE, LSO — aesthetic registered nurse, licensed aesthetician, skin health educator, and founder of Skin With Bea Esthetics, Scottsdale.