‘She injected the wrong muscle’: Woman goes in for Botox. Now her smile is crooked
A published model is urging folks to stay away from Botox after her latest session left her with a “crooked” smile. Isabelle (@belleboo) posted a series of TikToks sharing her PSA, collectively earning over 30,000 views as of writing.
Botched Botox
Isabelle reveals in her videos that she got 50 units of Botox put into her face, mainly her jaw, to help with her teeth grinding at night. She kept her followers updated as the days went by. However, she started to notice something was off around the four-day mark.
“I don’t know whether to laugh or cry,” Isabelle says before attempting to smile at the camera.
The left side of her mouth can barely move while the right side smiles widely as normal. Isabelle continued to post update videos, with her most viral uploaded at the two-week mark.
What happened?
Isabelle attributes the “paralyzed” smile to a bad job. She claims the person administering the Botox injected the wrong muscle.
“She [wasn’t] supposed to get anywhere near my chin,” Isabelle wrote in a comment. According to the TikToker, she went in to get Botox for her masseter muscles (jaw) and her forehead. At two weeks, her smile is crooked, and her forehead still has wrinkles.
“I have bitten my lip multiple times while eating,” Isabelle says, showing the bite marks.
In another follow-up, Isabelle says the woman who injected her offered her to “fix it.” But she was hesitant to do another session.
“Guys, I’m really scared,” Isabelle says. The creator continued to share videos showing how fed up she was that she couldn’t smile. At one point, she goes to the same injector to “touch up” the botch job. However, the injector messages her that she ran out of Botox, so she never gets it done.
At this point, Isabelle demanded a refund, which she received after threatening to leave a bad review.
Viewers swear off Botox
Several of Isabelle’s viewers thanked her for showing the other side of getting Botox.
“Thanks for being brave enough to show us what could go wrong,” one user wrote. “Hope it wears off soon!” Another said, “Omg this is why I’m terrified of getting botox.”
One viewer warned against med spas as the workers aren’t as trained as professional clinics.
“Always go to a plastic surgeon for injections,” they wrote. “Med spas hire anyone and can take a 2 hour course and start injecting.”
Some defended the injector, sharing how Botox is already a risk in itself.
“It doesn’t necessarily mean the injector did anything wrong,” one wrote. “Sometimes Botox could spread to an unintended muscle. Even the best of the best injectors have caused patients this result. That is usually in the consent forms.”
You get a Botox, you get a Botox
The BBC reports that about 3 million people get Botox (botulinum neurotoxin) every year. The stigma around Botox being only for celebrities or older people has fallen away in the 2020s. Where before Botox was only used to address wrinkles, Gen Z and millennials have sparked debate after using it as a preventative aging procedure. It’s no longer taboo to get Botox, though some still oppose the fact that many young people now use it.
With this rise in procedures, there has also been more awareness of the side effects of the cosmetic practice.
The BBC article reported that in April 2024, the CDC “released an alert warning that 22 women between the ages of 25 and 59 had recently reported ‘harmful reactions’ to counterfeit or mishandled Botox.”
It seems Isabelle’s commenter was right. The article shared how there was a concern of botulism in six women, which is a result of the toxin spreading beyond the local site. The news site reported on another case in 2023 where 67 botulism cases were the result of Botox weight loss injections done in Turkey.
However, it’s important to note that several of these botched cases stemmed from counterfeit Botox. Per the article, if the procedure is administered properly and with the right toxin, the side effects are rare.
How’s Isabelle today?
In the end, Isabelle decided to wait it out and shared an update at the three-week mark.
“It’s looking a lot better,” Isabelle says, smiling at the camera. Her smile appears more relaxed than in her previous videos and reveals she has had some progress. “I’m glad I didn’t touch up the other side.”
@belleboo Botox 2 week crooked smile update ? #botoxgonewrong ♬ original sound – Isabelle ❤️
Update June 9, 2025:
In an Instagram direct message to the Mary Sue, Isabelle declared she had still not fully recovered. She shared how this was not her first time getting Botox, but was the first time getting it with that specific injector.
“I asked for Botox on my smile lines and she warned me that it would paralyze my smile so I said, ‘OK let’s not do that I do not want to mess with it,'” she wrote.
According to Isabelle, the injector agreed we would not touch her smile areas.
“And then proceeded to inject all along my jawline and chin area, which was something no one had done before,” she said. “I always had it applied only near the hinge of my jaw on my masseters.
Isabelle shared how she was “extremely disappointed” and “cried nonstop” when she noticed her smile becoming crooked.
“I am a freelance model so this prevented me from taking on clients and having people hire me because I couldn’t smile,” she shared.
She posted her story because she wanted others to see the risk of Botox.
“I do not intend on getting Botox anytime soon,” she concludes. “If I ever choose to go again, I will make sure it is with someone who has more expertise/experience.”
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