"Birthday Botox? Thanks, but no thanks."

Twenty seven is a funny age, right?

For those over 30, it’s infantile. For those under 21, it’s positively ancient. It’s the twilight of your early twenties, when you can kind of get away with wearing Doc Martens and not brushing your hair.

And yet, as you begin the slow slide towards 30, it’s also when you start really noticing that drinking wine every night WILL make you fat and your face is starting to look tired most of the time.

Well, apparently I wasn’t the only person noticing my tired face.

For my 27th birthday, one of my best friends gave me Botox.

“I was thinking we could go to the theatre, or I could take you shopping, or go to the day spa or something,” he said, “but I thought it would be more fun to get some Botox instead.”

Flabbergasted as I was, I still couldn’t help but laugh. It was ridiculous, but not entirely out of the realm of insanity I would expect from this particular pal. My friend is a devotee of the old face-freezer, and I have to say, he looks great. We’ve discussed the concept of Botox many, many times – but I have always maintained that wrinkles or not, I would never trade in the authenticity of my own face.

But this was different. I was being given a big, fat, hint: you’re looking OLD. And I am not alone.

In an article from the US, New York plastic surgeon Dr Michael Shapiro has noted a 25% increase in Christmas gifting of Botox.

“It’s usually a gift from a spouse or from a daughter or son to a mother” Dr. Shapiro said.

I can only assume in a world where brands are shouting slogans such as ‘Join us in the battle against aging!’ most people are under the impression that this is what all women want. To look younger.

I would be lying if I said that I was unbothered by the emerging landscape of wrinkles on my face. They are starting to etch themselves defiantly across my forehead, crinkling next to my eyes, and spreading down towards my mouth. My youthful baby face is starting to get a little older and I’m not sure how I feel about it. I am an older baby face. Wrinkly baby. Benjamin Button.

And yet, the idea of freezing the ageing process isn’t an attractive prospect to me either.

I believe that keeping yourself looking great on the outside comes down to little more than being healthy on the inside. Unless you’re Kate Moss; drinking, smoking, and eating like a garbage bin will inevitably lead to looking fairly sh*thouse on the outside. I know this because I used to do a lot of the aforementioned activities.

So, I like the idea of having to keep my health in check in order to maintain my face looking decent. It’s self-moderation in the name of vanity. Whatever works, right?

One of my favourite people in the world is Sarah-Jane Adams, Instagram superstar under the name “Saramai”.

At 60, she has recently starred on New York series ‘Advanced Style’, and is an emerging style icon, clad in cooler clothes than most half her age.

She has coined the phrase ‘my wrinkles are my stripes’, and has proudly spoken over and again about the beauty of aging – particularly in the face of growing pressure from the beauty industry. Sarah-Jane refuses to dye her grey hair, refuses to dress her age, and wears little other than a slick of bright lipstick on her face. She practices yoga, travels the world, and shines with a wonderful eccentrity – and yes, her wrinkles tell half that story. And I love that.

Birthday Botox? Thanks, but no thanks.