How To Smooth The Forehead Without Botox From Experts + 3 At-Home Tips

One of the first places I started seeing permanent fine lines develop is on my forehead. They're faint horizontal etches that rest equidistance between my brow and hairline and are slightly more pronounced above my brows. 

Everyone gets folds and lines here when they move their face, even kids and teens. This is a normal function of the skin, as it's elastic and movable.

When these wrinkles stick around when the face is at rest, that's when folks start looking for more serious interventions. These permanent lines are what we call static wrinkles. 

Over the last decade or so, the quick answer to forehead lines became neuromodulators, which are injectables that freeze the muscle to limit movement. Most folks call these injectables Botox, even if there are several different brands of neuromodulators on the market. There are many, many wonderful uses for Botox and other neuromodulators, from muscle tension relief and limiting sweat production to, yes, addressing aesthetic concerns. 

However, these injectables have sometimes earned a bad reputation, mostly due to misuse or overuse. Think waxlike frozen faces and adverse reactions such as droopy eyelids.

And one of the areas they're often used inappropriately is the forehead. 

"Stop freezing your forehead with Botox," notes board-certified dermatologist Doris Day, M.D., in this Instagram Reel. "Your forehead muscle is lifting your brows. It's not so much a facial expression as a functional movement. As we age—even as young as in our 20s—the brows come down a bit. The eyelids then start to feel a little bit heavy. That sends a signal to the brain to contract that muscle to lift the brows." 

However, she notes neuromodulators get in the way of this function. "If you try to freeze and erase all that movement, the brain is still trying to do it. But it can't because we've blocked the connection," she says. "So anytime there's a muscle that's missed or a piece of that muscle that's missed, it's still going to move. So you'll make different lines, and you're going to age yourself faster."

But as she continues: "There are other ways to get that lifting effect," she says, noting that devices like Sofwave or filler can help. "Botox to balance is fine—I do that every day. But where I'm putting in Botox is not to freeze it but to balance out the movement so you can get a proper lift, and that will help minimize fine lines. Being able to move isn't bad!"

The truth is nothing is going to give you the results of neuromodulators other than neuromodulators. (Try not to fall for claims such as "natural Botox" or "Botox in a jar"). But for many beauty fans—myself included—that's the point. I don't necessarily want to mimic the look or results of neuromodulators; I just want to find solutions to help smooth my skin. 

Here, how to help smooth forehead wrinkles at home. 

One fantastic habit to get into for overall skin (and mental!) health is regular facial massage. Research shows that facial massage helps improve circulation within the skin, bringing with it nutrients to help rebuild collagen, elastin, and the skin barrier. And anecdotally, it can also help manage stress, reduce muscle tension, improve lymphatic flow, and give a natural glow to the skin. 

Holistic beauty expert Katey Kristabelle—founder of Mindful Beauty, esthetician, certified nutrition coach, and integrative massage therapist—recently shared some tips on how to smooth forehead lines with facial massage in this TikTok. (Watch it to the left.)

Kristabelle explains that with facial massage you can get a smooth forehead, as it helps, "support and relax the muscles, unbind the fascia, and support lymphatic flow," she says. 

"So let's look at the frontalis muscle. These muscles are actually connected all the way through the scalp and to the back muscles. Remember everything is all connected," she says. "So my biggest tip for folks when you're doing gua sha and focusing on the forehead is to not stop at the hairline." 

Placing one set of fingers on her brows, she slowly drags the flat side of her gua sha stone up toward the hairline. "I like to use a supportive hand so I get a nice fascia stretch," she says. "You might feel knotted areas that you want to focus on later."

Microcurrent facials are a noninvasive yet highly effective treatment for lifting aging skin. They're often found in dermatologists' and estheticians' offices, but there are also at-home tools that are very effective.

These tools emit low (micro) levels of electrical currents that are actually similar to the ones your brain sends to your skin and muscles. 

"Our brains use currents to communicate through our neurological pathways, where it's constantly sending signals. What we're doing with this technology is mimicking those currents and delivering them to our facial muscles," says biomedical engineer and holistic skin care expert Pooja Johari, M.S., founder of 7E Wellness.

"The thing is, the facial muscles can't tell whether the signal is coming from the brain or this device." 

You can also think of microcurrent like a workout for your face. "It stimulates the facial muscles underneath the skin, which will help to improve the facial contour, tone the skin, and reduce wrinkles," says celebrity esthetician Shani Darden.

Many signs of aging can be attributed to the fact that our facial muscles weaken as we get older. When the muscles sag underneath the skin, so does the skin on top of it. So, by building them back up through microcurrents, your entire face will appear more toned and lifted.

If it seems like the skin care ingredient peptides are having a moment, well, it's because they are. In the last year, we've seen a number of peptide formulas hit the market, from high to low and niche to mass. 

Peptides are chains of amino acids linked together by peptide bonds, and they can have many unique functions in the body and for the skin.

And depending on the type that's used, it can offer a wide variety of benefits: Some peptides specialize in hydration, some help support collagen production, and some act as messengers, sending chemical signals to build collagen, bolster the skin barrier, and smooth the skin. 

As someone who's dealing with fine lines on my forehead, I've become quite diligent in reporting on how to soothe fine lines, both at home and in a derm's office. While neuromodulators are excellent solutions for many concerns, they may not be the best solution for smoothing and lifting the forehead. (Sofwave may be a better bet.)