Those lines that fan out from the corners of your eyes when you smile or squint — the ones that used to appear only with a big grin and now seem to be there all the time. They have a cause, and there's a treatment that addresses it directly.
Around each eye sits a circular muscle called the orbicularis oculi. Every time you smile, squint or laugh, that muscle contracts and the skin around your eyes creases. In your twenties and thirties the skin springs back smooth. But over years the same crease forms in the same place thousands of times, and eventually the lines become etched — visible even when your face is at rest.
Two things make crow's feet appear earlier or deeper than they should: sun damage, which breaks down the collagen that keeps skin resilient, and the simple fact that skin around the eyes is the thinnest on the body. Thin skin shows creases sooner. That's why crow's feet are often the first expression lines people notice.
It's not neglect and it's not ageing gone wrong — it's a muscle doing what muscles do, repeated for years, on skin that shows it sooner than anywhere else.
Crow's feet are dynamic lines — they're created by muscle movement, not by something sitting on the surface of the skin. A cream can hydrate the skin around your eyes and make it look slightly smoother, and that's worth doing. But no cream reaches the muscle underneath. The lines appear because the muscle contracts and creases the skin, and the only way to soften that is to reduce the muscle action that creates them.
That's the gap between skincare and treatment: skincare maintains the surface, treatment addresses the mechanism. Both have a place, but they do different things.
How we treat it
Anti-wrinkle injections relax the orbicularis oculi muscle so it contracts less forcefully. Less contraction means less creasing, and the lines soften — not frozen, just softer, while your face keeps moving naturally.
Crow's feet are a muscle problem, so the treatment has to work on the muscle. Anti-wrinkle injections are the most-studied aesthetic treatment in the world precisely because they address the mechanism directly: the muscle that creates the lines is gently relaxed, the creasing reduces, and the lines fade. Nothing else — no facial, no peel, no device — does this, because nothing else reaches the muscle.
Where crow's feet are very deep and etched, a combination approach sometimes works better: anti-wrinkle to stop the creasing, then a skin treatment to rebuild the skin's resilience. That's a conversation for your consultation, not a package to sell you.
A free consultation first — Georgie or Esther will look at your face, check your medical history, and tell you honestly whether anti-wrinkle treatment is right for you. The treatment itself takes about 15 minutes: a few small injections around the eyes, no downtime, and you carry on with your day. Results build over the following two weeks, and you'll be offered a free review at that point to fine-tune if needed.
It's not suitable during pregnancy or breastfeeding, or for certain neuromuscular conditions — the consultation covers all of this openly.
Anti-wrinkle treatment softens crow's feet very effectively when the lines are muscle-driven — which most are. The aim is a rested, natural look: your face still moves, you still smile, the lines are just less visible. If the lines are deeply etched from years of sun damage as well as muscle action, a single treatment may not fully smooth them — and we'll tell you that honestly, along with what combination approach might help. Being sold a result that can't be delivered is bad value at any price.
Want the full picture on pricing first? Read how Botox pricing works in Basingstoke. Or see the full anti-wrinkle treatment page.
Anti-wrinkle injections relax the muscle around your eyes that creates the lines when you smile or squint. It's the most direct fix because it targets the cause, not the surface. Creams can't reach the muscle.
Crow's feet are caused by the orbicularis oculi muscle — the circular muscle around the eyes that contracts every time you smile, squint or laugh. Over years, the skin creases in the same place repeatedly, and the lines become etched even at rest. Sun damage and thinning skin around the eyes make them appear earlier and deeper.
Crow's feet are dynamic lines — caused by muscle movement, not skin surface. Creams sit on the skin's surface and can hydrate the skin, but they cannot reach or relax the muscle underneath. To soften crow's feet you need to reduce the muscle action that creates them, which is what anti-wrinkle injections do.
Results typically last three to four months. Many clients book a top-up around then to keep the effect consistent. Your free 14-day review helps us judge the right interval for you.
Book a free consultation. We'll look at your skin, tell you honestly what will and won't help, and give you a plan — not a sales pitch.
Book a free consultation