INTERVIEW
Monika Tutak-Goll
November 12, 2024
People often think that getting Botox will lead to a better life. That looking better equals a better partner, a better job. But no, Botox is not a guarantee of a better life. It never will be.
A conversation with Klaudia Witczak, the creator of the #Unbotoxed movement.
Monika Tutak-Goll: “The real ‘me’ is authenticity. I am not a puzzle of others’ imaginations. Every imperfection on my face represents my identity. In a world full of copies, let’s dare to be unique,” say the protagonists of the film Exceptionalin the social campaign Beauty is not copy-paste that you initiated.
Klaudia Witczak: – For the film, we invited extraordinary people—those who’ve turned their unique physical traits into strengths. These individuals, despite standing out, aren’t afraid of judgment and boldly proclaim: “Enough with uniform beauty standards. Enough with identical faces. We are different, and that makes us special.”
They’re also unafraid to show their bodies—beautiful but outside the beauty norms familiar to us from social media. Ola proudly displays her birthmarks, Marysia her gap teeth and a wild mane of red curls, while Łukasz reveals his porcelain-like delicate skin. They show us that giving in to the pressure of beauty standards isn’t worth it.
– Because it’s not. The pressure to conform to beauty standards is madness—unfortunately omnipresent. With this campaign, we wanted to encourage people to think and say out loud that everyone has the right to be authentic, to fight for their identity—something many lose in the process of trying to please others or fit in.
I dream of a world where appearance is no longer the ticket to a better life. Health and psychophysical well-being should be our priorities, not perfectly filled lips or Botox-smooth foreheads.
You speak about the pressure of beauty, but you were once an investor in an aesthetic medicine clinic where Botox and fillers were administered.
– And I saw younger and younger girls coming in for Botox. Some were gifted lip-enhancement treatments for their 18th birthdays. Each such case lit up another red flag in my mind. Why were they doing this? Why do women, teenagers, even young girls, dislike their appearance so much? What makes them want to look the same?
That’s why I decided to make a change, knowing full well it wouldn’t be easy.
Are you waging a war against Botox?
– I wouldn’t call it that. In fact, I think the word “war” is counterproductive—not just in business but in general. War has negative connotations; it creates conflict and shuts down dialogue. I’m not fighting Botox, nor am I judging those who use it—that’s their personal choice. I just want to raise awareness that there are healthy alternatives.
For now, we’re the only place in Poland that has consistently eliminated such treatments. “Revolution” is a better word than “war”; it signifies that something new is coming. I hope others will slowly start to follow us.
Once, after a dermatologist appointment, I was told, “You should enlarge your upper lip—it would make your mouth fuller.” I was stunned. Why should I have bigger lips? I’d always thought they suited me, but I went home and started examining myself. The doctor’s words echoed, and I thought, “Maybe my upper lip really isn’t okay?”
– That doctor crossed a line. I experienced something similar years ago when Botox was injected into my nose and forehead. It was a minimal dose, but I still felt like my expressions were frozen. I didn’t feel like myself. My nose was supposed to be “perfect.” But what does that even mean? Whose definition of “perfect” are we using?
That’s when I realized: I like my nose because it’s unique. It makes me memorable. With the supposedly “perfect” version, it felt like someone had stripped away part of my identity.
So why did you get involved in aesthetic medicine?
– My journey began when I sat on the supervisory board of a clinic my partner and I had invested in. I observed how the industry worked, what treatments clients chose most often, and why they sought them out. Unfortunately, my observations revealed that many came in thinking, “I’m doing this because I don’t feel okay with myself.”
A lack of self-esteem and difficulty accepting the aging process often drove people to choose invasive methods. After a few years, I made a radical decision: we’d abandon Botox and fillers entirely and focus solely on biocompatible regenerative medicine.
Unsurprisingly, we lost most of our clients and many doctors who didn’t want to take this path. They simply lacked the courage.
Why not give up the clinic altogether? As an entrepreneur, you could have started something new.
– I could have, but first, I have a rebellious streak and enjoy blazing trails others are hesitant to follow. Second, I believe aesthetic medicine has gone too far, and there’s significant social change needed here. I had a profitable business but gave it up overnight. I decided to rebuild it on my terms.
It brings me satisfaction that money can’t buy because my work is rooted in the values I believe in.
What’s the goal of #Unbotoxed?
– It’s a manifesto for health—like wearing a t-shirt that says #don’t drink or #don’t smoke. We offer healthy alternatives to Botox and fillers because modern regenerative medicine allows us to do so. Sadly, people often wrongly assume that Botox will lead to a better life.
That looking better means a better partner, better job. But Botox is not a guarantee of happiness. If someone chooses unhealthy, fast-food-like solutions, that’s their decision, and I have no right to judge.
What does aging mean to you?
– I recently asked my mom, who’s in her seventies: “Mom, was there ever a moment when you noticed yourself aging and felt bad about it?” She replied, “No, I’ve made peace with the fact that this is just how life flows.”
Her beauty comes from her positive outlook on life. She still has the youthful joy and curiosity that inspire others. To me, that’s what aging represents. Perhaps that’s why it doesn’t scare me or feel like a problem.
But not everyone has had such healthy role models. The pressure to look perfect has become a new corset society forces us into. The standards are so suffocating that we can hardly breathe. I want us to stop judging women for their wrinkles, their aging bodies, their gray hair. To let us—and ourselves—off the hook.
Klaudia Witczak – Entrepreneur, founder of Smart Aging Clinic, creator of the #Unbotoxed movement, host of the Unbotalks – Conversations Without a Corset podcast, and the Beauty is not copy-paste campaign. She holds a degree in Applied Linguistics from Adam Mickiewicz University and is a graduate of the Academy of Leadership Psychology at the Warsaw School of Business.
This text is from Wysokie Obcasy Extra magazine, issue 12(150)/2024, on sale November 14.
Editor-in-chief: Monika Tutak-Goll