Motivated by a desire to look younger and save money, a growing number of individuals are engaging in the alarming practice of do-it-yourself Botox. Doctors say that there is a bevy of serious risks posed by self-injections and only qualified professionals should be doing the injecting, the Louisiana Times reports.

One such individual who considered injecting Botox herself was 54-year-old New Jersey resident Catherine Maiorino. She ordered Botox over the internet from a spa in California. When it arrived, she realized that she had to prepare it, but it came with no instructions on how to do so.

"There were no actual instructions in the package, no way to determine what the proper consistency should be," she told the news source.

Plastic surgeons universally deride the practice, and several groups have issued warnings about the dangers of mail-ordering injectables. The Physician’s Coalition for Injectable Safety warns that products sold online could be illegal, stored improperly or packaged incorrectly with little or no instructions. All of these factors could result in serious disfigurement, infection or in some cases, even death.

According to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, Botox was the most popular cosmetic procedure in 2009, with more than 2.5 million men and women receiving the treatment.