A woman has filed a lawsuit against California-based celebrity facialist Sonya Dakar, alleging that a chemical peel treatment at her Beverly Hills studio in April 2021 left her face permanently scarred.
The victim, Victoria Nelson, claimed she experienced severe chemical burns and scarring after Sonya applied an unknown substance on her face during the treatment.
Victoria's personal lawsuit asserts claims for fraud, unfair competition, unlawful business practices and unlicensed practice of medicine, as well as for punitive damages, in excess of $35,000 (INR 31.48 Lakh). She explained on Instgaram, that the aim of her lawsuit is "to be part of a solution to bring more transparency to an industry that so many young women, including myself, have put our trust in."
"On November 18th, the Attorney General's office filed a complaint against Sonya Dakar with the goal of the permanent revocation of both her establishment and estheticians license. These licenses are both currently listed as active on the Board of Barbering and Cosmetology's website, however it does flag that the AG has filed an accusation. My legal team also filed a civil suit against Sonya on my behalf," she shared.
A Quick Recap
Victoria previously shared her experience as a client of the esthetician on her social media. She said, "After posting my video, it became clear that Sonya is just one really bad apple. But the deeper down this rabbit hole I've kind of gone, it's become really apparent that she may just be the tip of the iceberg of a bigger issue within this industry."
The victim shared that she had been a client of Sonya since 2019 and had previously had a positive experience with a peel, which led her to trust Dakar for another treatment. During the chemical peel, she felt an intense burning and stinging sensation on her face.
After rinsing the solution, Victoria discovered she had sustained significant burns but Sonya assured her that the burns would heal in a month of treatments. However, after 18 sessions in 2021 and 12 in 2022, she spent around $60,000 on Dakar's treatments and still had burns on her face.
She said, "Sonya and I have not spoken since 2023. I've since been advised by a number of professionals that the liquid probably was medical grade or at least was something that an esthetician shouldn't have access to, and that's what her license is under the California Board of Barbering and Cosmetology. I've also since been informed that the microneedling treatments that she was doing to fix the issue are also not covered by that license."
According to the Board of Barbering and Cosmetology, estheticians are not licensed to use medical-grade products or perform procedures like microneedling. The board emphasises that it's the licensee's responsibility to understand their scope of practice as outlined in the relevant regulations.
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