Facial treatments have become the norm nowadays. More and more beauty enthusiasts are opting for these solutions, following in the footsteps of popular celebrities. However, such cosmetic procedures might not suit everyone and can cause more harm than good. In some cases, they can even leave permanent scars.
Along similar lines, a woman named Victoria Nelson recounted her harrowing experience of how a chemical peel from a celebrity facialist scarred her face permanently. She opened up about her disaster story on TikTok, revealing that she had to spend a huge amount of money just to return her skin to a manageable state.
Victoria Nelson shared that back in 2019, she went in for an acne treatment from a Beverly Hills, California-based esthetician, Sonya Dakar. Sonya's celebrity clients included Madonna, Gwyneth Paltrow, Cameron Diaz, Priyanka Chopra, and Drew Barrymore. Victoria disclosed that the esthetician managed to clear up her acne, after which she visited her for routine facials, reported People.
In 2021, after her usual facial, Sonya Dakar suggested a chemical peel to Victoria Nelson, claiming that the procedure had "no downtime or irritation". Since Victoria had "trusted" the facialist and had undergone chemical peels from her in the past, she agreed.
According to Victoria Nelson, Sonya Dakar applied a liquid solution to her cheeks and forehead that resulted in "immediate burning and stinging" which, unlike the common tingling sensation, "definitely felt different". What's more, since the esthetician didn't give her client any eye protection, her eyes started watering.
"It was still really on fire, and I was kind of confused as to why this hurt so badly. I opened the front-facing camera on my phone... and saw what I thought looked like white cream or white lotion, but pretty quickly realised that that my skin just burned," said Victoria Nelson. After undergoing 30 sessions, including "pretty aggressive micro-needling", which cost her roughly USD 30,000, she still had burns on her face.
When Victoria Nelson finally consulted her dermatologist in 2023, the doctor recommended a laser treatment, which cost her another USD 8,000 over six sessions.
“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... I've also since been informed that the microneedling treatments that she was doing to fix the issue are also not covered by that licence,” recalled Victoria Nelson.
She admitted that even today, there are visible marks on her face and that she is "very self-conscious about" them. Although Victoria Nelson claimed that she had lodged a complaint with the California Board of Barbering and Cosmetology, there has been "no resolution" so far.