Young and old are doing it, I'm told
Just one try and you too will be sold
It's called 'Le Freak', they're doing it night and day
Allow us, we'll show you the way”
The lyrics to a 1978 dance song now sadly relate so well to what the dark side of the beauty industry is churning out to the ever hungry public - Freaks. Huge oversized lips, cheeks the size of golfballs, and foreheads so frozen they look like aliens from another planet. Women’s waists are to be admired if they are the size of a 2 year old and overinflated buttocks that have no resemblance to how the human body looks, in the past now or ever.
Boarding a flight last week my husband had to constantly nudge me to ask me to stop staring. How do I stop staring at the horrific faces I’m seeing, lips arriving before the head they were stuck to came into sight. Cheeks so overly stuffed the proud owner of them looked like they had some deadly undiscovered illness. And young beautiful girls in the prime of their lives, so over made up with Botox stretching their skin, make up that would need a shovel to remove and lashes that looked like they could have a family of insects living in them and no one would know.
My first day away I opened my phone to read that a mother of 5 young children had passed away due to complications following an insane procedure known as BBL - Brazilian Butt Lift. My first reaction was one of deep sympathy and sincere sadness for these children losing their Mum. Later that day I felt nothing but anger. Anger at how people have no regards to the dangers of what they are doing to their bodies. Angry that in Britain we have a totally unregulated aesthetic industry. Angry that however much you try and educate people they just don’t care as long as the price is right for them. Angry that people believe the images and lies that are constantly told by so called influencers and reality TV stars, on all social media platforms. Angry that this mother put her body image before her family.
This young woman, Alice Delsie Preete Webb, was no stranger to the dark side of the beauty industry. She ran her own clinic, advertised herself as a “Fully Advanced Qualified Aesthetic Practitioner”. No mention of her medical / prescriber qualifications or of where she trained. She was offering cheap treatments (no mention of what products she was using or where she was obtaining them from). I was shocked to see she was offering Thread Lifts for £180, and stunned to see she was offering BBL; Brazilian Butt Lifts to her clients, telling them she was off to do a course and letting them know how much she will be charging.
Where to begin with who’s to blame for this pointless death. Ultimately the blame must lie with Alice.
She willingly booked and paid for this procedure. I’m going to assume no one was holding a gun to her head or holding her to ransom. Actions have consequences, sadly her consequence resulted in death.
Did she book this ridiculous procedure in a medical clinic that may have been capable of dealing with complications? No. She went to Jordan James Parke who calls himself the "lip king" and looks like a total freak and obviously suffers from severe body dysmorphia. Allegedly Emma had been trained by Parke to preform BBL on her own clients.
The government must share the blame for refusing to bring regulation into the beauty and aesthetics industry. MP Caroline Noakes and Lesley Blaire MBE of BABTAC have been fiercely campaigning for regulation and change, as of yet nothing has been done. How many deaths does the British government deem as acceptable before change is brought in.
How many wasted NHS visits to rectify botched up aesthetic treatments does the tax payer have to sacrifice?
Blame has to lie in the rise of so called ‘training clinics’. Anyone and everyone can open one. And anyone and everyone can trot along and do a quick course as long as you have the money. Money, so much about this industry has become about how much and how quick you can make money. Blame has to lie with the unscrupulous Medics, Drs and Nurses, who happily prescribe Botox and fillers to anyone just for a quick buck.
So many must be blamed. But ultimately, the blame has to be with you, the consumer. The consumer who doesn't ask questions, the consumer who doesn’t care what’s being pumped into their body, the consumer whose only interest is getting what they want when they want it, at the cost thats affordable to them, regardless. The consumer that hasn’t grasped that actions have consequences.
Today I read about another clinic, @jolineaestheticsacademy who have been widely reported in the public domain for carrying out unlicensed liposuction procedures on the public - resulting in one person ending up in A&E (not intensive care) with nasty complications. This company claims to be certified - and a member of various credible organisation's which are all incorrect or untrue. The machine she's using to carry out liposuction is actually a portable dental machine that performs the suction of mucas in dental clinics. Sad, but nothing will stop this abuse until you, the public, the paying client, start to educate yourself.
And to all you parents out there, please stop for one minute and ask yourself, what are you teaching your children about their own looks, their own self worth, their own bodies. Teach them that they are so much more than emulating a freak. It saddens me to see 10 year olds with nail extensions and 12 year old with lash extensions. Children asking for trips to Sephora and Space NK to buy unnecessarily skin products that are sold to them on TikTok, products that will strip the acid mantle of their young skin and could cause problems for them further down the line. All purchased by the Parent Pound! Well done all you weak parents who are scared to say NO!
I follow a group of therapists, and I use the word "therapist" very lightly as their level of knowledge and professionalism astounds me. This week someone raised the question, ‘What do you suggest for my 9 year old client?’! As you may imagine, my answer to this person wasn’t greeted with open arms, but then someone replied with this;
At that point I thought it was probably best for my own sanity that I left the group.
I can sleep at night knowing I’m a knowledgeable professional always wanting the best for my clients; that the salon I opened nearly 25 years ago will only ever offer, treatments and products that are backed up by clinical studies and professionally approved standards.
No, I won’t make a quick buck and I won’t leave this industry as a wealthy woman, but I have a clear conscience and get to do what I love everyday - that means SO much to me.
Please take care and start to educate yourself to the very dark side of the beauty industry.
Love Sue x.
BABTAC / ITEC / CIDESCO
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