Horribly ripped skin during a Professional facial wax, please help! Pics attached.

[Itsfreetobekind]

Hi everyone, (pics attached)

I decided to have my face waxed by a professional because doing it myself is a fiddly job at best.

Before booking, I spoke to the beautician and I said I've gotten a scar before on my face with OTC wax strips and she said it should not have happened if done right because the skin needs to be pulled taut to prevent that.
I agreed and said that's why I need a professional to do it this time and she's been doing this for 10 years.

Started off with a mind numbingly painful Hollywood wax - I was literally seeing stars - followed by tummy and then face which was a neverending nightmare too. Problems:

1. The skin was not stretched before pulling on the strips.
2. So this meant pulling the cloth and my skin pulled along with it and no wax coming off my face. Cue several more one handed push and pulls to get it out.
3. Final rip that hurt so bad.
4. I felt a very thick layer of wax was used so the pulling just stretched out my face and copious amounts of wax like pulling on gum (it hurt).

But no stretching - lots of pain and MANY SCARS. See attached pics.

Why didn't I say anything while she was doing it? It was the last treatment of the session and I kept asking her to do it in the beginning and put pressure on after the rip (ladies you know much that helps) but eventually she just kept forgetting and did it her way and after the nether bits waxing - I was literally seeing galaxies of stars.

I rang her just now and all she had to say was "My apologies and try keep it clean and fingers crossed, it will heal over the next couple of days". I said I could send her photos but she wasn't so keen - said I could if I wanted to. Should I?

She is the owner of her business too. WWYD please? (Please be gentle, I've been up all night in agony and I'm going to see a GP today)

Op be very careful what you put on that now try to obviously keep it clean but if gp feels that you don't need antibiotics tablets or cream you could try a bit of germolean on any oozing grazes as it has antiseptic in and will numb too.
Then when it's just scabbed you could try avenco moisturiser which is very good for this.

But PLZ do seek legal advise it's totally unprofessional to do as she has that should not have happened you poor love it must be so so sore.

Why don't you try using an epistick in the future? They are a couple of quid on amazon. MUCH less painful and more gentle and very effective. And cheap!

Hope you heal quickly. Tea tree oil might help?

Thank you everyone. Threading is definitely the safer option.
Morpheme you are so right, it could have been done without damage.

I'm heading to the GP now and will send her pics when he has a look at me. Then time to look for some legal advice.

I think you need to be clear about what you want from her. An apology? Refund? Compensation? If you accept one of the above you might not get another option. Send her the photos and tell her what you want - once you've checked with someone medical to insure there is no long term damage. Don't accept a refund yet if you want compensation later. Id let her know you are seaking advice and suggest are doesn't treat anyone else in this way until she checks her technique.

I think that I would wear quite a few things from that A/W M&S collection actually. I wonder when it comes into the shops?

I'm a beauty therapist and she definitely shouldn't have used strip wax on the facial area. Hot wax with pre wax oil should be used as it's much gentler & doesn't tug on the skin. If you keep going over sensitive areas with strip wax it will graze & bruise the skin.
So sorry to see what she has done to you. Definitely take it further as others have suggested.
Aloe vera may soothe the area & take any redness down.

I'm also a beauty therapist and that looks awful! Strip wax is fine on the face and I've done a lot of facial waxing but never with that reaction! Pulling the skin taut and applying pressure after every removal is crucial!
You need to send her these pictures and demand a refund, then go to boots and get yourself la Roche posay cicaplast baume B5 and apply a nice generous layer. Keep doing this 2-3 times a day and it will heal. Best wishes!

Oh dear, that post was meant for a different thread, obv! Sorry.

Was that hot wax? Are you burnt?

That looks awful.

See doctor, send "beautician" pictures and at least request a refund. If no joy, seek advice from a solicitor.

Once there's no broken skin, try a few drops of pure essential
Oil of lavender diluted in bio oil to stop scarring.

You poor thing.

You could also bathe the area with cold chamomile tea-even use the tea bags as a cold compress.

(Patch test first though - just in case)

God that's dreadful. You poor thing.

Jeez that's bad.

Jesus, that is awful. I get facial waxing done all the time and that is not right. A refund is the very least she could do

Yes I thought lavender oil too as it looks like a burn.

I would advise against bio oil as it's expensive and the lavender in it is bad for sensitive skin.

See your GP and perhaps a dermatologist for advice as it's on the face and may scar.

Omg. Doctors then deffo solicitor. That's awful bless you.

OMG you poor thing. Yes send her photos, she doesn't want to see them because she knows she fucked up terribly. Glad you are seeing your GP.Definitely seek legal advice. Did she really charge you?! Wow. I would also make sure other people are aware , save them going to her.

Keep it covered with a cream like Bepanthen and it won't scab. I had something similar happen with my top lip and although the wet-look wasn't ideal, it helped it heal really fast with no dark scabs.

Hi everyone sorry for the late reply. Thank you for all the support and advice. It means so much

I was up all last night from the stinging and stress and worst thing is I had to try sleep on my back which isn't good for me (I'm pregnant) and that's not easy.
Cue migraine for which I can't take any strong painkillers. Pregnancy woes.

The GP confirmed that the top layers of the skin had been ripped off and prescribed Fucidine for it. He wrote everything down as seen and signed it.

I've contacted a solicitor and they need her full name and address - neither of which u have. It was a mobile beautician so she knows where I live etc. I don't know if it is clever to ring her and ask for details.

*neither of which, I have.

Does she have a company name?Do you have a leaflet, or is there a website?
Does it seem like a formal business,or just a woman doing this for a bit of money on the side?

If she has a company you may be able to find it and an address online?

Or try a google search for her by name?
You used to be able to find someones address by a sort of reverse directory enquiry too,if you have a non mobile number for her, there may be something like that you can do?

She should (let's hope) be insured. How do you contact her to book appointments? Maybe the solicitor can call her to find out information?

I am a beauty therapist and I think what has happened was the wax wasn't hot enough. The fact you say she's mobile makes me even more convinced. It needs to be left plugged in to remain at the set temperature as the wax pot has a thermostat. So travelling would mean it had cooled down and not enough time has been allowed for all the wax to have heated through. Then it will be like a gum consistently and will remove skin as it's pulled off.

If it was a burn you would have felt it burn when the wax went on and it can be so so hot, you would have known. Also it would have been really runny and hard to apply as it would have dripped off the spatula.

Cool wax is actually really dangerous as it can cause skin removal. You can see where it's got stuck on your cheek, under your eye.

It will heal, and I doubt you will be scarred. But it will take a while to recover.

What has the solicitor advised you to do?

I would report her to Trading Standards too - and if she has any membership stickers/certificates/etc to say she belongs to any professional bodies or passed any exams, I would take their details and report her to them as well. Hopefully trading standards would know if there was anybody else you should report her to.

And if I had legal coverage on my home insurance, I'd talk to them (after talking to the doctor) to see if there was anything that I could do - to get the fee reimbursed, maybe also if you need any creams or potions etc to care for your skin as a result of this treatment and any associated costs like travel to the doctor or days off sick as a result of this. Not saying to go all out wanting heavy compensation - but for somebody legal to say to her 'you're not fit to practise doing that, you need retraining/to do something else' and to award you any costs incurred as a result of injuries sustained.

Also - apparently Bio Oil is very good for helping with scarring and helping to avoid scars, not sure if you can use it on scabbed skin or if it has to be on healed skin though.