A mum-of-three so insecure about her stretch marks underwent treatment to remove them and instead was left with severe scarring and infected wounds.
Amiee Ward, 30, visited Tink's Top to Toe Beauty Parlour in Felixstowe, Suffolk, last November for fibroblast treatment and was left with regret, wishing she'd just embraced her stretch marks.
Her confidence is rock bottom with her scars now even more obvious than the original markings.
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The parlour carried out the fibroblast, which administers a 'plasma flash' onto the skin to tighten and reduce the appearance of stretch marks.
She said: "I felt so insecure about my body and because of my vanity, I have been left with all this scarring. It looks even worse than before."
Amiee had a consultation with the salon's owner Gemma Richardson who reassured her of any concerns she had.
She explained: "I'd never been there before or had the treatment before so I was a bit anxious.
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"I met with Gemma and spoke about any concerns I had and set a time to go in and have it done.
"When I was having it done, the whole room stunk of burning flesh and it was really painful.
"She did say during the consultation that it would be a relatively painless procedure so I was not expecting the pain.
"Afterwards I had to pick my son up and my friend said: 'Oh my God you look ill, sit down.' I just knew something wasn't right.
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"I have got a really high pain threshold - I've got a lot of tattoos in lots of different areas.
"It was worse than childbirth."
Amiee said she sent various photos to Gemma of her stomach through the different stages and said initially they were in regular contact with each other.
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She added: "It just wasn't getting better. She said the redness should go down and the scabs would drop off.
"Everything I was told to expect didn't happen. It was a bit worrying because I didn't know anything about the procedure."
The salon talked Amiee through an aftercare routine and was told not to cover her stomach, not to get it wet and to apply cream that she bought at the salon for £25.
Amiee, a funeral co-ordinator, was told after ten days her scabs will begin to fall off and will "look normal again" but said she was told it could take up to three months to fully heal.
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Instead, the scars began to smell and "look weird".
She added: "I just knew it looked wrong and wasn't supposed to be looking like that."
Despite the initial contact, Amiee said after a while Gemma started to ignore her, so out of "desperation" she reached out to another beautician who told her the scabs were not normal.
She then visited her GP who Amiee said was "outraged" at her injuries and gave her a burns cream to apply to her skin.
"My GP couldn't believe it. They said my stomach was severely burnt and they gave me some burns cream.
"Obviously they didn't mean to hurt me but it was the way they dealt with it afterwards.
"You hear about these things and just think it won't happen to you but then it did. Some people don't even fully read the contract.
"I was just focused on the end result and thought everything was going to be fine and my body was going to be amazing. I didn't think about the risks."
Plus, Amiee had to pay £400 for the treatment, one that left her infected.
Now almost a year on, Amiee still has red scarring along her stomach.
She wishes she had embraced her female body and the stretch marks that came along with her pregnancies.
Amiee said: "My confidence is at an all time low. It has affected my marriage, I don't want to be intimate, so I'm working on trying to accept my body now and embrace it."
She's contemplated yet more procedures but is too scared and doesn't trust enough to go through it again.
Despite Amiee's trauma, salon owner, Gemma, told a local paper that the procedure was done correctly and she said she had "no doubt" Amiee was to blame for the infection.
She also said that Amiee had been given detailed aftercare advice on avoiding adverse reactions - which Amiee said she followed.
Gemma, who has 16 years' experience in the beauty industry, said she had only received one complaint about fibroblast.
She said: "We have taken this complaint very seriously.
"We have at every stage communicated with Amiee."
The procedure was recorded and was due to be posted on the salon's Facebook page advertising fibroblast.
Gemma told the local paper that this video was seen by an independent beautician, Ruth Munroe, who confirmed it was done correctly.
Although Amiee has tried to seek compensation, her no-win-no-fee solicitor would not proceed because the salon was not insured for the procedure, making a pay-out unlikely.
Gemma acknowledged that the procedure had not been covered by insurance at the time.
She told the paper salon is now fully insured and licensed with her local council.
The complaints received by Amiee had been referred to police as harassment by Gemma who said they had a "massive effect on my health and my family".
However Amiee said she only made comments on a Facebook post, which subsequently went viral to warn others.
Tink's Top to Toe Beauty parlour have been approached for comment.
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