A mum-of-two is warning people to do their research before getting fillers after her lips ballooned to triple their size.
Louise Smith shared horrifying pictures of her swollen lips after having the pre-Christmas salon treatment.
The 25-year-old wanted to get her 'small' lips filled to boost her confidence, so booked an appointment to get 1.1ml of filler at a salon.
Excited at the prospect of flaunting a fuller pout, Louise paid £80 for the procedure last month.
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However, she found getting her lips injected was so painful she almost passed out.
And she was less than impressed with the results, seeing her lips triple in size and noticeably lumpy and uneven.
Now the full-time mum is sharing her ordeal in a bid to urge people to be careful when they get lip fillers, and to thoroughly research their practitioner before plumping for the treatment.
Louise, from Bognor, West Sussex, said: "An hour after getting my lips done they swelled up and then later that evening they were absolutely massive, they were three times the size they should be.
"I knew from the first time I had my lips done that swelling would go down in a day or two and be ok, it was the wonkiness that was bothering me.
"When they went down they didn't feel any better because they were just wonky and uneven.
"It was upsetting looking in the mirror and seeing them like that. It looked like I'd been punched in the face quite a few times, they were just horrible.
"I was left with a solid, massive lump a bit bigger than a jellybean on my top lip and another one but bigger on my bottom right lip.
"There's one the size of a 5p and the rest are about the size of a bb bullet, there are loads of them on the inside of my mouth.
"The lumps are still sore now, I've been told to try and massage them to help slowly get rid of it but it really hurts because the lumps in my lips are so solid, big and really deep."
Louise opted for the cheap procedure after seeing a Facebook advert claiming to be from an experienced practitioner who was new to the area and offering a deal to boost her client base.
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Louise says she was initially dubious of the woman's credentials but was eventually convinced to follow through with the procedure after she was signposted to the woman's Instagram page, where she claimed pictures were before and after shots of clients she'd previously worked on.
Louise said: "She advertised it as an £80 Christmas offer, it was all over Facebook and in all the selling pages.
"I messaged her asking why it was so cheap, she said she was new to the area and needed to build up a client base.
"She told me she had two years' experience, gave me her Instagram to look at but there weren't really any pictures.
Mid-way through the procedure, Louise said she asked the woman to stop as she started to feel unwell.
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Louise said: "I was really nervous, about half-way through mine I started feeling dizzy and asked her to stop. I was really close to passing out, it wasn't very nice.
"It was a lot more painful than the first time I had them done, it stung a lot.
"The first time I had them done there weren't that many needle insertions whereas this time I didn't even count, it was so many.
"As soon as I came out of the salon I said to my friend 'I don't like them'.
"I didn't feel comfortable to say that to the lady when she asked if I liked them because there wasn't really much she could do anyway."
After the botched procedure, Louise frantically messaged the practitioner and claims she was eventually blocked from contacting her.
At a loss how to contact her, Louise she was forced to call her out in now-deleted Facebook posts and demand a refund, which she finally received. She sought advice from another practitioner who advised her to let her lips settle down and to explore the possibility of having further treatment in a few months' time.
Louise said: "I went to see a different practitioner and she said a lot of filler had been done way too deep so that's why it hurt.
Upset Louise said she eventually got a refund, but has been left self-conscious about her appearance.
Louise said: "My lips are really small and the first time I got them done it helped with my confidence a lot but obviously now I feel worse about my appearance.
"At first it put me off [having fillers again] but after seeing the lady that checked my lips she made me feel so much more comfortable.
"She said she could have just taken my money then and put more in to make them even but instead she told me to wait and come back in a few months' time, obviously when lockdown's done, to check them again."
Topics: Life News, Life, Health