TikTok's fake freckle trend leaves Big Brother's Tilly Whitfield with scars and vision loss
17 June 2021, 13:11
Bretman Rock uses the viral Maybelline Sky High mascara
Doctors have told Tilly Whitfield that they're unable to help her with the scarring.
Don't try this one at home, kids... An Australian reality star has warned her fans against TikTok's fake freckles trend after her attempt at a viral beauty hack left her with scarring and vision loss.
Fake freckles have been a huge beauty trend since around 2018, but some of us aren't blessed with them naturally. As a result, people have used eyeliner, lip pencil, special freckle pens and even henna to achieve the freckled look. Sometimes, it can go disastrously wrong, though. Case in point, when German YouTuber Naomi Jon decided to give herself henna freckles with absolutely disastrous consequences.
Tilly Whitfield, 21, was scrolling through TikTok one day when she came across a hack which involved a user giving themselves freckles with a sewing needle and ink. The freckles were meant to fade within six months, so naturally Tilly decided to hop on the trend. Tilly purchased some brown tattoo ink from eBay on a whim because the video did not specify what type of ink to get and pricked her face around the nose and cheek area.
READ MORE: 17 truly unforgivable beauty mistakes you've definitely made in your teens
However, Tilly later discovered that the ink was a counterfeit product made with high levels of lead which led to a reaction. As a result, she wore a blue clay mask while participating in Big Brother Australia to hide her injuries. "For those asking why I have my blue clay face mask on continuously through out the show this is what my face looked like a week prior to entering the house hence why I always have makeup on and my skin is always covered," she explained in an Instagram post, alongside photos of the scarring.
"This is the result of attempting to remove scarring I inflicted on myself trying to replicate an at home beauty procedure I saw on a TikTok video two months before big brother. Who bloody else would manage to do such a thing? Please please don't try any 'DIY' or 'at home' beauty procedures I ended up in hospital with temporary loss of vision in my eye due to swelling and was very sick from the infection, not to mention my face was somewhat unrecognisable. Leave it to the professionals."
In an interview with New York Times, Tilly revealed that she has spent $12,000 on doctor's visits after her freckle wounds became infected. She's been left unable to rectify the scarring and laser removal, which is typically used to remove tattoos, cannot be used because doctors have told her that the ink she used will turn black rather than fade.
"The main response has been that I’m stupid, and, yeah, I agree," she told the publication.
In conclusion, it's probably best to leave all the semi-permanent TikTok beauty hacks you see to the professionals.
