I was desperate for trendy laminated brows – but an allergic reaction nearly killed me, I woke looking like Quasimodo
A MUM has revealed how her dream eyebrows left her struggling to breathe after a severe allergic reaction after her beautician failed to do a patch test.
Carla Jones, 32, from South Wales, was told by doctors she was a ‘lucky lady’ when she was rushed to A&E after she suffered a delayed anaphylactic shock which could have been fatal.
The mum-of-two, who works as a self-employed cleaner, is furious that her kids, four and five, could have been left motherless as she claims her beautician failed to carry out a patch test.
Carla says: “People lose their family members through horrendous ordeals and my kids could have lost me through a flipping eyebrow lamination.
“Doctors told me it could have been fatal if I’d not gone to A&E when I did.
“Now I can’t leave my house without two EpiPens as this has made me severely allergic to face and body dyes.
“I'd hate for another person to go through what I have. I was scared for my life as my swollen eyes closed up, my eyebrows were burning and crusted over and I struggled to breathe.”
Carla had undergone various beauty treatments at her regular salon, including eyelash extensions and having her eyebrows microbladed over the past seven years.
So when her beautician failed to carry out a patch test when she went to have her eyebrows laminated - a new treatment - on 15th July 2022, Carla didn’t think too much of it.
She was travelling for a family holiday in Newquay that day too, and messaged her beautician to ask whether it was safe to sunbathe after the treatment, to which their reply was yes.
Most read in Fabulous
But, within 24 hours, Carla’s eyebrows started to itch. The following day, Carla took a selfie while sunbathing. She zoomed in and saw bubbles forming on her eyebrows.
Carla says: “I'd never had brow lamination before but I wanted to give them a bit of a spruce up before my holiday.
“I saw that the weather was due to be really hot the day after my appointment so I messaged my beautician to check if it would be OK as I knew I wanted to sit out in the sun.
“I had the reassurance I needed so I had the treatment and didn’t think twice.
“She’d told me to get some organic coconut oil from the chemist as aftercare so that’s what I did.
“I was sitting on a lounger by the pool and I took a photo of myself with my little boy. That’s when I spotted little bubbles coming up on my eyebrows.
“They really started to hurt and itch. I wanted to scratch the hell out of them and it was really frustrating because there was nothing I could do. Overnight, they started to crust over.
I was in tears and telling her I was in agony. I looked like Quasimodo
Carla Jones
“By Monday afternoon, my eyebrows and eyelids had swollen - they were red and throbbing. I could barely open my eyes. So I sent a video to my beautician telling her how painful it was, and she replied to say ‘I should have carried out a patch test’.
“I could have kicked myself as I should have insisted on having one.
“I was in tears and telling her I was in agony. I looked like Quasimodo.
“I got home from my holiday and went straight to my GP who gave me antihistamines and cream to reduce the inflammation. I felt as though I couldn’t leave the house.”
Carla started posting videos on her TikTok and Instagram pages to raise awareness of reactions to eyebrow lamination treatments.
She claims her beautician asked her to take them down, and offered her compensation.
But two days later, on Wednesday 20th July, the swelling on Carla’s eyebrows became worse. She felt as though she could hardly breathe, and was struggling to swallow.
FABULOUS BINGO: Get a £20 bonus & 30 free spins when you spend £10 today
Then she experienced severe chest pains, so her husband Tom rushed her to Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil.
Carla blacked out, and came to in a ward, being treated for chemical burns.
A doctor told her if she hadn't gone to A&E when she did, it could have been fatal.
Carla says: “I don't remember much about going into the hospital. I was rushed through and came round to find myself with tubes attached to me. I felt stupid to be there over a beauty treatment.
“I was told I’d had a gradual allergic reaction made worse by the sun and my body had gone into a delayed anaphylactic shock. The doctor told me I was a lucky lady.”
Luckily, Carla improved after taking antibiotics, strong antihistamines and lotion for her eyebrows and was back home by 6am the following day.
But she took three weeks off work as she didn’t want the cleaning chemicals she would have to use to make her condition worse.
In January 2023, Carla contacted a local solicitor with a view to take legal action against the beautician who carried out the brow lamination treatment.
But the advice given was because the beautician had cancelled her public liability insurance, she might not be “worth” suing.
Carla claims the beautician has never patch tested her for any treatment.
Carla says: “I tried to take my case further but sadly it was dropped. I’m absolutely gutted because this could have been more serious.
I felt so scared to touch my face and it took me a long time to put makeup back on
Carla Jones
“It’s nearly been a year and my eyebrow hairs are slowly coming back.
“I felt so scared to touch my face and it took me a long time to put makeup back on.
“I have to have my EpiPens with me wherever I go. Maybe I still would have had an allergic reaction even with a patch test, but I’ll never know.
“These are extreme circumstances that you never think are going to happen to you - I’m proof that they can.
“I’d urge anyone going for a new treatment to get a patch test, even if you feel you don’t need it - it’s always better to be safe than sorry.”
When approached for comment, Carla’s beautician, who cannot be named due to legal reasons, said Carla had been coming to her for treatments for seven years and she had carried out numerous patch tests.
The beautician said: “She came to me on 15th July and five days later, she went to hospital.
“She didn’t message me until the Monday after her treatment about a reaction but the weekend after the treatment everything was fine.
Read More on The US Sun
“Normally a reaction would show in the first 24 hours which makes me believe she had used something on them. I have been doing treatments on Carla for seven years including eyebrow treatments.
“Many tests and treatments had been carried out over this time so she had been tested for this treatment and patch tested for other treatments.”
