Woman scarred by botched eyebrow tattoo procedure gets offered free treatment by qualified technician
A 37-year-old woman from the Gold Coast, Australia, has revealed her horrifying experience with cosmetic eyebrow tattooing after she was left with permanent scars from the procedure. Joanne Taylor has said that she had to "cake on" her make-up on a daily basis just so that she can cover up the botched eyebrow fillers before leaving her home.
She had decided to touch up her eyebrows with ink after she already got them tattooed in December last year. She was, instead, in for a nasty surprise when the cosmetic procedure left her with uneven looking blocks. When Taylor went back to the clinic three weeks after she got the botched procedure, the beautician apologetically offered to laser-remove the tattoo that she had done earlier at no cost.
9News Australia reported that Taylor had said she had been left with tremendous pain after the beautician reportedly did not do a patch test on her skin. She said: "Immediately afterwards, I had severe burning pain, headaches, it just burnt to pieces, there was oozing, weeping and bleeding." She had to be taken to the emergency department in the Gold Coast University Hospital where she was finally advised to go and meet a burns specialist in Brisbane.
Taylor told the Gold Coast Bulletin in an interview: "My face was so badly burned by the laser, all the fluid was rushing to the area. It was horrendous. The hair isn't growing back, so I can't go anywhere without caking makeup on my eyebrows." Dr. Naomi McCullum, a cosmetic surgeon whose clinic in Sydney specializes in laser tattoo removal, warned others of the dangers of failing to do their research.
She told the Daily Mail: "Do your research and choose a reputable brand. With cosmetic tattooing, I always recommend starting slowly and gradually building the result. It's more expensive to do it this way, but it's your face, so it's worth the extra time, money and effort." The doctor also explained how common it was for botched cosmetic tattoos to happen in the industry.
She said: "It's quite a jungle out there, anyone with an Instagram account can start a cosmetic tattooing business. Bad experiences are due to it being an unregulated market, with a very low barrier to entry for providers and a lack of educational requirements. I have seen cases since the early 2000s. Fortunately, the serious risks of scarring, infection and hair loss are less common than the more common issues with symmetry and placement of the tattoo. For laser tattoo removal, patients should choose an experienced medical clinic."
After she found out about Taylor's story with the botched procedure, Dr. Vivienne Tippett from Gold Coast Tattoo Removal, offered to help out the devastated woman for free. The doctor, who has a nursing background, reached out to Taylor on July 31 and said that she wanted to help.
She said: "I am getting fed up with reports and also clients coming to me after having bad experiences with either badly or untrained, unqualified and uninsured people claiming to be laser removal expert. I’m only too happy to help her any way I can. I’ve given her some oils to try and will have a consultation with her at a later date for some skin needling to help break up the skin and promote new collagen, giving back a normal color to her eyebrows."
Dr. Tippett also mentioned that if the proper procedure had been followed in Taylor's case, she would not have been left with the horrifying injuries that she has. She said: "There should have been a minimum of a six-week break from getting the tattoos and laser, and then removal done in a number of sittings with the laser on a low setting so as not to cause too much pain to her head. What they should do is a patch test, with only a few shots fired to see how it felt and reacted, leaving it a day or so before continuing. From what I saw in the original photos, it was very traumatic. I don’t know how that would happen, but I think that I can help with how they are today. Then Joanne can look at steps she wants to take."
Taylor said that after she suffered all the damage, she reached out to the beautician who performed the botched procedure. According to Taylor, the woman pretended like she had never met her or done the procedure. She also said that she was extremely grateful to Tippett. Taylor said: "Vivienne reaching out for support means more than you know. For a total stranger to reach out is wonderful — gives you hope that there are professional people working in the industry who genuinely care and are concerned about the damage that is being done to people. She gave me some good info regarding the procedure that should have been followed."
Dr. Tippett stressed that it was crucial for clients to do research, read reviews, ask multiple questions, and to also attend a consultation before doing the treatment. She said: "I am in the business of helping people. I don’t like to see people hurt or suffer in any way. I have laser governing board licences, insurance, a very high-quality laser machine, have undergone hundreds of hours training, am a qualified nurse and work from a licensed studio in Ashmore. These are all minimum requirements."