A woman says she had to hide away at home after a lip filler treatment left her with a pout resembling a 'baboon bum'.
Olivia McCann says her lips were massaged so hard when she having a procedure to dissolve 'lumpy filler' they tripled in size and looked like they were about to pop.
Flight attendant Olivia says the beautician who carried out the treatment assured her that the swelling was normal but the 21-year-old says she was so horrified she hid at home for four days and wouldn't even take a video call from her boyfriend.
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She missed two days of work due to her swollen lips and is speaking out now to urge others to carry out some research before they consider cosmetic procedures.
Olivia, from Chorley, Lancashire, said: "The woman massaged my lips so hard after putting the dissolver in that they went white, they looked like they were about to pop.
"My lips were triple the size they should be. When I went into the reception to pay the people sitting there waiting to get their lips done were probably looking at me and thinking, 'Oh my god.'
"I was embarrassed driving home and I had to put my sunglasses on, my lips looked like a baboon's bum.
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"I didn't feel like I could go out looking like that so I just stayed at home - it was awful.
"I didn't even want my boyfriend Harry to see me, he was FaceTiming me and I was declining him.
"I thought, 'If you see me like this, you'll never fancy me again.'
"I rang my friend and she was in tears laughing, saying, 'I can't believe you look like that.'"
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Olivia first got fillers back in April 2018, after becoming self-conscious about her 'gummy smile'. She paid £230 for 1ml and was delighted with how her new lips looked.
Six months later she decided to have 0.5ml top up costing £150 but developed pea-sized lumps that wouldn't go away no matter how much she massaged them.
Olivia said: "I cried when I looked at myself in pictures as I thought my lips looked silly, they looked like they'd been stung by a bee.
"I'm a girl getting lip fillers to try to look nice and then it went the opposite way, no amount of massaging would shift the lumps.
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"Two weeks later I went back but instead of dissolving the full lip she just stuck the dissolver into the lumps, then told me to massage them when I got home.
"She tried to blame it on me and said they were lumpy because I hadn't massaged them, which I had."
Olivia then had an additional lip filler procedure at another salon last year before deciding to try somewhere new but was told she'd need to have all the residual product removed first.
It was during this procedure Olivia says her lips were massaged so hard they ballooned in size.
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Olivia said: "When I went to them [the salon] they said they couldn't use [it] on my lips and give me what I wanted unless I had my lips dissolved.
"She put the dissolver in and she massaged my lips so hard - it was the worst out of all dissolvings I've had pain-wise.
"They went so massive I couldn't do anything for days and when they did go down they were really lumpy and uneven - a proper mess.
"I emailed work a picture and they agreed I couldn't go in looking like that."
Olivia, whose lips are currently filler and lump-free, plans to undergo the needle again at a salon that regularly posts examples of their work, has good reviews from customers and is carried out by medically-trained staff. Now she's urging others to do their research before getting lip fillers.
She said: "After what I've been through I wouldn't trust my face with anyone - apart from someone who's medically trained and who's been doing it a long time.
"My advice is to make sure you go to someone who's going to take the time out of the appointment to sit you down and talk to you about what you're getting done.
"They should have good work they can show you and people who you can speak to who have had a good experience.
"Make sure it's a reputable price, there are all these places advertising on social media where they aren't medical nurses and offering to do treatments at silly prices, it's scary."
Topics: UK News