Warning after horrific reaction
A TEENAGER is warning others to think twice before buying fake Kylie Jenner lip kits online after she wound up at A&E.
Rachael Mclaughlin was left struggling to breathe and couldn’t feel the bottom of her face after applying the €3.40 lip gloss.
The 18-year-old cut Friday night at her pal’s house short after starting to feel unwell.
And when she woke on Saturday morning the North Belfast teen’s face and lips were swollen and her throat was closing up.
Her family were so concerned they took her straight to Belfast’s Royal Victoria Hospital.
Rachael told the Irish Mirror: “It was the scariest experience ever.
“I lost all feeling round the bottom of my face and my lips continued to grow bigger from when I first saw them.
“I couldn’t even look at myself and when others looked at me they said I looked like a completely different person. It’s not an experience I would ever wish on anyone. The reason I went to hospital was because I couldn’t breathe. “My blood pressure was very high as well. “Today has been the first day I have actually been able to leave my house and I’ve only left because the swelling went down. My lips are still cut and still extremely sore but nowhere near as bad as they were.” Rachael’s older sister Bronagh said they are speaking out to warn about fake products online, which could contain dangerous toxins.
She added the Facebook site on which the fake lip kit was bought has since disappeared, so buyers have nowhere to turn if something does go wrong.
Bronagh explained: “She’s just really upset about it. Her lips are completely gooey and blistering. This is like the worst thing in the world for her, she’s completely devastated.
“On Saturday night her voice was like a man’s. My aunt is a nurse and said if she didn’t have such a strong immune system you wouldn’t know what would have happened. We didn’t know at the time it was the lip kit.
“We took her to the Royal on Saturday morning and they took her in straight away and got her seen to as soon as possible.
“They gave her extremely strong antibiotic cream for her lips and some antihistamines.”
The 21-year-old urged anyone with a fake lip kit to bin it, especially if there are small children in the house.
She said: “This could have ended up with a fatality if not treated as soon as it was, this didn’t just affect the lips but the whole face and closed over the back of her throat.”
A spokesman for the Belfast Trust said: “Whilst we cannot comment on individual cases we urge everyone to be vigilant in using fake lip kits as some contents may lead to a reaction of varying severity.”