‘My eye was droopy, my eyebrows were frowning. I looked like Coco the Clown’
Marie Snapp’s face was frozen after a trip to an unregistered beauty parlour left her unable to smile or even take a drink of water.
But, rather than be broken by her experience, the beauty therapist turned detective to try to find the rogue practitioner.
Marie, 39, said she was determined to discover the culprit after she visited the rogue salon in Dumbarton Road, Glasgow. She said: “I went to a girl with a place in Glasgow after checking her out on social media.
“Her reviews were spotless and she talked the talk. She gave me Botox but after a few days I looked like Coco the Clown. One eyebrow was away up. I had paid £140 to get my forehead done and woke up three days later with my eyebrow raised.
“I went back for further treatment and my right eye was really droopy and my eyebrows were frowning – I was completely frozen. Eventually, it looked like I’d had a stroke. My face was paralysed and I could not smile or even take a drink of water as it just dribbled out of my mouth.
“I tried to message the lady that had done this and she just blocked me. I went on Facebook and had a search around and found that she had done this to loads of other women.
“Then she just vanished and the salon was all closed up. It made me so angry. I felt self-conscious but I did not just want to be a victim.
“The trail went cold though, and as far as I know, nothing ever happened to the woman as it looked like she had been using a false name.”
Marie, who owns Panache Therapies in Port Glasgow, offers laser hair removal and advanced skin care but refuses to provide treatments such as Botox after her own experience.
She said: “Some beauty therapists do a great job offering Botox and fillers but the sector just needs to be better regulated. I just feel the whole industry could do with some sort of licensing board or regulatory framework.”
Glasgow City Council confirmed it had investigated in 2017 but no further action was taken as the salon had shut down.