Many folks have started getting medical advice and adopting harmful DIY beauty trends from TikTok. Tilly Whitfeld, an Australian Big Brother star, fell victim to a very dangerous TikTok beauty trend. She tried to create semi-permanent freckles on her face with henna and a needle. Tilly tried creating freckles on her face using tattoo ink that she purchased on eBay. She later found out that it was counterfeit ink filled with lead. The procedure left permanent scarring and caused Tilly to temporarily lose eyesight in one eye. Below are a few more details about the story from People:
Back in May, Whitfeld, 21, explained that she often appeared on Australian Big Brother with a blue clay face mask to cover a patchy red reaction on her cheeks and nose. It was “the result of attempting to remove scarring I inflicted on myself trying to replicate an at home beauty procedure I saw on a TikTok video,” the reality star wrote alongside several Instagram selfies and close-ups of her complexion.
“Please please don’t try any ‘DIY’ or ‘at home’ beauty procedures. I ended up in hospital with temporary loss of vision in my eye due to swelling and was very sick from the infection, not to mention my face was somewhat unrecognizable. Leave it to the professionals šš¦āØ” Whitfeld shared, adding that the photos show “deep below surface level scaring and dark pigmentation.”
The Big Brother star did not reveal which of the many viral TikTok beauty hacks caused the reaction at the time, but in a new interview with the New York Times, Whitfeld said it was the result of attempting to give herself freckles.
The controversial trend takes popular faux freckles (applied with henna, an eyebrow pencil or even products specifically created to give natural-looking spots) one step further by using sewing needles to prick yourself with ink. If it goes as expected, the results should “fade within six months,” according to the NYT.
The video Whitfeld came across reportedly did not specify what type of ink to get, so she ordered brown tattoo ink from eBay.
“It didn’t hurt at all, so I didn’t think I should stop,” Whitfeld told the outlet. She later discovered the ink she purchased was a counterfeit product with “high levels of lead in it,” according to the NYT, and has since spent nearly $12,000 on doctor’s visits to correct the scarring.
I’ve said this before, no one should be taking advice from TikTokers who are not licensed medical professionals. Period. And even licensed medical professionals should be viewed with skepticism. Tilly is lucky she didn’t lose her face. The fact that she has spent over $12,000 to correct a silly mistake is definitely a hard way to learn a lesson. I really can’t believe that there are people on TikTok promoting this sort of reckless behavior and even still I can’t believe there are people who are following blindly. Hopefully Tilly will be able to heal with minimal scarring on her face. And I hope that Tilly will be the poster child for not doing these dumb TikTok trends. If folks are telling you to do a DIY procedure on your body that you know should be done in a medical office or hospital by a professional, please don’t. Learn from Tilly, going viral really isn’t worth more than your health.
Raise your hand if you spent years hating your freckles and sun spots, staying out of the sun, wearing a hat and giant sunglasses, dipping yourself in sunscreen and concealer to get a “flawless” complexion only to see freckle pens and now this (!!!) take off. Thanks, I hate it.
Same lol, I have LOTS of freckles and always hated them (and was bullied and made fun of for them so much when I was younger) and now freckles are in!!???? I hate it as well.
See also: anybody who was called a witch/freak for playing dungeons and dragons only to have Stranger Things make it cool. But hey, whatever makes people not hate themselves for their appearance or interests.
Amen. I have worn sunblock religiously since my mid-teens.
*raises hand*
I am covered in freckles, layers upon layers. They donāt look like these fake freckle trends. The fake freckles spatter cutely across the cheeks and nose, like a cartoon. REAL freckles do whatever the hell they want lol. I often get new freckles on and around my lips in the summer that make it look like I have some little food on my face. Itās not always cute and itās not evenly spread on the face or body. Iām 100% of irish, English and Scottish ancestry so Iām basically see-through with splotches all over. lol not exactly the same look these āinfluencersā are emulating. They are emulating a cartoon idea of freckles, not the real deal!
My skin does the same! A photon of light hits and boom! Splotchy. Now that I’m middle aged, I care a lot less, but still…
It’s just *interesting* how what is considered “ugly” in (white supremacist) beauty standards becomes a trend once it can be monetized.
All of this.
The faux freckles are not even emulating real freckles, the placement is totally raggedy Annie cute not pasty folk in the sun cute.
Reminds me a bit of the beauty Mark trend from the 90s
I love you @Piratewench
Same same I have freckles on my eyelids now!?
And bc I live in the tropics and also enjoy surfing gardening hiking walking to and from my carā¦welp the freckles on my face and arms are rapidly multiplying.
It breaks my heart that my daughter says she hates her burgeoning freckles (she is pale w red hair) but I remember at boarding school we received a j crew catalog w a freckle faced model on the front (like all over face not just nose) and the girls in my hall recoiling and saying how ugly she looked.
Itās taken me a long time to appreciate themā¦ but you best believe Iām attacking my age spots with a plasma pen- it works and is easy for the splotches
Take a look at the IG @ maisonartc whose muse is model Tilly. I think her freckle pattern is beautiful as do many and think that her embracing of her freckles in all of their unique glory is going a long way to change “beauty” ideas in fashion. Also the models with vitiligo choosing to go makeup free is very inspiring.
That’s interesting, I stay out of the sun, cancer runs in my family but when I did tan years ago the only place I got freckles was across the bridge of my nose and cheeks a bit so these types of freckles don’t only occur in cartoons. My best friend is half Irish and half Japanese and has boatloads of freckles and she is so cool looking, very pretty and guys love her so yay to freckles the natural way and yay to no freckles too. Yay to all skin types, variety is the spice of life!
I have alot of freckles and had absolutely no idea they are popular right now, LOL. And yes, I am one of those folks that wear SPF 50 sunscreen everyday…even when I don’t go out, LOL.
Yep!
hand raised. I am the sunblock queen. Irish freckled ginger.
*Raises hand. I also have the freckled, fair Irish skin and have had a 50 year affair with sunblock. Not sunscreen like most people, sunBLOCK, like keep the sun away from me!
And as a tween/teen I hated my freckles and would try anything to get rid of them. I don’t know how many lemons I killed for the lemon juice to rub on them, lol.
Same here. Hated them growing up. eyeroll.
Amen. Like everything I was made fun of for as a child, it’s cool now.
i have freckles too, maybe i wouldn’t have had so much self hatred growing up if this was in style back then.
Hell low rise jeans made me hate my body. im short waisted so low rise jeans made my stomach look worse. Now to see people wearing pants at the proper waist on their bodies, i would’ve felt so much more comfortable in my body if id been born like 15 years later
Ugh. Yes.
This is so stupid. Like using WD-40 as a filler level of stupid. Like, they aspire one day to be smart enough to be stupid.
Amazed that ādonāt give yourself stick poke tattoos on your faceā actually needs to be said.
In the middle of a pandemic in 2020, people needed to be told not to lick public toilet seats, so this shouldnāt be too much of a surprise, I guess.
And there were people that constantly needed to be told to wear a mask, wash your hands and distance themselves from people outside of their bubble and they couldn’t get that either.
I don’t expect much out of people anymore I guess, so I’m not disappointed.
Iām so disappointed in grownups this year. First, using Gorilla Glue as a hairspray, not injecting lead based dye near your eyes to get fake freckles.
This. So much this. Also the ebay seller should be prosecuted, but WTF was she thinking?!?!?!
Iām amazed that tik tok managed to produce worse results than prison tattoos.
I lose a little bit of faith in Gen Z every day. First the Croc stilettos, now TikTok prison freckles.
Like don’t put Gorilla glue in your hair?
I feel bad for her. Hope the scarring goes away, or at least fades. : (
I feel bad for her – but how stupid. Hope it fades away fast
Well, she is on big brother, clearly not the sharpest knife in the drawer.
Facepalm, shake head…
I’m sorry that she is going through this, it’s really hard when the first thing that others see is your “imperfection”. Having said that, why would you alter yourself based on a tik-toc trend? sigh… sometimes I hate the internet.
Iām really sorry for her, but for god sakeās why did she thinks it was a good idea to play around with needles, tattoo ink and, her face?! Thereās a reason why tattoo artists are certified and can work only in certified environments.
I swear seeing something on the internet breaks some peopleās abilities to think clearly. āBut they said it on the internet, it must be trueā¦ā
That is brutal! I do not mess with injections into my face professionally never mind some products purchased on eBay.
Poor girl that sucks.
How stupid.
How did sheā¦why did sheā¦
Iām at a loss as to why anyone would do this. Hopefully she recovers well, butā¦wow.
Maybe tiktok needs a “mythbusters” type show to explain why things you see on there are not a good idea.
There are tons of reaction videos like this exactly for various tik tok and you tube “beauty” hacks. I especially enjoy the ones done by the Welsh Brothers.
YES! The Welsh Brothers had me in tears watching their debunking videos.
All I can say is, what a dumbass!
I don’t feel sorry for her. It’s her own fault. Sometimes stupidity hurts.
@milliemollie LMAO so true
Someone had to say it!
Man, people are incredibly stupid
Hard lessons to learn, esp on public. But honestly, why donāt people think twice?!
Thatās exactly what I thought. Geez what a hard lesson to learn. People are even supposed to test out hair dye on a tiny section first to make sure you wonāt have a bad reaction.
Very sad. It was a very dumb move but we have all done dumb things in our youth. Maybe not THIS dumb but no one deserves permanent scarring for a vanity mistake. I hope she can reduce the scarring, poor misled young person.
she can reduce the scarring. silicon scar healing sheets are miraculous. she needs to stop wearing makeup first tho!
This is from a long time ago, but it reminds me of the woman, Hang Mioku, who injected black market silicone and then cooking oil into her face.
People who outsource aren’t immune from complications either – see: Priscilla Presley’s counterfeit filler fiasco.
Ignoring how disappointing it is that tattooing your own face needs to be pointed out as being a bad idea, looking at these photos the other thought that pops out at me is that she needs to stop over-lining her lips quite so much.
Yes Terra. What is the deal with women over lining their lips now? I noticed Kim Kardashian does it too on the top lip. Itās nasty looking.
I just donāt understand how anyone thinks shoving needles in your face with eBay tattoo ink is a good idea. I mean I also did dumb stuff at 21 but this is a whole new level. Also I thought Australia has a pretty good public healthcare system but even theyāre like nope weāre not paying for this stupidity with our taxes.
So are all the Instagram posts sheās made since using old pics? Or does she have loads of makeup on? Or is it healed now? Ha somebody catch me up Iām not following that well.
Or she is using good scar covering make up and filters? Photoshop?
I have no sympathy for any of these stupid people who try these “challenges”.
Sorry. Try thinking next time.
OMG! Put on some blush and call it a day!
darwin award.
Luckily for her evolution isn’t as cut throat as it used to be.
It would have made more sense if she was in her early teens, but cmon, she is 21 and didn’t stop to think?
Everyone should be careful: there are plenty of fake tutorials out there to trick people (mostly kids or teenagers) into ruining their things, especially technology related. For example, they tell you to clean your computer with certain producs that will defenitely ruin it or the tin foil ball in the microwave that (doesn’t) turn solid after certain amount of time…
She couldnāt afford a professional?
I donāt think she āfell victimā to a trend. She made her choice. It sucks but she is accountable for it. People need to make better decisions! I know tiktok is influential but people, adults especially, should know better.
I read about this on Apple News. Whoa…I can’t believe people are still trying internet trends after that tide pod ridiculousness.
LOL…I remember when I wanted a mole like Madonna. I used Maybelline like everyone else. I guess those days are gone.
I had giant lips as a kid. In the 80s thin lips were in. I was bullied,made fun of constantly. then the Angelina Jolie came along
Part of me wants to give her a hug, and the other part wants to bonk her on the head with a rolling pin. Not the marble one, the wood one lol.
I am a BBAU watcher and I just want to say I love Tilly! She is such an amazing houseguest/ competitor. I am so sorry to hear this happened to her, it’s an awful punishment for making a mistake. Now I understand why she always had on full coverage makeup or her blue mask, poor girl, she is so mentally tough you never could tell anything was wrong. If you are reading this Tilly love and luck from the USA!!!!
Genuine question: what is it about these shows that you like and what makes you āloveā a complete stranger? Iām curious as to how this is entertaining to people.
The stupidity is amazing with what people think they can do instead of trained professionals. Tiktok, YouTube and FB are filled with potentially dangerous things that people decide they can do after watching one 30 minute video instead of years of training and also buying the cheapest products to do the activity.
Tons of freckles all over, but they never, ever, bothered me or made me self conscious. And funnily enough, I tan beautifully and never burn. I think it is due to Viking ancestors – always out on the water in the sun.
How incredibly stupid.
A tween burned over 90% of her body following some idiot by writing on her bathroom mirror with alcohol lighting it up only to set herself on fire
I hope she can reverse the damage through plastic surgery/dermatology. Not kind to call her stupid. Obviously she shouldn’t have done this, but she did and instead of beating herself up (or having the internet beat her up) focus on solutions and better decision making in future.
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.