'I think this needle might be BLUNT': Moment beautician 'digs around' on patient's face leaving her BLEEDING during unregulated Botox procedure - as secret film exposes how dangerous treatments are taught for just £150
- Shocking revelations have come to light in a new documentary for BBC Three
- Under the Skin: The Botched Beauty Business explores the surge in popularity
- It raises concerns over the lack of regulation for training courses such as these
This is the moment a beautician is caught on camera using a blunt needle to perform treatment on a patient's face, leaving her bleeding and in pain.
Secret filming has exposed the dangers of unregulated thread lifts and Botox procedures, which are being taught online or at one-day training courses for as little as £150.
Experts warn the beauty treatments could cause 'irreversible damage' if done incorrectly, and therefore pose a risk to the public if being carried out by novice students.
The revelations have come to light in a new BBC Three documentary, Under the Skin: The Botched Beauty Business, which explores the surge in popularity of such treatments.
The revelations have come to light in a new BBC Three documentary, Under the Skin: The Botched Beauty Business, which explores the surge in popularity of such treatments
The investigation found 26 cosmetic training academies in Liverpool alone, which offered courses costing up to £5,000, but also as little as £150
It also raises concerns about how such training courses are almost entirely unregulated.
Despite the use of needles and the potential for serious complications, an aesthetic practitioner does not need any mandatory qualifications, meaning anyone can go on a basic training course and the be allowed to perform the treatments.
The investigation found 26 cosmetic training academies in Liverpool alone, which offered courses costing up to £5,000, but also as little as £150.
Some courses involved several days of face-to-face training, whereas others were simply a couple of hours online.
MailOnline has also found a series of examples of sites offering similar courses, with some even selling 'less regulation than in the NHS' as one of the benefits.
The BBC sent a nurse undercover to one academy, where it said a number of disturbing processes came to light.
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This included an apparent lack of attempt to control infection, with tutors performing procedures on a chair instead of a clean bed.
Footage reveals a patient's blood vessels being punctured several times, leaving her bleeding and in audible pain.
Meanwhile it also shows the teacher taking a phone call in the middle of the treatment and asking the undercover nurse to film her doing the work so it could be posted on Snapchat.
Chris Wade, chairman of the Association of Aesthetics, Injectable and Cosmetics, told the documentary: 'The needle was just barbaric in the way it was it wasn't actually introduced to the skin at the right depth or the right level…I would have liked to stop this procedure now. It should not go ahead.'
Ashton Collins, director of Save Face, added: 'There's no explanation from the tutor here as to what's going on.
'This girl is bleeding profusely, she's having to touch her neck as she can feel the blood running down. There's no attempt to clear that up.'
The BBC sent a nurse undercover, where a number of disturbing processes came to light, including an apparent lack of attempt to control infection, with tutors performing procedures on a chair instead of a clean bed
Footage reveals a patient's blood vessels being punctured several times, while it also shows the teacher taking a phone call in the middle of the treatment and asking the undercover nurse to film her doing the work so it could be posted on Snapchat
The undercover nurse, named only as Jemma to protect her identity, has more than 20 years of experience in the industry.
She said: 'The bottom line is no student would have left there with the technical, or practical capability to provide safe and comprehensive treatment - a total danger to the people they choose to treat sadly. I never expected it to be that bad.'
The academy where the filming took place, told the BBC 'the safety of our customers and quality of our training are of the highest priorities'.
A spokesperson added they were concerned to learn of the BBC's allegations but claimed they did not have sufficient detail to respond more fully.
