An Australian reality star has issued a warning against taking part in a popular DIY freckle trend on TikTok.
Tilly Whitfield, 21, was left with severe scarring and vision loss after the viral hack went wrong. She first opened up about the fiasco on her Instagram account, where she shared a series of images of red blotches on her skin.
Tilly, who appeared on the current season of Big Brother Australia, explained that she wore a blue face mask throughout her time in the house to conceal the scarring she had sustained after attempting the freckle hack.
She wrote: "For those asking why I have my blue clay face mask on continuously throughout the show this is what my face looked like a week prior to entering the house hence why I always have makeup on and my skin is always covered."
Tilly added: "This is the result of attempting to remove scarring I inflicted on myself trying to replicate an at home beauty procedure I saw on a tik tok video 2 months before big brother. who bloody else would manage to do such a thing.
"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 unrecognisable.
"Leave it to the professionals. thanks @bigbrotherau for being so super cute and supportive #bbau #bigbrotherau."
She added: "This is deep below surface level scaring and dark pigmentation whilst I’m fortunate enough to not have keloid scaring and the surface of my skin is smooth, the pigmentation is very dark and obvious. I literally shoved needles deep into my skin this is not a rash. [sic]"
While the Big Brother star did not mention the specific TikTok trend she used, she later told the New York Times, that she used ink and needles to give herself faux freckles.
Per her interview with NYT, Tilly, inspired by a video on the app, used sewing needles to prick herself with ink, believing the "freckles" would "fade within six months".
She told the outlet that the video did not mention which type of ink should be used, so she purchased brown tattoo ink online.
"It didn’t hurt at all, so I didn’t think I should stop," Tilly added.
The DIY procedure did not leave her with any freckles - just scarring, swelling from infection, and temporary vision loss in one eye.
Overall, she has spent nearly $12,000 in doctor's visits in a bid to find a solution for her skin damage, to no avail as of yet.
