Celebrity esthetician loses her license after client says she was left permanently scarred

Celebrity esthetician Sonya Dakar has surrendered her esthetician license after an LA woman sued her for “severe burns and permanent scarring” from one of Dakar’s facials.Last year, Victoria Nelson said she was bringing a lawsuit against Dakar after an April 2021 chemical peel left Nelson “with severe burns to her face, including to both cheeks, under one eyebrow and to her forehead.” That lawsuit is still ongoing.In November, the California State Board of Barbering and Cosmetology filed its own accusation in administrative court which against Dakar, in which it made several allegations including that Dakar “assaulted and attacked a board inspector,” according to People.That case resulted in a settlement in which Dakar agreed to surrender her esthetician license and establishment license — that is, the license to run Dakar’s Beverly Hills clinic, which has welcomed the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow, Drew Barrymore and Sofia Vergara.Nelson, for her part, is pleased with the outcome.“This has been years in the making and it certainly hasn’t been easy,” Nelson wrote on TikTok.

“There were moments I genuinely didn’t think anyone would listen but the Board investigated, the Attorney General prosecuted, and the settlement speaks for itself.”Dakar can’t apply to have her license re-instated for three years and must prove rehabilitation to do so, according to documents posted by Nelson.Dakar would also be ordered to pay the board $17,731.25 and $70,972.27 to Nelson (in the document, referred to as “V.N.”) in order to get her license back.Dakar began her esthetician career in the 1980s and has been running her clinic for 44 years.

She also sells skincare under her name.Because Dakar settled out of court, a hearing that Nelson was preparing to speak at, along with other witnesses, was canceled, Nelson said.“I was a little nervous when they said they settled,” she said on TikTok.“I was also pretty frustrated that I wasn’t going to be ...