Bride-to-be sounds alarm after popular beauty treatment left her disfigured before the big day
A bride-to-be who wanted to look “like a princess” on her wedding day ended up looking far worse than that after a severe allergic reaction to a fake eyelash treatment.Polly Bibby, 26, an illustrator, decided to try classic eyelash extensions ahead of her big day compared to her usual minimal makeup look.She had a patch test done, she said, according to Kennedy News & Media — and since she suffered no reaction, she went ahead with the procedure in early July, before her wedding day.After getting the treatment done — which cost her about $88, she said — she was initially happy with her “dressier” appearance.Just a few hours after the appointment, however, her eyes became watery and sore.She shrugged it off as symptoms of hay fever.But when her eyes started to sting and then stick together due to a yellow discharge, alarm bells began going off.
She called an urgent care medical line and was advised to head to the nearest hospital emergency room.A shocking photo shows her red, raw and swollen eyes. After being seen by a nurse in the eye unit at Hinchingbrooke Hospital in Hinchingbrooke, Cambridge, it was confirmed she’d suffered an allergic reaction to the eyelash extensions.She was given a course of antibiotics and antihistamines, and told to wait three days for the swelling to go down before getting the false lashes removed.“To keep the eyes safe, [artificial] lashes should be applied by an experienced aesthetician in a sanitary setting, with chemicals that are safe for your skin,” said Rebecca J.Taylor, M.D., a board-certified ophthalmologist in Nashville, in a statement on the American Academy of Ophthalmology website.“The procedure does come with risks, namely trauma to or infection of the eyelid or cornea; allergic reaction to the glue; and permanent or temporary loss of eyelashes.”Infection can also result, Taylor said, from inadequate hygiene in the salon or damage to the eye during application. Even though her skin is n...