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4th April 2024
12:37pm BST
We likely all look back at our teen years and cringe at the choices — particularly in beauty and fashion —we made along the way to becoming the adults we are today.
While many are embarrassing, they're hopefully not ones that left any permanent damage.
Sadly, one teen had an experiment with a hair removal product that ended with a trip to the emergency room and a lifelong reminder of her beauty mishap.
Allison Boles, 17, required a skin graft after attempting to follow a DIY hair removal trend.
@greenhausdeco Sugar wax is famous for being the most gentle form of waxing🍯 Factors such as it being used at room temperature & using powder which creates a barrier between the wax and the skin helps a lot with the sensation of removing the sugar 🖤 #sugarwax #sugarwaxing #howtosugarwax #FAQsugarwax #sugarpaste #waxingvideos ♬ original sound - Greenhaus Deco.
The teen is known to regularly bake, which is why her mum, Natalie Renken, didn't think much of seeing her daughter cooking over the stove or panic when she said she had burned herself.
However, upon seeing Allison's thumb injury from melting sugar wax — a waxing method used to remove hair that is supposed to be less painful than waxing because it doesn't stick to the skin — Natalie rushed her to the A&E.
"She showed me it and at first I thought it was a paper towel but it was her skin that had peeled back," Natalie shared, per Tyla.
"I took her to the emergency department straight away. Her top layer of skin had rolled back and the underlying skin was a bright pink colour."
The doctor, after hearing how the teenager had injured herself, says that putting the hot wax into the fridge, 'flash' cools it, which is what likely linked to the severity of her injury.
"When the wax is in the fridge for only an hour or two it doesn't cool evenly which leaves hot pockets in the wax.
"When you then put it in the microwave these pockets are then going to get even hotter but the other bits of the wax will only get warm which causes a combustion reaction which pops the hot pockets."
@lucy_seitz Facts about sugar waxing #sugaringhairremoval #howtomakesugarwax #waxmethod #sugaring #estheticiantiktok #beautyschool ♬ original sound - Lucy Seitz
The medical professional also revealed that this wasn't the first case of a patient requiring a skin graft for a DIY-hair-removal-related injury and that the teen may need a skin graft at the specialist burns clinic.
Over the course of five weeks, Allison's thumb healed without the need for plastic surgery, however, her recovery process was not smooth sailing.
"That evening [at the burns clinic] we were told to clean the wound again and at this point it had blistered badly," Natalie explained, sharing that the blister was larger than Allison's thumb before it popped.
"She then had open skin and the doctor diagnosed her with a severe second-degree burn."
Sadly, she will be left with permanent scarring from the incident.
The waxing method claims the mixture can be made at home from equal parts water, honey, and sugar, and can be used anywhere to remove hair.
However, despite following all the instructions for the method, Allison was left in a painful emergency situation.
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