Aussie influencer and former Big Brother star Tilly Whitfeld has revealed she’s launching her own line of tattoo freckle products following a horrifying DIY ordeal that left her in the emergency room with severe facial swelling and permanent scarring.
After coming across a viral tutorial on TikTok in 2020, the 26-year-old decided to try DIY freckle tattooing at home using ink and needles she bought online to replicate the sun-kissed look herself.
The viral hack quickly turned into a nightmare, with Whitfeld suffering severe swelling on her face, that forced her to seek urgent medical attention.
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“It was really bad. This was my first time doing it,” Ms Whitfeld told news.com.au.
The TV personality says her face was left unrecognisable after she tried to replicate the Tik Tok trend at home. Credit: @tillywhitfeld/Instagram/Instagram
Big Brother fans may recall seeing Whitfeld regularly wearing a distinct blue clay face mask throughout her season in 2021.
She later revealed the clay mask was used to cover up the lingering redness, scarring, and complications from the botched DIY procedure, which occurred just months before entering the house.
“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,” she previously revealed to her followers after leaving the Big Brother house.
While the ordeal left her face with lingering skin damage and scarring, the mum-of-one is now turning the painful lesson into a new business venture, revealing she is preparing to launch her own line of tattoo freckle products designed specifically for safe at-home application.
“I’ve done so many dumb things like DIY myself, so we are just starting a whole DIY brand at home,” she told the publisher, with the brand slated to officially drop “by the end of the year.”
But until then, her advice to anyone eyeing-up online beauty trends remains simple: think twice before taking a needle to your own face.
