After dodgy eyelash extensions caused her to go blind, a legal assistant became permanently blind. She is now terrified of false lashes and has decided not to touch them again.
Zowie Kinnea, 31, from Bournemouth, Dorset, was left with eye balls ‘scratched to pieces’ when a dodgy beautician took three hours to wrongly apply lashes extensions to her waterline, the line of skin between the eyelashes and the eye.
The legal assistant had to be rushed to the A&E by her boyfriend after her eyes began to swell shut because of the stinging pain, and found the lashes had scratched her cornea.
Despite her sight being restored, Zowie still has trouble seeing and must wear sunglasses inside.
Zowie now feels like she is ‘less than a woman’ because of the experience and doesn’t want to do it again. She wants to share her story with other young girls so that they don’t make the same mistakes.
Zowie Kinnea (31 years old), from Bournemouth in Dorset was left looking shattered after a prostitute took her three hours to apply false lashes to her waterline.
Because the false eyelashes were wrongly applied, her eye became swollen and she was in severe pain.
Zowie, who lost her vision but can see again and must wear glasses due to skin sensitivity, said that she feels less like a woman.
“I used lashes often but no longer wear them. It’s too scary.
Zowie found the lash beautician on Facebook, and to add insult to injury, she was overcharged for the treatment when the technician, who treated her at her home, refused to hand over her £20 change.
Zowie was soon experiencing vision issues that led to worsening.
Zowie acknowledged that it took her three hours to make the appointment and that she felt pain. This was an indicator of something going wrong.
Although it wasn’t the first time that the legal assistant had false eyelashes, the negative experience made her hesitant to do so again.
After the treatment, her eyes became swollen and she tried to shield herself from all the scratching.
She described it as “like someone had been stabbing my eyes.”
“I looked in the mirror, and could not open my eyes.
The only way to describe what happened when I opened my eyes is that it was as if someone had put gel in them. It was anguish.
Zowie revealed her boyfriend, left, rushed her to A&E the morning after her appointment that left her in excruciating pain. Right, the legal assistant wants to warn women about dangers associated with picking dodgy beauty therapists
Zowie was so swollen that doctors had difficulty opening his eyes.
“I am normally very good at dealing with pain, but it hurt so bad that I was in tears.”
Her boyfriend rushed her to A&E near their home the morning after the treatment.
Due to the swelling of Zowie’s eyes, doctors had difficulty opening his eyes.
A&E doctors used specialist equipment to open Zowie’s eyes and apply yellow dye into them to see just how badly she was scratched.
The woman said that she had been treated with bright yellow dye, and her eyes looked like they were broken.
“When I got out of the hospital, I felt sick. The yellow stuff they had put in my eye started making me cough up.
A glamorous assistant to the legal department claimed that the beauty therapist refused to reimburse or apologize after the event.
Zowie (pictured above) said that she felt less feminine after the experience and wouldn’t attempt false lashes again.
“I had no idea what was happening – it was yellow stuff that was coming out my nose, my mouth and nostrils.
It was terrible. It was like I was dying and going blind.
Zowie was told by doctors that they couldn’t treat her and she should immediately visit the beauty salon to have her lopsided lash extensions removed.
But, she claimed the beautician, not bothered by her shock at the hospital visit, said she wasn’t too busy and that it was all normal.
Zowie needed to order a kit online in order to dissolve the glue on her lashes. She experienced blurred vision for 2 weeks.
The beautician did not apologize for her or offer a full refund, as she claimed.
Pictured on a night out prior to the incident, she now wears sunglasses indoors as her eyes are sensitive.
Zowie (pictured before with her boyfriend) said that choosing a lash artist you trust was crucial.
Zowie wants to now warn girls about the dangers associated with lash extensions and help them choose a trusted technician.
Due to the trauma, her eyeballs become hypersensitive and she wears sunglasses inside.
The warning signs for her were the three-hour appointment, instead of the normal 45, and intense pain throughout the treatment.
Zowie is now aware that having her lash extensions done shouldn’t cause any pain, despite the fact that she was told by the technician it would be intense.
Her boyfriend panicked that she was being kidnapped, and he knocked at the door.
She has since bought strip lashes, but can’t bring herself to put them on and doesn’t think she will ever wear any type of false eyelashes again.