What was meant to be a quick eyebrow wax at a salon turned into the most hair-raising of experiences for Chicago resident Destiny Wells back in October 2016.
According to a lawsuit filed in Cook County on Tuesday, 35-year-old Wells went to Fashion Nails Salon to get her eyebrows waxed, leaving with severe burns and permanent scarring as a result.
Wells went to the emergency room after the incident where doctors determined she was suffering from burns around her eyebrows. Though the skin has since healed, it remains depigmented and lighter than the skin on the rest of her face.
Understandably, the waxing disaster took a toll on Wells’ self confidence. “I used to be very photogenic and loved to take pictures,” she explained to CBS 2’s Dorothy Tucker, adding that she’s been hiding from cameras ever since. “It’s embarrassing. I’m ashamed.”
Wells was so embarrassed she refused to appear on camera and instead opted to speak to CBS 2 on the phone at her lawyer’s office, explaining how she believes salon owner Tina Nguyen made a mistake. “I felt a little sting,” said Wells, adding that Nguyen used black dye after removing too much eyebrow. “She put it across my eyebrows to make it fill in, to make it look like the hair was still there where she made the mistake. The next morning…It pussed up. My face was swollen.”
Wells describes what happened when she returned to the salon the next day. “I was crying. I went right up there to nail shop to confront her.” Nguyen put some lotion on her brows and sent her home, though a doctor confirms Wells’ skin had been burned and that her eyebrows never grew back.
Nguyen denies that Wells was ever a customer at her salon. Wells is suing in the hopes of being awarded enough money to repair her eyebrows, which she says costs thousands of dollars she currently does not have.
h/t CBS Chicago