A female architect has told how she ‘lost her face’ in the hours and days after undergoing beauty treatment because her then boyfriend told her she looked ‘old’.
Svetlana, 37, from Perm in , claims it had the opposite intended effect and aged her 10 years overnight saying: ‘My face shrank like in mummification.’
She claims the cosmetic surgeon used a new drug recently approved for use in Britain and other Western countries, but that it destroyed her looks ‘irreversibly ageing her ten years’.
Before and After: Svetlana, 37, from Russia, (pictured before, left) revealed she ‘lost her face’ in the hours and days after beauty treatment that aged her 10 years overnight (right)
She turned into a ‘recluse’, saying: ‘My skin sagged like a rag, the face completely departed from the skull.
‘The connection of the skin to the skull, the so-called ligaments of the face, disappeared.’
A criminal case has now been launched into her case in Russia, but Svetlana says her love life and career has been ruined and she has spoken out to warn other women.
‘It’s very scary,’ she said.
‘As if you were killed, you decompose – and see it every day in the mirror.
‘It’s like your face is melting and you can’t stop it. Doctors don’t know how to treat it.
‘If I had even had the slightest hint that this could happen, I would never have gone to a beautician at all.’
She decided to undergo the cosmetic procedure because her then boyfriend told her she looked ‘old’ and joked he would ‘find himself a younger model’ (pictured, before the treatment)
She claims the cosmetic surgeon used a new drug, Longidaza, to remove old gel implants but it ‘destroyed the collagen’ on her face and her ‘skin became saggy’ (pictured)
Her problems started when she was advised by her cosmetologist to remove old lifting gel implants with injections of Longidaza, a Russian drug with multiple uses that has been approved this year for use in many Western countries, reported Russian channel NTV.
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She had sought treatment because ‘my then boyfriend kept telling me – supposedly as a joke – “You’re old – I’ll find myself a younger model”,’ she said.
Subconsciously, she believed him and tried to improve her face with cosmetic surgery, then he dumped her when her surgery went wrong, she said.
Svetlana has been advised that the drug ‘destroyed the collagen’ on her face and her ‘skin became saggy’.
Svetlana says her love life and career has been ruined and she has spoken out to warn other women after she said her ‘face shrank like during mummification’
She said within three days of the treatmenr, the under-eye and the upper eyelid, was completely dry, her eyebrows had dropped down, and the outer corners of the eyes dropped
She had gone to a surgeon in March 2020 who she had visited earlier in her home city Perm.
The medic – a fully qualified doctor – assured her that the Longidaza would break down excess gel under the skin beneath her eyes, she said.
She had other treatments, too, injecting gel into her cheeks and into her nasolabial fold.
She received enzyme and hyaluronic filler in one procedure, she said.
‘In the evening I went to the mirror and saw that my face had began to change,’ she said.
‘The skin under my eyes dried up and literally fell through.
‘In the morning, the volume of dried tissue under the eyes increased even more. Rapid changes were taking place, every hour my face was altering.
She said she turned into a ‘recluse’ after the treatment went wrong, and hid behind Covid face masks and also wore large dark glasses and a cap, to completely cover her face (pictured)
‘Within three days, not only the under-eye, but also the upper eyelid, was completely dry.
My eyebrows dropped down, the outer corners of the eyes dropped. I couldn’t understand what was going on.’
She has been told subsequently that the Longidaza, an allergenic anti-scar drug, was ‘eating away at my tissues’.
Svetlana said: ‘I didn’t realise at the time that it was irreversible.’
Her beautician Dr Irina Freimanis then injected more gel but also used more of the new drug, this time giving her treatment for free, said the victim.
The new fillers caused her pain but did not solve the worsening problem.
‘After all these injections, I saw another person in the mirror every day,’ said Svetlana.
‘It was clear that some kind of chemical process was taking place and the face was changing.
This was really scary.’
Svetlana said two years ago she was successful and her career as an architect was going in an upward trajectory but the visit to the beautician ‘broke her whole life’
Surgeons and ophthalmologists warned her that due to damage to her eye area , her vision would be damaged.
‘I stopped communicating with people, I shut myself away,’ she said.
Everyone asked what happened to me, why I didn’t look like myself, what was wrong with my eyes.
‘I continued to swell a lot, and stopped leaving the house so as not to scare anyone.’
Covid face masks saved her embarrassment but she also wore large dark glasses and a cap, completely covering my face since in profile I had a very unnaturally flat forehead and temples.
‘My face shrank like during mummification,’ she said.
On the web she realised that she was not alone in suffering such problems.
She went to the Russian Investigative Committee which is now examining the case, and was medically checked as she sought a way out.
‘Some doctors told me: “Yes, this drug has corroded your face, it is irreversible..”.’
Her cosmetologist – who is contesting the case – was caught on video saying: ‘Go and prove I injected you with Longidaza.’
Svetlana says she bitterly regrets undergoing the treatment saying: ‘I now look at my photos and videos before this and I see that everything was good’.
She said she ‘found fault’ with herself because of her boyfriend’s words.
‘In most cases, women do not need any procedures.
You just need to drink vitamins, eat well and lead a healthy lifestyle. But society imposes its stereotypes on us, the cult of beauty is actively imposed on us.’
A criminal case has now been launched against her beautician, Dr Irina Freimanis, a fully qualified doctor, (pictured) in Russia, who is contesting the case
She said: ‘I am telling my story here to warn other girls and women… what might happen to them.
‘You can’t blindly trust doctors, even with many qualifications.
You need to love yourself and watch Instagram less, and not listen to people who say: “You’re getting old”.
‘Better to grow old with dignity and do nothing with your face. I am very sorry that I even applied for any procedure.
I wish I hadn’t.
‘I just wanted to correct the minimal age-related changes, but I could not even think that my face would be ditched in such a way that it would cost me my whole life.’
Svetlana said: ‘Two years ago I was successful, everything worked out for me, my career was going in an upward trajectory, everything was fine.
‘And this fatal mistake – my visit to a beautician – broke my whole life.
It looks like appearance is not important. But appearance is very important, especially for a woman.
‘Your face is your calling card. I would agree to anything to get my face back. But this is unreal.
‘Even after (restorative) surgery, it will be a completely different face, and the skin will not be completely restored.’
Longidaza has used widely in Russia and neighbouring countries for 15 years.
It has applications in pulmonology, urology, and has been used to treat Covid-19 patients, assisting in overcoming breathing problems.
Its makers say it has some uses in cosmetology.
The committee is investigating the case, and assessing Svetlana’s claims.
When confronted with a claim from Svetlana, the doctor said on video: dunia malam medan ‘I don’t care what you brought… goodbye, go away.’