Woman scarred by freckle tattoos puts snails on face in attempt to heal damage

A TV star who used a TikTok beauty trend to try and get freckles was left with scars across her face.

Tilly Whitfield, who appeared on Big Brother Australia, has been attempting to clear her skin ever since the DIY cosmetic procedure went horribly wrong last year.

And this month, she left fans in shock as she posted a video of herself with snails on her face.

The 22-year-old was captured having a ‘snail facial’, which involved four of the creepy crawlies slithering over her face and leaving behind mucus.

Tilly claimed the mucus is made up of hyaluronic acid which helps to heal scar tissue – and the clip showed her having the molluscs individually placed on her face before she went onto flash a smile.

As the video was posted, the influencer had some words of warning for fans: “Please do not attempt this at home, snails carry diseases and this was done at my own risk.

“These [snails] are not from the garden they are purchased from a breeder and this was supervised so nothing was ingested.”

A few years back Tilly was known to appear on screen in a blue clay mask – which she said was to help her cover up redness – but the young woman later admitted that it was actually due to an accident that occurred when she tried to give herself faux-freckles.

Speaking to The New York Times, Tilly explained that the DIY treatment she tried to pull off left her with angry, red burns on her cheeks and temporary blindness.

She decided to give it a go after she watched a TikTok video where a beauty fan used a sewing needle to prick her skin with ink which reported results that lasted six months.

Taking matters into her own hands the TV star then ordered some brown tattoo ink from eBay to test out the hack, but was left with nothing other than regret.

She said: “It didn’t hurt at all, so I didn’t think I should stop.”

After a while she discovered the ink she had used contained “high levels of lead”, which is both extremely dangerous and toxic.

She has since spent thousands of pounds trying to treat her painful scars but, up until December last year, she had found no success.

Now the unusual snail facial has been added to her list of treatment attempts, and the treatment has the backing of skin specialists and is also used in skincare routines in certain regions of the world such as Korea.

Tilly recently revealed to her fans that she’s also been following a new treatment plan that has completely transformed her skin.

She now looks a lot happier, and more fresh-faced, and said her skin should be “back to normal” by the end of the year.

Writing on Instagram, Tilly said: “It’s so crazy how far my skin has come since I first tattooed my freckles, I’ve been so self conscious of the scars from the left over ink for the past year and a half now.

“I was always so scared to stick to a tailored treatment plan because I thought I would never see results and that it would stay the same, however, I’m so thankful for @lacey_facebysm at @faceby_sm and @dmkskin for helping me through the final steps of my journey with laser and lightening treatments such as enzyme peels, microdermabrasion and lifts.

“It’s a long process but by every treatment I’m consistently seeing results along with my Dmk daily skin routine prescribed by Lacey.

“I’m so excited and hopefully by the end of the year my skin will be back to normal.

“I shall keep you all updated on this exciting journey also thanks to @milkandbuttermedia I love you all.”

When she first opened up about the incident she said she agreed with the people who called her “stupid” for testing out the hack.

At the time, she said: “Please please don’t try any DIY or at home beauty procedures.

“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. Leave it to the professionals.”

Many people have commented saying how great Tilly looks since she posted the new photos.

One person said: “This is the best pic of you,” while another said: “Tilly it’s looking great – all the best with the process.”

A few people commented telling Tilly they thought she looked “gorgeous”, and faceby_sm added: “We love you. So delighted to be on this skin journey with you.”