Brits warned Kim Kardashian-inspired 'vampire facials' at unregulated clinics ... trends now
Brits seeking a more youthful visage are being cautioned against using unregulated beauty clinics for so-called 'vampire facials' because of the risk of being given HIV.
The treatment, also known as a platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection, sees a patient injected with samples of their own blood that have been fed into a centrifuge to filter out the protein-rich plasma that aestheticians say can make skin look younger.
Kim Kardashian, her sister Kourtney and Ferne McCann are among those to undergo the treatments - but warnings are being aired after at least three women who also received them at a spa in the USA contracted HIV.
An investigation by the Centre of Disease Control (CDC) concluded that the women likely contracted the virus because 'poor infection control practices' at the New Mexico spa they attended.
They may have contracted the disease through the re-use of unsterilised equipment such as needles or vials used to store blood.
Kim Kardashian underwent a 'vampire facial' - known also as a platelet-rich plasma injection - in 2012 but later said she would not do so again
Kim's sister Kourtney has also undergone the treatment, which involves injecting a patient's face with their own filtered blood plasma
VIP Beauty Salon and Spa in Albuquerque (pictured in April 2017) offered 'vampire facials' and was closed in 2018 after two cases of HIV were linked to it. In 2023, a further three cases among prior clients were identified
The owner of VIP Spa, Maria Ramos de Ruiz, 62, pleaded guilty in June 2022 to five felony counts of practising medicine without a licence
Unlike other parts of the world, the UK does not have regulations on who can administer beauty treatments such as fillers, Botox and microneedling treatments such as injecting PRP.
Beauticians will typically be trained with college-level qualifications as such as NVQs - but there is no requirement for them to be registered.
Campaigners for regulation of the beauty treatment industry have warned that Brits seeking cut-price deals to improve their looks from so-called 'backstreet' practitioners could put themselves at risk.
Patient safety advocate Dawn Knight told MailOnline the safety issues raised by the CDC about the New Mexico spa were 'all over the UK'.
'I've heard about needle sharing, about not disposing of partially used fillers to use them for a second time, dogs wandering around premises - all unsafe and unhygienic practices,' she said.
'Today in the UK anyone can practise aesthetics without training, without a qualification. If you are a non-health professional you aren't required in this country to even hold insurance for these treatments.
'These people don't understand the kind of damage they can do. There's zero accountability.'
The UK is slowly stepping up efforts to regulate non-surgical cosmetic treatments after previous scares.
In 2017, Public Health England said it was made aware of three beauty salon staff in the north west being injured while 'using the same needle microdermabrasion device'. All three had to be tested for viruses - thankfully testing negative.
The UK Government is currently mulling over how to impose a national licensing scheme for non-surgical cosmetic procedures in England after the power to create one was added to the Health and Care Act in 2022.
Scotland and Wales have each previously consulted on imposing similar schemes under devolved powers.
But Ms Knight added that the work on the scheme was 'glacially slow' and would take years after its imposition to have a proper effect - while people continue to be blasted with social media ads for cut-price cosmetic procedures.
'The influence of social media and the ads that people are
