When you went in it was like a conveyor belt
she never told you what she was gonna do
she just started injecting
I was actually embarrassed ‘cause it just looked like
I had two big boils coming out of my chin
I’m Emily, and I’m investigating the filler industry
Dermal fillers surprisingly aren’t classified as a
medical substance, meaning that the industry is unregulated
1300 complaints have been filed in the UK in the last year
And as it currently stands, pretty much anyone can
set up a clinic, and Instagram seems to be used as a gateway
to make new business
One of these clinics operating through Instagram is called
Miss Hudson’s Aesthetics, and I’ve come to find dozens
of online complaints about their services
One said she ended up in hospital with a serious infection
and another said she left with serious bruising and
misshapen lips
Based in Manchester, this clinic seems to operate
pop ups all over the world, including Glasgow
and heavily relies on celebrity endorsements from people
such as Chloe Khan and Farrah Abraham
"We have Miss Hudson, and we’re going for the jaw"
And the owner, Savannah Hudson, shows a seemingly
extravagant lifestyle
Lauren is 24 and went to Miss Hudson’s at Glasgow
Green last year after finding her through Instagram
The overall clinic was just chaos, it was like a free for all
The length of the waiting time was like five hours but you
were literally in the chair for less than five minutes
I’d already had my lips done before, but I just wanted
them a bit fuller, and that obviously never happened
because I left with two massive lumps on my chin
I spoke to seven women in total, and all of them had
similar experiences
I decided to go undercover with a colleague to see for myself
Monday evening, Glasgow Green
The staff are applying some Covid rules, but not everyone
is wearing a mask
At the time of filming, Manchester was in lockdown
but staff from this clinic have travelled up for the day
and say that tomorrow they are off to do the same in Leeds
They insist on cash only- upfront
And, possibly in an attempt at social distancing
they apply numbing cream in the street
I speak to customers who tell me they were happy
One woman tells me she would never go anywhere else
Then the owner, Savannah Hudson, comes to give
me a consultation in the street
She thinks I’m an unsure twenty year old and takes
me inside for a twenty minute conversation
She compares their cash upfront policy
to a supermarket insisting a sandwich is paid for
before consumption
Mr Ken Stewart is a consultant plastic surgeon in the NHS
and in private practice
I suspect the biggest risk in this particular clinic is Covid because
they’ve just travelled up from Manchester which is in lockdown
Their waiting room is incredibly busy, they’ve got people
waiting out on the street
I’d be terrified in that environment
I show him some footage of Savannah explaining
how the clinic uses a “try it to buy it” policy
around managing the risk of allergic reaction
which in rare cases can lead to cardiac arrest
Pffff...
Well if you have a cardiac arrest… If I have a cardiac
arrest I don’t want that lady anywhere near me
Mr Stewart says the speed of the injections
increases the chance of side effects
If you inject filler very quickly, then it significantly increases
the risk of necrosis, or embolisation, or adverse
side effects. These filling products should be injected
slowly and they should be injected carefully
This is not like buying a sandwich from Asda, this is
potentially serious and business involving risk
but unfortunately at the moment it’s buyer beware
But before you decide on where to get your filler