KEY POINTS
- Tamika Cleggett, 30, was hospitalized for two days after her eyebrows were applied with tint, something she was allergic to
- Cleggett became "completely blind for 24 hours" during the ordeal
- She shared her story on TikTok to raise awareness and urge people to do tests before undergoing beauty treatments
Eyebrow makeup caused an Australian woman to temporarily lose her vision just months before her wedding.
Tamika Cleggett, of Perth, ended up being hospitalized for two days after she visited a new beautician back in April 2016, the New York Post reported.
She had asked for her eyebrows to be waxed and colored, but the beautician — without Cleggett’s permission — instead applied tint, something Cleggett was allergic to.
"I didn’t think to mention that I was allergic to tint as I’d asked for just a brow wax and a bit of pencil," the 30-year-old retail manager was quoted as saying by 7News.com.au.
The tint initially caused Cleggett to experience an "itchy reaction," which developed into a "burning sensation" that she described as "like this hotness that you try and scratch, but it makes it worse."
Cleggett approached doctors and was told she would need to wait for the allergic reaction to subside. She could only see through her lashes at this point, she said.
The reaction "kept on getting worse and worse" for at least four days, said Cleggett, whose eyes had completely closed at one point.
"I was completely blind for 24 hours as my eyes were completely sealed," she said.
Cleggett was monitored for two days to ensure that the reaction did not spread to her throat and block her airways.
Fluids ended up traveling to Cleggett’s cheeks as well as her jaw, and she was sent home with steroid medication.
"It was definitely the most painful thing I’d ever experienced," she said.
As her wedding was set to take place four months after the incident, Cleggett said she was worried she would have to "walk down the aisle looking like an alien."
"I would have canceled the wedding and eloped," she said.
However, Cleggett was able to make a full recovery.
She decided to share her experience on TikTok last month to raise awareness and encourage people "to do patch tests" before beauty treatments. Her post has garnered more than 220,000 likes, comments and views.
"My sister said that I look like an alien and multiple people on TikTok have made that comment, which I think is funny; at the end of the day, you just have to laugh it off," Cleggett said.
Representation. Tamika Cleggett suffered an allergic reaction after her eyebrows were tinted, according to reports. Photo: Engin_Akyurt/Pixabay
