A woman "left looking like a character from Monsters Inc" as her lips ballooned to double their size has warned others to do their research before getting work done.
Desi Bolich shared shocking images of her swollen and lumpy lips after having the salon treatment and claims she looked like the big-lipped villain Fungus from the hit Disney Pixar movie.
The 21-year-old social media influencer says she had the procedure to boost her confidence after seeing girls flaunting their fuller lips online.
Desi forked out $400 - about £290 - to have 1ml of filler but she claimed the procedure was so painful she almost passed out.
Her delight soon turned to horror when the injector held up a mirror to show her the results and she sat desperately fighting back her tears.
But thankfully the pandemic meant that the TikTok 'star' was able to hide her swollen lips and she said 'thank the lord for face masks'.
Now Desi is sharing her ordeal to urge people to thoroughly research their practitioner before going under the needle.
Desi, from San Diego, California, said: "I really looked like the Monsters Inc guy and that's not what I expected at all.
"He's the character that's got big lips, he gets sucked up by the machine by them.
"I watched Monsters Inc a lot as a kid so that was my first thought as soon as I looked in the mirror. I was like 'oh my gosh I look like a movie character - and not a good one'.
"They were double the size [they should be] between me getting them done and when I got home.
"It was so disappointing, I went in expecting to look like girls on Instagram - they get filler and immediately they look great - and that was not my result.
"I remember thinking 'I messed up', it was pretty bad.'
Desi, who quips she's a 'stay-at-home pet mum' to her seven cats and a dog, shared her experience on TikTok.
The 58-second clip of her lips ballooning, looking bruised and her sobbing into the camera went viral racking up more than 968,000 likes, shares and comments.
Beauty fan Desi opted to have the procedure across her top and bottom lip at a practitioner's in Los Angeles, California, on August 22nd on the recommendation of a friend.
Desi said: "I found someone I really liked on Instagram but my friend told me that her friend 'gets fillers all the time' and she goes to the place I ended up going to.
"Afterwards I found out that's a really cheap price for fillers, usually it's about $600 for what I got.
"That's what made me realise that maybe I shouldn't have gone there.
"I remember the first time she put the needle in my mouth, oh my gosh I thought I was going to pass right out.
"It was so terrifying, it felt like I was getting blood work done, I did not like it.
"I was probably only in there for five minutes for the actual procedure but it felt like forever.
"When she was done she showed me my lips in the mirror and I was trying so hard to not cry in front of her.
"I didn't know what to say, I sat there speechless for a minute.
"When she asked 'how do you like them?' I said 'they're great', I was just trying to not cry and get out of the office.
"I still hated them even two months after I got them but now I'm at a point where I'm fine with them."
It took three weeks for Desi's lips to deflate but despite her traumatic experience concedes she would have them done again, but by a well-trained injector.
Desi said: "I'm probably going to get them dissolved and just get all of it out of my lips and then I'm going to find a better injector.
"It's definitely a case of lesson learned. I would advise anyone thinking of getting lip fillers to highly research injectors, it's super important to make a consultation with one.
"Something else really important people told me [after I had mine done] was to start small.
"This was my problem, I put an entire 1ml into my lips. it's best to start with half a ml and slowly work your way to your desired lip size.
"Getting too much at one time can also cause migration and overstretched lips.
"The results might look a little wonky and you might look like a Monsters Inc character for quite some time, but I promise if you have the patience to wait it out, your lips will turn out beautiful.
"I wish someone had told me this."
