Gwyneth Paltrow, Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore’s celebrity facialist allegedly leaves woman ‘disfigured’

A California woman says a routine facial treatment left her permanently scarred, and she’s now warning others about the celebrity esthetician behind it.

Victoria Nelson took to TikTok on August 26 with a 13-minute video detailing her alleged experience with Beverly Hills–based facialist Sonya Dakar, whose starry client list has included Gwyneth Paltrow, Cameron Diaz and Drew Barrymore.

“I don’t really know how to accurately convey how little I want to be making this video right now, but I’ve kind of run out of options,” Ms Nelson said in the clip.

“I’ve put off making this video for literal years. It’s a pretty scarring, literally, experience for me.”

From clear skin to catastrophe

Ms Nelson says she first visited Ms Dakar in 2019 after using her products and was instantly impressed.

“I was immediately enthralled,” she recalled.

“She was so intelligent and so convinced that we’d be able to clear my acne, which, if anyone’s been through that, that’s the dream.”

Within months, Ms Nelson said her acne was gone, and she kept coming back for regular facials. Soon, their appointments felt personal, People reported.

“Our sessions were like half skin care, half therapy,” Ms Nelson said.

“I really felt like I was hanging out with and getting advice from my mum.”

Long road to recovery

Ms Nelson said Ms Dakar assured her it would heal within a month with additional treatments.

Instead, she claims she endured 18 sessions in 2021 and 12 more in 2022 — some involving “pretty aggressive microneedling” — yet her burns never fully resolved.

“At that point,” she recalled, “I was feeling on the inside like I was permanently disfigured.”

By her estimate, she spent roughly $30,000 ($A45,000) at Ms Dakar’s clinic. Ms Nelson said she still has “no idea” what was in the solution that burned her skin.

Her dermatologist was alarmed when she finally sought a second opinion in July 2022.

“She was pretty immediately, one, really confused as to why Sonya hadn’t immediately referred me out to a burn unit or a plastic surgeon when this initially happened, and two, was really concerned as to what was actually in this peel since in her experience, what an esthetician would have shouldn’t do this level of damage,” Ms Nelson recalled.

The dermatologist recommended six rounds of laser treatments, costing another $8,000.

Despite this, Ms Nelson said she returned to Ms Dakar in January 2023 after being persuaded to try more treatments, spending “in the ballpark of $10,000.”

“Sonya and I have not spoken since 2023,” she said.

“I’ve since been advised by a number of professionals that the liquid probably was medical grade or at least was something that an esthetician shouldn’t have access to, and that’s what her license is under the California Board of Barbering and Cosmetology. I’ve also since been informed that the microneedling treatments that she was doing to fix the issue are also not covered by that license.”

The California Board of Barbering and Cosmetology confirms that both medical-grade products and microneedling fall outside an esthetician’s scope of practice.

Ms Nelson says she has filed a complaint with the board but has received “no resolution.”

She also highlighted past disciplinary action against Ms Dakar, noting that her license was revoked in 2011 before being reinstated with three years’ probation.

Today, Ms Nelson says she still has visible marks on her face and struggles with self-consciousness.

“This isn’t a woe-is-me video,” Ms Nelson concluded.

“It’s a ‘be warned’ video.”

Her post has since racked up more than 5 million views.

The Nightly does not suggest any wrongdoing by Sonya Dakar.