Illegal Beauty Treatment Linked to Fainting, even Death

KOMPAS/SEKAR GANDHAWANGI

A client of the illegal practice of dimple embroidery, Iis Pera (23), uploaded a video about the impact of the practice on TikTok. Her cheeks were swollen, infected, and festering afterwards.

A brown scar was faintly visible on the right cheek of Iis Pera, 23, when we met at late on Feb. 18. The scar, which was swelling, filled with pus before it was treated by a doctor.

The scar occurred after Vera, which Iis prefers to go by, underwent a beauty procedure called dimple embroidery. She shared her experience on social media so that others would not do the same thing.

"Many sent DMs [direct messages] too. Many have had the same experience, or even worse," said the homemaker who lives in Cianjur, West Java.

Vera said that in 2019 she worked as a make-up artist in Jakarta. Performing dimple embroidery on one’s cheeks was trendy at the time. Some of her friends had made artificial dimples and they looked more beautiful, she said. She wanted the same thing.

One day, she came to her regular eyelash extension salon in South Jakarta for dental repairs. However, the salon owner offered her to make an artificial dimple for her. She agreed. She had previously checked the salon's social media accounts, which had shown photos of the results of dimple embroidery, which, she said, were quite convincing.

"Just like that, without thinking twice, I agreed, because I had seen before-and-after photos on their social media account," said Vera, who agreed to have artificial dimples made on her cheeks for Rp 600,000 (US$42). She was aware that the salon owner was not a doctor.

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The salon's "operating room" had two beds. Vera lay down on one of the beds, with the light above her face. Vera received an anesthetic first. A few minutes later, a needle poked her cheek pulling a thread that looked like a nylon sewing thread.

After the procedure, the new dimples were apparent for about three months. However, eight months after the embroidery, swelling appeared on the inside of her cheek. After the pus was removed, Vera's cheeks deflated. However, the swelling recurred up to 10 times.

Vera complained to the salon owner and she was taken to a general practitioner. She received an antibacterial shot, but it didn't stop the pus-filled swelling.

At the end of 2021, Vera couldn't stand it anymore because the swelling had spread to the outer thread puncture marks. She went to a beauty salon in Cianjur to have the threads removed. She spent Rp 1.5 million to stop the swelling on her cheeks. The cost was two and a half times the amount she had paid for the artificial dimples.

Fainting

ADITYA DIVERANTA

Rika Amelia

Rika Amelia, 20, a factory worker in Bantargebang, Bekasi, West Java, also had a similar experience after undergoing a cheap beauty treatment. She felt weak and dizzy and often vomited. Her hands were also swollen. The symptoms of the illness occurred after she had a skin whitening injection in a salon of uncertain legality.

The case began with Rika's encounter with an account called Bintang Aira Bilqis on Facebook, which advertised a skin whitening injection treatment for Rp 1.2 million. After Rike inquired, the therapist, who was later identified as Inah, offered a discount of Rp 900,000 along with a bonus for body whitening capsules if the transaction was made within a week.

Afraid of losing the opportunity to get a discount, Rika agreed to have the skin whitening injection the next day, on 11 Nov., 2021, at Inah's home in Bantargebang. Rika felt dizzy, nauseous and then fainted after the first injection.

The skin didn’t turn white. It’s a waste of money anyway

Rika gave up and could only get three injections. She became suspicious.

"The skin didn’t turn white. It’s a waste of money anyway," she said.

Her suspicion grew because the whitening medicine from Inah was in capsules named "Itrasal". From the search, Rika did not find any whitening pills under the Itrasal brand.

When asked, Inah said she made the medicine herself and used the Itrasal capsules as a container. On another occasion, Inah claimed the drug was indeed Itrasal, which was widely used for skin whitening. From here, Rika realized that Inah's service was not legitimate.

Death from silicone

FAJAR RAMADHAN

The suspect in the breast filler injection case, Rwinay Rudi (54) alias Windi, was questioned by investigators from the West Jakarta Tamansari Metro Police on Friday (18/3/2022)..

The experience of Rahayu, 34, a resident of Indramayu, West Java, was more tragic because she died as a result of an illegal beauty treatment. She died at the hands of

Rwinay Rudi, who also goes by Windi, 54, who gave her a silicon injection for breast enlargement.

Windi, a trans woman with no medical expertise, performed the procedure, popularly known as breast filler, on Rahayu in 2011. At the time, Rahayu did not have any problems.

More than a decade later, Rahayu felt her chest loosen and asked Windi for another injection. They made an appointment to meet at a hotel in Mangga Besar, Tamansari, West Jakarta, on 18 Feb. Rahayu agreed to pay Rp 4 million for the breast enlargement.

The problem is that people don't know who the real doctor is. Not all the people in the community are aware of such information.

Windi injected 500 milliliters of silicon that she purchased from a chemical shop into each of Rahayu’s breasts, as she lay down in a hotel room. It took 15 minutes to complete the “operation”. Windi then returned to her rented house in Cikupa, Tangerang regency, Banten.

A few hours later, Rahayu sent a message to Windi, saying she felt there was something wrong with her but was reluctant to go to a health facility. On Saturday afternoon (19/2), a hotel employee found Rahayu dead on the bed, naked and with several scars on her breasts.

The police arrested Windi in her house in Cikupa, on Monday (21/2). When searching for Windi's residence in Cikupa, the police found no indication that she offered beauty treatment services. A friend named Rossa (36), also a trans woman, said Windi had never informed her that she had received an order for the breast augmentation.

Richard Lee, a doctor and an owner of a beauty clinic, said that existing regulations covered all activities related to beauty treatment services. "The problem is that people don't know who the real doctor is. Not all the people in the community are aware of such information," said Richard. (JOG/FRD/DIV/ SKA /ILO)

This article was translated by Hendarsyah Tarmizi.