Harrogate cosmetics nurse backs calls for better regulation of beauty industry
Health inspectors are pushing for stricter rules in beauty salons as many providing injectable treatments aren't properly trained.
A cosmetics nurse from Harrogate is in favour of tighter regulations on the beauty industry after health inspectors found very few performing injectable treatments don't have proper training or insurance.
Sharon Bennet, who is the Director of Harrogate Aesthetics and the Chair of the British Association of Cosmetic Nurses, is calling for one governing body to oversee the entire beauty industry.
She said: "Many people are carrying out treatments without proper medical training or insurance. It's easy to inject into someone's face, but they don't know about what goes on behind the skin and the damage it could cause.
"Training providers need to be completely stopped if they're not medical. We need one agency to look at all the training that's out there and approve it as high level. We can't have people providing these training certificates that are completely meaningless.
"The regulations now, because they're none existent, allow for anyone regardless of whether they're a beautician or not, to be able to inject a potentially dangerous and deep treatment."
It is illegal to tattoo anyone under the age of 18 or allow them to use a tanning bed, but legal to give minors intimate piercings, semi-permanent makeup or fillers.
But reality TV shows such as The Only Way is Essex and Love Island have dramatically increased demand for such procedures even in young women.
Ms Bennett says: "Our medical insurance doesn't allow us to perform treatments on anyone under the age of 18 unless there is a medical reason as to why we're doing it.
"Lots of checks are put in place to make sure that's OK, such as bringing parents in. In some salons, they don't do that.
"If something goes wrong, they just tell you it's normal and the swelling will go down. In most cases, we're the ones that have to fix it at the cost of the patient because the person who provided the treatment in the first place doesn't have the insurance to cover it."
The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health and Institute of Licensing have called for new rules to be drawn up to match the offerings in modern salons.
Inspectors say many have 'little understanding of infection control' and some are reusing needles or doing procedures on under-18s.