The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum, Brandi Glanville, revealed to her fans the “horrific” consequences of her treating what she described as a “facial parasite” by herself.
The 52-year-old took to TikTok last Sunday (Sunday 3) to reveal she had applied Nair hair-removal cream directly to her face without supervision. In the close-up video, Glanville’s chin, cheeks, and nose appeared red, and severely inflamed.
Highlights
- Brandi Glanville chemically burned her face using Nair to treat a self-diagnosed 'facial parasite.'
- She has spent over $70,000 on medical treatments and consulted multiple specialists without finding a clear diagnosis.
- Experts suggest bacteria from past facial injections, not a parasite, may be causing her ongoing skin issues.
“I know I look attractive,” she said sarcastically.
Glanville said she believed exfoliating would irritate the parasite and opted to use Nair because it was “cheaper than peels and lasers,” but left it for seven minutes, burning herself in the process.
Former reality TV star Brandi Glanville worried her fans after revealing she chemically burnt her face in a desperate attempt to get rid of a “parasite”
Image credits: BrandiGlanville
Glanville first talked about her “parasite” in 2024. In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, she claimed to “feel” the foreign organism moving within her face and messing with it, forming and bursting bubbles.
“I feel like it’s having babies in my face," she explained.
Image credits: brandiglanville
The former reality TV star would later describe her symptoms on social media, describing a process that sounded right out of a horror movie.
“I have chills and a constant oily foul tasting drainage from face into mouth. It’s acidic & is eating away at my teeth,” she wrote.
“Plus all of my lymph nodes in my head & neck are swollen. Doctors at Kaiser say I’m fine. Help me."
Image credits: BrandiGlanville
According to Glanville, she has visited an immunologist, an infectious disease doctor, a rheumatologist and an ENT in hopes of finding a solution, but to no avail.
“I've been to every doctor under the sun,” she said. “I've been on meds this whole year, I don't socialize. I don't go out. I've just been spending all my money on trying to figure out what's wrong with me.”
Image credits: BrandiGlanville
So far, the former reality TV star claims to have spent over $70,000 on treatments and lab work. She also dissolved all of the filler in her face in December 2024, but nothing worked—that’s when the Nair hair-removal idea came into play.
According to experts, Glanville is not housing a parasite in her face, but leftover bacteria from facial injections
Image credits: bricesander
In January 2025, Glanville reached out to Dr. Terry Dubrow, a plastic surgeon that cast doubts on the model’s parasite theory.
“It seems to be an infectious process or a foreign body reaction to something she's had injected,” he said.
Image credits: brandiglanvilleofficial
“There are these two kinds of microorganisms, one's called a Microbacterium and the other is called a fungus, and they can be very difficult to treat and could take six to 12 months of antibiotics to treat,” Dubrow added.
“Every minute the microorganism is allowed to stay in her skin and do potential damage she could suffer worse for it.”
Image credits: brandiglanvilleofficial
As of March 6, Glanville was still waiting for official results from her biopsies. Last month, however, she announced that she was seeing another specialist: Dr. Michael R. Scoma, an infectious disease and immunology expert.
“I can’t wait to live again,” she posted at the time, hopeful that the change in doctor would cure her.
Glanville has been embroiled in a legal battle with fellow Real Housewives participant Caroline Manzo, who sued her for harassment
Image credits: brandiglanville
In a bizarre twist of events, Glanville revealed that she has named her supposed parasite “Caroline,” making a direct reference to her longtime Real Housewives nemesis, Caroline Manzo.
Manzo filed a lawsuit in January 2024 against Bravo, Peacock, and others, accusing the networks of encouraging Glanville’s “offensive and harassing content” for the sake of ratings.
Image credits: brandiglanville
In particular, she accused Glanville of kissing her without her consent, as well as of rubbing her privates on her back. The suit detailed how the alleged incident triggered painful memories of childhood trauma for Manzo.
Beauty hacks (this is a good one but do a test patch)I did 7 minutes and I'm on fire sooooioko don't to 7 minutes it also burned the loose skin off my arms & its 7 dollars 😎 mix up some aloe vera, cucumber and black tea put it in the freezer put it in the spray bottle and once it's cold enough spray all day cause I'm in some pain
According to Glanville, following the lawsuit she lost several job opportunities, and her mental health spiraled to the point of contemplating self-harm.
Sidelined from television, Glanville turned to OF in mid-2023, initially posting foot pictures due to her facial swelling.
"Karma is biting your face." Netizen comments ranged from genuine worry, to outright mockery
