A beauty session with famed celebrity facialist Sonya Dakar turned into an unexpected nightmare for a Los Angeles-based client.
Victoria Nelson shared her story on social media, accusing Sonya of leaving her permanently “burned, scarred, and irreparably damaged.”
Sonya has worked with several A-list celebrities, including Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Lawrence, and Jennifer Lopez.
Highlights
- Victoria Nelson accused celebrity facialist Sonya Dakar of leaving her “burned, scarred, and irreparably damaged” after a chemical peel.
- Despite spending nearly $90,000 on follow-up treatments, including microneedling and laser sessions, the damage remains.
- Nelson filed a complaint against the esthetician with the California Board of Barbering and Cosmetology.
- “I’m begging you to sue!” wrote one user online.
“Sounds like a lawsuit to me!” wrote one social media user.
Victoria Nelson accused a celebrity facialist of turning her session into a nightmare on social media
Image credits: victorianelsonn / Instagram
Nelson was a recurring client of the Beverly Hills-based esthetician, seeking treatment from her since 2019, to treat her acne.
Their relationship was so strong that she felt like Dakar was her “L.A. mom.”
But that all changed in 2021, after the facialist suggested Victoria try a chemical peel.
Four years later, on August 26, Nelson shared a now-viral 13-minute clip on her TikTok and Instagram, detailing her “scarring” experience as a result of the peel.
Image credits: victorianelsonn / Instagram
“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. I’ve put off making this video for literal years. It’s a pretty scarring, literally, experience for me,” she began the video by saying.
Explaining how she first became a client of Dakar, Nelson credited it to her battles with acne at the time.
The esthetician had assured her that she would “be able to clear” it completely, which the TikToker admitted she succeeded in doing.
Sonya Dakar’s clientele includes some of Hollywood’s biggest names, from stars like Jennifer Lopez to Cameron Diaz
Image credits: victorianelsonn / Instagram
After her acne cleared, Nelson continued visiting the 40-year veteran expert for routine facials.
“Our sessions were like half skin care, half therapy. I really felt like I was hanging out with and getting advice from my mom."
Detailing the chemical peel, which Sonya had claimed to have “no downtime or irritation,” Victoria shared, “I kind of felt this immediate burning and stinging, which, if you haven't had a peel before, they can have a little bit of a bite to them, but this definitely felt different.”
Image credits: victorianelsonn / Instagram
The video has garnered over 5 million views, sparking debate over what could have gone wrong in her treatment.
One social media user commented, “As an attorney, I’m the last person that usually tells people to sue. But you should sue.”
The TikToker tried a chemical peel treatment as recommended by Sonya, who has 40 years of experience
Image credits: victorianelsonn / Instagram
A few minutes into the session, when the burning didn’t stop, she opened her phone’s front camera and “pretty quickly realized that” chunks of her facial skin had “just burned.”
To treat the burns, Dakar performed 18 sessions in 2021 and 12 in 2022 with Victoria, which included “pretty aggressive micro-needling.”
But the treatments still did not reverse the damage, as Victoria revealed in the clip that she continued to have burns on her face.
She recalled feeling “like I was permanently disfigured.”
These follow-up treatments were not free of cost, as Victoria paid Dakar $30,000 during that time.
Image credits: victorianelsonn / Instagram
It was not until 2022, during a visit with her dermatologist, that alarms were raised about her skin’s condition, despite 30 recovery treatments.
Nelson’s face was permanently “burned, scarred, and irreparably damaged”
“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.”
Image credits: victorianelsonn / Instagram
On the advice of her dermatologist, Nelson tried laser treatment for six sessions, which cost her an additional $8,000.
She last visited Sonya in 2023 for one final treatment for the burn she had suffered, paying $10,000 for the procedure.
"Sonya and I have not spoken since 2023. 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.”
Netizens were outraged upon hearing about Victoria’s experience, with many saying Sonya should be held accountable, while others shared their own experiences with her.
Image credits: sonyadakar / Instagram
One user commented, “I went to her when I was 19 in Beverly Hills, horrible experience, she did a shi**y facial, and she was extremely rude… She only cared about money, not clients, unless they are famous.”
“YOU PAID FOR HER TO FIX THE DAMAGE SHE CAUSED??? Please, I’m begging you to sue!” wrote another.
“The fact she didn’t refer you to a burn unit, continued charging you, insisted on follow ups, and MICRONEEDLED over a burn?! Genuinely horrifying…”
Nelson has not spoken to Dakar since 2023, following a “horrifying” beauty treatment
Image credits: victorianelsonn / Instagram
Image credits: victorianelsonn / Instagram
Sonya holds a license under the Board of Barbering and Cosmetology, which clearly prohibits estheticians from using medical-grade products or performing microneedling.
The Board clarifies that it is "ultimately a licensee’s responsibility to understand their scope of practice as provided in Business and Professions Code section 7316."
Image credits: victorianelsonn / Instagram
“I trusted her with my face, with my skin, honestly, with a lot of my inner-most feelings, and to feel like this person wasn't looking out for me in the way I had hoped is just really disappointing at the end of the day,” Nelson shared.
She revealed that she has since spent nearly $90,000 on treatments “in hopes of getting my face back.”
Image credits: victorianelsonn / Instagram
Nelson also said she filed a complaint with the California Board of Barbering and Cosmetology but has received “no resolution” so far.
She ended her video by clarifying, “To be clear, this isn't a woe-is-me video. It's a 'be warned' video.”
Netizens urged Victoria to take legal action despite her filing a complaint with the Board of Barbering and Cosmetology
