A Case of Negligence in the Beauty Industry

The beauty industry is unregulated in the UK.  This means that whilst there are very many well trained and conscientious beauty therapists out there, technically anyone can work in the beauty industry, open their own salon with little or no qualifications and without proper insurance.

As the variety and complexity of products, equipment, and beauty treatment increases, so does the potential for things to go wrong, especially if the therapist is inexperienced or under qualified. When things go wrong clients can be left with distressing allergic reactions, burns, altered skin pigmentation or scarring. Not surprisingly many are calling for beauty industry to be regulated.  When things do go wrong, it can often be difficult for those effected to seek compensation.

Ever the campaigner for good training, accountability and CPD, and as an experienced Expert Witness in her field, Vanessa recently came across a book called ‘An Introduction to Beauty Negligence Claims’ via the Association of Personal Injury APIL. Before devoting herself wholly to para-medical skin camouflage some twenty plus years ago, Vanessa was as a qualified Beauty Therapist with two well-respected, successful salons. In her role as Expert Witness she has been called upon to give her opinion to the Court when a beauty treatment has gone wrong and advise how skin camouflage can help. With this in mind, she found the book to be of particular interest.

Written by Greg Almond, Senior Associate at Rotheras Solicitors, the book provides a practical guide for personal injury solicitors to help navigate their clients through potential beauty and cosmetic negligence claims. 

The first part of the guide describes the most and least common beauty treatments offered and how they should be performed, i.e. by a qualified and competent practitioner. It goes on to provide guidance on how the particulars of a case should be presented to ensure a justified claim and successful claim.

The second part discusses practicalities including the measures the practitioners should be taking to safeguard their clients: pre-treatment questionnaires, patch testing, risk assessments, the provision of proper information to clients and insurance.

In addition, there is a helpful resources section which provides guidance to the solicitor in ensuring they have access to the appropriate professionals to provide an experienced, impartial Expert Opinion.

We are delighted to say, without bias that Vanessa is included by way of reference in this book. This is truly a testament to her decades of experience both as a Skin Camouflage Consultant and as an Expert Witness.
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Reference: An Introduction to Beauty Negligence Claims. A Practical Guide For The Personal Injury Practitioner. Law Brief Publishing. Paperback: 978-1-911035-89-3