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German Instagram beauty influencer jailed

November 14, 2019

A German Instagram beauty influencer was jailed after illegally injecting filler into people's lips and noses. Her clients later complained of complications related to her procedures.

https://p.dw.com/p/3T1Dh
Lips of a Young Woman with Glossy Red Lipstick
Image: Imago Images/Panthermedia/stryjek

An Instagram beauty influencer was jailed for four years on Thursday after it emerged that she was illegally injecting hyaluronan as "filler" into the lips and noses of women across Germany.

Many of the women later complained of complications relating to the impromptu surgeries, reporting swellings and pain around injected areas.

The 29-year-old influencer, who has not been named, charged around €300 ($330) for the injections and carried them out in her own living room and later in hotels across the country.

The student has around 100,000 followers on Instagram, and used the social media platform to advertise her service.

The trial also investigated apparent tax fraud. The judge determined that the influencer must repay around €67,000 ($73,500) in unpaid taxes.

The court in the North Rhine-Westphalian city of Bochum agreed that the pregnant social media star will be allowed out of jail to give birth in freedom before serving the rest of her sentence.

"You should be happy that nothing worse happened," said Judge Dirk Reitzig. "The term 'hygiene ordinance' was completely unknown to you."

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Kommentarbild PROVISORISCH Elliot Douglas
Elliot Douglas Elliot Douglas is a video, audio and online journalist based in Berlin.