Under-18s wanting Botox or lip fillers are travelling to Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland to bypass England’s ban, campaigners claim

Under-18s in England are bypassing the ban on Botox and lip filler by travelling to other UK nations, campaigners have warned.

Since October 2021, it has been illegal to administer either cosmetic treatment to youngsters in England, even if they have the permission of an adult.

But Save Face, which campaigned for the law change, said under-18s are going to Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland to dodge the rule.

Despite it being a ‘no brainer’ for these nations to follow England’s lead, they have not imposed a similar rule, the organisation said.

As a result, children as young as 15, who think filler and Botox are akin to a manicure or getting their eyebrows done, are at risk of botched procedures and serious risks, such as blindness and tissue death, Save Face warned.

Face and lip fillers, or dermal fillers, are injections of collagen or hyaluronic acid to areas such as the lips and cheeks to add volume or reduce wrinkles. 

Effects of the procedure, which costs around £200, lasts for up to 18 months.

Botulinum toxin (of which Botox is the most widely recognised brand), which costs £100 to £350, is injected to areas such as the forehead to block nerve signals that make muscles contract. 

This reduces the appearance of wrinkles for around three to six months.

Medics say it is unethical to offer the treatments to children as their facial structure is still growing and changing and they are at risk of psychological damage. 

Ashton Collins, director of Save Face, who worked with Tory MP Laura Trott to ban the cosmetic treatments for children in England, told MailOnline that since the rule change she has been contacted by a swathe of parents whose kids have crossed the border to other UK nations for Botox or filler.

However, she warned it is still a problem in England and there is a postcode lottery of whether local Trading Standards officers enforce the rules.

Since the rule change, Save Face has received 31 complaints, mainly from parents, of under-18s having the cosmetic procedures in England. The figures are lower in Wales (12), Scotland (11) and Ireland (7).

The ban came amid growing concern about a Love Island-inspired surge in teens seeking cosmetic enhancements.

Then-health minister Nadine Dorries said the aim was to protect young people from the pressure to achieve the ‘utterly unrealistic’ images of celebrity bodies.

She cited ‘a boom in inquiries from people wanting a so-called “Instagram Face” — seeking cosmetic procedures such as Botox and fillers to give them the high cheekbones, cat-like eyes and full lips seen in the heavily airbrushed photos that celebrities post on social media’. 

Ms Collins said children are at risk of ‘vast problems’ from filler and Botox. 

‘Young people think they are low risk, like getting their nails or eyebrows done and they’ve often not thought about risks or side effects.’

She warned that the clinics who will provide these cosmetic procedures to under-18s often fail to warn them of potential risks — such as blindness and tissue death.

In rare cases, dermal filler can enter a small blood vessel in the face which connects to the retinal artery, which supplies blood to the retina at the back of the eye. This leads to permanent blindness.

Tissue death can also occur if filler is accidentally injected into a blood vessel, which can cut of blood supply and causes the tissue to die and eventually fall away. 

As with adults, children are also at risk of botched procedures that has the opposite effect of what they were hoping for, Ms Collins said.

She told the BBC that a mother in Hereford reported that her daughter travelled to Wales for the cosmetic treatments, while another in Bristol said her 16-year-old had done the same.

Parents told Save Face that their children weren’t asked their age and clinics would hang up when they contacted them to complain. 

Patients only contact Save Face when their treatment has gone wrong, so the cases they are aware of are ‘the tip of the iceberg’, she said. 

It has been informed of 61 under-18s having dermal fillers since 2021. While there have been no recent reports of Botox, it was informed of two prior to that year.

The vast majority of children were 17 when they got filler (48), while a handful were 16 (11) or 15 (2).

Lip filler was the most popular treatment (93.4 per cent) and the majority of youngsters found their clinic through social media (95.1 per cent).

Swelling, bruising, infection, haematoma — when an area of blood collects outside the large blood vessels — and blocked blood vessels with tissue death were among the reported side effects. 

An 18-year-old in Wales called for a law to be introduced to stop young people from ‘making mistakes’ and getting beauty treatments too early.

Ruby David, from Bridgend, told the BBC’s Wales Live that she wanted lip filler when she was aged 15 due to pressures from social media. 

However, she didn’t go ahead with it due to concern from her parents.

She said: ‘I was like “oh whatever it doesn’t matter — you only live once”.

‘The older you are, the more you think about things. You think about the outcome, or what could happen.’

Catrina Banks, from Edinburgh, had filler injected into her lips at the age of 16.

She was left with lumps in her lips and cheeks but was told it was normal and more filler would even out the lumps.

However, a second procedure left her with painful bruises on her face that made it hard to speak and a portion of her lip tissue died, forcing her to seek medical care.

Each visit cost her £210 but the beautician gave Catrina a refund.

BBC Wales Live contacted 10 clinics across the country to ask if they would book in a 17-year-old for Botox or filler. 

None asked for the patient’s age for booking the appointment. In England, it is illegal to book in an under-18s for these procedures.

When told the patient would be 17, seven clinics turned down the booking, two said they would check and phone back and one said they would do it anyway.

Sophie Riddell, a pharmacist prescriber who works at clinics in south Wales, told the BBC that she turns down customers for Botox and filler if they are aged under 21 but feels ‘powerless’ to stop young people trying other clinics.

She said patients had told of under-18s from England coming to Wales for the procedures. 

‘I feel like the Welsh government aren’t really doing enough to aid patients’ safety in this industry,’ she told the broadcaster.

The Welsh Government said it was aware of the ‘regulatory gap’ between England and Wales and will do ‘further work in this important area’.