This is awful!
Per a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday, multiple women contracted HIV after getting a vampire facial at a spa in New Mexico. So scary!!!
For those who don’t know what a vampire facial is, here’s the rundown. As the CDC put it, the procedure calls for “drawing a client’s blood, separating the blood into its components of plasma and cells, and using single-use disposable or multi use sterile equipment to inject the PRP into the face for cosmetic purposes.” Basically, the facial uses the client’s blood and injects it into the face to (hopefully) rejuvenate the skin. And you’ve most likely seen some of the pictures of the procedure online — such as the one of Kim Kardashian from 2013 in which she had blood all over her face. If not, check it out (below):
It seemed like a unique new treatment, right? Well, Kim regretted the procedure afterward! Per Grazia, she once wrote in a blog post that she would never get a vampire facial again since it was “rough” and “painful.” And FYI, she also sued the doctor who did it in 2019 for using her name and likeness to promote the facial. Damn!! But that’s beside the point! She’s not the only one who most likely regrets getting the treatment!
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The CDC reported that four women were infected with HIV while receiving a vampire facial at VIP Beauty Salon and Spa in Albuquerque, marking the first known cases of the virus being transmitted during a cosmetic injection. The first victim, a woman aged 40-50 years, tested positive in the summer of 2018. Per the report, she had no history of “injection drug use, recent blood transfusions, or recent sexual contact” with someone with HIV. The woman’s sexual partner at the time “received a negative HIV test result after the patient’s diagnosis.” However, she was exposed to needles during a vampire facial at the VIP Beauty Salon and Spa in the spring of 2018.
Two other women, between the ages of 40-60, received vampire facials in 2018 from the establishment. Sadly, one was diagnosed with stage one of HIV in the winter of 2019. The other received a confirmed stage three HIV diagnosis in the fall of 2021 “after hospitalization with an AIDS-defining illness.”
Finally, a woman and a man tested positive for HIV. The woman got the vampire facial at the spa and was diagnosed with stage three of the virus in the spring of 2023. The guy contracted HIV through having sex with her. The CDC noted that he didn’t receive any services from the spa. Sadly, there’s more. The agency determined up to 59 clients of VIP Beauty Salon and Spa may have been exposed to HIV, with 20 of those having received a vampire facial. Oof. Fortunately, all of these people got some justice.
In June 2022, the spa owner Maria Ramos de Ruiz (above, inset) pleaded guilty to five felony counts of practicing medicine without a license. She was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison. As for VIP Beauty Salon and Spa? It closed down in September 2018 after the CDC discovered several health violations including unwrapped needles in drawers, on the counters, and discarded in trash cans.
Per The Albuquerque Journal, they also found a rack of unlabeled blood tubes in the kitchen, blood being dumped in the kitchen sink, and unlabeled syringes beside food in the refrigerator. OMG! Plus, the place had fake certificates for Botox and vampire facial training hanging on the walls. But the biggest issue with the spa? Ramos de Ruiz’s cosmetologist license expired in 2013. Yeah, she was administering these procedures — which include breast and buttocks sculpting, cellulite treatments, and the vampire facial — without a license for years. Jeez.
These poor people. Our hearts break for them. Reactions, Perezcious readers? Let us know in the comments below. You can also read the full CDC report HERE.
[Image via Kim Kardashian/Instagram, New Mexico Corrections Department]
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