Bengaluru woman says Instagram beauty treatment left her face burned and swollen

A Bengaluru woman says a beauty clinic she found on Instagram ruined her skin, and now she’s taken the matter to the police.

The 27-year-old, who teaches at a private college, told officers that she first stumbled upon a series of Instagram reels promising “guaranteed” fixes for acne, pigmentation and tanning. The videos came from an account called charming_chaithanya, which markets itself as a professional skincare page and has around 70,000 followers.

Curious and hopeful, she decided to give it a try.

On October 7, 2025, she visited Glow Up Beauty Care Clinic in Nagarabhavi. There, a woman named Chaitanya checked her skin, did a quick patch test and confidently told her that all her skin issues could be treated.

She was handed four products - a moisturiser, sunscreen, night cream and face wash, and billed ₹17,000. The payment went through UPI to a bank account in the name of someone called Akash.

At first, everything seemed fine.

Then, within days, her face began to react badly.

She says she started experiencing severe itching, swelling and a painful burning sensation. Alarmed, she contacted the clinic. Their advice? Stop using two of the products and continue with the other two.

She followed the instructions.

Things only got worse.

With her skin in even worse shape, she went back to the clinic on November 21, looking for answers. That visit, she says, turned ugly. In her complaint, she claims Chaitanya’s husband, Shiva, shouted at her, threatened her and flatly refused to help. She alleges the couple humiliated her and asked her to leave without offering any treatment or refund.

The woman has now accused the clinic of making misleading promises on social media, selling steroid-based cosmetic products without proper medical training, putting her health at risk and taking her money under false pretences.

Following her complaint, the Annapoorneshwari Nagar police have registered an FIR and started investigating the case.

And once again, it’s a reminder that not everything glowing on Instagram is as safe as it looks.
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