Beautician blasts reality TV star for getting a free service and then charging $1,000 for a review

A beautician who offered a reality TV star free eyelash extensions to write a review on her social media is ‘livid’ after learning the ‘D-list celebrity’ wanted to charge her a $1,000 fee for the privilege.

Deanna Campese, from Melbourne, is the owner of beauty salon Lash’d Eyelashes – which has since pivoted to an online lash supply store – when she was approached by the prominent reality TV participant with 100,000 followers.

The pair decided to collaborate on a social media post in exchange for a free eyelash service, which Ms Campese was happy to oblige in this instance.

The pair decided to collaborate on a social media post in exchange for a free eyelash service, which Ms Campese was happy to oblige in this instance

But things turned pear-shaped after the service when the micro celebrity told Ms Campese she would have to fork out an additional $1,000 for the post and ‘extra costs’ if there was to be an Instagram Story as well.

‘I was livid,’ Ms Campese told 7News. 

‘I was extremely excited when she contacted me because she was on a popular reality TV show so she’s well-known. It was unexpected but it was a nice feeling to know that I was being recommended to her by other clients.

‘But after I offered the free service, she told me about the $1,000 posting fee. She may have been able to give me exposure but I want people to come to my business because I do a good job, not because I am paying them to say I do.’

While Ms Campese has used influencers in the past to promote her business she found that the time it took to organise and produce a result wasn’t the same as if a customer just recommended her by word-of-mouth.

While Ms Campese has used influencers in the past to promote her business she found that the time it took to organise and produce a result wasn’t the same as if a customer just recommended her by word-of-mouth

So she wrote a ‘passive-aggressive’ email back to the reality TV star stating that it would be unfair to her genuine customers if she were to “pay” for a review (reality TV star not pictured)

So she wrote a ‘passive-aggressive’ email back to the reality TV star stating that it would be unfair to her genuine customers if she were to “pay” for a review. 

The experience has left a bad taste in Ms Campese’s mouth and she now trusts her business prowess and top quality services to do the talking on their own.

While influencers have their place in promoting products, Ms Campese said she often had them cancel last-minute or fail to turn up costing her business time and money that could have been attributed to a frequent customer.

After closing her retail salon the beautician is now running online training courses and a lash store to pay the bills, with hope she can return to retail down the track.