Britain’s ‘vainest man’ – who has spent more than £55,000 on plastic surgery to look like Joey Essex – claims he was almost left permanently disfigured after he injected his own lips with ‘dodgy’ cosmetic products he bought online for £35.
Sam Barton, 26, admits he had no idea what he was putting into his body when he injected himself with 0.5ml of the temporary lip filler solution but said he took a risk because he wanted to save money.
Three days later he was forced to shell out £1,100 for corrective surgery after his lips ballooned to ‘four times’ their normal size, leaving him in ‘excruciating pain’.
Sam Barton – Britain’s vainest man – claims he was almost left permanently disfigured after he injected his own lips with ‘dodgy’ cosmetic products he bought online for £35
Pictured: On the left, Mr Barton’s lips after the fillers had been injected and on the right, how they looked after he spent £1,100 on corrective surgery
Mr Barton, 26, admits he had no idea what he was putting into his body when he injected himself with 0.5ml of the temporary lip filler solution but wanted to save money
A nurse told him he had caught an infection – mostly likely caused by the filler – and warned he risked permanent scarring if the process was not reversed immediately.
He underwent a two and a half hour procedure to extract the substance using a needle and was put on an IV drip to prevent the infection spreading.
Luckily, he escaped without any lasting damage and has since had new fillers implanted by a professional.
Mr Barton – who has suffered with body dysmorphia since childhood – said he felt compelled to try the risky DIY treatment after he appeared on TV show Botched Up Bodies and one viewer said his mouth ‘looked like a cat’s bum’.
The PR researcher, from Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, said: ‘Whatever I had put into my lips was something dodgy. For the first couple of days my lips were fine but on the third day they started to get swollen. I woke up at about 5am in excruciating pain and I Facetimed an aesthetics nurse I know.
‘She said they would have to come out straight away. I went to her practice and she used a needle to do a reverse procedure. The pain was 12 out of 10.
‘I’ve had two nose jobs, liposuction, teeth veneers, and I would rather have all those things done at the same time than have lip fillers removed again.
‘If you think about all the money I’ve spent on plastic surgery, if I was to keep spending that much you’re talking house deposit money. So, I just thought I would do it as a trial to save money.
A nurse told him he had caught an infection – mostly likely caused by the filler – and warned he risked permanent scarring if the process was not reversed immediately. He is pictured here after the corrective surgery
Sam Barton claims he was almost left permanently disfigured after he injected his own lips with ‘dodgy’ cosmetic products
Mr Barton, pictured here undergoing the procedure,claimed it was a hurtful tweet sent by a stranger which prompted him to take drastic action
Mr Barton, pictured here before he had undergone the lip surgery, has spent more than £55,000 on cosmetic surgeries
‘I didn’t realise until the nurse told me that it could’ve been fatal if I’d got a blood infection. She said if I’d left it any longer I could’ve been left permanently disfigured. I could’ve ruined my face forever, and if that had happened I would’ve killed myself.’
Lip filling agents contain hyaluronic acid – a naturally occurring substance found in the skin – and the effects usually last for around nine to 12 months.
Doctors warn against using DIY kits and recommend people only get treatments performed by professionals at reputable practices.
Mr Barton, the grandson of Aston Villa’s European Cup-winning manager Tony Barton, claimed it was a hurtful tweet sent by a stranger which prompted him to take drastic action.
He said: ‘After I went on Botched Up Bodies someone wrote I had a mouth like a cat’s bum. Every time I looked in the mirror I thought I had no lips – all it took was that one person’s comment.
Mr Barton before he started his surgery splurge. He claims he suffers from Body dysmorphia, a mental disorder which causes sufferers to obsess over perceived flaws in their appearance
Mr Barton with his idol, Towie star Joey Essex. Mr Barton spent more than £55,000 trying to look like the celebrity
‘People don’t realise the effect the things they say have on me. Although I pretend I don’t care what people say, clearly I do – even people I’ve never met.
‘I would like to say I wouldn’t do something like this again but I probably will to be honest because my appearance is so important to me and I’m willing to take a risk to achieve what I want.’
Body dysmorphia is a mental disorder which causes sufferers to obsess over perceived flaws in their physical appearance. They will often go to extreme lengths to fix or hide defects which may not even be noticeable to others.
Over the past seven years, the TOWIE wannabe has spent £20,000 on treatment for his teeth, around £5,000 on Botox, £2,000 on waxing and £2,500 on tanning treatment.
Two nose jobs have cost £10,400, although one was free on the NHS. In November 2015, he begged the NHS to reverse some of the plastic surgery as he wanted to regain his own identity.
But he later changed his mind and last year revealed plans to spend a further £20,000 on another nose job, hair loss treatment and filler for his lips, cheeks and jaw.