It was not the trip to the salon she was hoping for.
Stretford mum Clare McGuire went to to get her eyebrows waxed and tinted for the first time hoping for a 'confidence boost'.
But instead she walked out 'looking like Quasimodo'.
The mum-of-two suffered a horror allergic reaction after getting her eyebrows waxed and tinted for the first time on October 13.
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Doctors at Trafford Hospital then told the 34-year-old that it could have killed her.
She was is still suffering from 'scabby' eyebrows, three weeks after the ordeal.
She says the patch test didn't cause a reaction before the treatment because she was told to apply it to her hand and leave it for just one hour.
But she had to make an emergency trip to Trafford General Hospital after her face became red and itchy.
Clare was given an EpiPen shot and steroid tablets and was then allowed home.
The following morning the mum-of-two was stunned to discover her face had ballooned overnight.
Horrified doctors told her the swelling was so severe she could have choked in her sleep and died.
Three weeks later, the traumatised care worker has now vowed never to get her eyebrows tinted again and has shared photos of her dramatic reaction.
Clare, from Stretford, said: "Red spots started appearing around my eyebrows so I messaged the girl that did them and she said to take some antihistamines so I did.
"But then a couple of hours later I started swelling up and my eyes started closing so I rang 111 and they told me to go to the hospital.
"In hospital they gave me an EpiPen shot and steroid tablets and sent me home but it got worse overnight, so the next morning I went back and they put me on an intravenous drip.
"Urgent care said because my tongue had swollen I could have choked. I got told I could have died, it was really scary.
"Over the next few days it just got worse - my eyebrows went really red and were swelling, scabbing and seeping.
"I thought I looked like Quasimodo and my sons told me I looked like the Elephant Man.
"I wear glasses but my face was too swollen to put them on for three days."
The mum decided to get her eyebrows waxed and tinted and have eyelash extensions done for the first time for a confidence boost.
She booked in at a salon and went for a patch test the day before her appointment. However, Clare claims the beauty technician applied the test on her hand and only told her to leave it on for an hour.
It was only after carrying out research of her own after the horror reaction that Clare realised that patch tests need to be left for a minimum of 24 hours to allow time for delayed reactions.
Clare said: "I'd never had any waxing or tinting done before, I always just got my eyebrows threaded.
"The day before I went for a patch test and she tested the tint for the eyebrows and the glue for the eyelashes and told me to leave it on for an hour.
"I was out for the rest of the day so I left it on for longer and there was no reaction.
"But I found out after that she should've done the patch test behind my ear and it should've stayed on for at least 24 hours and she should've known that because of her training."
Doctors prescribed steroid tablets, antihistamines and antibiotics to help reduce the swelling.
She is still healing from the freak reaction but thankful that her face isn't as swollen anymore after her sons Matthew Fryers, 15, and Mark Fryers, 13, joked that it made her look like 'the Elephant Man'.
She is now warning others to make sure they have a proper patch test to avoid a potentially life-threatening reaction like she had.
Clare said: "It's been three weeks and I'm still not back to normal - I've still got redness and scabs and I'm worried they're not going to grow back properly.
"Doctors said if I had a reaction like that again it would kill me so I'll never do it again, I'll stick to threading.
"People need to know this can happen and make sure they get a patch test behind their ear and leave it on for 24 hours."
