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An LA woman is suing celebrity esthetician Sonya Dakar for fraud, alleging she was not authorized to perform the chemical peel that gave her “severe burns and permanent scarring.”
Victoria Nelson claimed in her suit that she visited Dakar’s Beverly Hills clinic — which has welcomed the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow, Drew Barrymore and Sofia Vergara — in April 2021 and “left with severe burns to her face, including to both cheeks, under one eyebrow and to her forehead.”
“During that facial, Defendant Sonya Dakar intentionally placed an unknown substance, likely acid, onto Plaintiffs face, causing severe burns and permanent scarring,” claims the suit filed last week in LA court.
Nelson is seeking about $71,000 from Dakar, not for her reported burn injury, but for allegedly making “false representations” to her about “her professional qualifications and licensure, the nature and legality of the treatments provided, and the accuracy and authorization of the charges” to her account.
The Post reached out to Dakar and her clinic for comment.
Nelson, founder and CEO of Undeniable Entertainment, said that her acne prompted her to seek out Dakar in 2019 at the age of 26.
Nelson claimed that Dakar charged her $70,972.27 for treatments between Nov. 7, 2019, and Nov. 5, 2023.
On TikTok, Nelson has described herself as a frequent client of Dakar’s, even after the alleged 2021 chemical peel burning. She said she returned for about 30 sessions to fix her face.
Dakar’s bill was one issue Nelson raised in her suit.
“Many of the charges, in addition to being obtained through fraud, were unauthorized by Plaintiff and Plaintiff still does not know what she paid for,” the suit claims.
For example, Nelson questioned the purpose of an alleged $6,495 charge on Nov. 5, 2023, saying she is “certain that she did not purchase anything” from Dakar at that time.
Another issue is the licensure for Dakar and her clinic.
Dakar’s establishment license for her famous Beverly Hills clinic expired in September 2021, according to the California Board of Barbering and Cosmetology’s online license database.
In April 2022, the board revoked the license following accusations that the clinic had advanced tools for the “practice of medicine,” like Cutera laser machines and Cellu M6 for cellulite, and refused inspector access.
A separate establishment license was issued to Sonya Dakar Skincare Clinic in March 2024. It’s due to expire in 2026, though the board has opened a case against Dakar and her clinic.
The board said in a case report available online that it fielded a complaint from a consumer with the initials “VN” in February 2024. The client had experienced “severe chemical burns that caused significant damage.”
An inspector who visited the clinic in August 2024 “observed a radio frequency microneedling machine,” per the case report.
Nelson’s suit claims that Dakar “performed procedures on [her], such as microneedling and procedures using a lancet, which are outside the lawful scope of an esthetician’s license in California.”
Nelson said on TikTok that the microneedling was part of the treatments to repair facial damage.
Last month, the deputy executive officer of the board called for a hearing on VN’s accusations. It’s unclear if one has been scheduled.
The Post reached out to a rep for the board for comment.
Dakar has held an esthetician license in California since 1979, according to the board. It’s due to expire in 2027.
One disciplinary action has been taken against Dakar’s esthetician license. In 2011, the board placed Dakar on probation for three years.
According to the board, Dakar admitted to “grabbing [an] inspector’s hand, attempting to bite her and pulling her hair. The inspector was unable to complete the [2008] inspection and sought medical
attention.”
Outside of last week’s lawsuit and her complaint to the board, Nelson filed suit in LA against Dakar for alleged medical malpractice in 2024. She dismissed it weeks later.
Nelson said in her new suit that she dropped the old one “because [Dakar and her clinic] represented that they lacked insurance coverage, resulting in no compensation” to her.
She now believes that Dakar did have insurance.
Nelson has also posted TikToks about the ordeal — an August video about her “permanent disfigurement” from the 2021 chemical peel racked up nearly 10 million views.
“It’s something that I’m very self-conscious about. It’s the first thing that I see when I wake up in the morning, the last thing I see before I go to bed,” she said at the time about the “damage” to her face.
This week on TikTok, Nelson said that she filed her latest suit “to be part of a solution to bring more transparency to an industry that so many young women, including myself, have put our trust [in].”
