When undergoing any cosmetic treatment -- whether it's something as harmless as a HydraFacial or a bit more risky, like Botox or fillers -- the goal is always to leave looking better than you did when you walked in. But, as any dermatologist or aesthetician will warn you, it's important to choose your clinic and practitioner wisely, or you'll not only risk duck lips or a swollen face, but you could put yourself at risk for a fatal allergic reaction. Here's hoping you never experience these superscary cosmetic catastrophes.

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When most of us hear the word "peel" in relation to skin care, we immediately worry we'll wind up looking red-faced and blotchy, à la Samantha in "Sex and the City." As if that iconic scene alone didn't strike enough fear into the hearts of naive beauty queens everywhere, horror stories in the news about chemical peels pushed others over the edge.

Take what happened to then 26-year-old Georgie Aves, from London, for example. She opted for what she thought was a harmless and rejuvenating facial treatment -- aka a laser chemical peel known as a C02 treatment -- and suffered an allergic reaction that left her with terrible scarring all over her face. The original price tag was a whopping £1,200 (about $1,582), and she was told that, at worst, she'd experience minor scabbing. Instead, she experienced what she described to the Daily Mail as "a scene from a horror movie." Six months post-treatment she still experienced severe facial scarring as a result of what was a rare but serious allergic reaction.

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Believe it or not, most chemical peels are gentle -- that is, when carried out by a skilled and qualified technician. What happens when you undergo the procedure by a random staffer at a beauty clinic who's about to do it for the very first time? Turns out, some serious damage.

School teacher Mary Hope didn't realize she was getting an Obagi chemical peel by the hands of a novice. After shelling out some serious cash for the procedure, she was left with a beard of permanent scarring around her cheeks and chin which caused her to wear a plastic compression mask 24 hours a day for 18 months straight. The disaster did earn her £130,000 (about $172,000) in compensation, but in exchange she had to promise not to reveal the name of the company responsible.

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Most of us think nothing of wearing a hair tie on our wrists -- we rock them like an accessory piece. But after learning what happened to Audree Kopp, you may want to keep your wrists bare and your hair where it belongs.

Wearing her hair tie on her wrist like most people do left Kopp with a growing lump on her arm. At first, she paid no attention to it, assuming it must be some sort of bug bite, but when it continued to grow in size, she knew it was something more serious. She made a visit to her doctor's office and received an antibiotic, which did nothing to stop what was clearly an infection. She was later sent to the ER for surgery. They discovered that the culprit was not just one, but three, flesh-eating bacteria caused by a glitter hair tie. The friction of the texture rubbing against her skin allowed the infection to get underneath and spread. Thankfully she has recovered, but continues to warn women against ever wearing a hair tie on their wrists.

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The goal is to kiss a frog with the hopes that he turns into Prince Charming ... not brush on a little brow tint and wind up looking like Kermit himself.

The latter happened to 16-year-old Tylah Durie, after she attempted to darken her eyebrows with some store-bought dye. The result looked nothing like Cara Delevingne, but rather a puffy, swollen mess of redness. The brand she used apparently offers an allergy patch test to make sure that users don't wind up with an allergic reaction ... ahem, something Durie chose to ignore (like most of us do).

Ten minutes after applying the dye and rinsing it off as instructed, all seemed fine -- she was even pleased with the results, so she told Elite Daily. Then, the burning and itching sensation ensued, leaving her with a severe allergic reaction (to the ingredient paraphenylenediamine, a darkening agent) just 30 minutes later. The poor girl couldn't open her lids! Bottom line: Take the patch test -- for all of our sakes.

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