A woman who spent approximately $15,000 (R120,000) on illegal butt and hip injections has shed light on the secretive world of black market cosmetic procedures in a new book.
Vanity Wonder, 30, has revealed how she became addicted to silicone shots to increase the size of her behind. In her new book, Shot Girls, she details the reasons women choose to undergo the procedure on the black market, risking infection and even death. Read her story when you click more… this happened in Soweto, but we know similar cases abound worldwide. So ladies think twice please….
In a raw and honest account, Vanity Wonder, 30, a mother-of-two from America's Midwest, has revealed how she became addicted to silicone shots to increase the size of her behind.
Shot Girls sees her detail her own experiences of seeking out and having the injections, and how she became an assistant to a black market practitioner, who treated women as varied as a 17-year-old brought in by her proud mother and even a senior in her 70s with bifocals and false teeth.
With nurses, police officers and gospel singers also among the clients, many were 'people who know this is wrong,' Vanity told MailOnline.
She says the main reason she decided to write the book was because she wanted to tell her own story, but she was also keen to clarify many of the misconceptions about a secretive world.
Discussing the reasons women choose to undergo the procedure on the black market in the first place, risking infection and even death, she said it is not, as many people seem to believe, because they are trying to please a man, or are deeply depressed.
'It's not what people think,' she said. 'There's no common reason... Some girls get it done only because everyone else is. There's a lot of reasons.
'It's not even because they didn't already have a butt. They look in the mirror and they don't like what they see. They want the image they see in the mirror to match the image they have of themselves in their head.'
Not safe
'I started in 2006 - this is when everything was hush, hush, hush. You had to search to find this stuff,' she recalled. 'Now anyone on the corner will inject you with whatever they buy at the Kwik-E-Mart or at the gas station.'
Vanity was referring to stories that have flooded the news in recent months, of deaths after women were injected with Fix-A-Flat tyre sealant and even cement.
She admits that her own first experience with butt shots could have been just as dangerous, as she had no idea what she was injected with - and still doubts the answer she was given.
'The first two times, I was injected by a lady... when we finally asked her [what we were being injected with], she said soybean oil. So my first two times I had no idea what I was being injected with.
'All the rest were done by [a different] lady, and it was medical grade silicone.'
She says the difference in the two substances was huge. The silicone, she says, is 'a lot more moveable and jello-like. The 'soybean oil' made the treated areas 'stiff and hard'.
Describing her butt now, Vanity said: 'Because that original work has been covered so many times, it's all jiggly and very moveable. A lot of people are amazed.'
Though Shot Girls serves as a warning to women who may be tempted by the low cost and fast results of black market injections, Vanity admits many still ask her where she can get them.
'Women are still begging me, "Please tell me where to get them from!"' Vanity admits. 'They are definitely chasing this.
'That's the reason why women are dying.
'They are so thirsty for these, they go to whoever they can find. Then people want to exploit this and that's where the problems come in.'
She admits she stopped when she was nearly sent to jail, and she realised that if anything were to happen to her, she would not be around to take care of her sons.
It was a reality check that cut her addiction short.
When looking in the mirror now, she says she does not feel dissatisfied with her body.
'It's not that I feel happy, but I look in the mirror and I love who I am,' she explained. 'I didn't go to jail,
I have my arms and legs. I didn't die because of the dumb crap that I did.
'I guess I do feel happy. I'm just so thankful that I'm here in one piece, and that I'm able to tell people to stop on this path, because somebody's going to die.'
Source:sowetanlive.co.za
