‘Little trees would never’: Bath and Bodyworks car freshener explodes, leading to chemical burns and ocular damage

Do you know that feeling when your favorite perfume starts to give you a rash or a mascara you’re obsessed with makes your eyes red and watery? Your favorite products being out to get you has to be one of the worst feelings in the world.

Kyndal Bret on TikTok, unfortunately, had that sabotage taken to a whole new level when her Bath & Body Works car air freshener exploded in her face and sent her to the hospital.

In a video she posted, she shared with her audience (39 million viewers) that she had gotten chemical burns and ocular damage from the exploding car freshener and it had even bleached the ceiling of her car. Needless to say, she and her commenters were up in arms about the whole ordeal.

Commenters are pushing her to sue Bath & Body Works and many of them have questions, including queries about which freshener she was using so that they can avoid buying it. Others noted they were carefully removing their own Bath & Body Works air freshener from their cars and wishing Kyndal well on her journey to recovery.

In a follow-up video, she thanked her followers for their thoughts and prayers during her recovery and joked that, at the very least, her face smells good. She also shared that she had another doctor’s appointment coming up. She noted in the comments that the exact air freshener was a gel refill.

According to WebMD, causes of chemical burns like Kyndal’s include ammonia, battery acid, bleach, concrete mix, bathroom cleaners, pool chlorinators, and teeth-whitening products. They state that all chemical burns are considered medical emergencies no matter where they occur. After being contaminated (which may cause a chemical burn), symptoms of a burn include redness, irritation, or burning sensations, pain or numbness, blisters or black dead skin, and cough or shortness of breath. Treatments can consist of anything from IV fluids to antibiotics to cosmetic surgery, depending on the severity of the burn.

The Cleveland Clinic describes Kyndal’s second diagnosis, ocular damage, as an eye injury caused by foreign objects in the eye. Symptoms include pain, swelling, redness, light flashes in the eye, and vision loss.

Bath & Body Works hasn’t come out with a statement regarding the incident, but if you’re looking for a car freshener with almost no explosion capability maybe stick to the classic Little Trees fresheners that suburban moms and truck drivers have had in their cars for decades. It’s probably a better way to prevent an ER visit or worse, a towering ER bill.