A 10-year-old allegedly followed an influencer’s ‘life hack,’ leaving her lips and eyes red. Doctors say ‘she was really lucky’

A mother, Rebecca Soal, in Wales, United Kingdom, was horrified to discover that her 10-year-old daughter had put nail polish remover in her eyes after watching a social media video, according to Ladbible. The girl, Phoebe, allegedly also wiped the chemical across her lips, leaving both areas red and prompting an urgent trip to the hospital.

The mother said she only realized something was wrong after noticing the smell of nail polish remover while taking her younger daughter upstairs to bed. She then reportedly found Phoebe with visibly red lips and eyes, but it took some time for the child to explain what she had done.

According to Soal, Phoebe had seen a YouTube influencer promoting the substance as an alternative to eye drops. “This stupid video said it’s a good alternative to eye drops,” the mother recalled. Phoebe reportedly took nail polish remover from the bathroom, applied it to a cotton bud, and wiped it across her lips before putting several drops into each eye. Soal said she was frightened that her daughter might have permanently damaged her eyesight after following the online trend.

The child got lucky

She rushed Phoebe to the hospital, where medical staff flushed both eyes with a litre of saline solution each to remove the chemical. Although the nail polish remover was acetone-free, Phoebe suffered a chemical burn to her lips, which the family has been treating with Vaseline to prevent the skin from cracking.

Doctors reportedly told the family that Phoebe was “really lucky.” However, the long-term effects on her eyesight are still not known. “We’re waiting for a specialist appointment for her eyes,” Soal explained. “So we don’t have the full picture at the moment.”

The experience led the mother to ban her children from social media and take a more cautious approach to their online activity. With influencers being all the rage, she believes videos that appear to be jokes can be dangerous when young viewers mistake them for genuine advice.

She is also reportedly in favour of the UK’s planned restrictions on social media access for under-16s. The new rules, set to be implemented in 2027, state that “High-risk features including livestreaming and strangers being able to contact children will also be restricted for under‑16s on other online services like gaming,” according to the U.K. government.

“You go on YouTube to watch your favourite Roblox videos; you don’t expect kids to take part in trends,” she said. In the era of rising cases involving AI, she said: “Be more vigilant with your children.” And asked, “I know you trust your children, but do you trust them enough not to be influenced?”