A Bridgend beautician carried on giving laser treatments for months after being ordered to stop, and 19 of the 55 sessions in her own records were booked after the order, Healthcare Inspectorate Wales says.
Helen Mary Morgan-Wooldridge, who trades as Fake It and markets herself as “Lady Helen”, pleaded guilty to two offences under the Care Standards Act 2000 and must pay £8,960 in fines and costs, the regulator said.
Anyone using intense pulsed light or a class 3B or class 4 laser on the public in Wales has to be registered. According to HIW, she was not, and the treatments were being advertised and carried out regardless.
HIW said it found that in February 2025 and told her on 5 March 2025 to stop at once. She said the laser and IPL work would end, it said, and it did not.
Two Class 4 lasers, an out-of-date certificate, and what she told investigators
Investigators turned up unannounced on 11 June 2025, found two Class 4 laser machines at the premises and seized evidence under the Act, HIW said.
The records they took away showed 55 laser treatments given to 16 customers, 19 of them after the stop order, according to the regulator.
On the wall of her new premises was an HIW registration certificate that had expired. Interviewed under caution, she accepted that it could have led customers to believe the business was still registered, HIW said.
Her branded car and pavement sign both carried “Fake it with Lady Helen” and put tattoo removal and IPL hair removal at the top of the services list. Her current booking page offers nails, waxing, tanning, microblading and skin tag removal, with no laser or IPL.
The limited company behind the name, Fake It – Beauty Limited, was dissolved on 3 June 2025, eight days before the unannounced visit, Companies House records show.
The case went to Welsh Government Legal Services and then to court. HIW has not said which court dealt with it or when, and the £8,960 covers both the fine and the costs of HIW and the Government’s lawyers, with no split given.
Scott Howe, HIW’s head of regulation and escalation, said registration existed to protect people using independent healthcare in Wales, and that providers had to be registered before offering any service the law covered.
He said: “This case sends a clear message to providers.” Treatments had continued after HIW made clear they must stop, he said, and failing to register could end in a criminal conviction.
The Conservatives’ response: people should be able to have confidence
Natasha Asghar, Welsh Conservative MS for Casnewydd Islwyn and the party’s shadow minister for health and social care, said people “should be able to have confidence that businesses offering aesthetic treatments are operating safely and complying with the law”.
It was “concerning” that the provider had carried on after being “explicitly instructed to stop”, and that customers “were potentially given a misleading impression about its registration status”, the Welsh Conservatives’ health spokeswoman said.
She welcomed the prosecution as “an important message that providers cannot simply ignore their legal responsibilities”, adding: “The public must be protected and those who fail to meet the standards expected of them must be held accountable.”
HIW’s advice to anyone booking laser or IPL treatment is to check the business is on its register first, which is searchable online. Registration in Wales is a legal requirement for IPL and class 3B and 4 lasers, not a kitemark.
Discover more from Swansea Bay News
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
