Mentee Ashni makes directorial debut for BBC Three

Photo of Ashni Lakhani against a starry background

Mentee Ashni Lakhani has made her directorial debut on BBC Three with a documentary about the unregulated beauty industry.

Non-surgical beauty treatments, such as Botox, micro-needling and thread lifts, have surged in popularity over the last few years. Yet for such an accessible industry, it is almost completely unregulated and that is putting patients at risk.

In debut director Ashni’s first BBC Three documentary, the team goes undercover to reveal the truth behind unregulated training courses in the aesthetics industry.

They reveal how complicated procedures involving needles are being taught over the internet with no practical elements, whilst face-to-face courses are failing to teach basic hygiene and anatomy, which ultimately risk leading to botched patients.

Ashni said: ‘I’ve been overwhelmed with the response so far. We been picked up by the Sun, the Daily Mail, covered across news and radio channels, top picks on Sky TV, highlighted on BBC Breakfast and even had Phil and Holly discuss the doc on This Morning.

‘There’s some hard-hitting undercover filming in this doc, but what I’m proudest of is the diversity in this film… in front and behind the camera. Representation matters!’

You can watch Ashni’s film here.

Ashni has also produced and directed a new film on supporting Black-owned businesses, which is out on 12 October. You can find this film here when released.