Closed New Mexico salon that gave ‘vampire facials’ linked to new HIV cases: Officials

Harris Marley

Global Courant

A now-defunct salon in New Mexico that provided so-called “vampire facials” to clients is now reportedly linked to several new HIV cases.

The New Mexico Department of Health is contacting former clients of VIP Beauty Salon and Spa in Albuquerque, New Mexico, who received “any type of injection-related service, including a vampire facial or Botox injections,” stating that there are is a risk of HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C infection to clients who have received the injection-based service.

A “vampire facial,” according to the American Academy of Dermatology Association, is a procedure in which blood is drawn from the arm, placed in a machine that “separates the platelets from the rest of your blood,” and then “re-injected into you (only the part of your blood that contains a high concentration of platelets).”

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The spa closed on September 7, 2018, after a multi-state agency found “practices that could potentially spread blood-borne infections, such as HIV, Hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C, to customers.”

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In June 2022, the spa’s owner, Maria Ramos De Ruiz, pleaded guilty to five felony counts of practicing medicine without a license, according to KRQE. (New Mexico Corrections Department)

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