Former Salon Owner indicted On A Slew Of Counts After Clients Contract HIV From ‘Vampire Facials’

A salon owner who performs “Vampire facials” has been indicted on two dozen counts after clients contracted HIV.

Maria Ramos de Ruiz, 59, is the former VIP Beauty Salon and Spa owner in New Mexico. Her spa offered various services, including the trendy “Vampire Facial,” which pulls blood from a person’s body and then re-inserts the blood back into a particular part of the person’s body to heal and repair it. On Monday, Ramos de Ruiz was charged, and it was announced that she was officially indicted by the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office on Wednesday for giving some of her clients HIV.

Her arrest comes after an investigation was launched into her business back in 2019. “At least two of the salon’s clients contracted HIV” after receiving “vampire facials,” reads a statement from New Mexico’s attorney general.

“The New Mexico Department of Health in August 2018 learned a person with no risk factors for HIV had contracted the bloodborne infection after getting a ‘vampire facial’ at the VIP Beauty Salon and Spa,” the statement explains. “The DOH, the New Mexico Regulation, and Licensing Department, and deputy director of Boards and Commissions inspected the VIP Spa the following month.”

Ramos de Ruiz did have a cosmetologist license but, it expired in 2013, according to people.

“Ramos de Ruiz told them she does breast and buttocks sculpting, cellulite treatments, and ‘vampire facials,'” the statement continues. “Inspectors found ‘numerous health code violations and unsafe infection control practices,’ including unwrapped needles, blood being dumped into the kitchen sink and unlabeled syringes beside food in the refrigerator.”

According to a copy of the indictment, the investigation found that Ramos de Ruiz was using “foreign and American prescription and ‘dangerous’ drugs, and medical products that required an order from a licensed physician.” Inspectors claim the apparatus Ramos de Ruiz used to extract clients’ blood and return it to their skin was not properly disinfected or cleaned. On top of that, Ramos de Ruiz hung fake diplomas and educational certificates inside the salon, claiming she was trained to perform Botox procedures and “vampire facials.”

A total of 137 clients received “unlicensed and fraudulent services” from Ramos de Ruiz. This week she was indicted on more than 20 felony counts, including racketeering, tax evasion, fraud, and practicing medicine without a license.