Arizona woman accused of doing cosmetic medical procedures without a license

PHOENIX - A Phoenix area woman is facing felony charges, accused of performing medical procedures without a license. Now, we're speaking with multiple patients who tell us almost immediately they knew something was wrong.

What we know:

According to court paperwork, Holladay has advertised her work since 2024 but is operating without a state-licensed medical director or oversight, which is required for cosmetic injectables.

Police say they went undercover to ask for a procedure and watched her prepare the needle. They say she placed her clients at risk of injury or death.

The backstory:

Sayde Holladay's website offers multiple testimonials and prices on dozens of procedures, many of them are lip fillers. The prices were too appealing to one patient who spoke to us, but did not want to reveal her face.

"She did the first shot, and it was more painful than it has ever been, any other time I've gotten it done," said the 1st anonymous person.

The patient sent us photos of her lips. For 60 days, she said there were problems with her treatment.

"I couldn't purse my lips or make, like, an ‘O’ with my lips," said the 1st anonymous person. "So, any time I would drink out a straw, I did it out of the corner of my mouth."

Another woman who also wanted anonymity said she knew something was wrong when she got home.

"They were so tight I thought they were going to explode with how much swelling was in my lips. I didn't want to go to sleep because I didn't know what was going to happen in the morning," said the 2nd anonymous person.

Before the day was done, she found a professional to dissolve the lip filler.

"She said I had an occlusion, basically," said the 2nd anonymous person. "If I hadn't come and saw her, I would have gone to the ER to have an operation on my face. It was so bad."

Expert weighs in

Scottsdale surgeon Dr. Randall Craft is a member of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. He says unlicensed procedures are an issue for the industry.

What He Said:

"The issue is those blood vessels around the lips, when you blindly shove a needle into it and then put a volume of filler into it, it can block that blood vessel so it no longer supplies that tissue with blood and when that tissue doesn't have blood it dies," Dr. Randall Craft said.

He says cheap deals are often red flags and it's important to do your homework on who's doing it.

"What I always tell patients ask what your level of licensure is and who your medical supervisor is and if they're readily available," Dr. Randall Craft said.

The other side:

Holladay didn't respond to our request for comments on May 4, but in a statement she made on Facebook, she asked her supporters to write character letters for her, and added, "None of you have anything to worry about on your behalf."