Katie Wright shared her story on the Make Up Heavens Facebook page: Photo via Twitter

An American woman has become the subject of international attention after sharing her experience with a serious skin infection, which she believes was caused by using an unclean make-up brush.

Katie Wright, from Austin Texas, was treated for cellulitis after popping what she believed was a pimple above her eyebrow. However, the spot was actually a staph infection, which began to spread across her face rapidly within an hour.

Expand Close Katie Wright shared her story online and set up a GoFundMe account DKp73Z0dyG16hU5XYmXLSjr27F8V4bk1nbaxcmQ3CGsIMzgVheSQhXYqD5KVwp29DxD3KoJpqOrsG6jhs7wtYw== / Facebook

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Whatsapp Katie Wright shared her story online and set up a GoFundMe account

"My face grew hot and swollen, then disfigured very quickly, with an oozing open wound that kept getting bigger," Katie wrote in a post, shared on the Make Up Heavens Facebook page.

Cellulitis is a painful bacterial infection which affects the inner layers of skin, and in rare cases can be fatal.

Given the close proximity to Katie's eyes, doctors at St. David's North Medical Centre feared the infection could damage her sight and even spread to her brain. The blogger was treated with IV antibiotics, which managed to tackle the infection.

The make-up enthusiast is now raising awareness of the danger of staph infections, and warned women to take better care of their make-up brush hygiene. Katie urged followers of the page to regularly wash their make-up brushes as she believes her infection's source was a dirty eyebrow brush.

when you go viral for being ugly pic.twitter.com/anwVTHGusH — katie (@katiewright) August 1, 2017

"It was scary and awful but it could have been so much worse. Although I feared my face would not heal, I was relieved to have my vision and my life spared.

"I shared my very expensive lesson with the community of make-up artists, bloggers and fans in the hope others might avoid going through the same thing.

"Clean your brushes and tools. I'm not kidding when I say it is critical," she writes on her GoFundMe account.

Katie is now raising funds to cover the medical costs incurred during her illness and has set up a GoFundMe page.

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