[Sticky] Share your Bleaching Horror Stories

Ah you'd think the bosses would know. Mine left 40vol under extra hot heat (I did think it was rather warm...) and the bleach went to liquid and poured out the meche

Oh my god my poor hair, thankful it was sections!

Cupcake and Intempestivity:

For what it’s worth… why did I choose to go to a salon?

Not to mention the 2 cm of dark roots that have grown in over the last six-odd weeks, beneath that I had about another 2-3 cm of lighter hair from blonding dyes, hair that never had any dark brown dyes on it.  The dark brown bit beneath that layer faded quite a lot, but not enough, and I really did not feel I could reach behind my head and fix that ‘problem’ on my own.  I know no friends who would have been willing to do it for me, and I don’t have a regular stylist because I’m always doing my own hair.  So a Groupon is really as good a chance as any if you’re going to get it done by someone else!

Mind you, had I read all the pages in this thread about horror stories of bleaching, I’m so hard-nosed and impulsive (ha ha), I would probably not have changed my plans anyway.  I tend to spend my time here reading “how to”, because everyone knows there are so many bleaching horrors.  At the very least, I hoped to be as armed and knowledgeable as possible before the treatment.  Of course I secretly hoped I would not have a horror story, but it isn’t as bad as I thought.*

And about risks… if not being able to concentrate at all the last two days at work, feeling sick to my stomach on Friday, waking up in the middle of the night last night, and crying to my partner yesterday evening, asking him if he’d still love me even if my hair fried all off (ha ha), I don’t know how much more I could have been aware of the risks.

Katie:

Thanks for your understanding and similar stories you experienced.  Yes, I could not believe how slow she was!  I do finance for a living, and there are such things as fundamentals.  If you don’t get the fundamentals right and slip up, in my experience, it is a serious mistake!  So, as I don’t know everything about bleaching, I’ve certainly done loads of reading and done many successful highlights on myself, and one of the fundamentals (I would imagine it is a ‘fundamental’) is not to let bleach dry out on the hair, to make sure you cover it up quickly to start the developing and timing.

I did expect that to be a no-brainer, so I cannot really believe they let people work in salons that don’t follow some of the basics.  It really surprised me!  And for your bosses to slip up so badly as well, that really says a lot.  Do they think - "it's not my hair, so I'm not really be fussed", or do they just forget or become lazy... I wonder.

* Want to report that I’m not too displeased after all.  I think you were right, Katie, that my hair was in sort of a state of shock when I first got home.  I really felt it needed some of the treatments that make my hair happiest.  I’ve been able to work back a shine, and the colour is indeed one small step closer to what I’m trying to achieve.  I will treat it very kindly now and try out some bleach baths in a month or so.

I expected to experience some sort of damage from the treatment, but I'm glad it turned out to be seemingly minimal at the moment, and I don’t think I even need to trim it yet… the coconut oil must have done something right!

Being that you used coconut oil + i know youve been really babying your hair + she used 20 only the bottom back had it on for 55 mins and the rest just less and less, from the state you said your hair was in before it really shouldnt be too bad. Bleach strips pretty much everything out of the haor so its normal to feel a tad worse after than you think it should. After a protein + moisturizing treatment + a vinegar rinse or just a bit of time for the cuticle to go back down, youl see the true condition of it.

And ya, my one boss put freaking 50 vol on my already kinda fragile fine hair for an hour, when i told her to use 20+30. After my "hair" was clumping off i went crying in the back room + saw the 50 vol on the counter. I later found out the bitch wasnt even licensed! She made a fake one to hang up! And it was a very posh, ritzy, expensive salon. Then my other boss who cut my hair grabbed basically all the hair on the top of my head + cut it like, 4 inches long. I wanted a solid side bang not a freaking disconnected mullet. When i was in cos school i worked at an aveda salon as a receptionist + assistant + the owner there who had back to back clients, i later found out wasnt licensed either! She did an apprenticeship up to like, 800 hours + idk a bunch of drama happened + supposedly her mentor destroyed all her records or whatever. Idk, that could have been a lie too. Not suprisingly though, a while after i quit these places all 3 went out of business.

I think keeping the bleach moist is a no brainer, especially for a stylist, its like bleaching 101. But a lot of stylists dont seem to understand this for some reason? Ive seen stylists do root retouches with a 40 and put them under a dryer uncovered. Its insane. I think a lot of stylists are too confident + think they know everything because their cuts are good, or theyre fast or whatever. Ive quit a couple salons bc the stylists suck, fry peoples hair or give them a crap cut or color, then i always fix it. But the salon gets a bad rep then whether i fix it or not, then business slows down + the boss wonders why. Im not saying im the best stylist in the world, il be the first one to admit i dont know something + ask. A lot of stylists wont ask for help though or advice + thats a big problem. I think theyre afraid theyl look stupid or like a bad stylist if they dont know something + ask for help. I think NOT asking makes them look stupid + ignorant.

What you have to understand about UK hairstylists. There are no regulations. Some are self regulated I believe, but there are no licences. Anyone can set up to be a hairdresser and most do it on cutting ability. Many don't have enough knowledge on chemicals and how they work and most don't keep up with changes and really understand new products are doing.

I do have to say though, groupon really isn't a great way to pick a salon 🙂

Oh wow i did not know that theres no licenses in the UK. Wow, i would be terrified to go anywhere. So just anybody at all could be a stylist, theres no mandated education or number of practical hours they have to have? Here in michigan you have to have 1,500 hours, i think 350 of which is in the classroom on theory, anatomy, colors, levels, chemistry, etc, practicing on mannequins, then the rest of the time is on the clinic floor working on clients + about 10 -15 different daily things you have to do whether its on a client or a mannequin, like a particular roller set, full head perm roll, an updo, allover foils, etc + you have to have an instrucror check every thing youve done + if its not up to par you have to redo it. Theres a # of times you have to do each service to graduate, like 300 colors, 200 hilights, 250 cuts or whatever the numbers were....its been a while lol. Theres classroom work every month or so for half of the day too, with more "advanced" education. Then once you graduate you go to take your state boards. One day you take your practical, which is a manicure, a partial perm, a cut, a partial color application, and maybe a couple more things, i cant remember. But everything has to be done in certain steps, and sanitizing is a huge factor of every part. Then you go for your written, which is 100 questions. I think, but dont quote me on it, you needat least a 75% to pass + get your license. It could be 70 or 80 though, i cant remember. youd think after even all that practice these girls would be a little more knowledgeable, but a lot of the time theyre just taking the course as a free vocational through high school to bump up their grade point average + they just do minimal work. Theyl try to just skate their way through + they get sick of it since you go 6 days a week.

All that exists. All the lessons etc. I did if back in 89-92 (was terrified of cutting so didn't take it further). So yes, there are exams and most salons will make sure their juniors do them and all academic and practical work. But yes, anyone can set up as a hairdresser.

I do think in recent years some councils require hair dressers to comply with health and safety regs and register, but I think that's because if the rise in beautician treatments in small salons.

But when you say its not regulated + theres no licenses, do you mean that theres no actual laws stating that you need education + training, etc? That its really just certain salons themselves that require it on their own terms?

Exactly. The only real regs from the government are for the normal health and safety.

Yep.  My salon (as in, the salon I visit, I don't work in a salon) insists on all of their stylists being certified, but you don't have to.  I once saw a woman come in and another hairdresser's up the road had cut steps in to her hair when she asked for layers.  The stylist had obviously done a blunt cut, went up the back of her scalp about an inch, did another blunt cut, all the way up to this woman's ears.  She was in tears.  The owner of my salon was furious, and the fact that just anyone can call themselves a hairdresser and then proceed to butcher people's hair makes him really angry.

It is actually a lot more difficult to get a truck driving licence than to be a hairdresser.

I would be angry too! Jeez. Well, i learned something new today, thanks for answering all my questions 🙂

Yes, I've learnt something new as well - that is news to me that UK stylists do not need to be licensed.  I haven't had much salon-going experience, but my mother certainly did, and at that time I was in the USA, and the hairstylists she went to knew their stuff.  I am gobsmacked to learn that UK stylists do not need to be licensed to touch people's hair.  But that's because where I grew up, it seemed so strict, and the stylists I'd encountered with my mother seemed trusted.  I just haven't gone to the salon too much at all in my adult life, especially in the last 8 years of being in the UK, because I'm always doing my own, and I guess I've been doing the right thing!

Katie, I cannot believe my ears about your boss who made up her own license to post up on her wall.  That is totally appalling, and what an idiot for using 50%, which you found when you walked into the back room.  No wonder your hair was clumping out!  How devastating.  It is truly amazing how much damage can be done in a matter of moments, and that damage could cost months if not years of your life growing it out.

I was absolutely infatuated by hair and makeup in high school and junior college in the USA, but (ha ha) the long hours and long weeks put me off doing cosmetics school.  Plus, I always hated my own hair as a kid after I walked out of the salon, I thought I'd never want to do kids' hair because they'll just hate me for it.  These are reasons I never went into the cosmetics field, I thought I'd never please my clients, and if I got it wrong, I'd feel horrible.  So instead, I just read loads and started doing my own everything at home - even mastered the art of doing my own acrylic nails!

The salon I went to was huge, with glass external walls at the corner of a building, and inside, lights and mirrors and fountains et al, not a tiny shop that someone decided to open up on a whim, plus they apparently do all sorts of skin and cosmetic treatments as well.  I know, appearances aren't everything, but one might naturally think that if they have the money to pay rent for that large space and were able to decorate it up to appear to be a posh, London salon, they'd have higher standards for their staff.  As I said, I learnt something new today!

I'm almost tempted to go back and show them my hair - "Remember me? I was the one who was so concerned about the bleach, the one who came in with coconut oil you laughed at and thought was a bit pedantic?  Well, have a look at the bits your stylist left bleach on for nearly an hour - it would NOT have come out unscathed had I not oiled up.  And how stupid of me to think your stylist knows how to bleach hair ... I must be an idiot."

The only thing lost is another month to wait for the next treatment, and the ineffective use of bleach didn't lighten as much as it could have.

I wonder if the techs there that do the other skincare procedures have to be licensed... scary stuff.

Which others have to be licensed? As far as I know, nothing has to be licensed, just follow health and safety regs.

And none of this is saying they are bad. There's many very, very good hairdressers here. Less are good with the chemicals though. And we still get a good portion of US people who have been to the licensed US stylists and come out with a fried mess.

Just wondered if their staff who do the aesthetic treatments and botox have to be licensed, ha ha.  But yes, I'm sure there are umpteen bleaching disasters from the most professional hairstylists.

N.B. I wrote an email to the salon and told them about my experience, explaining to them why my hair did not lift as expected.  I cannot let them think the oil prevented the treatment from working properly, which exactly what the owner told me on my way out of the salon, just before she recommended I buy one of their shampoos!

So now I gave them a piece of my mind... and I feel better.

Just wondered if their staff who do the aesthetic treatments and botox have to be licensed

As far as I'm aware, practicioners of aesthetic cosmetology in the UK do not require any kind of license, and non-surgical treatments such as botox can be performed by un-licensed staff as well, they certainly don't have to be a doctor to perform these treatments.  I believe there is a licensing board that you can apply to, and some salons are licensed, but as far as I know, it's not a legal requirement.  The salons do have meet health & safety standards, but the actual people performing the treatments don't need any kind of medical training. I could be completely wrong, I certainly don't have these treatments done myself, so can't be sure, but I have had botox before (for medical reasons, I might point out, not for anti-ageing), and had to research salons to find one where the injections were actually done by a doctor.

How ignorant of them. Id email that bitch all the links to coconut oil (im linking them to people here all the time) and tell her maybe they need some further education. To not dismiss something they clearly know nothing about because it really makes them look foolish. Word of mouth is huge, HUGE for salons. For every 1 negative comment it takes 10 positive comments to build their rep back up. I mean, think of how many people just one person can tell about their negative experience. Then those people will warn their friends not to go there, etc. I absolutely cannot stand know-it-alls. If they actually know what theyre talking about, whatever,even if they have a douchey attitude at least i can learn something. But if they really havent a clue but think they know it all....just keep me away lol.

Oh yea, the boss with the 50 vol that forged her license was a very posh salon, she was a very rich woman. $5,000 setees in the waiting area, chandeliers, everything was just super fancy + expensive, as well as the salon prices. Allover hilights, cut, bd + style was $350 which is a LOT for michigan.

I cant believe just anyone can do botox + facial services. Facials can involve some very harsh chemicals that can seriously put someone in the hospital if not mixed correctly or left on too long, etc. Wow, thats scary!