Hair horror stories: It’s okay… you can laugh.

Only the truly lucky people in the world are without an embarrassing hair story. For us mortals, whether it was when you were a child, teenager, in university or in your golden years, there will always be that standout memory of hair that you’d rather forget… but never will… nor will anyone who’s seen the proof let you.

But however horrific the hair was at the time, we can’t really deny the hilarity of the whole ordeal. And, of course, hair stories are our favourite stories, so we can’t complain too much.

Here are a few gems floating around Haartek that might make you giggle… not to mention make you feel better about your own hair nightmares!

Susan’s story:

When she was younger, Susan had beautiful Farah Fawcett hair but decided to go short and sassy. She drastically cut off ten inches of her flowing locks – but nobody noticed! Eventually she got so peeved that she asked her friend who replied, “Oh. I guess we didn’t notice because it just looks so good on you.” Susan was not impressed.

Debra’s story:

Debra was in grade nine and days away from going on a trip to England when she decided to get a body perm. Unfortunately, the results were disastrous: it turned into an afro mullet! She had to get her friend to cut the mullet, but she was still stuck with big, frizzy hair and thought she was going to die of embarrassment… until a shop girl overseas told her that she loved her hair. Then Debra stopped worrying. Her friends still thought it was horrible, though.

Tanya’s story:

Although Tanya has been lucky enough to never have a hair nightmare of her own, she caused a few when she was younger. Having black hair herself, she used to be really jealous of her friends with blonde hair. So when they weren’t looking she found the yuckiest of the smelly markers (think black licorice and orange that resembled Pine Sol) and coloured her friends’ hair. Yes, it stained.

A Haartek client’s story:

When she was five years old, her father shaved her entire head at the advice of her grandmother. Apparently, this trick was to make her hair grow in thicker. Unfortunately, it never did. And her brothers made fun of her the entire time it was growing back.

Carla’s story:

Carla decided to get her first perm in grade eight. Her aunt was a stylist and offered to do it for her. Carla’s problem? Her style at the time was a chin-length bob and her aunt mainly did hair for old ladies. The result? Carla walked around with giant poodle hair, but she still thought she was so cool. At least that’s something!

My story:

It was the summer before grade seven for me when the craze was to dye your hair with Kool-Aid. At the cottage, my friend and I got her mom to do it for us. I was determined to have the brightest hair, so I did one side of my hair pink and one side purple. Having blonde hair, however, the Kool-Aid stained and never came out. Not only did I have to cut all my hair off when I went back to school but I was also followed by bees for a long time.

And here’s the pièce de résistance, Remo’s story:

Although not about his own hair, this is the story of Remo’s first experience with colouring somebody’s hair on his own. In his first month of hairdressing school, his best friend’s mother insisted that he colour her hair with her Wella “black cherry” dye. On her, it was the “in” colour – dark with burgundy tones. There was always a bit leftover and she insisted on keeping it for the next time. They soon realized the colour shouldn’t be re-used as it oxidizes. However,  her husband asked Remo to use it on his almost all white, balding hair. Remo agreed to give it a go and the outcome was a flaming eggplant shade. He couldn’t leave his house for days until Remo had the time and materials to fix it. Ouch.

 So there you go, kiddies. Isn’t it nice knowing that almost everybody has an embarrassing hair story to tell? And that some of us are nice enough to post them online?

If you’re feeling charitable, do share your hair horror stories with us… it might brighten the day of someone who’s just had their aunt give them a purple afro by accident.