High end hair salon frazzled my hair :(

[stiltonontoast]

So in the city I work in theres this high end, highly recommended hair salon. Its V posh and fancy and I've aways wanted to go there. Reviews are excellent and they always post amazing before/after photos on instagram.

Usually I use box dyes and cut my own hair (the horror!) so when I got a bonus at work I thought y know what I'm gonna treat myself! I had a baby 8 months ago so my hair is in need of a bit of tlc. Its basically grown out very light blonde that I did myself, a bit dry - but I have very strong, thick hair.

Appointment went fine, the girl who cut my hair was fairly new to the salon and she was pretty quiet - which I was ok with as I find the salon 'chat' a bit annoying sometimes. She asked me lots about what I wanted and seemed to know her stuff. We decided on 'babylights' to blend my natural roots with very light ends, she suggested we add Olaplex to ensure damage was minimal - fine. All went fine with the dye. Then came the cut, I have an undercut and she decided to trim this back using scissors and comb (I usually get my husband to shave it!) she was working quickly and at one point she cut the very edge of my ear with the scissors - I jumped and so did she - she stared at my ear for a second and I stared at her and then she carried on. I deliberated saying something but the pain went away instantly and there was no blood - plus I was happy with the way my hair was going so I thought I'd leave it.

To finish the style she asked if she could use a wand on my hair to create loose waves. I said go for it - usually I just let my hair air dry. I noticed lots of steam coming off the hair while she was doing this but thought nothing of it. My hair was complete - and it looked amazing! I walked out of the salon feeling great. My hair felt soft and lovely too.

Once I got home I just kept smelling this weird smell, like chemicals and burning, DH even noticed it. Suddenly it occurred to me - it was my hair! It smelled burnt. Weird.

Today I washed my hair for the first time since the salon and let it air dry - I am mortified, my hair is frazzled! Like the strands that were dyed look crispy and damaged all the way up - Its dry and breaking off and it STILL smells burnt. Its in much worse condition than before I went despite having 2" cut off the ends. I don't think its even chemical damage - I think its heat damage! Is this a thing? Should she have made sure my hair was dryer before using the wand? I assumed it was some kind of steam wand.

I paid £185 for my cut + colour and I was expecting great things. AIBU here? should I complain? I am not usually the complaining type but I can't help but feel so disappointed with the results.

www.lookfantastic.com/kerastase-resistance-reconstructing-3-step-regime/11332587.html?rctxt=default?rctxt=default

this set is probably better for you x

I'm sorry this happened to you.
I did the same after having a child - treated myself to an expensive salon I'd always wanted to go to. £150 cut. They destroyed my hair. I don't know how. The cut, everything, it was awful. I've still not been able to get it back to anything decent. I hope they can fix yours.

Bringing back bad memories for me too! Many years ago, I risked a bleach at a big expensive salon. It was an evening appointment and, although I apparently had the regional manager doing my hair, she was definitely more interested in chatting with the other stylists as there were basically no other customers than me. I’m pretty sure she forgot about me while I was processing... Cue me leaving with melty frazzled hair which she assured me would be fine once I’d washed it It was not fine. I spent all night crying in the bathroom. The next morning, I had to go and buy a hat to hide the horror. I bitterly regretted paying for my hair to be butchered. Fortunately, as this was years ago when such payments were normal, I went straight to my bank and boldly (wait for it)... cancelled the cheque

This has done wonders for my damaged hair (couldn’t get a comb or brush through it when wet, until this saved me)

www.amazon.co.uk/TIGI-Antidotes-Recovery-Moisture-Conditioner/dp/B00AYXV5W0/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?keywords=Bed+head+Gigi&tag=mumsnetforum-21&ie=UTF8&qid=1539724100&sr=8-1

This is excellent too

Huge sympathy. I’ve had some of my worst times at the hands of hairdressers. There should be many more rules surrounding hairdressing.

What box dyes do you usually use? Some (XXL Live is the worst) contain chemicals which react badly with bleach. I wouldn't touch anyone who said they used box dyes with bleach without doing a strand test first.

XXL Live also coats the hair and once the coating is stripped off with bleach or another chemical the true condition of the hair is revealed.

I love XXLs colours but can't bring myself to use them because of how damaging they are. Olaplex treatments will help but they won't address the dryness of the hair.

Redken anti-snap and Philip Kingsley elasticser are great for bleached, dry hair as is coconut oil.

@Frequency I aways avoided the swartzkopf xxl live dyes even when I was younger because they seemed overly harsh.

I've always used bleach + powder from sallys and always applied it with coconut oil, then I use a loreal luo colour colour mixed with low volume peroxide also from sallys. If I can't get that I usually buy nice n easy from clairol but again - apply with coconut oil.

Basically I've always been cautious, its amazing that it took me going to a high end salon to frazzle my hair and not the times I've done it myself in my bathroom.

So I've got myself the redken antisnap (I've used it before and loved it) the philip kingsley elastic stuff, bedhead repairing shampoo and conditioner and a palmers coconut repair mask to do tonight. Pray for me!

I also did what you did - booked a 'treat myself' appointment before going back to work with baby 1. Also booked a high end salon in London based on salon reviews and paid £180 (8 years ago) for the privilege of sitting next to two celebs during my cut. It was one of the least flattering cuts I've had. Taught me a lesson - always book the stylist, never the salon. I've moved country twice since then and always ask around / look on various internet forums for recommendations for a specific stylist before trying a new hairdresser.

@stiltonontoast good luck, as long as you keep treating it it can only get better X

Shouting to get this post noticed..I’m a hairstylist PLEASE STOP USING AND ADVISING PEOPLE TO USE COCONUT OIL ON HAIR!!! The molecule is far too big to penetrate the cuticles it cannot get it and do anything at all so it just sits on the surface coating it in an oily sludge.. it also melts at body temperature which means the first time you then put warm water on your hair over it it will melt and run everywhere fully coating the hair shaft leaving it dull and cloggy then remember it melts at a low temperature...When you apply heat to the dry or straighten your hair it FRIES it causing WAY MORE DAMAGE than it could ever repair...if it were capable of repairing at all which it isn’t as the molecule is too large to enter the hair cuticle. It also leaves a barrier preventing colour taking properly and predictably.
OP excellent choice of repair products but I’d add Olapex #3 too as honestly it works!

There are two very well known salons in Edinburgh, and they are considered high end. I've had horrendous colour jobs at both.

Toni and guy as well - I've never heard anything good about them.

@MuncheysMummy

A question if you don’t mind.

Is it true that they’re molecules of argan oil and olive oil are small enough to penetrate the hair shaft?

OP look up the Aphogee system on Amazon. It turned my bleach frazzled hair in to mermaid hair by rebonding proteins to the bleach and heat damaged areas. You have to sit under a dryer or use a hairdryer for ages to get it to bond properly but it is AMAZING stuff.

Check out the youtube videos 👌

(I've been dying and cutting my own hair since I was 11 and this stuff restored all the damage caused by an accidental snooze on the couch with bleach on my hair 😬)

@MuncheysMummy as a hairdresser you should know that coconut oil also slows down the chelating process during bleaching so you can achieve a higher lift with less damage 🤷🏼‍♀️

It's not always a bad thing.

I'm on my phone atm but if you Google coconut oil salon geeks hair it brings up a massive thread of fellow stylists extolling the virtues of coconut oil. As a hairdresser myself I would never coat the hair with coconut oil before bleaching as it slows down the processing time and I wouldn't be confident of achieving a clean lift/getting past the yellow stage but I know how good it is for the hair.

It is, in actual fact, one only a handful of oils that can actually penetrate the hair shaft (argon oil being a notable other one) and it also contains lipids, which are great for moisturizing the hair and It can mimic protein which is essential for over processed hair.

I second the reccomendation for Aphogee.