hair burned - a lamentation, but advice welcomed!

[Arkteia]

My stylist burned my hair. Tried a new color and put me under a lamp, which had never been done before. Several days later, a mole on my head became inflamed. A dermatologist said that there was a chemical burn of the whole scalp, did a shave biopsy of the mole, which was benign, but I had to treat my scalp for a while and missed my salon appointment.

I have problems with this salon, but it is the best in the area, and they use very good products. Would you ever get back to this stylist, or change and run a risk of getting another one who is worse (this is the first problem with this stylist in two years). Does it happen often?

 

[ksinger]

"Good products" by what standard? The advertisers? If they give you chemical burns I don't see that they're so good, do you? I'm afraid I'd be a little put out with the stylist too.

If it were me, I'd be trying to find a new salon for color, probably an Aveda one. Aveda permanent color isn't totally free of harsh chemicals, but it's much lower, and they do have a semi-permanent that is totally free of the standard nasty crap. I started doing that after becoming concerned about my level of chemical exposure and absorption. You may have developed a new sensitivity to one of the common chemicals in most hair dyes you know...

 

[yennyfire]

That's a tough call. I think I'd probably look for another salon too, but I wouldn't burn my bridges with the current one either. I had a similar problem with my salon. I get my hair chemically straightened (thermal reconditioning) and have been getting it done for 8 years. It's always worked perfectly. Well, this time, it didn't. It didn't work uniformlly and the salon/stylist said that my hormones must have changed and that they weren't responsible. So I'm trying to decide if I'll go back or not. I'm terrified to try someplace new and not happy about the thought of going to my current place, spending a fortune and not getting results. It's a terrible position to be in!

 

[Porridge]

No, if it was the only problem in two years then I would not just cut and run. But that would totally depend on the stylist's reaction to your complaint. She would need to apologise profusely, offer some kind of compensation (free treatment or whatever), never use that method or product again and be super careful from now on. Mistakes and accidents happen. Only you can judge whether this was a mistake or accident or just plain carelessness - in which case head for the hills.

 

[JewelFreak]

That would knock me out, Crasru, so sorry you had to go through it! I'd talk to the stylist too, see what her reaction is, & then decide. This treatment must be one that works ok on other people so she may not have expected it to be a problem -- but she needs to say so & apologize apologize apologize & demonstrate that she wants to keep your business.

If you're thinking of changing, try what I do when I'm looking for a new hair salon -- I eyeball women's hair everywhere I go & if I see something I like, I ask where she gets it done. People are glad to share info. Hope it works out!

--- Laurie

 

[Amys Bling]

Approach the stylist nicely and tell her what happened. See how it goes from there....

 

[kelpie]

I'm sorry. I would not go back unless you just wanted a cut. even if the stylist is good in general I would take it as a sign of how dangerous some commonly used chemicals can be and switch to a natural product like henna (but wait until hair grows out Because it has a bad reaction to chemically dyed hair). If you want your hair to grow faster, I recommend phyto hair vitamins. After being on them a few weeks my normally slow growing hair is growing about an inch a week.

 

[centralsquare]

Oh wow - that is scary! I would first talk to this stylist. Maybe it wasn't her fault (there was something wrong with the chemicals). If you leave that conversation with a sense of trust, then I would go back. But if your gut says there is something fishy....I'd look around. There has to be at least *one* other good stylist?

 

[marymm]

How I would proceed depends on the following:

1. What did the salon and/or the stylist say when you told them why you had to miss your regular hair appointments?

I would think professionals, being told a customer (and a regular customer at that) received a chemical burn of the scalp as a result of treatment at their salon, would first apologize profusely, and insist on reimbursing the expense of the treatment, and maybe offer a free deep conditioning treatment. Though I wouldn't expect it, if they offered to reimburse costs related to the medical treatment required, that would be nice.

2. You mentioned you received the chemical burn after an appointment where new color and new heat treatment was done for the first time on you -- did your stylist check on you periodically to see how you were responding to the new color and/or the heat treatment?

I expected extra checks by my stylist whenever new things were being tried on me -- if she/he didn't do this, it would raise huge red flags for me, particularly since you did indeed suffer quite serious consequences -- which perhaps might not have occurred or would have been less severe had the stylist performed the extra checks. If extra checks were performed, I would be more inclined to think the chemical burn was an unforeseeable result.

3. For me personally, regardless of the answers to the above, I think my confidence would be lost in someone who caused me to have a chemical burn... I don't think I would feel comfortable with that person doing any chemical-based treatments.

At my gut level, if I had a chemical burn of my scalp as a result of treatment normally encountered at a professional hair salon, I would switch to the type of salon that does not use those kinds of chemicals. I think someone already suggested Aveda, and there might be others too.

Disclosure: Because of numerous bad hair cuts and poor color treatments at various salons, I no longer patronize hair salons - I cut my own hair (w/ DH's help), and I color my own hair with Revlon ColorSilk (ammonia-free).

 

[Miss Sparkly]

Try k pak shampoo and conditioner by joico. Argon oil that you leave in the hair is also amazing

 

[bee*]

I'd first talk to the stylist and see what their reaction is but I wouldn't be rushing back. On the other hand I know how hard it can be to find a good stylist, but I don't think I could trust one that burned me.

 

[lyra]

I'd definitely talk to the stylist or salon owner and explain what happened to you. I might even expect a refund. I know my own salon would bend over backwards to make things right no matter what the issue. It would be helpful for you to know what exactly caused the problem, so that you will know what to avoid in the future, be it a particular chemical or a brand line. It's also helpful for the salon to know--someone might decide to sue them sometime. I hope you find a solution that works out for you in the future. If I didn't like the response I got after explaining what happened, I'd definitely go elsewhere and have a consultation.

 

[Indylady]

Wow--so sorry to hear this. I'd talk to the stylist and she how she handles it, and probably base my answer on that, but I would be wary of returning to be sure.

 

[luv2sparkle]

I don't think I would go back. I went to a stylist for years and I considered her my friend. Every so often she would glance the curling
iron off my neck and leave a burn. When I would go back in four weeks she would never mention it at all. Well, last January she gave
me a huge burn on my neck. Frankly, I didn't even feel it, it just left a big ugly brown mark. My family saw it as soon as I got home.
It took almost a full six months to go away. I didn't go back or even call her about it. She had also walked away from her shop
and was doing hair out of her home with her daughter who had a new baby.

I felt bad about it, but truly didn't know what to say. I just couldn't risk it happening again. She might not have even realized it at the
time. We get to talking and laughing and it would just barely touch my neck.

I don't think I could go back to a salon that had caused a chemical burn on my whole head. If it was new product to you or the first time
using it in their salon they should have been watching it carefully. That is a big issue, and I wouldn't be able to trust them again.

 

[HollyS]

Disclosure: Because of numerous bad hair cuts and poor color treatments at various salons, I no longer patronize hair salons - I cut my own hair (w/ DH's help), and I color my own hair with Revlon ColorSilk (ammonia-free).[/quote]




Yup. Me, too. I looked around one day, realized I was the ONLY one in the salon with good hair, and I was the CLIENT, and said to myself, "Geez, if they can't even do each other's hair or their own, why am I expecting them to make me gorgeous?" I have had only two professional haircuts since 1997, both of them big mistakes. But I get far more compliments on my hair since doing it all myself than I had in 20+ years going to a salon.



You've been burned by someone who has a license, plenty of training, and should know how to use the products. Don't give that salon another chance to cause you harm or damage your hair. Stay away.

Oh, and depending on how much your medical attention cost you, you might want to think seriously of taking legal action against stylist and salon. There are laws and health codes in place to protect you. That's why they must be licensed.