[Sticky] Share your Bleaching Horror Stories

One more thing to add. If the coconut oil starts to solidify again, it will block the bleach. If the temp is lower than 23 degrees c it will solidify, at this time of year it is possible.

Thanks Janine, but I really don't think it could have been the coconut oil blocking the bleach.  From what I understand, the poor bleach didn't have a chance to work because it was uncovered for 40+ minutes.  Plus, I had done strand tests a couple nights before, leaving the coconut oil uncovered overnight, then applying the bleach the next morning, nearly the same as what would have happened the day of the bleaching, and both oiled and non-oiled test strands lifted equally.

My hair seemed moist and pliable right before the bleach - I brushed through it with my mini-bristle whilst sitting in the chair before the treatment.  I don't think I would have been able to if it solidified... does it solidify if it's left uncovered, or in another way?  To be fair, I didn't take the temperature of my hair before the treatment though... hee hee.

Katie, I did make that clear in the email too - that I'd done test strands with oil that lightened the exact same way as those without, and that the reason the treatment did not work effectively because the bleach was left uncovered and could not start to develop before drying up.  I also said the reason I did not have to sacrifice any length, after having bleach sit on it nearly an hour, was because of the oil, that there are testimonials about coconut oil preventing bleach damage, and my hair would not have survived an hour otherwise.

I am convinced the oil saved my hair... thank you!  I'm interested to know if they respond at all.  Although I'm glad I corrected their misunderstanding about oil blocking the lifting effects - regardless, you don't fiddle around for a half hour, painting bleach on hair like you're creating a masterpiece with oil paints, tapping the brush here and there.  To give her some credit, she was probably trying to do a good job, but must have seriously lacked fundamentals.

Mindi, that is scary to learn.  I would never, ever trust someone with chemicals on my face or skin.  I admit, I've experimented with glycolic and lactic acid facial peels at home, as well as salicylic, but as with doing hair at home, it's within my control.  I am seriously becoming curious as to what makes these people qualified to do possibly damaging and irreversible treatments on clients without qualifications.  Even the most qualified can slip up, and that's even a chance you take.  But to learn no level of certification is required is appalling.

Mind you, I'm sure there are many successful treatments, but those that aren't are such sad stories to hear.

I mention it purely because it's one thing that can go wrong with coconut oil, it's not a perfect method 🙂

Out of interest, was it a full head of bleach?
I've never been or worked in a salon where a client has one stylist doing that procedure, it's always been two due to the timing of it and the need for an even lift.

Swilks, it was a sort of a dip-dye to even out darker lengths.  Although I think my stylist could have used another couple pairs of hands!

Ironically, the stylist had long blonde, highlighted hair, really pretty.  I asked if she did her own highlights, and she said "no".

But even me, I'm a sponge when someone is doing my hair and always have been, staring at everything they are doing and taking it all in.  You'd think my stylist would have picked up a bit of information, having her own highlights done by someone else.

She's probably one of those that keeps her head down and reads magazines through the process.

MODIFIED 14/11/2013:

I finally wrote a review of the salon and thought I'd share it here:

I wish I could write a better review, but unfortunately, my experience was not a good one.  My appointment was for a lightening treatment (dip dye), and the stylist that did my hair did not have a sound understanding of how to use bleach - it took nearly 45 minutes to apply, and by that time most people would know the bleach would begin to dry out on the hair, lose its ability to lift, and just do damage without attaining the desired result.  The bleach ended up being on my hair for nearly an hour in total, and I felt a bit silly asking for it to be washed off after that time, because the stylist really wanted the treatment to lighten my hair as I expected.

To give credit, the stylist really tried to do the best job she could and lift my hair level as desired, and all other staff were very nice.  The ambiance is brilliant, and I would hope they improve their standards and ensure their staff are trained with some of the basics of hair treatments.

Here's my bleaching horror story: I was a teenager and had only been bleaching my hair for a couple of years. I naively assumed that all professional hairstylists knew exactly how to bleach hair blonde----was I ever wrong!

I was temporarily living with a relative 100+ miles away from my regular hair colorist, so when it was time to get my roots bleached, I made an appointment at a local salon. (Ironically, it was a very upscale salon in a wealthy California beach town). The stylist had autographed photos of movie stars and a First Lady on the walls of his salon; they thanked him for doing a great job styling their hair while they'd stayed in the popular vacation destination. Maybe he knew how to style hair, but he certainly didn't know much about bleaching hair! He pretended he knew how, though. I thought I was in good hands.

I went to Mr. X a couple of times, and he did a good job touching up my roots. It must have been about my 3rd or 4th visit when everything went wrong. Then and now, I leave 20 volume bleach on my hair for 65 minutes.

Mr. X applied bleach to my roots, then he put me under a hairdryer. No colorist had ever put me under a hair dryer for the hour that we left the bleach on my hair, so I was instinctively worried.

"The heat will work with the bleach to lift your color," Mr. X assured me. I didn't know any better, so I followed his instructions and sat under that hair dryer for the full 65 min. with 20 vol. bleach on my roots. It turned out that the combination of bleach and heat melted off a huge chunk of my hair near the top of my head.

Mr. X washed off my bleach and combed my hair, never telling me about the damage at the crown.

It wasn't until my hair was dry and I got home that I realized just how badly he'd botched the job. To my horror, all of the hair at the top of my head was now only half an inch long, at most! It looked like someone had given me a "buzz cut". (I had to wear hats for 6 months afterwards, because my hair was so short that I couldn't even get it to lay flat. It stuck straight up for 6 months!).

I was in tears. I called up Mr. X, telling him of the damage and asking him what had gone wrong. "The bleach was on too long," he told me. Even then I knew he was lying, because 65 min. has never been "too long". As soon as I went back to my regular stylist, she explained that putting me under a hairdryer while my bleach processed was a colossal mistake. Bleach + heat=extreme damage.

The heat from the hair dryer had caused the bleach to swell, overlapping my roots and causing the bleach to get onto my already-bleached hair. This is what caused huge chunks of my hair to break off extremely close to my scalp. I was depressed for months afterwards, trying to hide the damage by constantly wearing hats.

I hate the fact that I actually paid a fair amount of money to have my hair ruined. (I didn't have the courage to demand a refund). Needless to say, I never went to Mr. X's salon ever again. I really wish he had just come out and told me that he didn't know how to bleach hair, instead of experimenting on me and ruining my hair. I was also irked that he lied about the reason for the damage. He didn't want to admit that the damage was his fault, caused by putting me under the hairdryer with bleach on my head.

omg, that guy is an idiot. even if i do put someone under the dryer for a root retouch, its for like, 5-10 minutes tops and i only use heat like that with certain hair types, usually its darker, coarser, resistant hair. and depending on the bleach, some swells moe than others, you always leave a tiny bit of space between the bleach and the previously bleached hair because it will swell out to it. it sounds like he overlapped it to begin with, like, "blended" the bleach down to the previously bleached hair, with the amount of hair you lost. i would havetaken a picture of the top of my head and sent it to the owner, or asked to see the owner in person and showed him/her and get a refund.

Thanks, Katie. Mr. X actually was the owner of this "prestigious" salon. He'd been in business for a long time and owned his own salon, so I naively assumed that he knew what he was doing.

When he told me, "The bleach was on too long", it was like he was blaming me for the damage, because I'd told him that my colorist at home always keeps my bleach on or 65 min. But the damage was obviously caused by putting me under the hairdryer for the entire 65 min., not because the bleach was on "too long".
I suppose if I'd known more and been more confident, I would have demanded a refund. It makes me ill to know that "Mr. X" clearly saw the extent of the damage as he combed through my hair afterwards, but failed to say a word. And then when I did call him and described the damage, he still didn't take responsibility! Thanks for your input.

Wow, that's just so low. I can't think of enough names to call him. Sorry that happened!

Oh to be young and naive again...
When I was A LOT younger I decided it would be a good idea to try and go from a Boots 'Bitter Chocolate' box dye back to my natural colour (ash blonde). 2 weeks and 6 boxes of Schwartzkopf 'Platinum Blonde' later, I'm left with stringy, porous, white into day-glow yellow into orange hair :/ think LeeLoo from the film '5th element', only more damaged.
The worst part about it was that sooo much snapped off I had to have it chopped off and for about 6 months I looked like a boy >_<

I'm naturally a level 3 and had black blue hair for about 6 months. I decided I wanted to go platinum blonde so did 2 40vol bleaches within a week.

I started bleaching my own roots after that, 30vol every 2 weeks and would often over lap. In the end my hair had had enough and a massive chunk snapped off at the root so I looked like a parrot. After that I whacked on a semi brown and learnt my lesson. I still bleach but I'm very careful now.

This is a bit off-topic as I am not recounting a bleaching horror story, but I have a silly question. I hope this is okay.

I've seen many references to "chewing gum hair" on this forum, and I am a bit confused as to what it means. My mind automatically thinks that damaged hair = dry, brittle, snapping hair.

Does chewing gum hair feel like used chewing gum? Is it a bit squishy? Does it feel gummy as if it were covered in sticker residue? Does it seem to stretch like chewing gum, opposed to just snapping?

I feel so ridiculous since I don't understand, hahaha!

It's a bit of all of that. But, it's when it's wet, not dry. That is the specific difference. It's not easy to understand unless you've felt it. I was doing hairdressing at the end of the 80s, early 90s, so I felt a lot of it because of the obsession with bleach blonde hair and tight perms!

When it's dry, it's likely to be dry, brittle and snapping.

If you've ever used Nair, it's a little like that (hopefully not *that* bad though)

Anyway, my bleach disaster two years ago left me with horribly damaged rainbow coloured hair.  I had been using either Lush's Caca Noir or my own mix of dried henna and indigo to dye my hair for about two years.  However after my ex broke up with me I felt like I needed to change up my hair colour and wanted to go light. I was smart enough to google "removing henna from hair" and knew it would be risky but dumb enough to believe some people on the Internet who claimed to have been able to lighten their hair without dramas so I just crossed my fingers that I'd be able to do the same.
First up I tried a lightening box dye which lightened my roots but left my lengths a mucky greenish brown. I then tried two applications of a colour remover which didn't do very much. This was followed by a strong box bleach which gave me the hair below. This was all in the space of a few days.  By this stage as you can see, my hair was in a pretty shabby condition so I left it for a couple of weeks, just using lots of conditioners before one final attempt with bleach which only served to make the blue brighter.
In the end, the only cure was a pair of scissors. I tried for as long as possible to keep as much length as I could but eventually went for a pixie cut which I've been sporting for the last year now.

WoW, loads of horror stories on here.

The absolute worse for me was done by a professional just a few months ago.  I had been getting highlights gradually put in my hair to take me to blonde.  Well, the girl who was doing my highlights (mind you I was mostly blonde at this stage) was fired.  So, I told the owner the goal about going blonde.  Well, you would think since it was HER salon she would have been more knowledgeable than what she actually was.  Needless to say my hair was a plethora of all colors that weren't a true blonde.  I had told her my long term goal was a dark beige blonde.  Instead I walked out with orange, yellow, white, and greyish hair.  I wanted to cry!!  Mind you this was after paying her money as well as spending two full days in her salon.  I also went to Sally's to see if there was anything I could do and the girls in there thought this was a botched home job.  My hair is luckily very strong and I take good care of my hair.  Well, I had to hop on a plane with this really bad hair color (the cut was just as bad totally uneven in length plus she layered one side of my head and left the other one length...I'm talking brutal here).  So, luckily I was visiting family and I knew a hair dresser who thankfully fixed me up to where I was all blonde (not the dark blonde I wanted but I was much better).  She didn't want to over process my hair after telling her everything that I had been through!  I'm just very lucky that my hair didn't snap off completely I just had to get a new cut and loads of layers cut into my hair!