20 People Who Had a Wild Ride at the Hair Salon

Most people book a haircut expecting a routine trim—a quiet appointment where they sit back and let the stylist work their magic. What they don’t expect is to become part of a story so unforgettable, it leaves them with a nervous twitch long after the hair has settled.

• My barber of 6 years was on vacation, so I tried someone new. I said, “Just a trim.” He nodded and buzzed off my entire ponytail in one glorious zzzzzzzip. I looked like Eleven from Stranger Things. I didn’t speak for 10 minutes. He offered me a lollipop.
• When I was a kid, I went to the hairdresser’s with my mother. My mother explained to her that she should keep the length just below my earlobes. The stylist apparently got some wrong idea, and she cut it right above the ears. And I used to have big protruding ears. When I got home, my sisters started laughing at me and I started crying. © irinnka6 / Pikabu
• I went in for a “long layers” look. The stylist turned me away from the mirror, snipped happily for 20 minutes, and spun me around to reveal... a mullet. A full, unapologetic, 1983 rockstar mullet. She said, “It’s edgy!” I cried in my car for 30 minutes, then just leaned into it and went to a karaoke bar.
• While getting my hair washed, the assistant dropped the shampoo bottle into the sink — it bounced, sprayed foam up my nose, and I accidentally let out the world’s loudest sneeze mid-rinse. The whole salon went quiet. The sneeze was followed by me yelling “I’M OKAY” with suds dripping from my ears.
• When it was time for a haircut, I couldn’t get to my stylist because I was in another city. I had to go to a hairdresser I didn’t know. I explained to her how to cut the back of my head and showed her a photo with an example.
  She began to moan, saying, it’s not possible with my hair. In short, I have to pay extra. But the funny thing is that it was me in that photo. I was photographed by my stylist for an occasion like this. So, I had to look for another hair stylist. © Chamber 6 / VK

• Was traveling in Japan and went in for a cut. I showed a picture, nodded a lot, and hoped for the best. Came out with an anime bowl cut and shaved zigzags on the sides. I looked like a Dragon Ball Z villain. People started calling me “Boss” at my hostel.
• My good friend Mark, a very cool stylist, asked me to model for a hairdressing competition. I said yes. Why would I turn down a free haircut? Mark worked his magic on me, even tinted something. We go to the judges. I see the result, and my jaw drops.
  Mark forgot to tell me that he plans to demonstrate 2 completely different haircuts on my poor head. On the right, the hair was down to my chin and layered — it looked good. But on the left, my hair was about an inch long with a purple streak in the middle. Since there was nothing I could do about it, I just flaunted my unusual haircut until my hair grew back. © Rachel Fefer / Quora
• They gave me one of those steamy hot towels after my shampoo. Only it was boiling. I didn’t want to be dramatic, so I just sat there quietly burning like a baked potato. I still flinch when I smell eucalyptus.
• My mom took me to a hairdresser when I was a child, explained the haircut to her and went shopping. The hairdresser nodded, and I was silent because at 3 years old I didn’t like to talk to strangers. When my mom came back, she was shocked. I was nearly bald.
  The hairdresser said, satisfied, “Now everything is fine, because your child looked like a girl before.” My mom almost cried, “She is a girl!” The hairdresser mumbled in surprise, “What do you mean, a girl?”
  To make you understand, I was dressed in a red jumpsuit with ladybugs, a white T-shirt and snow-white sandals with a red flower. But my clothes were covered by the sheet, and the hairdresser decided I was a boy. © tikorotaro / Pikabu

• I snuck in a protein bar to eat during my dye processing time. Didn’t realize I had chocolate all over my mouth until after the stylist had taken “after” photos and posted them on the salon’s Instagram. I looked like I’d eaten dirt with joy.
• My friend’s hair is very long, down to her knees. She went to a hairdresser one day to get the ends trimmed. The stylist was stunned.
  First, he said he’d probably have to lie down on the floor. Then he ran off somewhere. A couple of minutes later, he proudly brought a stepladder! In the end, my friend had to stand on the stepladder to get her hair cut. © Chamber 6 / VK
• Guy next to me was getting a trim for his wedding. He suddenly burst into tears. His stylist hugged him, then mine started crying. I didn’t know what to do so I just offered him a peppermint. I still don’t know why he cried. Or why I tipped 30%.
• I was venting about my love life while getting a cut, assuming my stylist wasn’t really listening. She paused, looked at me in the mirror and said, “Girl, you need to leave him.” I hadn’t even told her about him yet. She read my soul and my split ends.
• I had been going to the same hairdresser for a few years in a row, and once I decided that I wanted a short haircut instead of my super long braid. I shyly asked her for a bob because I didn’t know any other haircuts. She said, “No way!,” and gave me a really cool haircut that looked good with and without styling. © CherryRabbit / Pikabu
• I was once sitting in the hairdresser’s chair and suddenly saw a boy about 12–13 years old coming out of another room and sobbing like crazy. His haircut was good and neat. I couldn’t understand why he was crying. He looked good, and his haircut was also good.
  And then his mother ran up to him, tried to console him, and then called the administrator and the hairdresser. They came running and the boy’s mom yelled, “How did you cut my daughter’s hair? What does she look like now?”
  At that moment, I realized why she was sobbing that hard. She was wearing a hoodie and wide jeans, so I didn’t realize it was a girl at first. © Haltijatar / Pikabu

• Right as my stylist was cutting my bangs near the front window, a pigeon flew into the glass. It made the loudest thud. We both screamed. She snipped mid-jump and cut my bangs at a 45-degree angle. I rocked lopsided fringe for 3 months.
• I went to a salon, there the guy cut a bald spot into my head and tried to sell me product to cover it up. © LegalAction / Reddit
• I got a very short fringe. 5 mm short. Like someday it was popular, my hairdresser thought somehow it would be okay looking. I have thick and curly hair. It was awful.
  Good thing it was winter, so I just covered it everywhere with a hat. © deadmany / Reddit
• I fell for a friend’s recommendation once. She found a hairdresser who cuts hair in such a way that you don’t even have to style it afterward. My friend’s haircut looked really cool, I was impressed and trusted this hairdresser completely, we only agreed on the length.
  In the end, I got something really weird on my head. They couldn’t even style it into something acceptable. In short, her method didn’t work for me. © FransOK / Pikabu
• Stylist accidentally tapped my ear with the flat iron. I yelped. She gasped. We locked eyes. Then she offered me a cookie and said “It’s part of the process.” Ma’am?? The process of what? Branding me??

Here’s another round of jaw-dropping tales from people whose trips to the beauty salon turned into unforgettable experiences—some hilarious, some horrifying, and all impossible to forget.