Hair experiments gone wrong??

[jenjen10]

With all of the hair experiments that go on here, I was just wondering if anyone has had any major mishaps as a result of trying any of them... I have had a few mishaps with henna-ing when I first started it.

I remember one time going into work and asking a friend/co-worker to look at the back of my hair and let me know if I got it evenly. She looked for a moment and then asked "well, which color is it supposed to be??" I guess I got my answer! LOL

I also accidentally turned my hair pink the first time I tried to supplement Special Effects haircolor with henna. :p

[phistash]

Yes! Almost two years ago, I decided to try to go WO, and I did the full recommended 6 weeks. My hair never transitioned, but I did end up with a bald spot. I've been trying to remedy the damage from that experiment ever since. My hair does NOT like WO.

[littlenvy]

:o:o I'm good for that. My "tires" usually end up wrong, not only me but also on DH :eek:
In my "try" to make his hair stronger and to grow back I bought these Indian herbs (it was a mix of 9 herbs but no henna). I thought since there was no henna it won't dye his hair.
I put some on a strand on my hair and then put the rest on his balding spot.
Went to wash my hands and realized that they turned orange and that orange was not coming off. :confused: So I RAN to him and told him to wash it off right away.
OH MY! His hair did not dye or stain but his SCALP was bright BRIGHT orange :pumpkin:.
He was so mad at me!! It would not wash out. Had to wear a hat for a week everywhere before the colour started to fade. :(
On top of that I totally ruined my strand too. The herbs gave it an orangy tint (which wasn't too bad) but they dired my hair to the point where I ended up with hundereds of split ends. I'm still TLCing the damage.

(PS. Can I tell more than one story?? I have few more just as bad. LOL)

[nellreno]

I tried substituting coconut oil for honey in a SMT. It took me a few washes with sulfate shampoo to get that mess out.

[jenjen10]

(PS. Can I tell more than one story?? I have few more just as bad. LOL)

Definitely tell us more!!

[ravenreed]

Hmm, two things definitely didn't work for me. Soapnuts broke me out in a dreadful rash. The Defrizzing Spray gave me tons of split ends. After a bit of thinking I realized that the spray uses glycerin which is a humectant and I live in an area with extremely low humidity. Not a good match.

[jojo]

Using baking soda to clarify my hair it turned it into straw, oh and coconut milk the worst one ever turned my hair into a greaseball which took forever to wash out!

[Aleria]

Adding almond oil to my first SMT. What a greasy mess.

[pepperminttea]

I tried the no 'poo route for five and a half months and never transitioned. My oily roots just would not give in. :( Shame really, it would've saved me a lot of money and hassle.

The first time I tried coconut oil I used far too much of it - I intended to do a light oiling but ended up doing what I usually use for a heavy oiling now. :o

My first self-trim ended up with quite an uneven hemline... which I didn't remedy for ten months until my next trim. :p It's not as if I wear my hair down much, but it was another reason to stick to updos for a while. I did a much better job trimming the second time round, if I say so myself.

There was a thread about what UKers use shampoo/condish-wise, and a lot of people mentioned supermarket own brands. I added the Sainsbury's Basics shampoo to my shopping online. It was less than a pound, so hardly a costly mistake, but I wish I'd smelt it first - it's just like toilet cleaner! shudder: (Thankfully, the own brands which aren't 'value'/'basics'-type ones are actually quite decent, and 'cone-free.)

I bought a pair of very cheap hairsticks online without checking the length of them first... it was nine inches! :bigeyes: I usually use ones around 5-6". My dad kindly shortened them down for me, but to save the detail at the top (spiral-ish), he took off the tapered ends, so they're rather thick and blunt now. I use them as my 'shower sticks,' to keep my hair out the way while the conditioner's doing it's thing.

Live and learn. :D

[christine1989]

Using WAYYY too much coconut oil my first time trying it. It took half a bottle of shampoo to get it all out.

[AlleyKitten]

Adding a tablespoon of coconut oil to my first SMT. I had to wash it twice because after the first time it was still a total oil slick.

[may1em]

I did a heavy oiling with olive oil. When my hair dried, it was really disgustingly stringy. I put SO MUCH powder in it in order to keep it presentable.

Also, I once tried to give myself chin-length layers, and took too big of a chunk out, so I had these two chunks of hair on either side of my face that were much shorter than the rest of my hair.

Then there was the time I tried a new dye, missed half my hair, and had two-color hair until I could dye over everything with something darker.

[Tia2010]

Anytime I try a new oil I use way too much ! You think I would learn , but I don't :rolleyes: . Everyone knows they can count on me being a oily mess the day after a new oil arrives for me to try :D. I'm really trying to stop doing that. :o

I also once used Tawaka (sp?) by ojon and I was fine for the first couple days but noticed my face felt a little weird when I woke up on day three. My face was so swollen my eyes were only half open ! The Doctor said I must have had a slow progressive allergic reaction ( or something like that) to something in it ( ya think?! :rolleyes:). I looked ridiculous !

[rusika1]

I used too much olive oil pre shampoo. It took me about a week's worth of daily shampoos to get most of it out, and another week before my hair felt right again. I am so lucky that I only oiled from the jaw down, and that I always wear my hair braided or up--for those two weeks it was definitely up!

[Angeletti]

Mine is nothing too horrible, but using sesame seed oil was my hair experiment gone wrong. For those that have never smelled it, it's a very strong smell, and I just assumed the smell would go away after washing it and loading my hair with good smelling conditioner. Lets just say I was walking around smelling like food for well over a week.

[Dragon]

Using to much olive oil. So hard to get out. And have also used to much lavender oil. Used heaps of it every day in my hair for a weeks or two and then I coulden't stand the smell of it any more with out it making me want to spew. Some one seems to think I had poisioned my self with it from using it to much. Took a long time before I could use it again.

[Anje]

Mixing baking soda with an ALS shampoo to clarify. Surprisingly, it didn't appear to do anything worse to my hair than the standard baking soda freak-out, but the moment it touched my hair, it smelled like I was getting a perm! Frightening stuff...

My experiments into silicone use never go well... I always decide my hair feels plasticky, start a shampoo + cone-conditioner cycle. Next thing you know I've got damaged, over-dry hair. I need to hurry up and learn that silicones may be great for lots of folks, but they make my ends dry and they make me shampoo my hair to further dryness and split-city.

Finally, fenugreek seeds were a bit of a nightmare for me. They're supposed to be conditioning, but it just left my hair feeling and smelling coated with maple syrup. Took a few washes to get that mess out.


Mine is nothing too horrible, but using sesame seed oil was my hair experiment gone wrong. For those that have never smelled it, it's a very strong smell, and I just assumed the smell would go away after washing it and loading my hair with good smelling conditioner. Lets just say I was walking around smelling like food for well over a week.
There are actually two varieties of sesame oil. One's dark and made from roasted sesame seeds, and has a strong smell. It's usually used as a flavoring/condiment. The lighter variety made from unroasted seeds isn't odorless, but it's a lot less powerful. Oddly, I think my hair prefers the dark smelly stuff. Don't try mustard oil if you dislike strong-smelling hair oils, by the way.

[liagibba]

I once tried doing a honey/coconut oil treatment, but didn't measure either of the ingredients and ended up with very sticky hair. That was easier to wash out than the times that I put WAY too much coconut or olive oil in my hair. I wish I had known that conditioner washed oils off easier than shampoo, too.

edit: OH! I forgot the time that I tried to put castor oil on my scalp. That was a disastor!

[Ash]

Mayonnaise. It messed up my hair so badly that I had to shampoo and condition all over again after I rinsed it out. It was tangly and dry even after that.

CO with chemical conditioners: For the first month or so it was okay, just limp on the top. Some time after that, I can't remember exactly how long, it began falling out in small clumps.

Baking soda: The one and only time I tried to wash my hair with baking soda caused small clumps to fall out.

Castor oil: I thought I could use it without mixing other oils with it and I couldn't even braid it for bed because it was so sticky. I ended up combing out major tangles while in the shower with conditioner in.

[ilovelonghair]

Using baking soda to clarify my hair it turned it into straw, oh and coconut milk the worst one ever turned my hair into a greaseball which took forever to wash out!

Same for me, no more baking soda...


Using to much olive oil. So hard to get out.

Yuch, that happens for me too, no more oiling for my hair, only tiny bits of jojoba on bet ends.

[donna'sdaughter]

Using Coconut milk was an absolute disaster for me. I opened the can of milk and sooo excited to try it-then poured it over my hair in the tub. Let me tell you-the smell was horrendous! I washed my hair but still had to walk around smelling like... I can't even describe it. Never again!

[jenjen10]

These are great! It also makes me realize how different all of our hair can be... I see that a lot of people have mentioned coconut oil being a "disaster" for them in SMTs and whatnot yet my hair LOVES it and I always include it in mine.

I now have another thing to add... I henndigo'ed my hair yesterday striving for brunette and now have blue-ish, red-ish, black-ish (how many ish's can I get into this?! LOL) hair... it isn't too bad for a color but definitely not what I was going for!

[aenflex]

Perm when I was a young teen = disaster. At home frost kits w/bleaching caps = disaster. Sun in, applied as a child would, only to the top of my head, in about 6th grade = painful, copper-top disaster. Cutting my own bangs = ugly, horrible disaster. Waiting for the bus and enjoying snapping my frozen end off (as a child) = disaster. Using the CHI 2 times per week for about 2-3 years = apocolypse!
Crap I've had so many.

[littlenvy]

Using Coconut milk was an absolute disaster for me. I opened the can of milk and sooo excited to try it-then poured it over my hair in the tub. Let me tell you-the smell was horrendous! I washed my hair but still had to walk around smelling like... I can't even describe it. Never again!
That was mine too! I soaked my hair in coconut milk and left it in my hair overnight :rolleyes: Stupid me!
It went RANCID. I can't tell you how bad my head/hair smelled. I had to wash my hair everyday for almost two weeks before I was able to get the smell out.

Now that I think about it, most of my disasters involve smelly stuff :poot:.
I also put about 2oz of Neem oil on my hair and massaged it all in. It took about 45min before I couldn't take the smell any longer and tried to wash it out. For those that don't know, neem is a very heavy oil and VERY hard to get out of hair. And it smells like burnt onion :poot: You are supposed to use only a VERY small amount of it to dab at problem areas.

[Anje]

Oh, this wasn't my disaster, but for the record, do not put mashed onion in your hair as a treatment. It will never smell the same again.

[princessp]

Oh, this wasn't my disaster, but for the record, do not put mashed onion in your hair as a treatment. It will never smell the same again.

LOL! I can't think of a disaster right now, but I love this thread!

[Aleria]

Oh I have another one - first time dying my hair, using a temporary, 10-wash dye. It was supposed to go black. It went RED, like almost henna red! It was bizzare.

[chopandchange]

Bicarbonate of soda.

[chopandchange]

Oh, this wasn't my disaster, but for the record, do not put mashed onion in your hair as a treatment. It will never smell the same again.

This reminds me of a flatmate I once had, who said she and her friend saw this show on TV where they recommended putting mashed garlic on your hair and scalp as a treatment. She and her friend tried it. She said actually their hair did go nice and soft, but the stink did not go away for months and months. Every time she had a shower the whole bathroom was stinking as though the garlic had only just been applied. I found this story half amusing, half horrifying. Her brother was telling me with disgust that he didn't want to be in the same room as her for months. LOL

[Eireann]

When I was younger a friend, who had naturally dark blonde hair, wanted to go darker. I used to henna my hair at that time, so she bought "black henna" (probably indigo) and I helped her apply. I pointed out to her that it said on the box that if you are naturally blonde, you should use red henna first. She said "no, I'm more light brown actually" and she decided it was okay to skip that step. Her hair turned moss green, and it was impossible to cover it. She went to a salon to have it corrected, but the green kept poking out from under the color. She kept telling people that I colored her hair green, when I was the one who said she should henna first!

[MAO]

Everytime I have tried to use bleach by myself has been a disaster. Two times have tried to give myself bangs and both times came out horrendously short and uneven.

[Choctaw]

Bhumy Amalaki is NOT amalaki ... the paste looked and felt like oatmeal but I put it into my hair. A long rinse with water got it out. I did several co-washes with deep conditioner and was surprised to get silky bouncy hair. The Hair Goddess sometimes has pity on fools ... http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh150/hklbery/Smilies/lachen70-1.gif

[jenjen10]

Everytime I have tried to use bleach by myself has been a disaster. Two times have tried to give myself bangs and both times came out horrendously short and uneven.

Every time I have tried to cut bangs has ended up as a disaster as well... I FINALLY learned it is worth the cost to go to a professional for that when the urge strikes me!

[smileycat]

Coloring my hair with box color that turned it orange, and any time I try even the tiniest trim to remove damage from my ends. Oh, and if SMT turned my hair into a mushy, stretchy breaking mess the first time, why on earth did I try it again?!?!?

[carrotkilla]

Every time I try to dye my own hair it ends up at least 6 different colors.So of course I have done it at least ten times. I also got my husband to dye it thinking he can see so he will get it all. He is as bad as me!

[Maddy25]

I tried Honey Lightening a few weeks ago...I put in a lot of cinnomin....terrible idea, for some reason it didnt register in my brain that it would burn my eyes and I had it all over and as I was screaming for DH to get me a wet towel for my eyes, crying "WHY IS IT BURNING??? *sob*"..he was like "....it's a spice....". So yes that went terribly wrong.

Also....this didnt go as planned...

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n296/addie2525/rry.jpg

The whole front used to be pink, and for some reason it faded out like this and the pink roots would never leave @_@ I ended up at a hairdresser to fix this one.

[Milui Elenath]

Oatmeal water - twice - :shake: as a leave in conditioner and rinsed out, it just dried crunchy and coated.

Aloe vera, honey and oil - I waited 12 hours for my hair to 'dry' after that treatment before I realised it hadn't washed out and that my hair was not wet but sort of gelled. :o

Tiny hijack - Maddy25 you are so pretty! You remind me of an actress but I'm not sure who

[venusje]

This reminds me of a flatmate I once had, who said she and her friend saw this show on TV where they recommended putting mashed garlic on your hair and scalp as a treatment. She and her friend tried it. She said actually their hair did go nice and soft, but the stink did not go away for months and months. Every time she had a shower the whole bathroom was stinking as though the garlic had only just been applied. I found this story half amusing, half horrifying. Her brother was telling me with disgust that he didn't want to be in the same room as her for months. LOL

I can only agree on that.
It wasn't an experiment, but some student thing here.
And they put garlic powder mixed with shampoo on our hair..
Well, I can tell I smelled of garlic for half a year every time my hair got wet..
SO showering, raining, sweating... Always that nice smell of garlic...
I didn't fancy garlic for years after that :p

[Dorothy]

My first experiment, in 4th grade, was with not brushing my hair or allowing anyone else to do so. This resulted in a hedgehog sized rat that had to be cut out, resulting in a bob for me, when all I ever wanted was butt length hair. After that, there were a series of hopeful and disastrous perms, trying to turn my stick straight hair into the bouncing and behaving locks of Farrah Faucet. This resulted in my bangs poodling up in a poof at the front of my head, while the weight of the rest of my hair pulled it stick straight. Sort of the opposite of what I was going for. About 10 times. Learning is hard. In my jr. yr of high school I radically accepted my hair, bangs cut straight across, back long and straight. I eschewed experimentation, using only shampoo and condit, no blow drying, no heated devices, only brown hair dye for the grey, until I arrived at LHC at the age of 40 and became a CWC dusting Henna Head with copious advice from the board. I would not change a hair on my head at this point without consulting the board.

[Nobody]

When I was a really little kid, my fringe and baby hairs annoyed me so I decided to trim them off. My mom was outraged, especially since I did such a horrendous job. She took me to the hairdresser and had my head shaved, saying that the whole length had to match. I had classic-length hair before that. The poor hairdresser had to do all this while I was screaming and crying. Now, I never get my hair cut despite my mother's comments that I have "split ends" (she thinks that fairy tale ends=split ends...I do not actually have much in the way of real split ends). I stopped letting her take me to the salon once I was old enough to know I didn't have to listen to her!

Aside, the few times I have been to a salon, they hacked off way more than I told them they were allowed to cut.

So, despite my mother's intended lesson of saving hair cuts for professionals, I won't let anyone at my hair but me! Also, I still have been known to occasionally trim off my stubborn baby hairs. Heh.

[MoonlightShadow]

my mom dyed my bangs red....it looked good at first then as time went on, it turned to more of a copper :confused::o....then to more of a blondish color and i got a ton of breaakage along with it. my hair felt dry, stringy, and my bangs were already heat-damaged before my mom put the dye in, so i guess that was bad on my part:o:o
i always use too much olive oil when doing a hot oil treatment. whenever that happens, i have to becareful when i comb my hair, otherwise i get alot of breakage

[phistash]

When I was a really little kid, my fringe and baby hairs annoyed me so I decided to trim them off. My mom was outraged, especially since I did such a horrendous job. She took me to the hairdresser and had my head shaved, saying that the whole length had to match. I had classic-length hair before that. The poor hairdresser had to do all this while I was screaming and crying.

Whoah, your mother must have been really angry. My mother did something similar to my sister and I both when I was about 12 and she was 10. We both had hair about BSL length, when a neighbor, whose daughter had had lice three times in as many months, and who was paranoid about it, insisted that my sister and I both had lice as well. We didn't, we just had dried hairspray flakes in our hair (hadn't learned the importance of hygiene, apparently). My mother has a reputation for completely losing her head and behaving very irrationally when she gets flustered. The neighbor lady got my mom so worked up, that instead of inspecting our heads herself, and, if she found lice, shampooing and cleaning everything the way a normal person would, she chopped all of our hair off. We were both sobbing, and nobody had the guts to stop her. Now, I like short hair, I had my head shaved for years, but I don't like somebody chopping off all of my hair without my permission. I'm still angry about that, lol.

[Alvrodul]

When I was younger I always wanted curls, and often had perms (I still wish I had curls, I just have stopped pouring chemicals over my head) It never failed - whenever I had a perm I ended up looking like a sheep, or a poodle. Sheep and poodles are nice enough animals, I suppose, but looking like them wasn't really the effect I was after! :rolleyes:

When I was younger, I also wanted really blonde hair. My natural hair color is a dishwater blonde/brown. My hair is also very fine, and really doesn't like bleach! I did an incredible amount of damage to my hair during that time. :eek: Fortunately it is a long time ago now, and all the and damage has long since been cut away.

[Nobody]

Whoah, your mother must have been really angry. My mother did something similar to my sister and I both when I was about 12 and she was 10. We both had hair about BSL length, when a neighbor, whose daughter had had lice three times in as many months, and who was paranoid about it, insisted that my sister and I both had lice as well. We didn't, we just had dried hairspray flakes in our hair (hadn't learned the importance of hygiene, apparently). My mother has a reputation for completely losing her head and behaving very irrationally when she gets flustered. The neighbor lady got my mom so worked up, that instead of inspecting our heads herself, and, if she found lice, shampooing and cleaning everything the way a normal person would, she chopped all of our hair off. We were both sobbing, and nobody had the guts to stop her. Now, I like short hair, I had my head shaved for years, but I don't like somebody chopping off all of my hair without my permission. I'm still angry about that, lol.

My mom's like that too. She overreacts and tends to act without considering consequences. I also had a situation a few years later involving a neighbor with lice only instead of overreacting, both of our parents under-reacted. The neighbor kid's family kept getting it because they never treated the whole family and environment. So, being that she was my only nearby friend, I ended up getting it 3-5 times. My mom used to pluck hairs that had nits. I got so paranoid about it that I developed trichotillomania and was put in therapy as I got dramatically balder (therapy ended up turning TTM into self-mutilation because my therapist was big on shame). I didn't realize that moisture pockets at the root are actually a good thing and aren't eggs. I thought I was infected and I would save up my money to buy lice shampoos and try to secretly treat myself so they wouldn't humiliate me again. It took me several years to stop plucking and that was only because I had done a bunch of research and found out that I didn't actually have lice anymore.

[Hana212]

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j30/hana212/n740865241_1897834_6657.jpg

Don't let your best friend (black sunnies) cute your fringe or bangs after 25 hours non stop driving and very little sleep.. it doesn't turn out good.

(I'm with the pink sunnies... after looking in the mirror I said "you need to leave now" - not happy hana!)

[LadyG]

I was commenting to a friend that I was having trouble finding a sulfate free shampoo for colored hair. She recommends brand x. I bought it, used my old conditioner and did a co-w-co. Ekkkk! My hair feels and looks like straw. So not using this stuff again. Back to my sulfate and cone shampoo that does a good job.

[trillcat]

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j30/hana212/n740865241_1897834_6657.jpg

Don't let your best friend (black sunnies) cute your fringe or bangs after 25 hours non stop driving and very little sleep.. it doesn't turn out good.

(I'm with the pink sunnies... after looking in the mirror I said "you need to leave now" - not happy hana!)
Well no one is going to be looking at your bangs if she keeps wearing shirts like that!
:D

[lundmir]

CO washing with coney conditioners. Oh no, the limpness! My hair looked greasy just after washing. It was terrible.

[EmpressRi]

Adding too much lemon juice to a henna/amla mix. My hair was soooo dry afterwards that it took a few deep conditioning sessions to get it back to normal.

And don't get me started on using anita grant's rhassoul conditioner after using aphogee!!!! Another tangled, dried out matted mess. But that was all my fault.

Oh, and using ground up fenugreek seeds. My hair took a liking to them but the mess was horrendous to pick and comb out. Then after my hair had dried in twists there were still remnants of the seeds in my hair and scalp for about a week. My hair was extra shiny though.

[kettle]

Has no-one else managed to cook egg into their hair when doing an egg treatment?? I'll feel even dafter if so. I've done this twice - once very early on in my LHC life, when I didn't think not to use piping hot water... and once very recently, on the morning of a friend's big 40th celebration. That very nearly was a disaster...

At least egg washes out! Eventually...

[Dragon]

Has no-one else managed to cook egg into their hair when doing an egg treatment?? I'll feel even dafter if so. I've done this twice - once very early on in my LHC life, when I didn't think not to use piping hot water... and once very recently, on the morning of a friend's big 40th celebration. That very nearly was a disaster...

At least egg washes out! Eventually...


I've done this to. Fun to comb out :)

[ilovelonghair]

I can't remember what fruit it was, but I put something mashed in my hair and it kept coming out after washing. I also have the same with henna. Oh and Manic Panic keeps staining my towels after many washes.

[kettle]

I've done this to. Fun to comb out :)

Hehe! Glad it's not just me :p

[PineappleJello]

I've cooked egg in my hair more than once. Also a an of coconut cream in my hair left it nasty for almost a week.

[looniac]

I experimented with WO for a couple of weeks before the person I was seeing at the time told me I smelled like a wet dog. :\

[Speckla]

Honey rinse. Turned my hair into a sticky, icky mass.

[ratgirldjh]

Oh where do i start! When I was in my late teens I decided I wanted my mid back length hair cut into a Wedge like Dorothy Hamil's. Well the only hair stylist I knew of back then was my mom's and the styles they did to my mom all included much teasing and hairspray and very elaborate piling and hair pins... LOL and I somehow reasoned if she could do all that that of course she could cut hair...

My hair ended up a somewhat uneven shoulder length bob which she then teased and pinned and combed and sprayed until I was a bubble head! I guess there was another meaning to the wedge back then LOL and then she charged me $40.00 - which in the 70's was VERY expensive!!! and i was so upset by then that I just paid it and ran home crying and washed my hair to find that it was totally uneven and I was way too afraid to go back of course...

My grandmother took me to the local beauty school and they fixed it and did a very nice real Dorothy Hamil wedge cut that I loved... whew! close one.

I guess the worse one that I have done lately involved reading about flax seed gel washes decided that chia seeds surely would work just as good. Well I put a bunch of chia seed gel in my hair and then tried to rinse it out!!! LOL the tiny seeds just wouldn't come out! And when I finally got most of them out my hair was a tangled frizzy mess!!!

Same thing happened with oats once... and once I added a 1/2 cup of ACV and a 1/2 cup of orange flower water to a box of henna! Very smelly, very dry hair - but it was very red!!!
LOL
djh