A long time ago, in the galaxy that was my hometown, I was living back at home with my parents after college. I had just graduated, with a teaching degree and a major in Drama & Speech with a minor in English Language and Literature. Where was I working? Nowhere. I couldn’t find a job. I was in a play. That’s about it.
Bored, living at my parents’ house with very little cash on hand, I needed a change. As is often the case with me, ‘boredom’ equals ‘time for a change.’ Not a drastic change, because my nickname was Cautious Claudia, just a wee one. In those days I got my hair cut at a salon called, of all things, Foxy Lady. Oy.
Frosted hair was very in at the time. Do you remember those days? Women loved getting their hair frosted. I saw it everywhere and it got me to thinking. Maybe I should try it. Not for me the fully frosted look, but….what about some subtle highlights around the face? Some very subtle golden streaks? The word ‘subtle’ was playing over and over again in my brain.
Yes, subtle.
So, I made an appointment at the aforementioned Foxy Lady. I was going for it. The day of the appointment dawned. When I arrived, I spoke about what I wanted.
“Some very subtle frosting around my face. So subtle that it looks natural. Not too much, just a little. Do you understand what I’m talking about?”
“Absolutely! Of course!”
I sat back in the chair, convinced I was in good hands. Time passed. I read some magazines. Finally the moment arrived. Time for the unveiling. Completely sure that I would see the look I had dreamed of, I eagerly awaited the results.
I had a single 3 inch wide streak of platinum hair. Right above my forehead.
I looked like a skunk.
Horrified doesn’t begin to describe my feelings. All the ladies who worked there gathered round, oohing and aahing over my new look. They were thrilled! I was not.
In those days, my friends, I was not very assertive. I was shy. It was hard for me to speak up for myself.
So I never mentioned that I was stunned. I never asked them to ‘change it back!’ I simply paid, walked out to my car and sat there crying. When I walked in the door of my house, my mother gamely tried to mask her shock upon seeing the results. So did everyone else. They quickly assured me that I looked great, that it was daring and fun, that it would grow out anyway, not to worry.
I kept crying.
Eventually, since I was doing a play and had some latitude as to attire, I wore a bandana over my hair. Every single day. You know the look: bandana folded into a triangle and tied at the nape of the neck. Luckily, this was the in look at the time, so I was able to hide the dreaded skunk streak.
Months went by. Slowly the streak started growing out. It began to look a bit less startling. Brown hairs mixed with platinum and it did indeed become subtler. But I still hated it.
That Christmas, the boy I had a crush on all through junior high and high school, who went to my church and whose move to California at the beginning or our senior year in high school broke my young heart, came back for a visit. He came to church on Christmas Eve and came downstairs to the choir room to say hello. I hadn’t seen him in over five years. How did he see me after all this time?
With a skunk streak.
Ah well. By the way, that boy and I lost touch for many years – decades. He married and had twins. I married. He still lives in California. Eventually, we connected again via Facebook. That’s what I love Facebook for – reconnecting with old friends. I’m hoping that he doesn’t remember the skunk streak. But I sure do.
Did you have any hair horror stories?
Don’t forget my book review. Just scroll down one post to see it. The publisher has been very generous and I have up to 5 copies to giveaway. Leave a comment at the end of that post.
Happy Friday.
oh yes, I have a story to tell about my young teen days when using peroxide and lemon juice and baby powder as a “mask” on your hair made it “lighter”… you know, like sunlight had danced on your head. Yeah… NO. Not when you’re a brunette… it just looks ORANGE.
I’m sure that young man just thought it was your artsy side coming out :-)
I remember peroxide and lemon juice! Orange hair only belongs on my long ago troll doll!
In high school I had my mother give me a body wave– just so my straight her would hold a curl better. Well, it totally frizzed my hair! Didn’t go to school that next day!! And I never did that (or a perm) ever again! Note to Karen– had a friend way back that had that “orange” hair look too!
My mom permed my hair in elementary school – a Tonette – remember? My bangs were straight and the rest of my hair was frizzy.
Oh my yes, in high school my friends and I were trying to raise money to go to cheerleading camp in Santa Cruz. We did all sorts of things and successfully raised enough to pay for all 4 of us to attend. One of the things we did was to clean a beauty salon every Sunday evening. As ‘camp’ time approached, I decided I needed a new look so my friend, Susie, put me into the salon chair, snapped a cape on me and went to work. First she bleached my hair with (straight) peroxide, no toner was used…it was awful! Then she went on to cut my shoulder length hair with a razor, “layering it” she said. Susie was so confident that I felt completely relaxed about the entire process. My hair ended up as short as Mia Farrow’s and orange! Over the next months, I had to clip pieces of hair each morning since the cut , of course , didn’t grow out gracefully. With my new hair cut and color, I too had people tell me that my shorter/sassy hair style made my eyes looks so much bigger. It was awful and forced me to have short hair for a very long time…about 30 years haha!!!
Oh my goodness! You were brave, as only the very young can be!
I bed you looks just darling with the streak, and by the way that was in style….I have been a stylist for many years and used to dye my hair blond. On a whim on day I decided to color it back to my natural color of brown. I didn’t want t drive the beauty supply store to get the correct stuff, color filler, so I grabbed something of the grocery store shelf. What a mistake I ended up with hot pink hair. My 4 year old niece thought it looked smashing and ooohed and ahhhhed over it. My boyfriend at the time, now my hubby, wasn’t nearly as impressed. I did the same a you put a scarf over it and made the drive to the beauty supply store. Exactly where I should have went in the first place. Cutting corners just didn’t have the results I was looking for. LOL Lesson learned.
Okay, I think you win the prize – Hot Pink Hair! Any photos from that day, Dawn?
LOL – great story! I had my hair permed because I wanted to look like Barbra Streisand in “A Star is Born.” I did NOT look like Barbra Streisand and the perm ruined my hair and I had to chop it all off to 2″ long. Never did that again.
Perms can be lethal!
My hair is still the same reddy/yellow its always been, but I have an ambition when I go snowy white to have a bright purple dye – one way to embarrass the children!
Go for it, Anny!
Oh yes I have one also!!! I wanted ‘frosted’ hair also and the girl who did my hair was horrible. It turned out like little pieces of cotton stuck all over my hair. I had my hair cute super short in an attempt to get rid of most of it. I cried and cried. I’m like you I left without saying anything. I would never do that now!
Me either. Now I would insist on them fixing it!
My mom took me to the “beauty shop” only once that I can recall, to have my hair dine for senior banquet. When finished, I had an enormously awful updo. Even looking at pictures now, I cringe. I also didn’t have the courage to ask it to be changed. The one advantage over your hair mistake is that I could wash mine out the day after!
Oh my, Debra, what a story! I have an updo story, too, Debra. My cousin was getting married. I was in my freshman year of college and had real long hair. Each girl in the wedding party told me that she was getting her hair done in an updo. So I had mine done. I ended up being the only one with one. And it was real high. Mortified!
I remember that streak, especially when it was growing out and you had it parted so half was on one side and half on the other.
Oh those were some fashionable times weren’t they?
What about your super short hair in high school, and I seem to remember a perm or two.
Hugs to you sister,
Mere
Super short all through junior high and sophomore year of high school. Then I grew it out and it was long by the time I had my senior picture taken. Thank goodness!
Well, I never had that experience, lol! But I had my hair dyed purple or burgundy a few times…on purpose ;-)
I do remember deciding that I wanted my long, curly hair cut in a short style when I was 10 or 11. I was a tomboy and the long hair was too hot. Now I regret having it cut so short because I’ve never been able to grow it out long again. But it beats looking like a skunk!
Yes, I can vouch for the fact that looking like a skunk ain’t no fun at all!
Oh gosh, the hair horror stories just go on and on. I certainly have my share. Hairdos that look so fabulous on others, but definitely weren’t meant for my fine very curly hair. So happy now that I just let my hair do its own thing. xo Laura
I think it took me twenty-five years to realize that I had baby fine hair and I couldn’t wear hairstyles that others could! I understand!
The week before I went away to college, I decided I needed a perm, Never had a perm before. I am a redhead and with the addition of the perm I literally looked like Bozo the Clown. And yes, I understand the disappointment and tears. The new look definitely was not what I had envisioned. Live and learn, right?
I have had hair experiences, not that bad, but bad enough to make me sit in my car and cry…and cry! I remember those bandanas….wore them practically all thru college. I have naturally curly hair, and bandanas helped to tame my hair! ;)
Oh Claudia. Skunk streak poor you but I can empathize. When I graduated high school, I had been going to a friend’s mother’s hair salon for a few years. Her younger sister Donna had just become a hair dresser and so I went to her for a perm. Oh the days of the curly tight perms. The word still makes me shudder. I was one of Donna’s first perms and when the big reveal came. There I sat with a mass of burned and broken hair on top of my head. I didn’t say anything either because they were friends but I still can’t believe her Mom let me pay and walk out like that. If I ran my hand through my hair it felt like I had a brush cut because half of my hair was broken off at the scalp. The rest was just burned beyond repair. Needless to say I never went back. I went home and did about a hundred hot oil treatments. Then I had my hair cut really short and waited a year before I looked like a girl again!
oh that’s AWFUL… I think you might win with the hair horror stories so far (as I’m reading through comments)
Oh dear, I feel your skunk streak pain! No, I never had a skunk streak, or frosted hair for that matter, but I can just imagine! My hair was always long, down to my waistline. Crazy me decided to get it cut when I was a Freshman in college and living in the dorm. I was going for shoulder length — but it ended up MUCH shorter than that! I cried and cried and wouldn’t come out of the dorm. My boyfriend stood below my window begging me to come out…. I finally did and he (and his mother) assured me that it looked cute, but I didn’t believe it. I was heartbroken…. and let it grow out again! The next time I got it cut was after my first baby was born, about 14 years later!
My mom decided she could cut my bangs for me when I was in grade 9. They were uneven so she cut more and more and more. When she was finally satisfied they were even, I had bangs that were 1/4″ long. I bawled my eyes out and she was mad at me for carrying on like a baby. My way of hiding it was to do the equivalent of a comb over. I was the weirdest looking grade niner ever!
Maureen! I wrote my comment before reading anyone else’s and now I see we had the same experience with micro bangs ACK! I even had a major comb over too …
I went to beauty school in my way younger days..we girls had a lot of fun experimenting on each other..One day I decided I would have a perm even though I had some natural curl in my hair..well..let me tell you..I learned a lesson that day..My hair looked like one of those plastic scrubby things for scrubbing pans..just a big blob of fuzziness..It felt about the same as a scrubby too..lol..Anyone out there with natural curl..never never get a perm..
Good advice, Nancy!!
Dear sweet friend,
I think most of us have the “horrible’ hair story.After frosting a few years ago, I had a big blob of white hair in my crown. She realized what she had done and tried to make it right. Now I have a natural white streak above the right side of my forehead. I am not sure if the Lord or the two I gave birth to gave me the white hair. My daughter, explained everyone is having streaks put in…so in style. HA! What does she know?
My mom had the most beautiful natural white streak in her hair, too!
I dread having my hair cut. It’s rare to find a ha
I’m thinking you meant hair stylist or something like that.
Luckily I just get my hair cut in the most basic of ways. Long hair is good that way.
yeah, commenting via iPhone just wasn’t working.
My sophmore year I had hair to my waist but decided I wanted some layers. I told the hairdresser to give me some layers but keep the back long. Well, when he was done he only showed me the front which looked good but the sides were kind of short. I was very shy and didn’t ask to see the back and waited until I was home. When I saw it I was mortified! He had layered my hair but left a skinny strip of long hair that was only about two inches across. I cried and cried and the next day had my grandma take me to Supercuts to have them cut it off. To make it worse, when I went back to school a boy sitting behind me said, “I liked your hair better long.” Well, so did I!
Oh my goodness! Oh, Kady, that must have been tough!
I must admit to chuckling while reading everyone’s stories! I’ve had at least two experiences; one with super streaked into white hair and a co-worker told me how proud she was of me and now all I needed was a leather skirt, fishnets and stilettos! I kept telling myself some women do this ON PURPOSE and it wasn’t so bad! The other time was when I did it myself and it turned BANANA YELLOW! That time I DID go to a salon afterwards!
Patricia
I have one other story I’ll share with you another day, Patricia. It involves henna.
I have been lucky at hair places, but have created night_hair_mares of my own. One time that comes to mind is when I ran out of color so a friend ran to the store to buy another package. While I waited at home with some color already on my hair. Once I got all the color on, waited the specified time, and rinsed, I had green, yellow, red, and orange hair.
It took stripping all the color off and starting over to restore my hair to a normal color. This was done at a salon.
Moral of the story? Make sure you have enough of the color to cover your hair before stating.
Good advice, Trudy!! Oh boy, multi-colored hair!
Isn’t it funny how us women remember our hair horror stories? I have two. One was when I went to a high-end salon to have my hair cut. This was about 12 years ago when I was working and had put aside some money to get a GOOD hair cut. Ha! It was one of the worst hair cuts I’ve had in my life. And cost about 3x what my usual hair cut had cost. I even explained to the stylist ahead of time that I wanted a cut that worked WITH my waves/curls, not against them. She did the total opposite and butchered my hair and straightened it. She showed me how to style it and keep it that way. The next day when I couldn’t fix it that way myself, I went back to the salon and asked her to show me how to style it AGAIN. Let’s put it this way: I would’ve needed the dexterity and coordination of an acrobat. Anyway, the other horror story was just one where a new stylist went scissor happy and cut it into short chunks all around my head. It was the only time I’ve ever cried after getting a hair cut. I wanted to hide for months until it started growing out.
I would have cried too, Melanie!
I got the frosting job you are referring to but mine came out fine. Just loved it! Am sorry you had such an embarrassing time with it. Yes, FB is great for getting in touch with old friends.
Lucky you, Patty!
Dare I say that I love this post Claudia full of shared memories?!
My #1 hair horror story happened when I was just eleven – I had long hair and I went to have it cut to below shoulder length. Well my mom took me to some old lady hair place and the woman not only cut my long long hair up to my chin, she also cut my bangs until they were about an inch long. Ridiculously short short unbearably ugly bangs. SOB! I was 5′ 8″, a skinny bean pole, 11 years old, with the hair cut from hell. I already had really low self esteem, now it was at zero. I wore a “comb over” like Donald Trump to hide those horrible bangs for what seemed like forever – which is only a tiny bit funny even now. I thought I’d die of embarrassment.
I have hated going to the hair dresser ever since.
And I remember the scarf hairdo thing very well – having impossible curly hair, I had a wardrobe of scarves I’d wear, trying to keep the damp air from turning me into a major frizz ball. One birthday my mother-in-law even gave me a matching bandana fabric shirt and head scarf combo hahhahahahaha.
Somewhere I have a picture of me wearing a scarf and the most ginormous glasses! Remember those huge glasses?
Happy weekend!
P.S. I just remembered that only just this past May, I asked my hairdresser to do something a little more special with my (long) hair for my nieces wedding —- well she gave me huge Farrah Fawcett wings WTH?! Like it was the 70’s again. Thankfully I had gotten my hair done early in the day and had time to flatten it out – I could have knocked someone over with those protruding wings or taken flight hahhahahhaahha
oh sally, I just had to hit “reply” I am SO sorry about your haircut at 11! How awful (ok, I laughed…I’m sorry about that too!) I do have to tell you that my 15 year old granddaughter who LOVES to be fashionable and can rock it is wearing what I called Farrah hair-it is BACK! SO, you were “in” and didn’t know it!!
Hard for a tall 11 year old, Sally! My mom did that to my bangs when I was about 9. It’s my least favorite school picture ever.
At times, I’d still like to wear a bandana!
Oh my goodness Claudia! That was LOL for REAL! I sat here and had just THE best chuckle (ok, I felt bad laughing, but I could SO feel your pain!) I had painstakingly grown out my hair to one length so I could have the “Dorothy Hamil” hairdo…oh, yes, she totally knew what I meant!…NOT! I looked in the mirror horrified, even gave her a small tip and went and put on a bandana (triangle of course just like you mentioned and that’s when I chuckled!) and wore that thing for at least a month or more-even to bed!!!! Oh my…I really felt your pain! It DOES grow out but not over night! OUCH! Thanks for sharing! (thanks everyone else! there were some “great” stories! guess we’ve all pretty much been there at one time or another!)
Oh, I remember wanting a Dorothy Hamill haircut so badly! Of course, I would have looked silly in one because I didn’t have thick enough hair.
I’m cracking up! This is so funny! Why were we all so passive in our youth? I’ve learned to speak up to – but not until I endured my bad “perm” days!!!
Thanks for the laugh.
You’re welcome. I was very passive. Took many years to learn to speak up for myself.
Let’s see, where should I begin? Tale #1. Yes, I had the frosted hair back in the early to mid 90’s (my own hair was dark brown at the time with blonde frosted highlights). My hair was past my shoulders and I was ready for a new style. I told the girl I’d like something along the lines of Kathy Lee Gifford’s hairstyle (that was when it was Regis and Kathy Lee). She said, “Oh, okay!” When she got the shaver out and started buzzing behind my ears I knew there had been a major miscommunication of some sort. She was so quick with that shaver that I didn’t have time to stop her. She shaved the back of my head and left about a 5″ TAIL of hair down the middle back – a TAIL!!! I don’t know what she was on when she watched Kathy Lee in the mornings, but believe me, I never saw Kathy Lee shaved and with a tail! She eventually confessed she had no idea who Kathy Lee Gifford was! Oh, and to top it all off, on the back and sides she shaved off all the frosted hair, leaving my own dark brown. The top, which was now almost a bowl cut, was still frosted. I looked like I was wearing a freaking frosted beanie!
Tale #2. A year or two later, in 1996, I went in to get my hair frosted (NOT at Wal Mart, at a local hair salon). The woman who had been doing my hair had had an emergency so they passed me off to some young girl. I told her what I wanted and she proceeded to pull my hair through the cap and color it. When she was done, all the highlights were red/auburn rather than blonde! I told her that was not the color on my chart and asked what had happened. She said she thought I was a bit too old to pull off the traditional blonde frosted look and I should give the new ‘auburn highlighted look’ a chance. This was on a Friday. She told me to try to get used to it over the weekend. Now I was in my 40’s back then and this little thing was in her very early 20’s, so I’m sure I SEEMED old to her, but seriously??? Like you, Claudia, I was a meek little thing when I was younger (menopause sure empowers you). Anyhow, I paid her (as I had the Wal Mart hairdresser) and went on my way. Well, the salon was closed Monday but, rest assured, I was at their door Tuesday morning when they opened to tell her that I had not gotten used to it and I wanted it frosted in the normal fashion that I had originally asked for. Well she sat me down, put the frosting cap on, and I swear she jabbed me sooo hard every time she pulled hair through the holes. My head really hurt! And when I was done?? That young thing had apparently yanked every hair on my head through that cap because I didn’t have a frosted look, I was a complete platinum blonde! I couldn’t have found a dark strand of hair with a microscope! And then she had the nerve to try to charge me! I asked to speak to the manager, who was not there at the time, so I did go ahead and pay, a SECOND time in less than 4 days! (I did go back later in the day when the manager was there and demanded one of the two payments I had made back, and got it.) But in the meantime, I made about 20 calls to see if anyone could take me in that afternoon to do something. I found a fantastic woman who told me to come right in. She did a reverse frost on me, pulling hair through the cap and dying it brown. She was awesome and I went to her from that day in 1996 until I stopped going to a hairdresser about 5 years ago because I just couldn’t justify spending money on my hair for these past several years. I now do my own trims and color my hair at home myself.
But, wow, did your post bring back some bad memories! ha ha
Donna
You might just win the award for awful hair disasters, my friend! I was laughing out loud.
Okay, I am SO sorry! I should have emailed you with my tales of woe! I had no idea how much I wrote until I just saw the size of it in the comment section. Good God, I can be long winded sometimes – so sorry!!!
Donna
I don’t mind one bit!
One St Patrick’s Day I had my hair frosted and in my infinite wisdom decided to put green food coloring in it for a party. Yup, it grabbed so bad. I was working in a bank in dntn Flint back then, and there was just no way I could go to work with green hair, so on Sunday I applied mayonnaise to it 3x, only to come out w/a light green that was the best I could do! I remember those perms from the 60’s. We called them “poodle perms”!
Green hair, oh my!
I do indeed remember one hair disaster.
We were living in San Diego at the time and money was tight so I decided to save money by going to a beauty school to have it cut. She asked what I wanted and I tried my best to let her know. BUT when it was done and I looked in the mirror I almost cried. When hubby came to pick me up (I didn’t drive at the time because we had only one car, he used it and I had 2 toddler), I didn’t want him to see the disaster so I left the beauty shop, went down a couple of stores and tried my best with my fingers to “UNDO” what that woman did. The style made me look like a parrot! Truly. I doubt she ever was a good beautician but I never, ever went to a beauty school from them on. I went to only beauticians a friend would recommend. And I only went to “good” salons, or in other words, expensive ones. I’m a fanatic about my hair being done. If I find a good beautician, I stick with her. My current one has been doing my hair for about 11 years now and I’d hate to try to find another one. She is absolutely excellent and I love her!!!
xoxo,
Connie
It does indeed pay to go to someone you trust. Of course, you have to FIND someone you trust!!
Honey, I’m just glad it had grown out by ’94.
But I would have been struck all the same!!
Tried to comment earlier via my phone but your ads kept popping up and switching control from the comment box to the ad. It was annoying and I gave up ….don’t know if it was feedly, or my iPhone or your blog, but at least I could save it as unread and come back to it to comment!
I hate going to the hairdresser and hate is not a word I use lightly. I tell them exactly what I need, and hear all the right responses and they cut it however the hell they want. I have Justin Bieber bangs right now. I %$^#$ you not. What a 40+ woman *wants* with Bieber bangs I do not know. I agreed to the style, btw before I realized who it was emulating. And it was supposed to give body to my thin hair and it kinda sorta did. But still. Justin Bieber. And then there was the time the stylist STRAIGHTENED my naturally curly hair without my permission. All he said was that he was taking out the frizz. Nobody had ever done that to my hair before so what would I know about what he really meant? No. He burned my hair straight. (*more expletives*) Fortunately, my hair bounced back a bit but that one took a while to go back to normal.
And like you, I don’t complain. I smile and nod and get the hell out of there as fast as I can. I did once ask for my hair to be cut in layers (to help the curl along) and when she didn’t touch the top of my head, I told her I needed more layers. So yay, brave me on that one. But ugh. Why don’t they do exactly what you ask for?
I always get my haircut when I go home (to Australia) because they know how to cut my hair (at my mum’s hairdresser’s even). And for a time I had the best hairdresser ever here in San Diego, but then she moved away and I’ve found okay ones, but not one who really gets me. I mean, there was the gal who cut my hair, just right and then asked if she could show me what it could like if I ever wanted to spend some time on it for a special evening out. I agreed, knowing it’d all wash out the minute I got home, but I walked home looking like an extra from Hairspray. I #$@ you not. Hairspray. Who the $%#^ would want to go on a special night looking like that?! I was kinda amazed she got all that body into my hair, but still. Hairspray.
Apologies for the expletives (that I bleeped out) but your post touched a nerve!
Oh yes! It happend about 23 years ago. I had read that only a completly hairless, a bold head would show its beauty. Of course, the lady shown in that picture had a beautiful bold head. I didn’t want to be bold, but have my hair really short.
When my family (means my parents, my sister my two little boys and I) where in a ski holiday in Waltensburg, I had brought the hair cutting machine. My sister was in the game too. So I cut her hair and it looked good. She has very soft hair and each hair were in place to give a soft fury look. Now it was my turn, will say, my sister’s to cut my hair. The first cut went awfully wrong. She had forgotten to chose position 5 that the hair would be the longest possible. She cut right into my hair and well, you know … Thank god, it was on the back side of my head.
To cut a long story short, it looked awful, as my head is not shapped like the lady’s on the picture. It has dents. But it was unveblievable funny. My sister and I would start laughing at any time. Do I have to mention that I never went out of the house without a hat?
Anyway, when my husband came for a visit on the weekend, and he was shocked. And I was shocked about his reaction. I mean, what the heck, it was a haircut. I was still the same, his beloved wife.
About four months later, a woman I met in the village said to me: “I am glad your hair has grown, Now you look nice again.”. Ha ha ha.
Maybe I should do it again. ;-)