This woman tried to give herself unicorn hair at home, and she ended up in the hospital with severe scalp burns
While we’re all for a good DIY hair dye session to save some coin and give ourselves a new look, some things are definitely better left to a professional. Case in point: This woman’s DIY unicorn hair color accident caused burns and a reported three-week long hospital stay, and we sincerely hope she’s okay.
We totally get it: Unicorn hair is truly gorgeous and we absolutely love seeing the vibrant colors all over our Insta feeds. But please, we’re begging you: either visit a hair stylist to try unicorn hair or do extensive research on the products you’re using at home, because things can go wrong so very quickly. And in this case, the results were very scary and painful.
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According to the Daily Mail, a 29-year-old mom from the UK named Kirsty Wesson attempted an at-home version of the trendy pastel look. First she had to bleach her dark brown locks to remove the color from them, using high-strength powder bleach that she purchased at a local store.
After applying the bleach, she started to notice her scalp burning, telling the Daily Mail, “My hair was literally smoking. The pain was so excruciating that I started to feel dizzy, like I was going to faint.”
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She thought she was having an allergic reaction to the bleach, so she went to the emergency room, where she was instructed to take antibiotics. But a few weeks later, she realized she had chemical burns on her scalp, and she has since undergone multiple surgeries on her scalp and thigh (to create a skin graft).
It turns out Wesson was supposed to mix the powered bleach with a processor before applying, which she did not know beforehand.
Wesson has reportedly been told that her hair will never grow back in the burned areas, because the new skin grafts do not have hair follicles.
“I never thought it would end up completely destroying my hair and changing my life like this. It’s caused a lot of pain and I’ve completely lost my self-confidence.”
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We’re truly happy that Wesson is doing better, and she has one piece of advice for anyone thinking about attempting unicorn hair at home: Don’t. She says, “I would tell other people to just go to a professional who knows what they are doing. I was trying to save some money but bleach is dangerous stuff,” adding that though the box she purchased did comply with the proper safety regulations, she thinks bleach should be used by a professional only.
You can see photos of the burns here (warning: graphic).
