Rural salon visit turns eerie as woman finds stylist has been keeping her hair. + DISTURBING UPDATE
"Hairstylist has been taking/keeping my hair"
fedupsobedup
I'm weirded out. I'm also going to be vague because, obvious reasons.
I'm a 30'sF. and my stylist is in their 40's.
I got my hair cut today at a stylist I've been using for about nine months now. I think this is my 6th appointment with them. I usually do a trim or cut/style. Today I went from long hair (high lower-back) to an A-line Bob.
Again, since I started seeing this person, I usually get current style maintenance/trim. This time was a dramatic length adjustment so they took a picture of the cut length in the floor to add to their social media, then intending to add before/after ours too. That's all totally fine and NORMAL.
They go grab a broom, sweep up the hair, and place the dust pan on the counter for a bit. Again. Normal. They grab the broom and pan and head to the back of the shop. They're gone a few minutes. No biggie. Then they go out to smoke. But, here's where it gets weird.
The bathroom is in the back of the shop too. I need to go and step into the back. I don't really notice anything on the way into the bathroom. I go, and start to head back out. But I notice my name on a small clear tote on the table. It has no lid. And it has my hair in it.
At first, I didn't really think much of it. But I looked closer and see it's not just today's discarded hair, but looks like a least a few of my trim sessions. Mixed with... it looked like potpourri? And a little sand or something. And printed pictures of the cut hair with dates.
The printer is sitting right next to it with todays discarded hair pic in the tray. There didn't seem to be any other containers like this when I looked around. It was fucking weird, so I took a pic on my phone. I honestly didn't know what to think or do and went back out into the salon.
They came back in, and I mentioned that I went to the restroom and they seemed to freak out a little but didn't mention it. I didn't really know what to say, so I just let them finish styling my hair, paid and left. As a socially anxious introvert, this was my nightmare.
I got home and the more I looked at this picture, the more ick I got. I ended up texting them an hour ago, sending the picture, and requesting they remove the weird box of me and asking for an explaination.
I said:
"Hey. So I saw this and didn't know what to make of it. Can you help me understand what this is and why you have it? I'm not comfortable with you having this and request you please discard the contents. Also, even though I loved my cut, I believe it's best if I find a different stylist."
They haven't responded.
Lol, wtf?
Here were the top rated comments from readers in response to the OP's initial post:
lone-j
Wow. That sounds strange. I'm curious as well.
Good for you for sending the text message. I see your message as mature, fair, and calm.
fedupsobedup (OP)
I appreciate that. But, full disclosure, it took me a few hours to get calm enough to send that. I'm totally skeezed out.
Zoerae87
You absolutely handled it better than I would have. I would have taken it and confronted them. This really is the beginning of some crazy I Survived episode. Thank god you're not going back.
violettangerine
Need an update on this one.
Roughly a week later, the OP did indeed return with an update.
fedupsobedup
It's been about a week, amd with the holiday I've all over the place but I ended up going to law enforcement to make a report last Monday. I'll likely end up going back if this person keeps contacting me like they have been.
I'll give a little time line:
Last Saturday: -haircut and discovered the weird tub full of my hair -texted stylist about the weird tub and said I'd be finding a new stylist -hairstylist didn't respond. This is where I left off in the last post. A lot has happened since then.
Sunday I woke up to a bunch of texts from the stylist. It woke me up because, even though I have DND on my phone, I have a setting that overrides that if there are repeated contact attempts over 3. (In case of emergencies)
Here's what I got (copied and pasted):
3:49 AM "I dot recommend going to a different stylist bc of this its not a big deal small towns and people talk and u may not find ne1 that will take u after this so id reconsider. I don't like threats."
3:51 AM "So I have ur biological material and? Its mine property now, I can do what I want with it. I kept it because I can and it's means alot to me."
3:54 AM "y u send the pic? I no what it looks liek it's mine."
4:00 AM "U need to respond to me bc I think its a misunderstanding abt what this is its nbd and u saying u r switching stylists has me triggered. I do good work 👏 you said so."
4:04 AM "I also charge a $350 client separation fee so yeah u cant just say ur switching stylists with more concseqinces and I no u said u already tried a few ppl b4 me they not many beauty ppl in the area."
4:11 AM "Asking for a explanation for a stylist having hair in a salon is crazy where else would u find hair at i ddint do nothing wrong but I will get rid of it if u r gonna cry about it but only if u say u wont be switching to ne1 else for ur hair care.
U mean a lot as a client and always tip well and indo good work so it doesn't make sense and u no that so maybe don't threaten someone who does ur hair or hurt their ❤️ by making accusatory statements."
....I didn't respond to any of those that morning because it was so insane to me. I need to process things fully before I make a decision on how to deal with it, so I just didn't respond.
Sunday afternoon I start getting phone calls. This person called me 14 times that afternoon. About every other call, they left a voicemail. Most of the voicemails just said "call me back" or "text me back" but 2 of them were unhinged.
I'm going to paraphrase, but the gist of the first one was:
sounds like they're crying "Call me back I'm getting scared you won't come back to me for your hair for real. I just like how your hair feels. That's why I kept it. Call me."
The second unhinged message was left late Sunday night at 11:38 PM and it said:
"I got rid of it except for one lock. I found out I like watching your hair burn more than I liked keeping it."
I didn't respond to any of those messages, calls, or texts. The whole thing had me freaked out now. I'd decided by that time I was taking Monday off work to go to the police. Even if they couldn't do anything, I wanted a filed report of the weirdness.
I woke up Monday to an email from the stylist with an invoice of $375 for "Client beach of contract fee" as the chargeable line item (again copy and pasting here). The email body was just "for being a *b-word*".
It was sent from their business email too so they're really doing everything they can to ruin themselves. Even if I HAD a contract with this nutter, which I don't, the original amount was for $350. They can't even get their extortion fees right.
I did email them back stating that we had no contract, and to cease all further communication with me from this point forward. I got ready and started heading to the police station around 9:45 Monday morning.
I live in a rural area so there are portions of my drive to and from our main town that doesn't have cell reception. When I finally got to town, I had 4 voicemails. I knew immediately who they were from.
I talked to one of the officers on staff. They took my statement, a copy of the email, asked me to forward all the texts and screenshots of the numbers of calls. They said, at the least, the calls and texts could be considered menacing and harassment. But the voicemail where they mentioned how they like burning my hair was "potentially concerning".
The officer advised I contact a legal representative in case this person tries to take the bogus invoice to a civil suit court. And they said I'm welcome to change my number, but having the piling evidence if they continue to contact me after I explicitly told them not to in the email would only help me.
I reached out to a laywer Tuesday and left a detailed message regarding the situation. They are apparently out of the office until next Wednesday for the holiday so we'll see if they have any advice.
I've since received many texts and calls from the stylist. They sent a "Happy Thanksgiving" text on Thursday morning as well. Regardless, they are giving me a lot of evidentiary material to work with, but I'm so unsettled. I can't wait to hear from the lawyer this week.
Here were the top rated comments from readers in response to the OP's update:
Outside_Peak_9334
As a stylist in training, not only is your stylist being unprofessional, but also unsanitary. Depending on if you’re in the US/what state your in, report them to the State Board of Cosmetology and get their license revoked. Updateme!
fedupsobedup (OP)
Thank you for the suggestion! My aunt (who lives in my home-state) is a cosmetologist and suggested the same thing when I spoke with her yesterday. I'll do so immediately. My aunt always did my hair until I moved to our state a few years ago. It's the main reason I've had such trouble finding a new stylist. That, and apparently some of the ones in my area are completely unhinged.
CummingInTheNile
Yeah, uh, that hairstylist is crazy, OP better invest in a taser, and a security camera, or three.
Rainyskies206
"I just like how your hair feels" and "I like watching your hair burn" is actually insane.
peter095837
Once again, every time the internet offers something new and different, i'm livid and speechless...