Cheap, DIY hair treatments gone wrong

A rebond and hair color treatment for only P1,500 may sound like a deal, but it only ended up a living nightmare for Brenda.

After a 13-hour ordeal, the only thing she had to show for it is permanent damage on her hair — at least, what's little that's left of it.

With a huge chunk of her hair and confidence gone, Brenda is now forced to wear wigs.

In an episode of Kapuso Mo Jessica Soho (KMJS), Brenda recalled the entire mishap.

"Tinanong ko po yung magre-rebond sa akin na kung okay lang po ba na may kulay nu’ng ni-rebond ako, ang sagot po niya, oo daw kaya po sabi ko, "Sigurado po kayo ha okay lang yun?,' kasi sa ibang salon po ‘di ba bawal ‘yun na isasabay na ‘yung kulay niya. Tapos eh ‘di sabi ko po, 'Sige.' Pumayag na po ako,"she said.

(I asked the salon if it would be alright for the rebond and hair color to be done simultaneously, because in most salons, that's prohibited. The staff said it wasn't a problem, so I agreed.)

She noticed that a week after her first treatment with the salon, her hair went back to its frizzy state after showering. She went back to the salon to ask about it, and the staff told her they would just redo the treatment. She agreed.

But even the second treatment was ineffective, prompting her to return for a third time. This time, the treatment lasted five whole hours.

For a whole month, she had her hair repeatedly rebonded — until it started falling off.

Brenda finally demanded a refund, and went to a dermatologist for treatment.

The nightmare that Brenda suffered happened in 2015.

Her hair is yet to grow back, and even her eyebrows fell off.

Because of this, Brenda could no longer work. She keeps being turned down because wigs were discouraged, but she couldn't go anywhere without them.

DIY bleach

Brenda is not the only one to suffer because of a hair mishap.

Mary Ann likes having colorful hair. Previously, she has had red, orange, blonde, and pink hair.

But when she had her hair done and it it ended up darker, Mary Ann took it upon herself to lighten it up.

She bought bleach from the wet market and did it herself.

She should have noticed something was wrong as early as when she was stirring the mixture. It scalded her in a way that reminded her of cigarette burns.

But when it came to actually bleaching her hair, she had to run to the bathroom and wash it off because it burned.

"Pagtingin ko po dun sa daloy ng tubig, may mga buhok po na nahuhulog. Dun na po ako natakot kasi paghila ko po, kahit simpleng hila lang po talagang ang dami pong natatanggal," she said.

(When I looked at the stream of water, I saw my hair dropping off. That's when I got scared because when I pull at my hair, chunks of it came off.)

Her once long and shiny hair is now dry and short, and the effect was painful for her.

Free relax treatment

Meanwhile, a free relax hair treatment spelled disaster for Jhosua.

He disliked his curly bangs and couldn't resist his ex-coworker’s offer to avail of the relax treatment for free. His coworker has a friend who works as a hairdresser.

Immediately after the chemicals were put on his hair, Jhosua could tell there was something off about it.

"Hindi na po ako nakakapag-relax nun. After nung mga 15 minutes nang nakalipas, nung masakit pa rin, sabi ko, 'Lalo yatang sumasakit,' sabi ko sa kanya. Tapos sabi niya, normal lang daw yan kasi nga daw first time ko pa lang magpa-relax,' he said.

(I never had that treatment before. After 15 minutes of it, I told the hairdresser, it's becoming even more painful. He said it was normal because it was my first time to get the treatment.)

He claimed that his friend and the hairdresser supposedly needed to stop by somewhere, so without rinsing off the treatment, they left the salon.

They then hung out at the house of one of their friends.

Jhosua rinsed off the chemicals as soon as he came off, only to see that his scalp was red. Hair had started to fall off.

After three days, it got steadily worse.

His scalp started bleeding and developing pus. What remained of his hair got clumped together, prompting him to cut the hair off the injured area.

The doctor initially told him to switch shampoos.

To this day, it still hasn't healed.

After the KMJS team got in touch with him, the hairdresser in question apologized to Jhosua.

But he maintained he did nothing wrong because it was Jhosua who wanted to leave the salon even after he warned him that his hair had to be rinsed immediately.

The team brought Jhosua to a dermatologist to check what can be done best to cure his wounds.

The process of healing is on its way. Aside from the physical wounds, this incident sure left him an important lesson about putting safety above all else. — LA, GMA News