Whether you work in a barbers, hair or beauty salon or are a freelancer, when you’re working with clients day in and day out, you’re bound to become involved in embarrassing or downright hilarious situations. We’ve rounded up some of our favourites as told by salon professionals.
Funny and embarrassing salon stories
A moment of madness
I set my elderly client and put her under the dryer many years ago. I went to the staffroom while she was cooking, started chatting away… got my bag and went home! I completely forgot her under the dryer and just had it in my head. I was done for the day; someone did rescue her and comb her out, but I was ripped for it for many years!
A lesson in writing down your formulas!
I started work in a new salon and had never worked with the colour brand they were using before. Quite honestly, I didn’t have the experience of being left alone yet and was doing a client of a stylist on holiday – No other stylists wrote down formulas! I didn’t know what to do, and the girl beside me told me the lady got a full head bleach… It turns out she didn’t. She was now yellow, I tried to tone it, and her hair went bright purple.. tried to fix this, and it went bright ginger. Both her and I were crying. She was meant to be going on a date. I’ll never forget that first week at the new salon ever.
This client got a little more than they bargained for.
In 2003, I was a junior hairdresser, just finished the course and got my best friend in for an appointment! So literally, she was Nordic blonde by that time and only needed a hair wash, length haircut, and blow dry. Still, I kept talking about Matrix& Wella products and by mistake, I cut the inner side of my left finger. I did not see bleeding, but in a blink of an eye turned my friend’s gorgeous blonde hair into blonde-red ombre, when I saw it I panicked, kept apologising and actually my friend in the chair made fun: You know, I like it, it is something new, ohh wow you are genuinely a stylist! Me: Sorry, I cut my fingers with the scissors, so it’s blood on your hair! Luckily, we both ended up laughing, and my manager was in a good mood, so I escaped without any warning letter.
We hope you’re not squeamish?
I was cutting a gents hair. His wife’s phone rang, so he moved his head to see and turned back in a split second, realising he shouldn’t move. Unfortunately, I was cutting his ear and nipping him. It bled immediately, so I cleaned it and put a plaster on with him apologising for moving and me apologising for not having superhero reflex. I turned to get my scissors to complete my cut, and a piece of his ear was still in my blades. I have him back this week for the first time since. I’ve got some ear muffs for him to wear as a joke.
Excuse the fingers.
The other day whilst facing my client and foiling her fringe, I stuck my acrylic nail right up her nose.
Honesty is always the best policy, right?
Back in the early 90s, when nail piercing on acrylic nails was the fashion, drills weren’t around then, so we used to heat a needle and pop it through the tip, except one time I did it too close and scorched a line down my client’s fingertip (the worst day of my career). Twenty years later, in a different salon, a new client told me about her worst nail experience….. Yep… You guessed it. Thankfully she’s still one of my best clients ten years later, even after I’d admitted it was me that did it.
The case of the frightened fringe.
I cut my client’s fringe too short… turns out she had a surprised look on her face … when she relaxed, the fringe did too .. up to the middle of her forehead thankfully, she saw the funny side!
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It’s all about how you say it.
When I was explaining to a client the process of a full body massage: “So I will leave the room, let you get changed, I’ll start the massage on your back and turn you over and then finish on your face”, didn’t realise what I said until it was too late.
This client got more than they bargained for.
About ten years ago, I had just finished cutting my client’s hair, a nice short bob. I then used my clippers to thin through the hair (clippers that you change heads, so one head thins, the other head shaves). I then went to tidy up the hair line, so I changed the clippers head back over. Once finished, I showed my client her hair, and she asked for one side to be thinned out a little more. So yes, I took clippers forgetting I had changed the head of the clippers and shaved the whole side of my client’s hair off instead of thinning it. My face drained of colour, and my jaw fell to the ground. Luckily my client never made a big deal about it. I still do her hair to this day. We laugh about it now!
The devil is in the detail.
Once when I went into work hungover, I forgot the entire section of roots at the back, I only noticed when I started drying it, lol.
Sleeping beauty.
I left my client in my beauty room and forgot about her as I started nail extensions on another client for an hour. My next client made her way into my room to find her fast asleep and said it was the best sleep she’d had all week. Oh, and her mum was in the car waiting for her. The whole salon had a proper belly laugh; thankfully, no harm was done.
Did you charge extra?
Once I couldn’t get a bottle of nail glue open, I pulled it as hard as possible, and it flicked open completely, spraying my client with glue dots. In a mad panic, I brushed her bare chest down with my hand to get it off and glued my hand to her chest. She was a new client, and luckily she laughed, but I was mortified!
Discover: 50 Memes Every Nail Tech Will Relate To
Trigger warning: Gross!
When I had a cold, I dropped snot on someone’s face when I was going their eyebrows…I pretended it was soothing oil, and the client said oooo, that feels lovely. What is it?
Always read the label.
I went to the warehouse to get a ten but unfortunately forgot my glasses and picked up a no 1. I put the colour on the entire head before I realised what I had done. It took me quite a few appointments to get it back to blonde.
This client didn’t expect to smell like a fish and chip shop.
I once picked up the vinegar spray we used to clean the mirrors and wet my client’s hair with it instead of water. I was absolutely mortified when I realised, but everyone else thought it was hilarious.
Oops!
I was pumping my brand-new SPF bottle during a facial, and it wasn’t coming out. I gave it a shake, then, as I went to pump it again, it exploded all over my client’s face and clothes. Luckily the client saw the funny side!
Discover: 50 Memes Every Hair Stylist Will Relate To
How much was the dry cleaning bill?
I dropped my hairdryer on a new client’s head once, But my favourite was when I’d just finished putting a ladies colour on, and I somehow karate chopped the tint brush out of the bowl from behind her, which flew over her head, landed down her face and bleached all her trousers.
All part of the service.
Many years ago, I was working for Crowne plaza hotel spa and was doing a facial for a lady. Me being pregnant (just to find some reasoning) felt asleep on a chair while the client’s mask was on and didn’t know after how long the client had to wake me up from my snoring to take the mask off.
Discover: 35 Memes Every Beauty Therapist Will Relate To
Now that is awkward.
When I was sitting opposite a client discussing electrolysis and what it involves, she fainted on me. I held her until she came round. All OK except her forehead had been pressed against my name badge and my name was now imprinted backwards into her forehead.
Glad we got that sorted.
Many years ago, I took my next client through to the wax room, thinking she was in for her bikini wax, asked her to remove her trousers (which she started to do), and then she said she was in for eyebrows!
Did it keep the client busy though?
Not long ago, I was giving a client a nose wax for the first time and got the wax mixed up in my brain and used soft wax instead of hot wax. Long story short, she was picking out sticky bogeys all night.
This story made front-page news.
A long time ago, I worked in a tanning salon, which was a massive salon over three floors with all the sunbeds being controlled by a computer on reception. I was in alone one evening, all the beds had gone off, but I couldn’t be bothered going upstairs to clean the beds and rooms. As I was first in, in the morning, I thought I’d do it when I got in. I went out that night and missed the 25 calls off my boss in the early hours! I had locked a customer in the salon. She had fallen asleep on the sunbed, and when she woke up, the salon was all locked up with the shutters down. The fire brigade had to cut the shutters and smash the door to get her out. A few months later, she was in Take a Break magazine under “my sunbed hell” I didn’t get sacked.
Why were the knickers there?
As a mobile stylist, I put my freshly washed and tumbled gown around my gent’s neck, and a pair of my knickers were stuck to the Velcro fastening.
We hope these funny salon stories made you smile.
If you enjoyed them, you can find more funny salon stories here.
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