"The day my trusted hairdresser of 7 years gave me nits."

Image: iStock. 

I had been seeing the same hairdresser, Ali, for over seven years. Every six weeks I went in and we’d chat while she cut my hair. I thought of Ali as a confidante and friend as much as a hairdresser.

Until my last visit, that is.

As Ali was combing my hair, I noticed that there was already hair in the comb. Someone else’s hair. Looking back, this was a red flag and I really should have said something at the time, but I didn’t want to make big deal out of it, especially because we knew each other for so long. I let it go and pushed it out of my mind.

Within an hour I was out of there, happy with my fresh new haircut.

The next morning, I noticed that my scalp was a little itchy. It was summer, and I had spent the past weekend at the beach, so I thought maybe it had been a little burnt. (Post continues after gallery.)

When I scratched it, I was horrified to find, wedged in my finger nail, a crawling, disgusting nit.

Straightaway I knew what had happened and I felt sick.

I rushed to the chemist and bought chemical grade products to douse my hair in. Plus a comb. When I got back home I locked myself in the bathroom. After rinsing my hair in the foul smelling liquid, I started combing through it.

Two huge nits came out, wedged in the comb hairs. (Monique Bowley was having a bad hair day – that is until The Glow’s Brittany helped her out. Post continues after video.)

I knew I didn’t have them for long, there were no eggs, but the nits that came out were unmistakably lice. I am never around kids, I work in an office with adults and my head wasn’t at all itchy before I went to see Ali.

I was certain the comb she had used was the reason why I suddenly had lice, and while I felt uncomfortable telling her about it, I thought that she should know. We were good friends – we could get through the awkwardness, surely.

Nervously, I dialled the salon’s number. I knew the conversation would be confronting but what I didn’t expect was how Ali reacted.

After a brief hello I nervously blurted out what had happened. I wasn’t angry, wasn’t rude, I just wanted her to know.

The bright tone she'd put on when answered suddenly became harsh.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Ali snapped.

I told her it was highly impossible I got it from anywhere else. I went to the salon then straight home and the next morning was when I realised I had them. I described the two gross nits that surfaced in my hairbrush. I definitely saw hair in the comb she used, and I told her this.

Not only did she flat out refuse to apologise, but she left me with one sentence before hanging up: "You have no proof."

I was shocked, what happened to the customer always being right? Especially considering I was right.

I never went back there again and Ali and I never spoke again.

Have you ever had a bad hairdresser experience?