UPDATE: We ran this post on Mamamia a few months ago, but the story of people buying DIY botox products online and injecting their face at home has since resurfaced in the media. So we’ve updated this post and we want to hear your thoughts.…
If I could bestow any wisdom on the women of Australia, it would be this: NEVER cut your own hair. Or do your own Botox. Or collagen. Write that down. No seriously, because some women are actually doing this. At home. With needles. And products they bought online. Possibly from Mexico.
That’s right, apparently you can order Botox kits via the Internet and fix your face from the privacy of your own home. Just follow the instructions on the how-to DVD, inject your face and you’ll have with less frown lines – and the possibility of death or disfigurement.
According to an article in The Herald Sun:
Don't try this at home.
People buying cheaper injectable substances online had treated themselves, with hideous results, said Cosmetic Physicians Society of Australasia president Dr Gabrielle Caswell.
“We’ve had certain cases where people have actually injected stuff from the internet … I think there’s a lot of internet spruikers; it’s a cautionary tale (and one) that’s been going on for quite a while,” she said.
“Injecting something that’s obviously not sterile and you have no idea what’s in it … the money that you tried to save ends up costing an awful lot when you have to visit a round of doctors to try to fix it.”
One woman last year suffered grotesquely ballooned lips after a friend jabbed her with a dodgy dermal filler bought online, she said
Earlier this year, Perth Now reported:
The Cosmetic Physicians Society of Australasia is warning people about the dangers of buying injectable substances over the web after a woman suffered horrific and painful side effects.
The Australian woman, who asked not to be named, has bravely released photos of her freakish fat lips and infected blotches on her face after getting a friend to jab her with products bought online.
Her recent experiment with a dermal filler designed to pump up her lips went horribly wrong as they grotesquely ballooned two weeks later. Abscesses appeared on her face six weeks after the injection.
The woman, who is in her early 30s and is being professionally treated with antibiotics and drainage, has asked for the graphic pictures to be released as a public health alert.
It is unclear at this stage whether she will fully recover.
Check out this video, the DIY trend is wrecking similar havoc in the US:
Hey, I’m all for DIY wedding invitations or making your own potpourri. But I think anything beauty related is best left to the professional. It’s just not worth the risk. Or the exploding lips.
Have you ever screwed up a DIY job? Ever had a beauty disaster in the bathroom?
Comments
95 Comments so far
Me and a couple of friends pierced our own ears in highschool. I pierced both mine a second and third time in each lobe. I simply used a good stud that had a pointy end – no ice, no antiseptic, nothing. I was surprised how easy and relatively painless it was – after your break the first layer, it just pushes through wihtout too much fuss.
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I’ve been colouring my own hair for over 20 years, only use quality products and it always looks great. I trim my own fringe too between visits, I’ve learned how to do that so it blends into the layers.
The thought of injecting unknown (and bioactive) substances into yourself horrifies me — but then I would never use injectables anyway.
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I once accidently shortened my own fringe in highschool.
I burnt it on a can bong. Haha.
Was hard to explain that one to the parents.
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Hahahaha I once plucked my eyebrows while “feeling very happy” and plucked a one cm gap in them…I was too “happy” to notice, only realised the next day, oops.
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Hahaha oh this had me absolutely cracking up… memories of my youth flashing back… Mum one day came in hysterical as “Someone keeps cutting the bloody hose.”
Silly teen I was!
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When I was little I got inspired by my mum (who is a hairdresser) & had a go at chopping chunks out of my hair. She found me sitting naked in the sink full of water with clumps of my hair floating in it.
Then when I was about 13 I had a go at waxing my eyebrows – ended up with a 1 cm eye brow. Although I have now perfected the art.
Then at about 22 I had a go at dyeing my own hair, it went aqua green…
Had to give up my DIY beautician aspirations after some of the bikini ingrown hairs I cultivated.
I will NEVER inject anything in my face myself full stop.
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I cut my fringe once after a night of drinking. It’d been annoying me all night. I wet it, pulled it down and cut ABOVE my fingers. It kept getting shorter and shorter. I looked terrible.
I haven’t touched my hair with scissors since.
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sister and i were always messing around with hair cuts and hair dyes. best memory would have to be at 17 i dyed my sister (15yr old) hair in streaks – big chunky ones rolls like cigars as i didnt really know how to use ‘foils’ with a comb. it started with peroxide blonde first (unknowingly stripping it of all life) then fudge fire engine red over the top.
needless to say, our old school vietnamese father who accepted nothing but black long hair didnt let me sister home from school until she went to the hair dressers and sorted it out. she had to skip school that day just to get into the hairdressers n sort it out! up side, it did look pretty cool (circa christina aguilera 1999)
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I have always cut and coloured my own hair and am constantly asked who does my hair and get told I have lovely hair. It can be done successfully. I think I’m just a frustrated hairdresser hiding as an office worker. Although I must admit I do have thick hair so if I happened to make a mistake cutting it I don’t think anyone would really notice anyway.
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I have cut my own hair many times. It always ended badly. The first time I was 5 and mum was in the hospital having my brother. She flipped when she got home!
Several years later that same brother cut off our little sisters hair ‘to make rope.’
That did not go over well either.
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To make rope? Hahaha! Well… naturally!
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I tried to cut my fringe once when I was about 17, but I did it when it was wet. So when it dried it was about 2 inches long. : /
I managed to hide it for about a week by pinning it up before my sister noticed, lost her sh.t laughing about it, and then helped suggest ways to hide it better. Bless.
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Lol I cut my own hair, how does that fit with the rest of the story? it’s not life threatening in the slightest unless you acccidentally snip your jugular vein….you’d have to be damn clumsy though
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I think you will find the abundance of ‘i cut my hair’ stories are in response to the questions about DIY bathroom disasters at the bottom of the article.
Im personally thankful that this is as far as many people have gone – and that many people with disasters have learnt their lesson. People who inject things bought on the internet into their face, probably have to concede that it might be Darwinism at work.
Im in the Kerri Sackville corner of ‘qualifications for everything’, personally, even though I will admit to home hair cuts to save time and costs.
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I regularly cut my own fringe as it grows very quickly but never touch the rest of it
The other day gave my husband his usual number 3 but forgot to put the thingy on the clippers and swished a number 0 up the back of his head
He took it quite well and I couldn’t stop laughing. Giggling right now
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I did the exact thing to my partners hair a few months ago! He was not impressed and took about an hour to convince him the rest needed to be cut off
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I did that once too , except it was a client, and I was a fully qualified hairdresser with a hideous hang over and he was my first” victim” at 8 am on a saturday morning, he wasnot as good humoured as your husband .
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I always take out my stitches at home. Really, bugger waiting for an hour at the doctor’s for someone to do somethings
Mirror and some tweezers and Bob’s your uncle (at least he is mine).
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oh i agree! i learnt the first time after waiting three hours for a rookie nurse to struggle to pull it out that i was better off doing it in my own time and place – and most importantly – carefully!
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I understand the not wanting to wait thing, I really do. Some professional suggestions if you must do it yourself. Wash yourhands! Spray the scissors with antiseptic spray and let it dry first. Next take out alternate sutures first if it’s a size able wound, to make sure the wound stays well joined together before you take out the rest. Done!
Don’t attempt to take out continuous sutures at home either.
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OLD NEWS! This article came out in MAY.
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Really? We’re comparing cutting our own hair with DYI Botox? Hardly in the same box I’d imagine.
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+1!
I’ve cut my own, colour my own hair, do my own hair removal, self-tan and pretty much everything else – and I’m pretty sure I’m in no danger of injecting some sh!t I bought off the internet into my face, LOL!
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I’ve done my own bikini wax many a time.
Only I decided to give it a shot when I was pregnant with my first. Thinking.. I don’t want to torture anyone else having to look at my pregnant body..
My husband came home, found me sprawled on the bed with wax shmeared everywhere!! I couldn’t see what I was doing over my belly! ahhahahahahahah
Worst mistake ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Ha ha, that’s so funny. I can only imagine what your husband must have thought when he walked in on that sight!
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I had eyelash extensions put on for a wedding. They looked lovely (though were a great big pain when I wanted to go swimming at the beach the next day to cure the hangover- you can’t smush your face against a towel like you normally would). They lasted for three weeks until I got frustrated with them and tried to take them off. Don’t. Don’t try and do this without reading about how to do it first. Because now I have no eyelashes at all. I plucked half of my eyelashes plum out and now I have a bald right eye. Never again.
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My sister had lovely eyelash extensions put on just before a recent holiday, wanting to look good whilst away. Only thing was she didn’t realise that she was allergic to the latex glue they put them on with. I know I shouldn’t say this but it was hilarious. Her eyes were all puffed up and little slits in her face. Seriously, she’s so wrapped up in doing stuff like this that when it backfired it was funny (and no harm done, she’s fine).
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I saw those lips and thought, ” It’s been a long time since I went fishing for trout “.
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ooooh dear! seriously why do u want to look fake?? i understand that some people might have low selfesteem and need to get surgery to somehow boost it bt i just think it looks stupid when u see older women trying to be 20!! i walked past this women in her 60s this morning and she was all botoxed and looked plastic and horrible!
reminds me of that episode of Kath and Kim when Kath gets her lips done! hahahahahhaha!
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My mum is a pretty skilled amateur hair dresser. But sometimes the blonde foils don’t turn out so good. And as great as the delorenzo purple toning shampoo is there’s some shades of orange it just can’t correct.
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A lovely result when my flatmate put some natural henna in my hair – supposedly to add some shine. Only i hadn’t told him my hair was loaded with peroxide product to make it blonder. Result: fire engine red – two days before a job interview.
I cried. And i got the job, too.
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Next time that happens, do an emergency “temporary black” on top
I personally would just do a full head of indigo but i don’t mind permanent results.
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i don’t understand the stupidity of some people just to save a couple of bucks.
i once cut my own trim when i was about 11. Which was really hard as i am blind in my left eye so doing the right half of my fringe was really difficult andas you can imagine, quite scary looking by the end of it
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I dye my own hair. Is that allowed? It’s mostly a money thing. But also a time thing.
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And a convenience thing. I’ve been colouring my own hair for years, and am very happy with it. (But I only use good brands of hair colour)
And another reason — I have neck and back issues, and getting my hair washed at the hairdressers and leaning back is excruciating. I get my hair cut at one of those chains where you wash your own hair at home before you come in for a cut
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Injecting things you bought off the net into your face. Madness.
I’m not surprised but being a nurse I see the results of people doing much stupider and incomprehensible things to themselves. Common sense.. not so common.
Once I cut my own fringe and I looked like a lop-sided shetland pony.
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It’s beyond me !! Why do woman want to look like bull frogs anyway.
Do they not have mirrors in their homes
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This is just common sense…
On a lesser scale when I was 14 I cut my own fringe because I wanted to look like ‘Prue’ from Charmed (true story).
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This is creepy – I had a dream last night that I somehow had Botox at home but was too scared to do it myself – even in my dreams I can’t hurt myself! This coming from someone who can’t pluck her own eyebrows because of the pain but with pay someone to wax them…..
On another note – for those saying about the ridiculous expense of the hairdressers – scoopon, spreets, cudo, etc are great for cheap cut and colour deals
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My sister, at 14yrs of age, decided to dye her friend’s hair blonde using my mum’s equipment (mum worked from home as a hairdresser to supplement her income).
I received a rather hysterical phone call begging me to come home and help because “it was burning”.
They’d used way too much peroxiem and then wrapped the poor girls entire head in several layers of alfoil.
It took me (and a pair of oven-gloves due to the heat radiating) almost an hour to carefully remove the alfoil, bleach and GLADWRAP tent they’d constructed.
VERY luckily we managed to rescue the poor girl’s hair with a lot of olive oil, deep-conditioning and (a couple of weeks later) a nice dark brunette wash.
My sister won’t even use a home-pack of hair dye on her own hair now
http://thefridgedoorblog.com
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My mum tried to use the clippers on my sons hair after a persistently nasty headlice episode. The clippers broke down halfway through, so he was left with half a no.4 and half a normal head of hair.
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Baaaahahahahaha!! Which half? Left/right or front/back?
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Last time my sister visited us in Melbourne her 4 year old decided to chop off her younger sister’s hair while mummy was in the shower! My sister was staying at my parents house and rang me crying because she didn’t know what to do. Luckily no one was injured and she took my niece to the hairdresser to get it fixed.
She looked very cute with her new bob but being obsessed with Cinderella and having long hair she was devastated for a while, well now it’s grown back. As for her sister who did it we later found out it was because the boy she likes at school likes girls with long hair so she wanted to be the only one with long hair.
Kids!
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I once used an Epi-Lady on my lady bits to prep for the first time I did “it” with an ex boyfriend…. had to postpone “it” by a few weeks due to me looking like I had a horrific STD down there, it looked and felt of fire!!!!!
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Oh dear….Here I am trying to be brave enough to buy a handbag over the internet….How tame am I?
I most certainly couldn’t DIY any “enhancements”, I struggle enough with giving blood and acupuncture!
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Ouch!
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I did try and cut my hair once when I was unemployed…the end result being that I had to shave my head…yep, that good!
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Only disaster I can report is the time I tried to go blonde from brunette – and ended up with orange and blonde hair! Mum tried to console me by saying “It looks like a sunset!”
I would never inject anything bought over the net into my face, could be anything. I wouldn’t even go to the doc and get it done, I hope to age gracefully. I find good old pawpaw plumps up my lips nicely anyway..
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oh that’s sweet of your mum!
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My youngest son created his own DIY disaster when he was three. He returned from the bathroom one afternoon with chunks of hair hacked off from using a pair of crayola scissors and an entire tub of hair wax unevenly dumped on his head.
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Bleaching my dark eyebrows. First they went orange but the regrowth was the kicker. Bleaching my pubic hair and getting same result as eyebrows ( genius at work here). Fake tan, bad fringe cut where fringe extended to ears, plenty of terrible hair colours and cuts. Hair removal cream left on too long. The list is a long and stupid one. Never will I inject my face though.
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‘Fringe extended to ears’ – bahahaha! You poor thing. I have photos of my hair when I was about 7, my mum used to cut it and I had the same issue.
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I was 25
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I’ll never forget the time I used hair-removal cream on my legs without doing a test patch first. I had an allergic reaction to the cream and broke out in an itchy red rash all over my legs that didn’t go away completely for weeks. Never again!
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I’ve never had a DIY disaster myself (have had plenty of bad hair-do’s and eyebrow waxes by professionals though!).
But in high school, my best friend went mad with Sun-In over the summer holidays and that was, without a doubt, a total disaster! We have a good laugh about it now, over 20 years later, but at the time, she had to go through so much treatment to try and get it out of her hair that she ended up far from the blonde beach locks she was aiming for and looked more like Wednesday from The Adams Family. Oh dear.
With 2 daughters of my own, I have been dreading a self-trim by the one of them. But yesterday Miss 2 snipped Barbie’s hair and was so contrite after the incident that I am hoping she or her big sister will not attempt to cut their own hair anytime soon!
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Good god. I wouldn’t even let someone without medical qualifications take my blood pressure, let alone inject something into my face. What’s next, DIY appendectomies? Or perhaps a nose job kit that comes complete with a tiny little hammer and some gloves?
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and a pore strip ?…… ;-P
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I wanted to do something out of the ordinary while on schoolies and so decided to put an 8-wash dye through my hair.
I have very light blonde hair and, wanting something totally different, went for the mahogany colour.
BIG MISTAKE.
Because I had never died by hair before and it is so light, it turned out BRIGHT PINK.
AND didn’t want out for THREE MONTHS (it slowly faded though).
So for the entirety of schoolies in November, and even up to my 18th birthday in March, I had distinctly pink hair.
I now value the colour of my hair, and natural highlights, and have no plans to dye it again in the near future.
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I remember back in highschool a blonde girl doing a home colour job and ending up with clumps of varyings colours of bright pink /red lol. It was funny seeing this girl with a princess complex turning up in that state,anyone else probably would have felt sorry for them.
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I decided to be cheap once and dye my hair at home.
I was dying my hair dark brown at that stage, so figured a home dye would be alright. I had it dyed at the hairdresser about 6 weeks previously. Anyway, the home dye colour took to the roots of my hair, and turned it a greyish brown colour, and the remaining (already coloured) parts of my hair grabbed onto the colour and looked fine. It wasn’t a total disaster, it just looked like regrowth, but never again have I ventured into home hair dying!
I also dyed a friends hair, blonde from dark brown once. It went fire engine red. Well, the roots went blonde, and the remaining hair, that was already coloured, went red. Total disaster. poor girl!
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Seriously? I often cut my own hair. When I occasionally do fork out the $40 for someone else to do it usually I feel ripped off – the only reason it looks any better than when I do it is because of the fancy blow dry at the salon. As soon as I wash it myself it looks as normal.
I’ll save my money thanks and spend it on more worthwhile things, like rent, food etc. No DIY plastic surgery, sure. But then I would make that rule- no plastic surgery full stop.
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Try getting it cut in canberra and paying $65+ for JUST a cut!
Im a home-trimmer too
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Me too. I mean to go and get it cut properly but I can never find the time for the whole wash, cut, blow dry palaver, so I end up picking up the scissors at home, often. I usually can’t tell the difference between my cut and and hairdressers.
It’s only hairdressing – not rocket surgery.
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rocket surgery?
made me laff
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I live in Perth and I seriously struggle to get my cut hair for less than $90…. it is very long though.
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You don’t have something like SuperCuts in Canberra? You know the ones, $16 for a haircut, found in most shopping centres.
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My salon in Holt is very good and for $65 you’d get a cut AND a 1/4 head of foils. Shop around!
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bo ho hair at gungahlin- all fantastic, wash cut and blow dry $60.00
Cut and colour for my very long hair, include wash n blow dry $85- awesome- they always do a great job…
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Boho $85 for a colour? I go there and my last colour/cut combo was $150. Was it an apprentice doing your hair or something or was I just totally ripped off? I have price envy….
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Sounds great – but my problem is i get charged extra because its ‘long hair’ and the way it grows they basically charge me for a restyle every time
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A restyle? Really? My hair is down to my bra strap and I’m never charged for a restyle. I’m amazed at what some salons try to get away with
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They charge you more to cut it because it’s long?
That makes no sense to me. Why does it matter how long it is when they cut it? A trim is a trim regardless of how long it is..
Charging more to colour long hair I get, but more for cutting sounds like a rip off.
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Yep they really do. My friends mum (in my hometown) is a hairdresser and even she said she isnt suprised I get charged extra. I have thin hair, but about 4 tonne of it. Even on a good day it takes over an hour to get the layers right.
I dont think hairdressers are trying to rip me off, i think im just a special case of too much hair to cut (to make it look nice).
A friend of mine has ‘normal’ length hair and gets charged $85 at Rhubarb @ Lyneham for JUST a cut.
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Wow $40! That’s fantastic. I moved from Sydney to Brisbane 2 years ago and still can’t believe how much more expensive haircuts are here! I get different colour foils etc etc so I expect it to be expensive, but what used to cost me around $100-150 in Sydney now costs $250-300 in Brisbane! Of course I could just stop colouring it…or shave my head…. First world problem for sure.
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I was very surprised that $40 is a rip off to some people. My hairdresser (in Melbourne CBD) charges $92 for a trim and blowdry. I would consider $40 an absolute bargain, I guess it’s all relative.
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i paid $98 for a restyle, it wasn’t a restyle really, the shape was still there, they just had to trim it but now i go to BIBA in Melbourne CBD. they are all students but as they’re getting assessed they do a pretty good job. it’s around $25+ depending on what you want
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Sun in = Natural Bright Orange horrific hair. Enough said. Other than that just some overzealousness with the eyebrow wax but really nothing in comparison to this.
Those photos are awful, stupid as you would have to be it’s a bit sad that she may not recover.
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Never really tried anything outrageous myself, but as a young’un mum used to cut our hair herself.
One day she cut the top of my ear. I have never forgiven her.
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My mum used to cut our hair too – and one time she cut it ALL wonky after one too many drinks. I never let her cut my hair again!
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My mum did the same to me…and I never forgave her either…I truly am future you!
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I stupidly asked my mum to trim my split ends a few weeks before my wedding (student at the time, no funds) and she chopped off 10cm! Never, ever again.
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Growing up my older sister and I weren’t allowed to dye our hair so when my sister got her licence she decided to go out and buy a DIY hair streaking kit. She got me to do the ‘highlights’ for her!
Needless to say it was a disaster and of course our mum found out and my sister had to spend months re-dying her hair!
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Can’t say I’ve had any DIY disasters.. I’ve only ever done the DIY hair colours and they actually turned out better than that time I went to Tony and Guy and ended up with stripey hair…
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This advice has come at just the right time for me.
I had my haircut three weeks ago and I now have a fringe – the problem is my hair has grown so quickly that the fringe is already too long.
A few friends have suggested I trim it myself…..I can’t believe I was even thinking about it, thanks for reminding me this wouldn’t be a good idea
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I would never cut my hair myself but I do trim my fringe.
Just don’t make any straight cuts and I am usually OK.
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most good hairdressers will give you a free fringe trim in between haircuts. I’ve done a few home jobs myself, and although they are not bad, they still look like home jobs. Give your hairdresser a call
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I’m a fringe trimmer only. I wouldn’t try anything else tho. just take tiny bits off, don’t do heaps, you can’t put it back on if it’s too much!
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My hairdresser charges me $3 for a fringe-trim in between haircuts. Well worth the money as I would be hopeless at doing it myself! Ask your own hairdresser, or any hairdresser nearby to work or home, as having a fringe trim can delay the need for a cut for several weeks. It should not cost much at all.
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Fringe trim 101: hold hair between fingers at length you want to take off, trim vertically (with scissors going same direction as hair, straight up). Gives a pro finish without giving the straight across look. Watch at the hairdresser next time – this is how they do it
!
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That photo. EXACTLY that photo. *shudder*
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My sister wanted to go blonde so bleached her dark brownhair. Her hair ended up the colour of a pineapple. She continued to bleach it as soon as her roots started showing and it got to the point where she couldn’t touch it because it would break off.
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I loooove the DIY Waxing story – http://www.toilette-paper.com/jokes/miscellaneous/femalehairremoval.html ….. pure gold!
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So funny and a little too close to situations I have found myself in.
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oh that is hilarious. i can just imagine the “oh shit” feeling as everything just seems to get worse and worse
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