During the pandemic, many people learned to cut their hair themselves at home. For some, this skill transferred into the post-pandemic world. Others, however, still prefer to go to a professional for a good haircut . In fact, 76% of American women say they go to a hair salon regularly.
For this woman, a simple haircut turned into a nightmare resembling a suspenseful thriller. After she found out that her hairdresser had been keeping her cut hair, the situation snowballed into inappropriate messages, stalking, and even fear for her life. As one commenter pointed out, it’s “giving ‘Baby Reindeer’ vibes.”
A good hairdresser is hard to find these days
Woman at salon curling hair with hair stylist using curling iron, focusing on hairstyling and hair care experience.
This woman was weirded out by hers when she discovered they’d been keeping her cut hair in containers
Woman shares a crazy story about her hair stylist after discovering a weird shrine involving her hair at the salon.
Woman shares unusual story about her hair stylist after finding a weird shrine made from cut hair in the salon.
Woman shares a crazy story about her hair stylist after discovering a weird shrine related to her hair.
Close-up of a hair stylist cutting brown hair with scissors, highlighting a strange story about the hair stylist.
Text describing a woman’s discovery of a weird hair shrine created by her hair stylist with her hair in a clear tote.
Close-up of a woman describing a weird hair stylist shrine filled with discarded hair and printed pictures with dates.
Woman with curly red hair looking shocked, holding hands near face, reacting to hair stylist story about a strange hair shrine.
Woman shares a crazy story about her hair stylist after discovering a weird shrine related to her hair.
Text message describing a woman finding a weird shrine related to her hair stylist and requesting an explanation.
Text message from woman to hair stylist expressing discomfort over finding a weird shrine for her hair and ending stylist relationship.
Technically, hair that has been cut off still belongs to the client unless they’ve agreed to donate or sell it
Although the stylist in this story was clearly disturbed and stored the author’s hair for potentially nefarious reasons, we as clients don’t really know much about what happens with our hair after a hairdresser cuts it.
Throwing it out is the most logical and common explanation many of us would probably lean toward. However, we might be surprised to learn what some hairdressers or even hair owners do with their locks once they’re cut. According to Green Salon Collective , a UK-based sustainability initiative, 99% of hair cuttings from salons end up in landfills.
But there’s another way to dispose of it. According to Simone Jones, co-chair of Hair and Barber New Zealand, most hairdressers donate cut hair. Some give it away to organizations that make wigs for cancer patients and survivors; others donate it to alopecia patients.
“If we’ve cut off some hair that’s not long enough to donate for wigs, we might take some of it to do colour swatches or to do some practice,” Jones told The Spinoff. She said that it’s hard to imagine that anyone else would want to buy someone else’s cut hair. “That hair actually still belongs to the client,” Jones shared her opinion.
Hair cuttings can be used in several planet-friendly ways
Surprisingly (and perhaps a little disturbingly), there are other uses for human hair . Did you know that we can use it to clean up oil spills? But in 2021, the GSC started an initiative of placing nylon or cotton tubes filled with human hair clippings on beaches to stop oil spills from spreading further.
Perhaps you wouldn’t think it, but hair salons contribute significantly to landfill waste. Research shows that hair salons in the U.S. and Canada throw away about 31.5 tons of human hair per day. In Europe, that number is even seven times higher. If it doesn’t end up in the landfill, it gets incinerated and contributes to the release of even more harmful greenhouse gases.
Hair is like a magnet for oil. 95% of hair’s make-up is keratin, a fibrous protein that essentially attracts oil from water. According to a 2018 study, buffers made of human hair can absorb 0.84 grams of oil onto their surface for every gram of hair. Compared to polypropylene, which is usually used to mop up oil spills, that’s significantly more.
Hair can also be a great fertilizer. It’s rich in nitrogen, and one strand of hair contains five times more nitrogen than a pile of cow manure. In the 2000s, scientists tried hair as fertilizer and found that it’s useful for growing basil, sage, and peppermint, horticultural crops like lettuce , and ornamental plants like marigold and foxglove.
Hair is also great for mulching. Researchers found that it helps prevent water loss for avocado, lemon, and olive trees. “If you use our hair mats on top of the soil, you use 48 percent less water,” Mattia Carenini, co-author of the study, explained to National Geographic.
“I may have UNDER-reacted to the issue,” the woman later wrote
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Reddit conversation discussing a woman’s crazy story about her hair stylist after finding a weird hair shrine.
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Woman sharing a crazy story about her hair stylist after discovering a weird shrine related to her hair.
Hair in small containers with other items, suggesting a bizarre shrine linked to a hair stylist’s strange behavior.
Comment discussing fear of hair used in witchcraft and disturbing discovery of hair and personal items in a box.
Comment discussing a creepy story about a woman’s hair stylist and a strange hair shrine obsession.
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Comment discussing a woman’s story about her hair stylist and discovering a weird hair shrine with possible witchcraft links.
Reddit comment discussing a crazy story about a woman’s hair stylist after finding a weird shrine for her hair.
Woman sharing a crazy story about her hair stylist after discovering a weird shrine related to her hair.
The hairstylist’s behavior continued to worry her, as she received a bunch of alarming messages
Text excerpt describing a woman dealing with her hairstylist keeping her hair and contacting law enforcement.
Text post detailing a woman’s timeline after discovering a weird tub full of her hair from her hairstylist.
Text message conversation about repeated contact attempts from a hair stylist after finding a weird shrine related to hair.
Woman sitting on bed holding a cup and phone, reflecting on a crazy story about her hair stylist.
Woman shares a crazy story about her hair stylist after discovering a strange shrine related to her hair.
Text messages showing a woman confronting her hair stylist about keeping her biological material and a weird shrine.
Text messages showing a woman’s conversation about fees and issues with her hair stylist after finding a weird shrine.
Text excerpt from a woman sharing a crazy story about her hair stylist and discovering a weird hair shrine.
Woman shares an absolutely crazy story about her hair stylist after finding a weird shrine for her hair.
Text excerpt describing a woman receiving unhinged voicemails from her hair stylist after finding a weird shrine for her hair.
Text excerpt showing a woman describing her hair stylist and feeling freaked out after finding a weird shrine for her hair.
Text excerpt discussing a woman planning to file a police report about her hair stylist’s weird behavior and invoice.
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Text excerpt describing a woman’s uneasy experience and communication with her hair stylist about legal advice.
“This person is certainly not stable,” the woman pointed out when replying to commenters
Woman shares crazy story about hair stylist after finding a weird shrine related to her hair care experience.
Reddit conversation about woman’s crazy story involving her hair stylist and finding a weird shrine for her hair.
Screenshot of online discussion where a woman shares a crazy story about her hair stylist and a weird hair shrine discovery.
Reddit comment advising caution about sharing personal info after woman finds weird shrine for her hair stylist’s hair.
Commenter offers support and advice about a disturbing hair stylist story involving a weird hair shrine and legal concerns.
Reddit user shares a crazy story about her hair stylist after discovering a weird shrine related to her hair.
Later, she received another disturbing message: “Ur never coming back dont makeme laugh”
User sharing update about creepy interaction with hair stylist involving weird shrine found for her hair.
Woman shares a crazy story about her hair stylist after discovering a strange shrine related to her hair.
Text message showing a bizarre conversation related to a woman’s crazy story about her hair stylist and a mysterious hair shrine.
The story only got crazier from there, as the hairstylist attempted to get the woman’s credit card cancelled
Text post about a woman sharing a crazy story involving her hairstylist and a weird shrine for her hair.
Text excerpt describing a woman’s story about her hair stylist, focusing on legal issues and a strange shrine.
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Woman shares a crazy story about her hair stylist after finding a strange shrine related to her hair.
Woman shares a crazy story involving her hair stylist and discovering a strange shrine related to her hair.
Woman shares a crazy story about her hair stylist after discovering a weird shrine related to her hair.
Woman shares a crazy story about her hair stylist after discovering a strange shrine related to her hair.
Woman shares a crazy story about her hair stylist after discovering a strange shrine for her hair at the salon.
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Text excerpt discussing limited information due to legal process and anticipation of how the situation will unfold.
Text excerpt showing a woman sharing her experience and relief after dealing with her hair stylist and a strange hair shrine discovery.
“Hopefully, the police has scared them enough,” commenters sent good wishes to the woman and her husband
User shares a crazy story about her hair stylist after discovering a strange shrine for her hair.
Screenshot of an online conversation where a woman shares a crazy story about her hair stylist and a weird shrine for her hair.
Reddit user shares a crazy story about her hair stylist and finding a weird shrine related to her hair.
In a final update months later, the woman detailed how she had to change her life to get rid of the crazy hairstylist
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Woman shares an unusual story about her hair stylist after discovering a strange shrine related to her hair.
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Woman shares a crazy story about her hair stylist after finding a strange and weird shrine dedicated to her hair.
Text about a woman surprised by her hair stylist after discovering a weird shrine related to her hair.
Text excerpt detailing concerns about a hair stylist involving phone spoofing and law enforcement review for evidence.
Woman shares a crazy story about her hair stylist after discovering a strange shrine related to her hair.
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Text excerpt from a woman sharing a crazy story about her hair stylist and a legal dispute involving a no-contact order.
Text excerpt describing strange behavior after finding a weird shrine related to hair stylist and hair.
Text excerpt about a woman sharing a crazy story about her hair stylist and finding a weird shrine related to her hair.
Text about a woman’s experience with her hair stylist and issues with a slashed tire near the salon location in a small town.
Text excerpt describing a woman’s story about her hair stylist’s legal troubles and a strange shrine related to her hair.
Text excerpt discussing a woman’s story involving her hair stylist and a defamation lawsuit after finding a weird shrine.
Text describing a woman sharing a crazy story about her hair stylist after finding a strange shrine for her hair.
Text excerpt describing legal defense and decision to move after troubling experience with hair stylist shrine discovery.
Text describing a woman sharing a crazy story about her hair stylist after finding a weird shrine for her hair.
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Text excerpt detailing a woman’s story about her hair stylist involving legal issues and restraining orders.
“Mentally ill people can wreak such havoc in people’s lives,” commenters reacted
Comment expressing sympathy for the woman’s story about her hair stylist and the weird hair shrine discovery.
Reddit user expresses shock over a woman’s story about her hair stylist and a weird hair shrine discovery.
Comment from user wcs4696 expressing sympathy for someone’s experience with a hair stylist and hoping for healing.
User comment about a crazy story involving a woman’s hair stylist and discovering a weird hair shrine online.
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