Mother claims home bleaching disaster MELTED her hair

Mother cried for three days after a home bleaching disaster made her hair ‘melt’ away and fall out in clumps – forcing her to wear a WIG

  • Eden Gilliam, 26, decided to return to blonde again after years of being brunette
  • Visited hair shop in Tennessee and claims was told to buy bleach and ‘relaxant’
  • Bleached hair at home before treatment and says it melted her hair to her head
  • As she washed it out in the shower, Eden claims hair fell out in clumps at her feet
  • Once luscious long locks now coarse, short, awfully frizzy and hard to deal with
  • Eden is sharing her story to warn others of the risks of bleaching hair at home

A mum-of-three ‘cried for three days’ after a home bleaching disaster left her hair ‘melted to her scalp’ and falling out in her hands.

Eden Gilliam, 26, decided to dye her hair blonde two weeks ago after years of being brunette.

Upon visiting a hair care shop in Tennessee, she claims she was advised to buy bleach and a hair ‘relaxant’.

When she returned home, Eden bleached her hair before putting on the treatment – but claims the combination left her once beautiful locks ‘melting to her head’.

Eden Gilliam, 26, pictured before, decided to dye her hair blonde two weeks ago after years of being brunette

When she returned home from the hair shop, Eden bleached her hair before putting on the hair relaxant treatment – and claims the combination left her once beautiful locks ‘melting to her head’

Jumping in the shower, the stay-at-home mum frantically washed the treatment out, but as she ran her hands through her hair, it fell out in clumps around her feet.

Eden claims her once luscious locks changed from being ‘really long’ and healthy, to an irreparable mess within minutes, disintegrating in her hands.

She is now urging other women to visit salons to get their hair dyed and hopes to prove home bleaching is not worth the risk.

Eden, from Monteagle in Tennessee, said: ‘It looked like my hair had melted to my head. It was coming out in clumps.

Eden claims her once luscious locks changed from being ‘really long’ and healthy, to an irreparable mess within minutes

Eden is now urging other women to visit salons to get their hair dyed and hopes to prove home bleaching is not worth the risk

‘I immediately panicked and hopped in the shower. Handfuls of it were coming out.

‘I was running my hands through my hair and the one thing I can compare it to is in movies when chemo patients are in the shower and their hair keeps coming out.

‘The more I brushed my hand through it, the more it was hitting the shower floor.

‘It’s the hardest thing. I went through a phase where I cried for three days solid. It’s so depressing.

‘My hair couldn’t handle it anymore. The bleach had already damaged it so much, then when I put the treatment on it made it worse.’

Eden told how handfuls of her hair came out in the shower and likened it to ‘chemo patients in the movies’

Eden, who is naturally blonde, decided to give herself a makeover after years of looking after her kids.

She claims she was advised to use the relaxer by a hair care shop advisor but later learned the treatment is usually used on ‘more resistant’ African-American hair.

Eden said: ‘[After it went wrong] I called my friend Kristen asking, “What can I do?”

‘She said, “Eden, there’s nothing you can do. It’s gone. The best thing to do is cut it and hope it repairs”.

‘I’m naturally a blonde anyway and a few years ago I dyed my hair brown. After having a few kids, I decided to go back to blonde hair.

Eden, who is naturally blonde, decided to give herself a makeover after years of looking after her kids. Pictured before the dye incident with her partner Ian Woodlee, 27, and their sons Slayter, six, and Knoxton, three

‘I went to a hair care shop and they’d given me bleach and a treatment for it. That’s the first time I’d dyed it in years.

‘I had really long hair too. It was past my ribs and I’d been growing it for years.

‘I treated my hair so well. I would oil it and take care of it every day. I never put hot irons on it.

‘Kristen helped me wash all the stuff out, but my hair was so melted it was almost to my scalp. It just curled up and frizzed to my scalp.

‘She got me some oils and said not to do anything else to it but condition it. If I could avoid washing it, don’t wash it at all.

Eden, pictured with Ian, claims she was advised to use the relaxer by a hair care shop advisor but later learned the treatment is usually used on ‘more resistant’ African-American hair

The mother-of-three, pictured with partner Ian wearing a wig, says she keeps leaving coconut oil on her hair hoping to revive it

‘I wasn’t supposed to mix [the bleach and relaxant]. She called the lady from the hair care shop, who denied ever selling them to me.’

Eden has now been inundated with offers of help, with her old school even offering to donate money for a wig.

Her ‘coarse’ hair now goes barely past her ears and her three children, aged between one and five-years-old, miss playing with it before bedtime.

Eden said: ‘It’s really short right now. It probably goes down a little past my ears.

‘I still can’t do anything with it because it’s so fraught and coarse. I keep leaving coconut oil on it hoping to bring it back.

Eden, pictured with one-year-old Scottlyn, has now been inundated with offers of help, with her old school even offering to donate money for a wig

‘My kids can’t get used to it. They loved my long hair and always want to run their hands through it but they can’t now.

‘I don’t even want it touched, it’s awfully frizzy and hard to deal with right now.

‘It stays so greasy on my head all the time that you really can’t style it – especially being as short as it is.

‘People have been very nice. I’ve been sent in wigs. The school I went to years ago saw my post and wanted to send money so I could get a wig.

‘I’m going to try some wigs, but it’s a case of leaving it short really. I’d urge people not to bleach their hair at home. Wait until you can get help.

Pictured wearing one of the wigs she bought after the bleaching incident, Eden says she struggles to style her own hair now

After seeing her post on Facebook, Eden’s old school offered to send her money so she could afford a wig (pictured wearing a wig funded by kind strangers)

‘At least take a step back and know what you’re getting into – or go to a salon. It’ll be worth it in the end.’

Eden’s friend and hairdresser, Kristen Rankin, 25, claims the two treatments were a toxic mix that should not be used on Caucasian hair.

Kristen, also from Tennessee, said: ‘I feel terrible for her. [It was the] mixing of chemicals. The relaxer after bleach is what melted it but the bleach over box colour had already damaged it.

Eden, pictured with her son Slayter trying on new wigs, says her natural hair is now awfully frizzy and hard to deal with

‘Box colour is rough on your hair if you try to remove it because it contains metallic salts which doesn’t mix well with bleach.

‘Relaxers are mainly for African American hair which is much more resistant than Caucasian hair. It was just too much for her hair to handle.

‘Anyone with training would have known not to sell someone with bleached hair a relaxer.’

Source: Read Full Article