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Hi,

I am interested in interviewing MUAs who have had customers stalk them at work on the Swatch of Horrors Podcast. Please message me and we can work something out. If you don't want to be interviewed but are willing to have me read your story on the show, drop your story in the comments and I'll read them on a future episode. Please follow the subreddit rules to make sure you aren't specific with job titles, company names, etc.

Thanks!

Hi,

Looking for great horror stories from people who work or worked in the beauty industry. I would like to read them on my new podcast where me and my guests discuss horror stories while working in beauty.

Also looking for guests to share their stories.

Check out Swatch of Horrors podcast on most podcasting platforms to hear other horror stories.

Hello, we are looking for professional makeup artists or employees from beauty stores, such as Sephora and Ulta, to take a survey for an independent study we are doing for our Pre-Engineering Magnet project. We would greatly appreciate any cooperation. Thank you again!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfHfvtIJ1L52mNw-lLc1oufg9ZhJvpMuQg0xVBmjXzh9sNT6A/viewform?usp=pp_url

I'm putting a few stories into one post because this place is pretty quiet and I don't want to spam XD this is a selection of the best, I have more and if ye want to read more, I can do more posts. There's a moral at the end of each if you're not arsed reading the whole thing XD

Context: Irish beauty therapist with international qualifications and 5+ years experience.

Story 1 (spa job) Man comes into the spa with his wife. They're both booked in for back, neck and shoulder massage. I call him in and, as usual, confirm what he's having done. He looks at me like I've grown an extra head.

Him: I don't want a massage. I don't even like massage. (this treatment shouldn't have been news to him, he booked in for the special offer, which is, specifically, a 30min massage)

Me: that's fine, we can do another treatment.

5min later, after sifting through the treatment menu Him: I want a hot towel shave.

Me: eyeing his suspiciously stubble-free face when was the last time you shaved?

Him: this morning.

I then had to explain why I couldn't do a hot towel shave when there's nothing actually there to shave, and by the time the argument was over, we had run out of time, and because he didn't actually get any treatment, and I didn't have time to do something for him, he didn't have to pay for anything.

Moral of the story: don't book in for something you know you don't like, and make sure you have something to shave if you want a shave.

Story 2 (spa)

man on phone my wife told me I need a Brazilian, so I'd like to book in for one.

Me: that's fine, come in about 5 minutes before your treatment to fill in a consultation.

Him: why do I need a consultation?

Me: just to make sure you don't have any medical issues before you have treatment done. It's standard procedure for new clients.

Him: treatment?

Me: after a few questions, I discover that he has no idea what he's asking for. So I explain as delicately as I can what a Brazilian is

Him: wait, what?! I thought a Brazilian was a kind of drink?! (I can hear laughing in the background at this point)

Me: we don't offer drinks here. If you would like a facial, waxing, massage, makeup or mani/pedi, we can certainly do that. But alas, no bottle service.

Him: apologises and hangs up

Moral of the story: if someone tells you you need something and you don't know what it is, do some research before attempting to book.

Story 3 (spa) Man comes in late in the evening, myself and assistant manager are the last two standing. We have an hour free. He's mid to late 40s, balding, slightly overweight, wearing an expensive watch, swaggers in as if he's god's gift.

Man: I'd like a full body massage.

Me: fabulous, we have some time so one of us can do that now.

Man: great! Can I give a tip? (tipping isn't really a thing in Ireland, it's appreciated but we're not going to curse the client if they don't, and we're not technically losing out if they don't)

Me: tipping is at the clients discretion, if you want to give a tip, you're more than welcome to.

Him: but can I give a tip... Under the table?

Me: understands what he's getting at, but plays dumb

He let it go after that, and went to get changed without another word about it. Assistant manager decides she doesn't want to leave me alone in a room with him, so she does his massage, and sends me into the office behind reception when he's getting dressed again.

Him, to AM when he's paying: looks her up and down you know, you could have had it all.

AM: plays dumb

Him: walks out redfaced

Moral of the story: sometimes playing dumb makes a creepy client back down. Sometimes it doesn't. Be cautious when doing this. I hope you never have to.

Story 4 (spa):

A woman is booked in with friends. She is having a 90min pregnancy massage, while her friends spend an hour in the thermal suite before getting 30min massages. She is about 30 weeks pregnant. When they arrive, she wants to go to the thermal suite with them. I explain that pregnant women are not permitted in the thermal suite, and even if they were, it would cut an hour off her treatment time, and I don't have time to do the full treatment an hour later. She does not understand why she can't go into the thermal suite, so I explain that the temperatures in there could be harmful during pregnancy. She accepts this, but still isn't impressed. Goes into the changing room to put on a robe and some slippers. 10 minutes later, there's no sign of her. I check on her and she's fully dressed, talking to her friends. We're 15min late now. So I go back outside and wait. Another 10min rolls by. I check in again, she's STILL fully dressed, chatting to her friends. Every time I check on her, she rolls her eyes and tells me she'll be out "in a minute". She finally deigns to grace me with her presence at 30min into her treatment time, and I have to break the news that I no longer have time to do a 90min treatment, since she spent 30min of it standing in the changing room chatting to her friends, who also now have 30min less in the thermal suite.

This did not go down well. I literally had to show her the time, tell her what time her treatment was supposed to start, I had another client immediately after her, and no, I couldn't fob the next client off on someone else, because we were fully booked for the day. I eventually talked her into getting a 60min treatment instead, and when we were finished, she complained to the manager, who said the polite version of "even pregnant women don't take half an hour to take off a loose dress and ballet flats, my therapists have better things to do than stand around and wait for you" and she paid full price for the treatment.

Moral: your therapist is on a schedule that is timed right down to the minute. You cannot expect a 90min treatment to be done in 60. That's not how time works. Also pregnancy is not an excuse for rudeness.

Story 5 (spa) Woman comes in looking for a cheap deal on massage. We tell her about the specials on offer, and she informs us that these are too expensive, and she wants something cheaper. We tell her we don't have anything cheaper and that if she wants a massage the cheapest she's going to get is the special. This is not good enough. She starts to rant about how she knows the manager personally, is really good friends with her, and should therefore get a discount. Manager looks up from the computer, where she has been sitting the whole time without saying a word, and says "really? This is news to me." woman goes scarlet and slinks out without a booking.

Moral: you should probably make sure the manager isn't right in front of you before lying about being her bestie. Also therapists tend to have a little list of people who are allowed to have a friends and family discount, if there is one available. If you're not on it, you're shit out of luck.

I can name everything on my face that I used. How do people just NOT KNOW and then expect you to read there mind.

It’s just like... ouch.

I just found this sub and would love to hear of any new stories that anyone may have!

Just found this place and thought it would be perfect for some of my stories. :D

My first job was as a receptionist at a hair salon. I worked there for about 1 1/2 years through college and I have to tell you, that job made me consider getting a degree in psychology.

Not only were the customer's crazy but the people were too. But this story is about a customer.

The woman came in wanting to get her hair dyed to match a hairpiece she had. Anyone who works in hair knows that the dyes they use are not an exact science. You want to match a color but they can't just snap their fingers and get that exact color. They have to mix some dyes to get as close as possible. So the stylist (she was one of the managers and actually the person I went to and still go to for my hair) did the best she good and got incredibly close. The hairpiece had been an ashy brown, they got it in the right area but a little warmer. It looked good though.

And on to the cut, the lady kept saying she didn't want layers, but wanted her hair to look like her stylist's. The stylist had a lot of layers. That itself was tricky but once again she did what she could to get it the same way without the layers.

Now it needs to be said that this woman's hair was already bad. It was damaged and while cutting it, small sections that had previously be bleached for highlights were breaking. It wasn't really noticeable and still looked good but some of those were a little shorter as a result.

They finished up, she had nothing bad to say about it and left.

About two 1/2 weeks later this woman decided she didn't like it. She apparently waited those two weeks to compare it to the hairpiece and said it wasn't the right color. She's also complaining about the layers (aka, broken sections) and how they didn't lay right.

Now this place gave you 1 week for a cut and 2 weeks for a color to come back to get it redone if there was an issue. She was outside of that and had also admitted to using other products that could have faded the color so they wouldn't do it for free.

She didn't like that answer. While the stylist had another person in their chair, this crazy woman stood there yelling at her for a good half hour about it. And I mean yelling. There were only a few other customer's in the salon and all of them had this look on their face that let you know they thought she was crazy.

In the end, they redid her color, but she was required to pay before hand.

And in the end, her hair looked like the ashy brown pile of crap she wanted.

So glad to have found this! Even though it seems a little quiet

I worked in a salon for 9+years as a stylist/assistant manager and I have heard, seen and done things people probably wouldn't even think of.

When I first started, I was an extremely shy, scared, meek girl who had 0 self confidence. I had never really had a job like this before and was terrified of getting in trouble. This lady comes in to get a haircut. No problem. I take her to the shampoo chair and start washing her hair. Let me tell you that personal hygiene was very low on her priority list. Anyways, I'm washing her hair and my head is very sensitive so I prefer to be gentle, she asks me too scrub Harder. Not a problem.

Well I guess I was doing a good job because she started moaning. Not just a little. It was like she was rehearsing did an Herbal Essences commercial. She was so loud and wouldn't stop. I had actually backed right up to the wall and was holding my hands up. Then to make matters worse, she looks at me and days " wow you're lucky to be wearing your clothes! !" And just started laughing like a maniac. I didn't know what to do so I laughed to.

Even worse, I still had to cut her hair. She kept making comments which I either ignored or giggled at to try and get her to stop.

I refused to cut her hair after this.

X post from /r/talesfromretail

So when my Mom was younger, she worked at a beauty salon shop, and one day, she had a customer who wanted a perm (Which is where you take rods and curl the hair, then use a metric ton of chemicals to make it stay), so my mom gave her a perm, then they went on their merry way.

Four weeks later, the same woman comes in (with "ruined" hair), yelling at my mom about how bad of a job she did, then my mom simply asked: "When did you last washed your hair?" The lady replied: "since I got this thing!" Then my mom told her simply: "Go home and wash it, then come back. To apologize."

She never did.

I used to work as a receptionist in a higher end salon located in a spa. While our prices were much higher than usual due to the location, we were always upfront with them. The technicians even have to get the guest to sign off on a price sheet of what they are going to do before hand so that there are no surprises. It was a steady night and everything was going smoothly when a technician brought up her guest. She thanks her and then I proceed to charge her for her services. G=Guest

Me: So, for your blow out today it will be $95. How would you like to pay?

Guest gives a deer in the headlights face

G: Um, uh, can I cancel?

wat

Me: Well, unfortunately, the service has already been performed. I can go check with the technician to see if the price is correct?

G: Uh, yes. Thanks.

I go back to make sure that the technician told her the price prior to the service. She said that she had and the lady had even asked about how much it would be for a haircut. I tell the technician that the guest asked if she could cancel. She laughed and said that she would gladly rewet her hair if she would like.

I went back up to the front and explained that she had been quoted the price prior and that's how much it would be. I even asked if she would like to speak to a manager, but she declined and paid.

A phone call to our store...

Do you keep black hair products in the glass cabinets under lock and key? The Asian beauty supply store does that and that's a pain so I don't shop there. I wanted to find out if you do before I make the trip to the store.

Hair extensions and tweezers are locked, but not in glass cabinets or anything.

What about the relaxers?

No, they're just on the shelves in the aisles.

Even the high end ones? Mizani? Keracare? Phyto? They're not behind the register?

Nope. Out on the floor.

Ohhh, okay!

Starts having a conversation with someone in the background and hangs up the phone.

I am currently at Cosmetology School, studying to become a Beauty Therapist. Every service done at the school is for free, so you can imagine the sorts of people that come in. I'm not saying that all of them are strange, but a lot of them are.

Anyway, I had a client booked in for a 1/2 leg wax straight after lunch, so I had to cut my lunch short so that I could prepare the room. That's not a big deal, in fact, I actually enjoy setting up the room.

1:00 comes around and I'm waiting for my client to show up. At 1:10 I'm starting to get annoyed because she really should have called to say that she was going to be late, and by 1:30 I've had to give up my room so that someone else can use it.

At 1:40 I have another client for an eyebrow tint, so I go and do that. By the time that I was finished, the client has finally showed up.

I greet her and she lets me know that she has been waiting for five minutes. Okay.

I set up the room, put on some relaxing music, and get her settled on the bed. I ask her some questions and then I leave her so that she can remove her pants and put on the drape.

When I enter the room again, I am almost blown away by the foul smell that is emanating from this woman. A little body odour is okay (it was a very hot day) but this stench was next level. It almost smelled rotten. I told her that it was a little stuffy in the room and opened a window.

As I was cleansing her legs, I noticed that what I thought was just her skin was actually a fine coating of dirt and that dirt was turning to mud. It was as if this woman was a cat and had been rolling around in dirt all morning.

I got a bowl of water, cleansed her legs to the best of my ability, and went to town with the waxing. When I was finished, her legs were white whilst her feet were completely brown.

Do you remember Bratz Dolls? She literally looked like someone had come along and put Sasha's feet onto Chloe's body. It was totally insane.

Once she had left I put a scented candle in the room because my God, that smell was lingering.

The moral of the story is that before you go to have any service done you need to have a shower. Do not come in with dusty legs and feet because it is gross, and please remember to wear deodorant.

So I work at a retail beauty supply store. The store manager has recently cleaned house because all the previous employees got caught stealing hair extensions. I'll be editing/updating this by the minute.

There are "stock character" type customers who come into the store. Foreign girls/women who come in looking for some product we don't even have in the US. Weird older men that browse the hairbrushes and hit on me. Old ladies with smoker's voices who always buy hair color. Customers who buy from our multicultural/ethnic product category. That is actually the product category's official name: multicultural/ethnic.

Before I started working at the beauty supply store where I work now, there were three employees who all got fired on the same day because they'd been stealing hair extensions and abusing coupons, and finally got caught when the store manager decided to do a random bag/purse check. They all got caught with high quality remy hair in their bags, but one girl in particular had also stolen glue and a weave cap. Which to me is almost a crime in and of itself, taking remy hair extensions and gluing them to a weave cap. But I digress. People will steal that hair before they steal money from the register.

Mind you, I am the customer in this story, however, I felt it would be a lovely addition to this subreddit. Anyway; I was at Sally's with my mother, and french braided my hair. The manager of Sally's awed at my ability to do this blind. She then noticed when I was trying to do a fishbraid and was struggling, so she swooped over, all giddy. "Oh, I can do that for you! I haven't been able to do this in forever. My kids don't live with me, and when my nieces and nephews come over they're all haired out." She even made an imitation of her niece asking for an Elsa braid, ahahaha.

So I got a free fishtail braid. It made me proud. :D

Tl;Dr: I got my hair fishtail braided for free by the Manager's of Sally's.

Huh. I guess I'm gonna be the first post in this sub. Ok, then!

I just finished my esthetics program (IL, 750 hours) a couple weeks ago. I have a whole bunch of stories about all the crazy clients we got, and of course of the class hijinks, but I think I'll start off with the appointment that almost made me quit.

So I was assigned a client that wanted a back facial (treatment of the skin of the back) and a back + underarm wax. First time client, new to the school, so I would have to have them fill out a profile and release. Now, our profiles ask about any medical conditions or medications that would be a contraindication to any service that we perform.

My client checks in. I go to the front desk, and my client turns out to be an obese African-American woman in her 70s, who is also partially disabled and will need help dressing and getting on and off the bed. K, no problem, I can handle this.

I take her into the consultation area and try to go through the profile, but she starts getting annoyed and yelling that it's taking too long and she just wants to start. I press on, since we're doing waxing, and keep asking her if she has any conditions or medications that could pose a risk. She gets really huffy with me and keeps saying "Naw! Naw! I'm FINE! I just wanna get on the damn bed!"

She signs the school release and we get her changed, and, with much effort, on the bed, face down. She's fussing about this and that, so the first five minutes are spent arranging bolsters and pillows to her comfort. My teacher tells me that I should do the waxing first, then use the back facial to calm the skin down.

I prepare the skin, we use an oil instead of powder prior to waxing. This woman's back was pretty intensely hairy, honestly it was like pubic hair, but all the way up her back. I'm a hairy lady myself too, so I can sympathize, I'm trying to warn her about the area we'll need to go over without being indelicate. She seems to understand, so I go ahead and apply the first coat of wax. I put the strip down, smooth, and PULL

AND A BIG OL CHUNK OF HER DAMN SKIN COMES RIGHT THE FUCK OFF

She, understandably, starts screaming and screeching, and my teacher runs in the door to find me holding a strip of wax + hair + SKIN, I'm totally frozen, stunned in horror. Client is bleeding, like a LOT, and she's screaming about how she's gonna sue me and get me banned and then a couple other students come in and start gasping and I have no idea what I did wrong or what to do so I just start crying!

My magical, wonderful teacher (who I have MANY stories about) somehow manages to whisk me away and sticks me in the closet to calm down. We have to call an ambulance for the woman and everything, two classmates had to hold gauze and try to staunch the bleeding.

Turns out that she was diabetic, and on blood thinners, and despite the fact that I had asked her specifically if she were either diabetic or on blood thinners, since it's part of our waxing consultation, she had just decided that I was being nosy and I didn't actually need to know.

It took my teacher a couple hours to convince me that it wasn't my fault and that I wasn't going to be sued/expelled/arrested, and that I should't drop out. It took her almost a week to convince me to wax anybody again.

I can't say I'm glad for the experience, it made me really unsure and paranoid for a time, but my teacher kept pushing me and now I'm a confident waxer, but very, very thorough about consultations with clients.