WE’VE ALL BEEN THERE: EXPERTS’ BIGGEST BEAUTY DISASTERS

Andrea Lindeyer, co-founder and creative director of Be Bar Blow Dry Bar: ‘When I was an assistant at Jose Eber Salon in Beverly Hills, I told my boss he could do whatever he wanted to my hair. I ended up with a cut reminiscent of David Bowie in the 1980s. To put it bluntly, it was a mullet. I ended up having to get hair extensions put in for over a year until the

layers grew out!’ Ruksher Mailk, co-founder of Pastels Salon: ‘I was 14 years old when a renowned Italian stylist flew into the town where I lived, and my mother persuaded me to let him shape my hair. We went to the salon and the stylist, a very flamboyant artistic character, didn’t listen at all.

Looking back at it now, as a stylist I can appreciate the technical brilliance of the style but at the time, I hated it. I sobbed and sobbed, telling him what a horrible hairdresser he was.’ Kimberley Bostock-Clarke, brand manager, ColorWOW: ‘The worst beauty mistake I’ve made is definitely over-plucking my eyebrows as a teenager. If I could turn back time and put down those tweezers, I absolutely would. It took years for my eyebrows to grow back and even now, the ends are still looking a little sparse.’ Aamna Mani, owner of The Nail Pavilion: ‘I was 17 years old and decided to wax my upper lip. I stuck the strip on my lip, pressed it down, and in one fast motion, pulled it off. Ouch!

Not only did I pull off the hair, but half the skin of my upper lip – and I walked around for over a week with a burn mark on my upper lip that no make-up could cover. It was mortifying.’ Catherine Hawkes, artistic director of Marquee salon: ‘I was 10 and wanted red hair, so I decided to make a ‘natural hair dye’. I had heard lemon juice was good for blondes, so I assumed ketchup would do the same for red heads – so I mixed ketchup, a raw egg, and lemon juice, and applied it all over my hair, wrapped it in cling film and left it for the night. Of course it didn’t work and I spent two weeks picking bits of ketchup out of my hair.’