A mum has claimed a hairdresser got drunk while dying her hair and fitting a weave, which left her with a needle stuck in her scalp and the “worst hairstyle of 2020”.
Emily Hunt – a 24-year-old fellow hairdresser from Bolton – said she “wanted to die” when she realised just how terrible her hair looked after asking a former work colleague if she would touch up her roots, add some highlights and attach a £225 sew-in weave just prior to salons closing due to the second national lockdown amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The hairdresser and friend – whom Emily said she’d recently reconnected with – agreed and asked for £70 to cover her time and expertise.
She also quoted £25 to apply the hair dye Emily provided and a further £45 to braid and sew in the hair piece, but Emily admitted the hairdresser then spent four-and-a-half hours at her home carrying out the work, while necking gin and bizarrely washing her own hair too.
Emily said the woman responsible for her disastrous do was someone she used to work at a salon with, and as a friendly gesture, offered the hairdresser a drink while doing her hair, but said she didn’t expect her to drink as much as she did.
The mum-of-one claimed she was also forced to do “half the work” herself – mixing the colours for her own hair, rinsing it out and even sewing some of the hair pieces together – and she said the hairdresser even demanded the money before she left.
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Emily Hunt – Kennedy News & Media
Recalling the situation, Emily said: “We were on lockdown from Thursday, so that’s why I needed to get my hair done by someone quick.
“As I’m a hairdresser, I’ve got a trade card so I provided the medium blonde colour and hair piece. She made me fix the colour, all she did was paint me some roots on and then told me to wash it off while she was having a cig at the door. She put eight highlights throughout the top and I even took the eight foils out of my hair myself too.
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“I thought it was a bit weird, I remember thinking ‘why am I even paying someone when I’m doing half of the job myself?’.”
After Emily rinsed the dye off her hair, the woman told her to partially-dry her own hair before she attached the hair piece.
Emily continued: “She told me she had to do my plaits while my hair was wet, which I found weird. She said to only dry it 20% [so] I stood in the kitchen and I blasted it myself while she went for another cig.”
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The hairdresser then plaited three rows of hair to attach the sew-in weave to.
“When she’d done the first row of weave she went for a shower and washed her hair with my shampoo and conditioner then she came back to it.” Emily said.
“She did three plaits, but the bottom one was very, very low and then she didn’t leave a big enough gap to go up to the other one. They were just all very loose and I could feel the top of the hair extensions touching my ears and the back of my neck. [Usually] when that happens, that’s when you need to get it re-done, not when you’ve just had it done [and] when she was sewing the hair onto the plait she’s not secured it, she’s not even finished off the sewing and she’s left the thread hanging down with a needle.
“When she left she said ‘transfer me that money now’, I was put in a position where I couldn’t really not send it.”
After sharing pictures of the horror hairstyle on social media, the post went viral racking up nearly 12,000 likes, shares and comments, with one person aptly saying “if 2020 was a weave”.
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In a desperate attempt to get the situation rectified, Emily admitted to frantically messaging a nearby hair salon and pleading for an appointment to sort it out.
She said: “I didn’t sleep properly, I kept waking up all night and I messaged a stylist at 2am saying ‘please can you fit me in tomorrow morning because you’re never going to believe it. You’re going to see this weave and you’re going to laugh your head off, honestly it’s so bad’.
“When they asked what was up with it, I replied ‘What’s right with it? When I sit on the chair you’ll see’.
“Everybody’s eyes were popping out of their heads and their jaws were dropping, all the stylists were saying it’s the worst weave they’ve ever seen’. It took no longer than an hour to fix. She did it really nicely and then cut and styled it for me, I loved it.
“When the hairdresser got to the second row, that’s when she found the needle when it pricked her finger. She couldn’t believe it was there and said ‘what the hell? Where did that come from?’
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“[The original hairdresser] caught my scalp with the needle tip and it hurt. It’s got a scab on it now so it must have bled. I remember thinking, ‘oh my god that could have stabbed me in the head all night.'”
Kennedy News & Media
This unfortunately wasn’t the end of the ordeal though.
After sending messages to the original hairdresser for a refund and getting no reply, Emily wrote a Facebook post sharing her hair horror.
The woman got in touch and offered to fix her hair, but Emily declined and has since contacted the hairdresser’s boss and reported her to Trading Standards.
“I shared the post because she was ignoring my messages.” Emily said.
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“She sent me a voice note saying ‘I’m sure I’ve done a really bad job, I’ll come back on Wednesday to sort it out [but] I said I would be out and then asked her for a refund and she started kicking off. She then started saying she should have charged me £110, which is the standard price for all of those hair treatments, and offered to refund me £30.
“I contacted her boss who said a message would be passed on, but mentioned it happened outside of work and was nothing to do with them.
“I won’t be letting her do my hair again and I’ve contacted Trading Standards.
“I just want my money back, I also don’t want anyone else getting the same treatment.”
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Neighbourhood Festival’s return to the city centre is looking great with after revealing second wave
Danny Jones
Neighbourhood Festival’s city centre all-dayer is returning to Manchester for 2026 after a year off, and with the second wave of the lineup having just dropped, it’s looking very promising.
Following teasers over the past month or so, it didn’t take long for us to figure out that NBHD Festival was coming back, especially with the Weekender in Warrington having taken a similar hiatus in 2024.
However, when festivals like these take time out, it can be easy to worry whether or not they’ll lose momentum or come back stronger.
Judging by this follow-up batch of acts alone, there’s no doubt NBHD Fest ’26 will be another cracker.
As you can see, as well as the fast-rising grungey alternative and garage rock quartet, KEO, being announced as one of the first big hitters on the list, there are some other familiar names on the lineup.
Especially for us Mancs.
With both Bolton and Altrincham youngsters, Florentenes and The Guest List, both joining the roster, as well as the likes of Bury-born ‘rockabilly’ revivalist Elliot James Reay also featuring on there, there’s a good deal of local talent to be enjoyed as always.
That goes for the regional delegation in general, too, with the likes of Jos River heading back up this way from her base in London, and Leeds’ fittingly named indie four-piece, The North, also booking a slot.
We’ll admit there are plenty of bands and artists coming up from the capital for the all-day festival, but at least they know where the UK’s real home of music is.
For instance, we’re buzzing to see the Red Rum Club boys returning to the NBHD stage once again – they never disappoint, and there are so many other guaranteed top performers on the bill. And that was just this year’s Weekener…
It’s worth reminding, once again, that since its inception in 2016 (yes, it really has been a decade now), Neighbourhood Fest has continued to serve as a proper launchpad for the next wave of superstars, not just here in the North West but across the country.
We still remember seeing the likes of Sam Fender, Holly Humberstone, Declan McKenna, Mahalia, The Lathums and more – some for the very first time – on these city centre stages, and it’s crazy to see how big some of them have gone on to become.
Set to take over some of Manchester’s most iconic venues along the Oxford Road Corridor once again, this is, without a doubt, one of the best dates for independents on the annual live music calendar.
Hosting a total of 11 stages on Saturday, 17 October, for a full day of live music, tickets for this year’s Neighbourhood Festival are on sale now right HERE.
And if you’ve already sorted yours, why not read our review of NBHD Weekender ’26 down below to get you in the mood for the next two editions.
Major DJ forced to pull out of Parklife festival on doctor’s orders
Thomas Melia
A well-known techno and trance DJ will no longer be playing at Parklife this weekend, he’s announced, with just one day to go until his major set.
Anyone heading to Heaton Park over the weekend for Manchester-based festival, Parklife, may notice the lineup looks a little different after one distinctive DJ has pulled out due to doctor’s orders.
Marlon Hoffstadt, who also goes by the moniker ‘DJ Daddy Trance’, was expected to play out on the Matinée stage on Saturday 20 June from 6.30pm – 8pm.
The Germany-based act was taking to the decks right before Manchester’s own Morgan Seatree, who has become recognised for his material which is an ode to house music and is likely to be one of the busiest sets of the weekend.
Hoffstadt had two gigs this weekend; the first being Parklife in Manchester and the second Fête de la Musique in Paris, both of which he has since pulled out of in a newly-published social media announcement.
The Berlin-born music maker has reluctantly called off these upcoming appearances and justified his decision by saying: “As much as I hate missing shows, I need to put my recovery first”.
To much dismay, Hoffstadt received doctor’s advice who deemed him ‘currently not fit to fly’ following surgery, urging him to rest and recover.
Marlon posted today: “I’m so sad to have to share this, but unfortunately I won’t be able to play Parklife in Manchester and Fête de la Musique in Paris this weekend.
“I recently had a surgery and, following my doctor’s advice, I’m currently not fit to fly and need rest and recover.
“I know many of you made plans and were looking forward to it, and I’m so sorry to let you down.
“As much as I hate missing shows, I need to put my recovery first so I can get back to doing what I love as soon as possible.”
As much as the presence of this world-class performer will be missed, there’s still plenty of notable names set to make their mark on Parklife including Zara Larsson, Calvin Harris, Skepta and more.
The outdoor big music weekender has established itself as a rave haven with mainly dance artists and DJs making up its lineup through a variety of curated b2b sets and live performances.
If you’re after immersing yourself in some jungle music, Bradford-native Nia Archives will have you transfixed over at The Valley with her jungle-heavy tunes from 6.30pm – 7.30pm or there’s three more stages to take your pick from.
We’re sure that anyone eager to see the ‘Hands Up In The Sky’ producer live may be frustrated by this brand-new social media announcement however as Hoffstadt mentions it’s so he can “Get back to doing what I love as soon as possible”.