Most hairstylists want you to feel comfortable in their salon. They know people’s hair is a big deal to them and that customers are putting a lot of trust in their stylist to help them look their best. Salon owners will go to lengths to create a pleasant environment, including trendy decor and offering refreshments. Unfortunately for one customer, she went to a salon that had bad vibes, and the experience left her wondering if the stylists who serviced her put a hex on her before she left.
In a six-minute viral video, Grace McAlister (@rosygirlgrace) says, “Put your finger down if you went to get a haircut last year and instead maybe you got a voodoo curse put on you.”
She says she made several videos after the experience that remained in her drafts because she was “genuinely terrified.”
“I was like, if I talk about it, will they come after me?” she says. At the time, her parents told her the salon could sue for defamation. However, since it has been a year, she feels comfortable sharing the story.
What happened at the salon?
McAlister explains that until her harrowing experience, she had only had her hair cut by her mother in her kitchen. She wanted to try a salon because her mother hasn’t been a practicing cosmetologist in 20 years, so she took a friend’s recommendation on where to go.
The friend said, “Here’s an all-inclusive place that seems really friendly and cool for a first haircut.” McAlister agreed that the salon looked nice and noticed that it was so inclusive, especially of the queer community.
“I went and it was great,” she says.
However, when the appointment was over, the workers had her just pay and leave. She didn’t notice she was unsatisfied with the cut until she got home. McAlister says she messaged the salon to ask for a touch-up, and the business agreed. However, she says that when she got to her make-up appointment, the stylists spent “the entire time” telling her that every problem she pointed out wasn’t an issue and that they had done the job properly the first time.
Here’s where things start to get spooky
At her first appointment, McAlister noticed the salon had “eclectic” decor. It was still present on her second visit, but she noticed that the business seemed to have put up some new Halloween decorations since the last time she’d been. She found this strange given that it was June, so she inquired, “Hey, did you decorate for Halloween six, five months early?” The workers said no and left it at that.
McAlister was concerned, though. She says that upon walking in, she noticed a “giant” sign with the famous quote from Dante’s “Inferno”: “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.”
It’s a pretty innocuous sign on its own, but that’s not where her problems with the decor end.
“There was a ring of salt around my chair,” she says. “And there was salt on the mirror in front of me and on the countertop in front of me. And there was a mirror behind me that had a giant pentagram covering the entirety of it. There was a pentagram on the floor in front of me, [and] three pentagrams in the corner of the mirror in front of me. And next to that line of salt on the countertop was some candles and voodoo doll-looking things. There was also a skeleton.”
‘Hateful vibes’ at the salon
McAlister says the vibe during this second appointment was hateful, and she felt uncomfortable. Another thing she found strange was that the stylist left to use the bathroom in the middle of her 10-minute appointment. When they left, the music changed from the elevator variety to “the kind of music you would hear in a haunted house where it’s like whispering or chanting in a different language.” The music went back to normal when the stylist returned.
She says the stylists quickly ushered her to the door when they were done and shut the door behind her. At this point, she began “bawling,” mostly because she was freaked out, but also because she still didn’t like the haircut.
McAlister notes that while the stylists weren’t threatening her, they did have scissors close to her head with “threatening” imagery and sound all around her. It made her uncomfortable. She says she wanted to post a review, but didn’t because of what her parents told her about defamation. She also feared that if the workers put a hex on her, they might do “normal crazy stuff” like suing her.
McAlister doesn’t really believe in hexes, though, but she says that’s not the point: “The point is that their intention is bad and that scares me.”
How do I know if I’ve been hexed?
WikiHow notes, “Some people believe that curses, hexes, and other types of black magic are real and serious threats that can negatively affect their spiritual and physical well-being. Although there’s no conclusive evidence that witchcraft exists, it can still be really scary to think about—especially if you suspect that someone has sent some bad mojo in your direction.”
Here’s what it lists as signs someone may have used witchcraft on you:
- Headaches
- Body aches
- Lethargy
- Changes in devotion
- Poor mental health
- Bad luck
- Changed eating habits
- Unexpected items in your yard
Importantly, the article notes that all of these “signs” could also be caused by completely normal things like stress, illness, or animals.
If you still feel like there’s some bad juju on you, the article also offers suggestions on how you can cleanse and protect yourself to give you peace of mind.
What do I do if I’m uncomfortable during a hair appointment?
If you search online for guidance on what to do if your hairstylist makes you uncomfortable, you’ll find articles on how to combat salon anxiety, confront your stylist about hating your hair, or break up with your stylist entirely. However, none of these address what you should do if a hairstylist makes you so uncomfortable that you want to leave in the middle of the appointment. If this ever happens to you, here’s some common-sense guidance you may want to employ.
First, be direct about the fact that you no longer want to continue the appointment. Stylists are there to serve you and make you happy, and they generally prefer for clients to speak up if they’re unhappy.
Next, you may want to ask to speak to a manager to report the behavior that made you uncomfortable. Speaking to a manager gives them the opportunity to rectify the situation, perhaps by pairing you with another stylist.
A conversation with the manager is also important because of the matter of payment. If the stylist has started on your hair, you may be expected to pay for the service. If you refuse, workers might threaten to call the police on you for theft of service. You could theoretically leave before police arrive if they’re called (as one source notes, workers should not attempt to lock you in, touch you, or follow you outside). However, you likely gave contact information like a phone number when you booked your appointment, and police can track you using this information.
To avoid escalating the situation to the point of police involvement, it’s probably best to speak with a manager to work out a solution. They may allow you to leave without paying or offer you a discount on your services.
‘They were mad you wanted them to fix anything’
In the comments section, many viewers said the salon workers were likely trying to scare the client for daring to be unsatisfied with her haircut. Alternatively, one viewer rather hilariously suggested, “Plot twist: your mom called them to scare you into never getting your haircut again by someone else.”
Some noted that voodoo doesn’t use pentagrams and that such symbols and the use of things like salt are to protect, not to cause harm. Still, many felt that whatever its spiritual purpose, the decor was an intimidation tactic. Plus, it was unprofessional. Some suggested she report the salon to the cosmetology board, Better Business Bureau, and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
A ‘scary’ salon
Another TikTok creator notes that one of the mirrors McAlister showed in her video, which had a pentagram on it, featured in the salon’s TikTok videos. However, the creator notes there is no pentagram on the mirror in those videos, even during Halloween.
Additionally, one commenter said workers at the salon also tried to scare them. The user wrote, “[The salon] also tried to ‘scare’ me and acted like they cut my hair in the back of my head too short all while being extremely rude and giving me glares throughout. They seemed to enjoy my panic when they said they cut it too short and played it off.”
‘They didn’t seem like they wanted me there at all’
In a nearly eight-minute follow-up video, McAlister apologizes for incorrectly categorizing the decor as part of the voodoo practice. She also elaborates that the decor and music did not bother her; it was more the seeming hostility the workers had toward her. They also failed to deliver upon the hairstyle she said she wanted both times she went.
She also addresses viewers’ questions about whether anything bad happened to her after the appointment. McAlister says since she doesn’t believe in witchcraft, she wouldn’t have associated anything bad that happened to her with her salon experience, but she notes that she did almost get into a car accident shortly after. Additionally, when she went home and straightened her hair, she burned herself with the iron.
The salon’s TikTok bio states, “Gender affirming haircutting specialist.”
@rosygirlgrace Should I say where it is? Ever heard of anything like this? #haircut #hex #hairfail #halloween #hairsalon #curse #salon #badhaircut #voodoo #help #pentagram #salt #fyp ♬ original sound – Grace McAlister
The Mary Sue contacted McAlister via TikTok comment and direct message. It contacted the salon via email.
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