She Got Her Life Back, Detangling 2.5 years

One of the distinct privileges I’ve had as a salon owner is watching my young staff blossom into an absolute garden of beauty and diversity. While we’re used to showcasing our cutting and coloring skills on a daily basis, other elements that I find critical to being a successful stylist are both humility and humanity. Embodying both, a diamond in the rough, Tatiana pulled off one of the most – if not THE most – challenging services I’ve ever witnessed as a 21-year hairstylist.

(Warning: Viewer discretion is advised as images below may be disturbing and/or triggering.)

About a month ago, we received an email from a potential client with a subject line that read, “Consultation for Severely Matted Hair.”

While depression can affect many of us in different ways, in this case, our guest hadn’t brushed her hair in 2.5 years. Combine that with little-to-no shampooing/conditioning and you can imagine how challenging this matting was, both physically and emotionally. As you can see below, the weight carried on her head must have been a visual reminder of the emotional burden she carried.

When posing this challenging detangling opportunity to my team, Tatiana was the first to raise her hand, eagerly wanting to help a woman who was ready to stand up to her depression. We strategized how we could dislodge the build-up that had solidified in her hair, wanting to swiftly make her dreams come true as painlessly as possible.

Over the course of three weekends, and with 2.5 hours of help from Heather, Tatiana committed 16 hours to detangling what turned out to be a GORGEOUS head of hair! If you know anyone struggling with hair matting, please have them reach out to us! Tatiana is not only empowered with an arsenal of baking soda, apple cider vinegar, and tail combs, but she’s got the invisible halo of love and compassion necessary to see these projects through to the end.

No matter how much we shower her with praise for what a unique gift she has, she just shrugs and says, “I really don’t mind. I’m glad I could help her.”

While protecting the privacy of this guest, we’d like to thank her for letting us capture these images in hopes that we can inspire more cycles of healing in this world!

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