Salon treatment ‘scalped’ and chemically burned this Texas woman, attorney says

A Texas woman who went to get her dark hair professionally lightened at a Houston hair salon ended up in the emergency room with a third-degree chemical burn, her lawsuit says, according to KPRC.

“She has been literally scalped,” attorney Hilda Sibrian said during a Wednesday press conference, according to KRIV. Sibrian is one of the lawyer’s representing Idania Rivera — the Houston woman who says she was burned from a Pravana Pure Light Power Lightener treatment at Unique Boutique and Hair, the TV station reported.

Pravana’s website says this product is a “go-to lightener is for any and all lightening needs!” It is “ideal for on and off-scalp application including foil highlighting, global blonding, contained or open air lightening and more,” the product description says.

Halfway through the lightening treatment on March 19, Rivera says she went to pick up her daughter with the product in her hair, KPRC reported.

She says she left after the stylist said it’d be OK to leave for five minutes, KHOU reported.

“I felt my head burning,” Rivera said in Spanish — through an interpreter — at the press conference, according to KHOU. She said the burning feeling started within an hour from the time she left to pick up her daughter, the station reported.

When she returned to the salon, “they removed the foil, and they rinsed her head,” Sibrian said, according to KRIV. “When she was in extreme pain, she was given a couple of Advils and told to go on her way.”

Over the next few days, Rivera “reportedly spent the next several days in and out of emergency rooms,” according to KHOU.

In addition to the chemical burns and pain, Rivera said she also had face swelling, according to KRIV.

Photos of her scalp, which have been blurred, show bright red burns across the woman’s face. The photos were obtained by KRIV.

“The injury is so severe, Rivera’s doctors said she will need a six-week hospital stay for a series of skin grafts and hair transplants,” according to KPRC.

“Her treating doctors are telling us that, frankly, they’ve never seen a burn like this from a hair product,” attorney Mo Aziz said, according to KRIV. Aziz is also representing Rivera in the lawsuit, the station reported.

Rivera is seeking $1 million in damages, KHOU reported. The lawsuit names Henkel US Operations Corporation, Pravana International and salon owner Catherine Martinez, according to the TV station.

Martinez and Henkel Corporation said they haven’t been notified of the lawsuit, according to KHOU.

The stylist wasn’t named in the lawsuit, KPRC reported.

“There should be no consumer product that can caught this type of damage by itself,” Aziz said, according to KPRC.

This story was originally published May 2, 2019 at 11:08 AM.