The forever ponytail: woman shares ordeal after using Gorilla Glue on her hair – The Guardian

“Stiff where?” Tessica Brown asked TikTok, one week ago, before the world was aware of her struggle. “My hair,” she finished.

And stiff it has been, for more than a month now, as Brown continues battling against what so far seems to be an irreversible decision: mistakenly using Gorilla Glue to hold her hairstyle in place.

“My hair has been like this for about a month now. It’s not my choice, no, it’s not my choice,” she says in the video, now seen by over 20 million people, explaining how she came to glue her hair to her head.

“When I do my hair I like to, you know, finish it off with a little Got2B spray, you know, just to keep it in place? Well I didn’t have any more Got2B spray so I used this,” she explains, holding up a can of the super-strength adhesive Gorilla Glue – usually used for materials such as metal, stone and wood – which, according to the company’s website, “forms a clear, permanent bond that is moisture resistant”.

“Bad bad bad idea,” exclaims Brown. “Don’t ever, ever use this, unless you want your hair to be like that, FOREVER.”

While the saga has been partly riveting and partly terrifying for onlookers, Brown does not seem so amused. In a video uploaded to her Instagram on Thursday, she slathers Pantene Pro V on her head and demonstrates how stubborn her hairdo is. “Look, you wipe it off and nothing happens. This is the life I’m living at this point. This is the life that I guess I’mma have to live,” she says, before bursting into tears.

Trips to the emergency room have followed to help Brown get rid of what she is calling her “forever ponytail”, plus remedies such as coconut oil and tea tree oil – some have even suggested she may seek legal action, although this has not yet been confirmed.

Her supporters include Chance the Rapper, who tweeted: “I could tell shorty genuinely didn’t know she had put one of the world’s most powerful adhesives in her [hair],” and writer Roxane Gay, who simply said: “I’m praying for her scalp. But sis, [shake my head], you don’t have a case.”

Plastic surgeons and hair stylists have offered their services free of charge to help out. On Saturday, Brown appears in two separate videos to social media – one on TikTok showing her wincing as a nurse applies acetone wipes and sterile water to her head, with a song with the repetitious lyrics “Oh no, oh no, oh no, no, no, no, no,” playing in the background; the second, on her Instagram, overlays Molly Kate Kestner’s God Save the Prom Queen, to a montage of Brown at the ER. It is unclear whether either intervention worked.

Gorilla Glue said it was very sorry to hear about the incident and that it was glad Brown was seeking treatment – but ultimately, it said, “this is a very unique situation because this product is not indicated for use in or on hair as it is considered permanent. Our spray adhesive states in the warning label ‘do not swallow. Do not get in eyes, on skin or or clothing.’”