Ashley Rose Robinson loved wearing her hair half-up, half-down. But it will be a while until she can do that again.
The 21-year-old from New Richmond, Wisconsin, is claiming that a Pantene Pro-V Sheer Volume conditioner from Walmart caused her hair to come out in clumps.
Robinson and her mother, Taffy Jo Timms, believe someone mixed the depilatory cream Nair into the bottle she purchased.
“Nothing can be trusted anymore,” Robinson wrote on Monday in an emotional Facebook post, which included photos of her bald patches. Robinson urged her friends to check bottles before using the product. In her case, the conditioner was pink instead of white. The scent was also skunk-like.
Robinson didn’t realize how "terrible" the smell was until she got out of the shower. That’s when she hopped back in to lather up with a different shampoo.
“I put my hands in my hair and my hair started coming out,” Robinson told NBC News. “I started screaming and crying.”
Robinson and a family member drove to the emergency room.
“My scalp started burning really bad,” Robinson said. “They checked me and they said it was very red and irritated.”
Robinson ended up shaving her head on Tuesday.
A representative for Pantene said they taking Robinson’s claims seriously. “We are aware and concerned by this post, however the consumer involved hasn’t directly contacted us yet, so at this time we have limited information,” a spokesperson for the company told NBC News. “We have reached out to gain more information because the safety of our products is our top priority. We will share more information as we learn more about this unusual experience.”
Walmart also reached out to Robinson and haven't received a response.
“We take claims like this seriously," Walmart spokeswoman LeMia Jenkins told TODAY Style in a statement. "As soon as we were made aware of the issue, we inspected all product in our store, reviewed surveillance footage and found no evidence of tampering."
Jenkins has since told NBC News that surveillance video showed the customer purchased her product days before she said she had. Jenkins also said the video showed the customer had smelled several products before purchasing one of them.
NBC News has reached out to Robinson for a response to Walmart's comments.
The New Richmond Police Department has launched an investigation and is working with Walmart staff "to identify potential suspects and review video surveillance," according to a release. Law enforcement is "also reminding people to be diligent in checking products for safety seals and prior to any use to make sure it is consistent with the product you are expecting."
CORRECTION (Aug. 2, 2019, 4:42 p.m.): The headlines in an earlier version of this story incorrectly referred to the Pantene product in question as shampoo, rather than conditioner.
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Rachel Paula Abrahamson
Rachel Paula Abrahamson is a lifestyle reporter who writes for the parenting, health and shop verticals. Her bylines have appeared in The New York Times, Good Housekeeping, Redbook, and elsewhere. Rachel lives in the Boston area with her husband and their two daughters. Follow her on Instagram.
Hasley Pitman
Hasley Pitman is an intern with NBC News' Social Newsgathering team.
