A TikToker is being accused of spraying her hair with Gorilla Glue for ‘clout’ and ‘money’ after a Louisiana woman went viral for using the permanent adhesive to set her hairstyle.
Avani Reyes, 20, has claimed that she ‘accidentally’ sprayed Gorilla Glue in her hair and can’t remove it — just days after Tessica Brown, 40, traveled to Los Angeles to have Beverly Hills surgeon Dr. Michael Obeng dissolve the adhesive on her head during a $12,500 procedure.
Reyes has posted numerous TikToks about her beauty conundrum, starting with a video of herself trying to comb through her cropped pink hair, which is covered with a thick layer of glue.
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Not again! Avani Reyes, 20, has claimed that she ‘accidentally’ sprayed Gorilla Glue in her hair and can’t remove it in a series of viral TikToks
Not working: In the first clip she shared, she tried running a comb through her matted hair without any success
‘You guys, my hair will not comb,’ she said, gasping multiple times as she patted her head. ‘Y’all, I already tried wetting it.’
The TikTok has been viewed more than 1.3 million times, but people had a hard time believing this was another accident.
‘You knew that would happen, don’t pretend you didn’t, clout chasing,’ one person wrote, while another responded: ‘People will do anything for a bit of money.’
‘I’m pretty sure you did this for more likes, views, or money,’ someone else commented. ‘I’ve watched your videos clearly showing you can read a bottle.’
Drama: Reyes, who has more than 459,000 followers, posted numerous follow-up videos of herself, including footage of her going to the emergency room
Breakdown: In another video, she was shaking and on the verge of crying, saying she was having a ‘panic attack’
Copy cat? Reyes started posting the videos just days after Tessica Brown (pictured) traveled to LA to have surgeon Dr. Michael Obeng dissolve the Gorilla Glue she had sprayed in her hair
Reyes, who has more than 459,000 followers, posted numerous follow-up videos of herself going to the hospital and trying at-home remedies to remove the glue, just like Brown did for the last month before she underwent a four-hour procedure to have it dissolved.
‘I’m on my way to the hospital right now. My scalp is burning,’ Reyes said in one clip. ‘I need to go to the hospital so they can remove this Gorilla Glue. I have no idea what to do. I tried washing it. It doesn’t come off.’
In another video, she was shaking and on the verge of crying, saying she was having a ‘panic attack’ — but some thought it was all an act.
Reyes said of the healthcare workers who were treating her at the hospital were ‘confused’ and didn’t ‘really know what to do,’ adding: ‘My scalp is burning, so I hope they figure something out.’
Even though Brown had already gone through all of this, including the trip to the ER, Reyes feigned annoyance that the hospital’s staffers weren’t able to remove the permanent adhesive.
Do not try this at home: To try and keep people from spraying their hair and bodies with Gorilla Glue, TikTok has put warnings on some of Reyes’s video
Out of luck: Reyes said of the healthcare workers who were treating her at the hospital were ‘confused’ and didn’t ‘really know what to do’
No sympathy: TikTok users accused her of spraying her hair with Gorilla Glue on purpose
‘I just got out of the hospital and they did nothing for me. Look at my hair,’ she griped, saying she was advised to try olive oil, tea tree oil, or coconut oil to remove the glue — or shave her hair off.
Brown proved that all of those oils are useless when it comes to removing the glue, but Reyes still shared videos of herself trying them out with no success.
‘So update on the Gorilla Glue. It did not come out,’ she said. ‘I used coconut oil for like a half an hour and then I just washed my hair and there is still Gorilla Glue in my head. Guess I gotta go bald.’
People who were following Reyes’s story weren’t surprised when she revealed that she was thinking of starting a GoFundMe as Brown did.
Brown raised nearly $24,000 to pay for her medical bills, but Dr. Obeng ended up offering to perform the procedure to remove the glue for free. Remarkably, he was able to salvage much of her hair.
At-home remedies: Reyes said she was advised to try olive oil, tea tree oil, or coconut oil to remove the glue — or shave her hair off
Doesn’t work: Reyes shared a video of herself using coconut oil in the shower to remove the glue to no avail
Allegedly: She also claimed to have started a GoFundMe that has raised her enough money to travel to LA to have the glue removed by a plastic surgeon
Trying: In the latest video that Reyes posted on Monday, an unknown woman can be seen trying to remove the glue. Its unclear how the adhesive ended up on her hair in the first place
The mother-of-five now plans on donating most of the funds to the plastic surgeon’s charitable foundation, Restore, which provides free reconstructive surgery to people in need.
Reyes begged her followers for help in one video, saying: ‘I don’t know what to do. This was an accident. I didn’t mean to put Gorilla Glue in my hair.’
She continued to play up up her plight while posting numerous TikToks of herself awkwardly combing through matted hair and trying various products to remove the glue. She even shared a makeup tutorial with Bruno Mars’s hit ‘Gorilla’ playing in the background.
Reyes never actually shared a link to her GoFundMe page, but she claimed that she raised enough money to travel to LA to get surgery like Brown. In a recent clip, she alleged that one person generously donated $3,000 to help her.
‘You guys know it’s definitely been a journey with this Gorilla Glue. It’s been crazy, so thank you so much,’ she said.
Stuck this way: Brown, 40, went viral earlier this month when she revealed she set her hair with Gorilla Glue and couldn’t move it
Yikes: Brown explained in her viral TikTok video that she ran out of her Göt2b Glued Spray and used Gorilla Glue instead
Struggle: After a failed visit to the ER (pictured), Dr. Obeng (not pictured) removed the glue in Brown’s hair for free during a four-hour procedure that costs $12,500
Response: Gorilla Glue released a statement about the situation on social media and warned others not to use the glue on their skin or hair
In the latest video that she posted on Monday, an unknown woman can be seen trying to remove the glue. It’s unclear if she is a hairstylist or just a friend.
To try and keep people from spraying their hair and bodies with Gorilla Glue, TikTok has put warnings on some of Reyes’s video, saying: ‘The action in this video can result in serious injury.’
Gorilla Glue released a statement about Brown’s ‘unique’ situation on social media on February 8, before she flew to LA to have the adhesive removed from her hair.
‘We are aware of the situation and we are very sorry to hear about the unfortunate incident that Miss Brown experienced using our Spray Adhesive on her hair,’ the brand wrote.
‘This is a 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 on clothing.”‘
Whoops! Last week, Len Martin, who is also originally from Louisiana, ended up in the emergency room after taking on the ‘Gorilla Glue Challenge’
Consequences: Martin, who was convinced that Brown was lying about the Gorilla Glue incident, glued a plastic cup to his face and had to go the hospital to have it painfully removed
Big mistake: While sharing footage of himself in the ER, he admitted that he was wrong about Brown’s story being a lie
The company added: ‘We are glad to see in her recent video that Miss Brown has received medical treatment from her local medical facility and wish her the best.’
Despite the warnings by both Brown and Gorilla Glue, her viral story has inspired a dangerous ‘Gorilla Glue Challenge. However, it’s still unclear as to how or why the adhesive spray ended up in Reyes’s hair.
Last week, Len Martin, who is also originally from Louisiana, ended up in the emergency room after taking on the challenge.
He was convinced that Brown was lying about the Gorilla Glue incident, and her hair was not — as she claimed — immovably and frighteningly stuck to her head.
To prove his hunch, Martin bought some Gorilla Glue of his own, using it to stick a red plastic cup to his face — only to realized he’d made a horrible mistake and couldn’t get it off.
‘I thought that chick with the gorilla glue was making that story up…but no..its real… I dont kno why I tried it..now they talking bout cutting the tip of my lips off in surgery…yall pray for me [sic],’ he captioned a video of himself in the ER, adding the hashtag #gorrilagluechallenge.