A mum feared she would have to cut all her hair after her daughters got 'about 50' Bunchems toys tangled in her 'precious' 'do.
Donia Youssef, 42, thought nothing of letting her little girls Aaliyah, eight, and Tiana Youssef-Thomas, five, 'play hairdressers' with her long locks one night.
Donia, from Grays, Essex, said: "I didn't even know what Bunchems were. The little one, five, had all different colours of these things.
"She said 'Mummy, can I put them in your hair' and I said 'yes of course', thinking they were hair accessories.
"They must have been given them for a party or birthday present."
However, relaxation soon turned to horror when a panicked Aaliyah shouted that the plastic balls had become stuck in her mum's hair and would not come out despite her tugging on them desperately.
"I'm sat there and the next minute the eldest starts panicking saying 'Mummy, mummy, they're not going to come out'.
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The author and company director urged her kids not to panic and put them to bed, but soon realised the coloured balls were completely 'matted' in her locks.
Donia then spent 22 hours trying to get the Bunchems out of her hair - unable to sleep as a spiky crown had formed across her hairline.
Eventually, the stressed mum was freed, but not before losing large clumps of the hair she had waited so long to grow.
Donia is a breast cancer survivor and she waited for her hair to grow back ever since she entered remission in January 2018.
Now she is calling for the toys to be banned while urging other parents not to buy the toys or to throw them out if they already have.
Donia said: "It was horrendous. There were about 50 in there.
"[Bunchems] should be banned. I lost all my hair because of chemotherapy so this to me is an absolute nightmare.
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"I thought I'd have to cut the things out. It's taken me two years to grow my hair long again from being bald."
Donia had initially told her girls not to panic but as she tried to take control and remove them herself, she realised to Bunchems were not budging.
Over the course of the evening, she tried to get them out with oil and even soaked her hair in the bath, hoping the water would help it separate and release the toys.
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She stayed up all night trying to remove the toys from her hair, only to realise she was losing clumps as the Bunchems came out.
"There was a lot of hair coming out because unfortunately it was all wrapped around the balls," she explained.
"It's not great and especially for me, my hair is really precious. I've spent all this time growing it.
"They're going in the bin. My message to parents is get rid of them, straight away. Get rid of them.
"They are banned from my household and should be banned full stop."
In a panic, Donia then called Ebby Ijomoni, 31, who came over with conditioner and detangler and stayed for five hours patiently unravelling hair from each piece.
After using the hair products, Ebby was able to remove every piece - but sadly pulled out huge clumps of Donia's hair in the process.
Donia said: "The problem is you put the [Bunchems] in your hair, then they weirdly start attracted each other, then they all lock up and it's a big, matted mess.
"My friend has a huge bottle of conditioner, detangle spray and a bottle of water. The comb broke too.
"My children are mixed race, so they've got Afro-Caribbean hair. If it got in their hair - good God. Their hair is a nightmare as it is to manage.
"My hair is European hair but it's still an absolute nightmare. I was going to chop it off last night because I couldn't sleep on it properly.
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"I've got to go to the hospital in a couple of days and [I feared I'd] have to walk out in public with them in."
A spokesperson for the toy manufacturer Spin Master, who launched Bunchems in 2015, said: "We express our sincere apologies for the inconvenience this has caused for both her and her children.
"While the packaging clearly indicates that Bunchems should be kept away from hair, we recognise that accidents like this may happen.
"We are no longer producing this item and any product still on shelf are through third-party sellers.
"We encourage parents who may have the item in their home to read the directions carefully and leverage our online resources to help guide play with the product."