Anyone know why you need to remove earrings before doing a skin test for hair dye?

[DingDingTriangle]

And do you need to remove them from both ears? Or just the ear next to the skin test patch?

Just curious really. Not sure why I'm so nervous about dying my hair

I didn’t remove mine. The kit said to do a patch test behind my ear which was nowhere near my earring. I guess the dye could react with the metal of your earring and discolour it?

You dab the dye behind your ear and if you react to it there's a chance that whole area could swell up, you take the earrings out so that they don't end up stuck inside the swollen area.

If it’s a dye with peroxide it could damage your earring.

As mentioned, two reasons;

1. Peroxide can damage metals
2. Your head might swell up like a balloon

I wouldn't worry too much about an allergic reaction. It's incredibly rare to experience anything. Some people get mild itching or a rash indicating a reaction.. More likely if the hair dye is dark, and if you have other allergies.

As a side note; proceed with caution if you've never home dyed before. You won't end up looking like the woman on the box. Colour results can vary dramatically depending on your base shade. I'd advise a strand test.

Do people honestly do these tests? Surely if you make the colour up, it's all manky and dried up when you finally use it after 24 hours or whatever.

@SenecaTrewe I always do a test as a friend of mine had a bad reaction to one once and ended up with a face like a chipmunk for 24 hours afterwards. 😳 The dye is fine when you come to use it as you seal the bottle up. 😉

Seneca you don't mix it all up, just a little bit as a patch test, other wise it would be like u said dried up and manky.

Oh I guess some people do! 😆

@SenecaTrewe

Do people honestly do these tests? Surely if you make the colour up, it's all manky and dried up when you finally use it after 24 hours or whatever.

You really should. You can develop PPD allergy at any time and it can be really nasty.

I've never removed earrings for a patch test

And yes, you only use a small amount to do the test, you don't mix the whole thing up

As someone who has reacted badly to hair dye before, I’d strongly recommend doing the test. It was horrific. Mine started after quite a few years of never having a problem with hair dye, so please don’t be fooled into thinking things will be ok because you never had a problem before

Put the mix on your neck away from the earrings and then there won't be contact with them

Aha! Thanks everyone, that makes sense. It's been years since I've done a home dye and also I don't think I've ever been told to take my earrings out at the hairdressers either when having a skin test. Thanks for all the replies