Allergy to hair dye

[Zoomom]

In my 20s I started dabbling with hair dye (in salons) and always had slight redness on my scalp after a dye. In 2021 after my son was born (now I’m in my 30s), I used a home hair dye and had a severe allergic reaction. It was bad- my face poofed up and I could barely see out of my eyes. I was not recognisable. I went to a 24hr clinic in the middle of the night and they gave me antihistamines. They told me if I dyed my hair again I’d have an even worse reaction. I then got on the NHS wait list to get patch tests to determine what I had an allergy to in the dye so I could then find salons with dye I could use. Of course this took forever and by the time I got an appointment, I was pregnant with my second last year so had to delay the appt tbd as I couldn’t have the tests being pregnant or breastfeeding. Obviously it’s aesthetic and only had a few grays at the time so didn’t mind too much!

However, since giving birth in Feb to my second, MANY more greys have started appearing. I have dark brown hair so they are very visible. Also, breastfeeding has gone much better than expected (DC1 didn’t go well so I thought I’d be done with BF by now with my DC2) so I won’t be done until the autumn.

I originally just wanted to go through the formal allergy routes- it sounds pretty intense as they put several strips on your back. However, I have also found several salons that do ammonia free and ppd free hair dye and boast no allergic reactions- such as Josh Wood in London.

Questions- Has anyone had a severe hair dye reaction and then just used patch tests from a salon for hypoallergenic hair dye (ppd and ammonia free dye) to confirm they can use that dye instead of going to NHS allergy test route? Maybe for any allergy specialists or hair stylists - Are those patch tests accurate (ie would produce an allergic reaction if I am?) Are those patch tests ok while breastfeeding? Does anyone have reccs for good home hypoallergenic hair dyes or salons? I live in Hertfordshire but willing to travel in/around London and drop some serious £ to get my hair dyed since I haven’t in a few years now 😂.

I am ultimately going to do whatever is safest but just wondering if I’m being over the top waiting for the NHS tests and should just use hair dye brand patch tests to find out which brand dyes I can use. I’m now at that post natal stage where I can start working out and feeling normal and I just look at my hair and feel kind of bleh about it- I’m not a person who can rock the greys unfortunately (lots of women do and I love some grey hair looks!) and my hair has always been one of my favourite physical features. When I originally found out I had an allergy I was really positive about it and thought, well hey it’s not a health issue and just an aesthetic thing so I can wait, but now the greys are in my feelings are slightly different.

Not sure if this helps, particularly almost a month later on but a friend's sister was a trainee hairdresser and started having allergic type symptoms at work whenever she was colouring someone hair or even just near someone having their hair coloured by another hairdresser. She paid to have patch testing privately (the kind you mentioned where you have strips on your back) and discovered she was allergic to a chemical that's in hair dyes and also a few other things (black clothes IIRC).

I think if I were you I wouldn't risk any dye until you've found out what you are allergic to.

My friend nearly died from a reaction (after previously being fine) so I wouldn’t risk it.

It's most likely that you're allergic to PPDs, they are basically in all hair dye except bleach and the temporary crazy colours like manic panic. I dyed my hair with box dyes from age 12 with no problems then got a black henna tattoo done while on holiday and that triggered my allergy. It's apparently very common so much so there's a warning about being extra vigilant if you've had henna done on all the dye boxes.

I still dye my hair but now I cover ears, forehead and neck with a thick layer of barrier cream, try hard not to get much dye on my scalp and take an antihistimine an hour before I put the dye on. I also really really really rinse it all off.

You might be ok with applications like balayage where they apply away from the roots and can be careful to avoid getting it on your skin but it's highly likely you will react to every salon patch test.