Not to do a skin test before i dye my hair

[Goawaybob]

Not so much as AIBU more, Am i mad?

Ive dyed my hair loads of times - can't remember what colour it is now but sick of the roots, so going back to brunette, not blonde.

Hands up who just goes ahead and dyes? Ive never done a skin test and its always been ok.

I recently heard of a young girl having an allergic reaction who died :( It seems the cosmetic companies have ramped up their warnings but is it just to cover their arses or are people more likely in todays age of pollutants and raised allergen levels more likely to react?

but bogey it wasnt a reaction to hair dye

AF, i would embrace the greys but my roots are awful - blonde hair, dark blonde/brown roots, just looks greasy all the time

You don't mix to do a test patch, just put a little bit of one part on (can't remember which one). I do the DDs when they want it, I would never do it without a patch test, the more you dye your hair the more likely it is you'll have a reaction.

Also you don't know if they've changed the formula at all, which could be a problem.

why don't hairdessers get you to come in the shop 24 hours before dyeing your hair, so they can do a patch test, hmm ?

My logic is if you can develop an allergic reaction the first time, second time or even the 100th time you use a dye when it's always been fine up to that point, then you could do a patch test on a Monday and have no reaction then dye your hair properly on the Wednesday and blow up like a balloon. So hey-ho.

mushy, spot on, dude

AF i think they do, if you are having a all over dye, but not for highlights - i know this becaues i was in the hairdressers once when some woman had an almighty strop because they insisted on doing a skin test - twas funny

They're supposed to AF.

See if you've had a serious reaction to something before and don't know what it was a reaction to - then I think you should.

no hairdresser I have ever been to has done a patch test 24 hours before

If you have had a reaction before why wouldn't you?

mind you, it has been a while

Mine don't either AF, but they make noises about it occasionally

I haven't had my hair dyed at the hairdressers, but did ask about it once and was told I'd have to have a patch test before they could do it. Not sure if they only do that the first time though, or every time.

I know it's the obvious argument that if you can have a reaction any time after being fine before, then you could be OK when you do the test but not when you use the dye for real. But it's surely quite unlikely that you'd have developed the allergy within the 24 hours (or whatever short interval) between testing and dyeing, whereas it's somewhat more likely (though of course not very likely!) that it could have happened in the several months since you last dyed your hair.

It's only a small risk of a bad reaction, of course, and we all take risks to make our lives more convenient (driving, tampons, whatever) but if a risk can be avoided or significantly reduced by taking a couple of minutes to do a quick test, I just think I might as well!

I never have, if the manufactors put a little sachet for testing I would, but it would mean buying 2 boxes One for the test and one for the dying

I used live xxxl last week and they say take a little from each ingredient and mix together and use that for the patch test, you don't need to buy another packet. But I'm with mushy as allergies can appear at anytime so a patch test is pointless really.

My hairdresser rang me on Friday to see if I wanted to have a skin test before I coloured my hair on Saturday.

I told her no but she said she would have to write down that I had had one or her boss would not let me go ahead with it!!

I was fine and am now a lovely brunette!

My hairdresser insists and will not colour my hair without one. I, on the other hand, never do!

I never do them. I was going to a particular hairdresser for around a year when, one day whilst in the process of dying my hair, another hairdresser came over to do a skin test and ask me to sign a piece of paper. Why do it at that point?

I think they should sell little tiny kits of hair dyes purely for testing on your skin. Maybe for 50p or something. The hair dye I buy says not to use it after it's been mixed for x hours as it goes funny.

I know I should do a skin test, but I can see why people don't bother.

I also don't believe anyone who writes in to women's mags with allergic reactions and says they did the test!

I do the test if it is a new dye that I haven't used before, never bother if I'm using my regular one. I'd be more inclined if they would include a separate little bag in the packs for a skin/strand test, rather than having to faff around opening packets of powder that theoretically won't be used for at least 48 hours.

I am copying and pasting this as my friend wants to spread the word. She is now allergic to a massive amount of things including the dye in jeans and newspaper print

The chemical is called PPD, and is in 99% of hair dye which makes hair DARKER, so if you're bleaching you should be fine. It is banned in at least 5 countries as it is a known killer.

If you have had a henna tattoo, or have any tattoos at all, you are in a VERY high risk category, and could die as a result of having PPD on your skin. If you must dye your hair darker, have TWO patch tests, behind the same ear, 48 hours apart. So patch test, 48hrs, patch test, 48hrs, if there's still no reaction at all, get your hair dyed.

There are four stages of allergic reaction, anaphylactic (sp!?) shock is a Stage 1, I had a Stage 4, and the consultant said had I not got to the hospital when I did, I would have been dead within hours. I had no reaction other than an itchy scalp for the first 24 hours, and then 48 hours later my face started to swell so fast that you could literally watch my eyes swelling shut. My heart beat was erratic and my internal organs shut down to cope with the reaction, and so the doctors couldn't give me adrenaline to combat the swelling, as this would have killed me. Instead I had to have oxygen tubes and a central line in my chest to get drugs into me fast enough to save me and try and stop me suffocating.

I am now out of hospital, but constantly shaking and on serious drugs for the next few months, and am still on constant "ambulance alert" and cannot be out of shouting distance of anyone as this could all happen again at any time. As a result of this reaction I will be allergic to all sorts of new things now - for instance, when I'm in hospital I'm put straight onto heart monitors as my heartbeat is still a bit erratic, and am having allergic reactions to the stickies they use to attach them! My poor skin is going bonkers!

I'm terrified of anything touching my skin that I don't know - so even stupid things like soap are a big deal now. I'm only using organic and natural soaps etc. that I know I've used before, and am having nightmares about not being able to breathe. I constantly feel as though someone has their hands round my throat, and check my face in the mirror all the time to make sure it isn't swelling again. I have two cracking black eyes, bruises all over my arms and legs from the amount of cannulas I've had in to get drugs into my system, and keep falling over like a drunk flamingo.

Please please please be careful - I had this done in a VERY good and well known salon, and to be perfectly honest, they've been absolute crap so I'm planning on taking them and the dye company to court and making sure this never happens to anyone again. I now have a year of drugs, shaking, hospital visits, exhaustion and not being able to just get on my horse and go hunting with my friends.

I agree seems mad to mix a little - need to use dye immediately - they should provide testing pot. Although once my head felt itchy when I put the dye in so I rinsed it out straight away.

I dye my hair and have never done a test , and the hairdressers dont either I did mine on friday hate the colour but it hides the grey it was my emergency dye box i used .

I just posted about this in health. everytime I get it done at hairdressers it is getting more and more unbearable as it is so itchy.

Did mine today at home so could wash it out when gets itchy and now have rash on my hands.

Oh and I started dying my hair at 16, never had a problem. Only last year its started to be itchy. And developed asthma and allergies to many things.