Minor reaction - is my life with hair dye over?

[BoyMeetsWorld]

After dying my hair at home and various salons for 20 years with no issues, last night I seem to have had a reaction.

My wonderful hairdresser did exactly the same as always - all over tint, same brand and same shampoos etc but did go one shade more ashy (silver tone) than usual.

No issue at all whilst at the salon..But during the night I started feeling like my scalp was really tight, itchy and burny. It was much worse when my head was against the pillow. I couldn't sleep so got up and took some piriton. By morning it still felt the same as did the nape of my neck and a bit in my ears. But I looked in the mirror and definitely no redness or sores at all, just felt like sunburn in my hair.

I washed it really well with gentle products....made a tiny bit of difference but not much. 24 hours later, still feels the same.

Hairdresser has told me to go back for another patch test. I'm terrified that's it for me and hair dye- I'm only in my late 30s and almost totally grey so really can't stand the thought of not being able to colour. I'm very self conscious about it :(

I make my own blend, chocolate. Camomile tea, red bush tea, coffee and turmeric from the supermarket. See my post, yesterday at 17:04 for the recipe.

Boy, my hair tea blend is as easy as wetting your hair with water. Just wear an old towel to collect any drips.

I've had a hair dye allergy for years, pretty severe and even allergy free dyes don't work. Im in my thirties and my hair's pretty much just all grey now. I recently tried a live colour and surprisingly had no reaction whatsoever. I do use dark colours though and it may be different for yourself but may also be worth trying at least for a patch test. There's nothing obvious on the box marketing it as ppd free but it obviously was

I'm extremely allergic to hairdye and the only think I can have is bleach in highlights, thankfully don't have any grey to cover (just yet). Anything with PPD in it will set off a reaction, this is the chemical which binds the colour to the protein of your hair which is why permanent dyes are out of the question. However it is worth noting that my most serious reaction came from a supposed "non permanent" hairdye as it had PPD in it.

I would certainly wait for the reaction to go down before you have a patch test done as to not overload your body. This can take a few weeks for it to completely go away.

I think understanding is getting a little better now but a few years ago I had trouble getting a hairdresser to touch me as they were afraid of being sued. You need to ensure that you find a hairdresser with a good understanding of allergies and the cause of it.

It's not just a case of trying several random dyes and seeing which ones react, as a patch test may be negative for a dye with a small amount of PPD but when applied to your whole head will cause a reaction.

leafgrass thank you

When I went back to my stylist for a cut and told her about the reaction to the permanent colour she'd put in she seemed a bit put out. Didn't offer to do a patch test, just said next time she could use an ammonia free colour... And now it seems I can't even tolerate a PPD free colour either following a patch test at a different salon. It just isn't worth the risk.

Tea or other natural means of colouring are the only way forward for me now.

Has anyone tried NaturVital? The blondes look kind of brassy though....I've been working for years towards a nice ash based non yellow blonde. I'm going to end up yellow again, aren't I. Stooooopid skin.