Bad reaction to hair dye skin test

[ILoveLeedsMoreThanLeads]

I've been having my hair dyed at various salons without any issue for about 30 years. I went in to a salon I've been to many times before yesterday morning for my skin test before my colour being done tomorrow... and it's left me with a badly burnt, scabby, raised and sore mark behind my ear. It did feel quite stingy when it was applied but I thought nothing of it at the time as I've always been fine before. I went back into the salon this morning and they said they'd never actually seen that happen before. Obviously I cancelled my apt and they said to come back in a week to try a skin test of a different type of dye. Has anyone else had this happen out of the blue after always being ok before? What could cause it?

Repeated exposure to allergens increase the chance of allergies developing.

Yes I dyed my hair for years (dark) and then one day out of the blue started reacting.

Similar to how you describe it- itchy, red, raised and eventually scabby. As pp says, repeated exposure increases your risk of this

Yes, this is a common pattern.

I gave up dyeing my hair about ten years ago after getting itchy once.

If you have had a very serious reaction (as you describe you have) I would not do anything at all without medical advice, if you go ahead with a full head you could be in serious trouble. The new dye will have the same ingredients presumably.

Sorry, probably not what you wanted to hear - but thank goodness you had a patch test, doesn't bear thinking about!

@picturesandpickles

Yes, this is a common pattern.

I gave up dyeing my hair about ten years ago after getting itchy once.

If you have had a very serious reaction (as you describe you have) I would not do anything at all without medical advice, if you go ahead with a full head you could be in serious trouble. The new dye will have the same ingredients presumably.

Sorry, probably not what you wanted to hear - but thank goodness you had a patch test, doesn't bear thinking about!

You're right... and actually I very nearly didn't, but I was walking past the salon and thought I should just pop in. They said they have different dyes with different ingredients so I could try a test with a different one... would that not be advisable?

I would not do anything without taking medical advice or a lot of careful research. A hairdresser is neither a chemist nor a doctor.

Can you answer these questions:

1. What ingredient did you react to?
2. Is that ingredient or anything chemically similar in the next product?
3. How allergic are you?
4. What will your next reaction be like?

There is a lot of info online about this as it is very common.

Have you got an aveda salon near you? Their products are more natural.

The ingredients you are likely reacting to are the PPDs.

However 'natural' a hair dye claims to be, there are pretty much always PPDs lurking! Although in the last couple of years some brands, notably Wella, have been developing alternatives.

The same happened to me after years of dying my hair both at home and in salons. Apparently you can develop an allergy and the reaction can become more severe next time.

My reaction was to Aveda products and I am not sure their products are that natural at all.

Are you near London? Natural Colour Hair salon in Soho uses only water colour. Lovely salon and great colour which lasts for ages and no chemicals. I would never put anything else in my hair now!

Sorry it’s called Natural colour works!

The water colour products are 95% water-based but they will have chemicals in or the colour would nt stay on your hair. The word 'natural' is always meant to mislead as every product we have on earth has at root source ocme from something natural!

@picturesandpickles, true and you have to do a test before they book you in, but oh my word it’s worlds away from the chemicals in Aveda etc Aveda used to sting my eyes while I was having it done and ruined the texture of my hair. Now my hair is in fantastic condition.

Has anyone else had this happen out of the blue after always being ok before? What could cause it?

It’s just life. And perhaps genetics. You have exposed yourself to an allergen one too many times and your body can no longer tolerate it, so produces an inflammatory reaction when in contact with it. It’s called allergic contact dermatitis & hair dye is one of the most common.

I reckon there will be a lot of cross contamination with another brand of dye & the ingredients are likely to overlap, so no dye is safe for you now unfortunately. I doubt you want the scabbing all over your scalp and the risk of hair loss?

Maybe you can try henna or something instead?

Read this:
www.nhs.uk/conditions/hair-dye-reactions/

Would highly recommend patch testing. NHS waiting lists are likely to be over a year from referral to test, so perhaps consider private

Ye it can happy any time and is probably a ppd allergy which is basically all hair dyes.

Argh thanks all! Does that mean I'll just have to let the grey shine through?

@ILoveLeedsMoreThanLeads

Argh thanks all! Does that mean I'll just have to let the grey shine through?

If you read the NHS page it advises not to dye again, I think, at the end?

You should definitely check with a doctor before doing it again.

You can try henna if you dye your hair dark

Alternatively bleach might be okay because it doesn’t touch your scalp and it doesn’t contain the same chemicals. However I assume toner or dye over the bleach would give you a reaction so it would have to be bleach and then nothing

However with the bleach/highlights - you’d have to find a hair dresser that doesn’t mind risking you having a reaction even if it’s unlikely…most will say no due to insurance reasons

If you can bear the pain you can get cap lowlights. It won't cover all the grey but it will cover most of it. Or try a direct dye. Adore do some natural colours. Patch test before use but you're much less likely to react to direct dyes.

How relived you must be to have done the patch test!

Agree it's most likely PPD. Going blonde is an alternative as PPD is only in darker hair dyes. As far as I'm aware.

PPD is in all oxidising colours ie ones you mix with Peroxide but in higher volumes in darker colours so you might get away with a lighter colour depending on the line. Some are trying to move away from PPD where possible. Always, always patch test.

You could try this gentle home hair colour kit with no PPD. It's really lovely and as natural as you are likely to get. I haven't been back to the salon since starting using it during lockdown.

www.allbeauty.com/gb/en/1205273-phyto-color-permanent-hair-dye-shade-6-77-light-brown-cappuccino

I'm surprised they didn't insist on a patch test to be honest, unless you've been and had a colour recently.

The guidelines have changed since covid. Having had covid 19 can affect the way people respond to allergens in hair dye, H&S policies have been altered to reflect this. Anyone who hasn't had a dye applied within 6 months, or using dyes at home needs a patch test before salon colour and certain other treatments. Not participating in this would invalidate their insurance policy.

Obviously no need to divulge any health info OP but if you may have had covid (whether you knew or not) then that could explain why it's happened.

[quote aurea]You could try this gentle home hair colour kit with no PPD. It's really lovely and as natural as you are likely to get. I haven't been back to the salon since starting using it during lockdown.

www.allbeauty.com/gb/en/1205273-phyto-color-permanent-hair-dye-shade-6-77-light-brown-cappuccino[/quote]
The disclaimer still says: The colouring cream contains no PPD or resorcinol, (paraphenylenediamine) and have been replaced by gentler derivatives. The risk of allergy is greatly reduced, but there still remains the possibility of an allergic reaction: anyone who is prone to allergic reactions is advised to carry out a skin sensitivity test 48 hours before use. and the expression 'derivatives' means they are similar so people should take care if they have had a bad reaction.

I had it happen to me once. I wanted to try a new hairdressers. Went in for a patch test and had a bad reaction. Have been to other hairdressers since and no issues. Assuming it was the brand that hairdressers used.