Dye: Why you should patch test EVERY time

I have very fair eyelashes and eyebrows and I began dyeing them when I was about 15. Every couple of months for four years I temporarily didn’t look like a boiled egg without make-up on. Yay! Then one time things went wrong... 

When I was 19 I went to have my eyelashes dyed at a reputable salon attached to a 4* hotel. Things looked great for the first 24 hours. Then the itching started. Then the redness. Soon my eyes felt like they were on fire. Bloodshot doesn’t even begin to cover it. Think albino-red-eyed rabbit. I looked like I’d been on a marathon crying session for weeks. It took four days for the pain and redness to go away.

Yep, this is what my eyes looked like

Contaminated equipment?

Because I’d used dye so many times before I assumed the salon had used contaminated equipment. It never occurred to me that I may be having an allergic reaction. I called the salon to complain, they assured me they only use clean equipment, offered me a free appointment (which I declined to accept) and that was the end of that. The experience put me off using dye and I relied on mascara and eyebrow pencil to add colour to my facial features from there on in.

Take two 

Until a few years later that is… This time I had my eyebrows dyed at an established salon which had been recommended to me. Again, things looked great at first. 24 hours later my brows started itching. REALLY itching. A few hours later they were bright red. I was in pain. For days afterwards I was left with hideous, itchy scaly crusts where my eyebrows should have been.
 
The penny drops 

At this point I put two and two together and realised that, at some point, for some unknown reason, I had developed an allergic reaction to dye. Suffice to say, I have never coloured my lashes or brows since.
 
Noooo! Not hair dye too? 

When I recently visited a new hair salon to get my light blonde hair dyed a few shades darker, I was surprised to be asked to pop in for a patch test in advance. So many places just don’t bother. (Neither of the salons I went to for the eyelash and brow dye offered me one by the way.) I have my hair highlighted a couple of times a year and have never experienced any problems on my scalp, so I hadn’t expected there to be any issues. 

THANK GOD THEY DID! The next day, the itching started and the spot behind my ear where they’d applied the dye was red raw and painful. I was 5 months pregnant at the time. Had the colour been applied all over my scalp, the result could have been very serious. My stylist was great when I went back in to explain what had happened. She suggested doing another patch test of a lighter shade (which I didn’t react to) and used barrier cream on my scalp before applying the dye as an extra precaution. 

Thanks to patch testing, I didn't experience a reaction to my new hair colour

It’s more common than you think
 
A goth friend of mine used to dye her mousy hair black every six weeks for years. One time though, she was hospitalised after experiencing a severe reaction to the dye. Her face puffed up so badly her own mother didn’t recognise her. NCIS star, Pauly Perrette, was recently rushed to hospital with a similar experience. She posted this picture on her twitter account of the result. Here's another example of a bad reaction on Welsh woman, Carmen Rowe which the Daily Mail reported on back in 2012.

Carmen Rowe's severe reaction to hair dye

Having since done some research into this, it seems that it’s fairly common for people who have used dye – be it on their head, brows or lashes – for years without any problems to all of a sudden develop an allergic reaction. In the worst cases it can lead to anaphylactic shock or even death. The offending ingredient is para-phenylenediamine (PPD) and darker brown and black dyes are much more likely to cause a reaction.
 
What's the answer?

Patch test EVERY TIME. For people who have never experienced a problem with dye, I’m aware that this feels like an unnecessary step. It really isn’t. A reaction can occur at any time, even after years of use.

• DIY dye-er?
  If you dye your hair, lashes or brows yourself at home, plan ahead. Patch test behind your ear at least 24 hours before applying the dye to your head.
• Salon dye-er?
  All good salons should offer patch tests before any treatment, but very few actually do. Especially with regular clients. You may have to suggest it yourself and it may be a bit of an inconvenience, but it’s worth taking the time to pay a visit to the salon in advance (at least 24 hours) of your appointment to get a patch test done. 

Of course, the best precaution is to not use dye at all. If that's not an option, lighter shades tend to be less problematic. You could also consider natural alternatives, such as vegetable dyes or henna for your hair, but there are no alternatives for lashes and brows as far as I'm aware.

Symptoms to look out for

Worryingly, more and more stories seem to be emerging of people patch testing and still experiencing a reaction, but I wonder if this is more a case of symptoms not being picked up on rather than them not being there at all. Things to look out for include include redness, inflamed skin and itching.

So what do you think? Will you start getting patch-tested before each dye job? Have you ever experienced an allergic reaction to dye? Leave a comment below and share your experiences.

Allergy UK offer some more useful advice and information about hair dye allergies.