Dying to Dye Your Hair?
Posted by girlpaint | Filed under education, hair
I recently read an article released by WebMD that found that the incidence of allergic reactions to a very common ingredient in many hair dyes, para-phenylenediamine also known as PPD, is on the rise. In fact, one very prominent dermagologist, Dr. John McFadden of St. John’s Institute of Dermagology in London, has seen double the number of cases of the PPD allergy in the past six years.
Beginning in January 1998, a French patch-test study of PPD was conducted over an 18-month period on over 400 random human subjects, and it was found that 33% of the individuals studied experienced an allergic reaction, not unlike contact dermatitis…ouch.
People with reactions to PPD commonly experience a painful rash around their hairline or face, which if not treated, can lead to hospitalization or even death. Other side effects include facial swelling and, if you’ll please excuse the pee-pee talk,
turning your urine brown due to toxicity of your entire system. Sounds great, huh? Well, funny thing: although PPD is used in almost all permanent hair color, the FDA has banned its use on skin. Gee, I wonder why?
The moral of the story is: if you are going to have your hair colored or you are doing it yourself, DO A PATCH TEST and wait 72 hours to be sure you will not have a reaction. It doesn’t matter if you’re using the same product you always have…products change formulations plus you can experience a reaction to a product or substance even though you have used it ‘safely’ and without incidence in the past. Also, use a layer of petroleum around your hairline when coloring your hair–this is the ONLY time I will recommend using Vaseline on your face, but hey, when it comes to beauty and health, you gotta protect yourself.
If you do experience a reaction to hair color or dye, I am sure you will agree that grey hair or dark roots are better than a swollen face or dying. If abstinence is not an option, alternatives to dying your hair with traditional dyes that contain chemicals like PPD (FYI: known carcingens are found in most hair dyes) include Henna or Indigo, color “rejuventors” and other natural alternatives, like coffee, tea and lemon juice. These and other natural hair coloring agents can be found at BabyFit.com.
P.S. Good news for fake blonds: PPD is found in much lower concentrations in blond hair dyes and bleach.
February 6th, 2007 at 3:40 AM
Thanks for this great heads-up, GirlPaint! (no pun) I personally find that lemon and sunshine do the trick for me!
February 6th, 2007 at 1:17 PM
Thanks for the tip girl!Thanks for stopping by =)
February 6th, 2007 at 11:35 PM
well, i experienced an alergic ppd reaction twice within the span of a few years. first, with a “semipermanent” hair dye/shampoo i had been using for a longer time back than, nevertheless, one morning i woke up with burned scalp and swollen forehead. the second time, i wanted to dye the ends of my hair with a regular l’oreal colour, but i finally decided to use up the entire pack and applied it all. i didn’t experience any scalp itching as previously, not event the next day, so dedided that it was perfetcly ok. what a mistake, after about 36 hours i wokeup with my scalp burned and itching up to the bottom of my neck,covered with red spots, and watery wounds in my scalp, my head swollen, the upper left half of my face swollen so massively i couldn’t open my left eye…nasty. when they saw me in the hospital and i explained them what was the cause, the shook their heads not wanting to believe me. never again
March 25th, 2008 at 1:50 AM
Clearly I was somewhat luckier than Zara… however, my eyes swelled repeatedly to the point where the wrinkles caused by this repeated swelling and shrinking of the skin of the upper lid are probably permanent. They were so red and raw with an eczema dematitis rash and felt like sandpaper – a stripe of an eczema-type rash down my right cheek, sore and scalp itchy (who knows that that really looked like…) – forhead itchy. bridge of nose swollen to the point where it hurt to wear my eyeglasses… sinus issues… It’s been 2 months since I colored my hair and I am still dealing with the sinus thing – have had antibiotics once already to try to break up whatever is going on there… Can wear makeup perhaps once or twice per week… because the sensitivity to the PPD has created all manner of skin issues which are exacerbated by even gentle consmetics… This ingredient ought to be illegal. I know, I know… some jerk will say ‘just because YOU are allergic doesn’t mean every one is…’ Right – and when you awaken some morning after coloring your hair and your eyes are swollen almost shut – you have red sore/itchy/swollen rashes all over your scalp, face, ears… then YOU tell me what you think about this particular ingredient. ( btw – Resorcinol is another such problematic ingredient – it so happened that the haircolor I used contained BOTH.) I wasn’t ALWAYS allergic to this… it sneaks up on you and then BAM!