Hair Dye Allergies

The Case for Switching to a Hypoallergenic Hair Dye

Hair dye allergies are unfortunately common for those of us with sensitive skin who have difficulty handling the chemicals that are in most hair colorings. If you have a reaction to hair dye, does that mean that you are doomed to mousy, dull looking hair? :~/

Thankfully, the answer is ... not at all!

There IS hope now as more cosmetics companies are developing hair dye for sensitive skin and hypoallergenic hair dye products that can enhance the beauty of your hair without making you sick!

Hair dye allergies are on the increase and there has been a growing concern that some of the chemicals in hair dye are harmful to health. For example, in 2001 researchers in the U.S. discovered elevated levels of cancer in hairdressers and people who used hair dyes, especially before 1985.

Just today I checked the news and found several stories about women who ended up in the intensive care unit of their local hospital because of a severe allergic reaction to hair dye. Read below to see how serious the situation can become.

Symptoms of Hair Dye Allergies

A mild hair dye allergic reaction can include skin inflammation and dermatitis to the eyelids or top part of the ears, or the face, neck, upper back or chest. Sometimes an allergic reaction will not occur on your scalp, because the skin there is thicker and less prone to irritation.

A more severe allergic reaction can cause swelling and reddening of the face and scalp. It can even cause swelling of the eyelids or even difficulty breathing and anaphylaxis, a severe, whole body allergic reaction.

These are just a few stories I found in the news of people who had severe hair dye allergy reactions. In some cases these reactions happened even after the hairdresser performed a skin patch test to see if the client was allergic.

Hair Dye Puts Women In Burns Unit After Severe Reaction

Hair Dye Blunder Put Me in Intensive Care for a Week

Girl Wins Settlement After Dye Burns Her Scalp - This story is no longer available was at the Herald.ie news website.

Chemicals in Hair Dye Products

If you go to the beauty section of any drugstore and look at the ingredients of some of the most popular brands of hair coloring, you will find all kinds of ingredients that you may not want to put on your body.

Besides the fragrance, parabens, propelyne glycol, EDTA, propylene glycol, and DMDM hydantoin there are literally dozens of chemical ingredients with long scary names that I can't imagine would be good for you!

Oleamide MIPA, PEG-150/Stearyl/SMDI Copolymer, C12-15 Pareth-3, Oleth-2, Oleth-10, Sodium Sulfite, EDTA, Resorcinol, P-Phenylenediamine, P-Aminophenol, 4-Amino-2-Hydroxtoluene, N,N-BIS(2-Hydroxyethyl)-P-Phenylenediamine Sulfate, 1-Naphthol, Hydrogen Peroxide, Glyceryl Stearate, Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine, PEG-75 Lanolin, Ceteareth-20, Oleth-10, Oleth-2, Etidronic Acid, Simethicone, Behentrimonium Chloride, Cyclomethicone, Ammonia, Trimethylsilylamodimethicone, Sodium Cocoamphopropionate, Disodium EDTA, Propylene Glycol, DMDM Hydantoin, Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate.