I have been debating posting this for days, do I really want to post my gross swollen no make up'd face on the internet? no not really. But im going to anyway.
I have been wanting to dye my hair a natural colour for quite some time now. I have had some sort of bright colour for the past 6 years. Answering the same old questions and being polite to strangers on a daily basis it getting old, and at times its just bloody annoying. And then theres the people that like to shout at you in the street? yes im well aware my hair is blue/green/turqoise . . . I do not need to be told!
Anyway my friend asked me to dye her hair brown a couple of weeks back and I decided to do a skin test on my forearm afterwards. The first two days were looking good no rash or swelling, day 3 the rash kicked in on the patch where the dye was and by day 4 my eye had swollen. coincidence? I think not.
Heres the story, I have dyed my hair since the age of 16 (the age I started going grey shocking I know!) I always dyed it a dark natural colour just to cover those pesky white hairs after all I was way to young to be grey! I had always used the same brand of hair dye and never had any problems. Then one day, the day after dying my hair my head began to swell, I went to the doctors and was given some steroid tablets to take (10 a day if I remember correctly) the next day I woke up with one eye swollen shut and my whole head continued to swell throughout the day, by that evening my head was described by doctors as 'moon shaped' before they rushed me in and injected me with a large dose of steroids. I literally felt myself deflate. . . . which was wondeful but I still had a humongous head. After my first night in hospital I awoke, well I was awake but couldnt see a thing as both eyes were swollen shut. It was a very surreal experience, one I dont want to ever repeat. I was disscharged after two days but it still took a fair few days for my face to return to normal.
If you times the above picture by 10 you'll have some idea of what my face looked like after it was dyed a natural colour 6 years ago. I wish I still had the photos to show how bad it actually was. Always do a skin test! even if you have used the same hair dye for years like I had. You never know what could happen.
Its scary to think that the above picture was from a small 10p sized skin test on my arm. Do we seriously need these chemicals in our hair dyes?
I think I am going to have to stick to my crazy vegetable dye hair colurs or grow out my hair? and be brown/grey? I would love to know what people think, have you ever had any reactions to dye? do you know of any safe hair dyes in natural colours?
p.s I appologise for the scary face I was pretty grumpy that day!
x
