Reaction to hair dye

[Smowball]

Years ago I reacted badly to a home hair dye kit. left if for a few years, tentatively started trying the quickest ones again - ie the ones that you only leave on for ten mins. All i got was an itchy scalp, so used it. Have use it for over a year now and still ok. Last thursday used the same dye. within hours my eyes had swollen, eyelids red raw, red raw blotches on face where it had touched skin. back of ears weeping. Took antihistamine for 3 days and ice on swellking. no better. Rang doctor who refuses to see me and says just treat as sunburn(??) and take antihistamine( I am!!). Still wont see me, says isnt urgent. Told him last time this happened they hgave me prednisolone which worked but he wont prescribe it this time. Anything else I can take please??

[rowanwitch]

The only fully natural products are the raw hennas and if you use them you have to sit with what smells like a fresh cowpat on your head wrapped in plastic for about 2 hours... if its just the tips fading you might be better getting just those areas done professionally so no dye touches your skin

[Smowball]

Herbatint, hmm I will look into that - thanks kiki.
Yes I saw the One Show too. I have to admit that I didnt do a patch test which is totally my fault, and am suffering now

[cazzz1975]

http://www.herbatint....ital-colour-chart.php

just reading the blurb, it cannot say whether herbatint could actually cover grey :/

[rowanwitch]

I tried it a while back its coverage wasn't that good I have about 5% grey

[Smowball]

You would think in this day and age that they would come up with a good hair dye that covered grey and did not contain this PHP.

[rowanwitch]

Daniel Field Watercolours used to be good and are plant based without ammonia ... and Tints of Nature might be an option you would need to do a much more extreme patch test though maybe covering the area with clingfilm for a few hours and waitng about 48 hours to see if you react

[Kiki-frog]

cazzz - it works OK with me, but a lot probably depends on the colour you're aiming for. I've just got little bits of grey, and I just use a light brown colour.

Henna might be OK, but again it depends on if you are trying to cover lots of grey. I know someone who has used henna on her black hair for years and has always looked good, but now that she's getting older the henna is turning the grey hairs bright orange!

Another thought, Smow, was the kit you used ammonia-based? That really is evil stuff, and I reacted horribly the one time I used it. If it was, there are plenty of others that don't contain ammonia. I think l'Oreal Casting is ammonia free. But obviously, it depends on what chemical it was that caused your bad reaction.

[Smowball]

Erm, not sure kiki. I really should be more careful shouldnt I. Guess you read these horror stories re hair dye reactions and always think it will happen to other people. Thought I had got past the bad reactions, but clearly not!