Newbie alert :)

[Bexxybex]

Hiya, I came across this forum while googling my latest hair disaster and was hoping you guys can help me out!

I've been dying my hair black for ages with conventional dye and did it last Friday evening with a fairly cheap dye that I haven't used before (I usually use L'oreal Preference and it's fine). Anyway I think I had a bit of an allergic reaction - my forehead went all red and itchy and I've been left with weird boil-like spots under my hairline. And no, I didn't do the 48 hour patch test thing - when I want to dye my hair it's a bit of a 'got 30 minutes to myself, get it done' sort of job!

Anyway, I'm wondering whether it's safe to go back to my L'oreal or whether I will now be susceptible to reactions from any dye. Also where would Henna fit it with this? I would want to use indigo henna for the dark colour but have people I've spoken to have said that can cause reactions (although I think that might just be because of the warnings about black henna tattoos??)
And if I decided to go down the Henna route would I need to remove the conventional dye from my hair first with Colour B4?

Sorry for all the questions but any help and advice would be great!
Thanks in advance, Bex :)

[Wildcat Diva]

Welcome to LHC. I'm no dye or henna expert but maybe someone will see this thread and give you some help. I understand that henna/indigo especially is very permanent with little chance for removal. Also you wouldn't want to bleach out your hair over indigo as that turns it green! But adding henna/ indigo over dye I think is fine. With henna you will see a bright red tone that builds up. I'm not sure that it would do the orange flare in the sun thing, as you are starting off with black hair.

You might want to search for a henna thread and try asking there, because the title for this thread you've made here is not specific to henna help needed, so I'm not sure folks would click on it to see it.

Good luck!

[rut.de.leu]

Hello and welcome!

Body art quality henna and indigo (BAQ for short) do not have metals and impurities which can react with conventional developers. If you buy BAQ henna or indigo, you will not have to worry about adverse reactions due to hair dye sensitivity. Some sites preferred here are hennasooq.com and hennaforhair.com.

Henna and indigo are true permanent colors and commitments - they do not come out fully except in rare exception cases. (NEVER bleach out indigo - it goes green in a hurry and the green stays, period.)
A layering effect also happens with them; if you do a whole-head application every time your roots need a touch-up, your length will become darker. Once you get to your desire color, it is important to only do the roots from then on. This likely won't matter if you intend on staying with black.
In order to go black, it works best to use a full-head henna application followed by a full-head indigo application - this makes the black deeper and more believable.

You should not need to take out your color before using henna or indigo; you might wish to even out your color first, but since you've had an allergic reaction to conventional dye, this might not be wise. It's not worth doing anyway since you're going black.
If you do choose to try conventional dye again, make absolutely sure to patch test for a reaction first. If you are okay, after clarifying, coat your hair with coconut oil (soaking and dripping is just fine) and wait an hour before dyeing. This will prevent damage and help color uptake to go evenly. Again, this is probably not worth doing and is definitely not worth doing if you remain reactive.

I recommend the henna/indigo threads for more information!

[Firefox7275]

Hiya, I came across this forum while googling my latest hair disaster and was hoping you guys can help me out!

I've been dying my hair black for ages with conventional dye and did it last Friday evening with a fairly cheap dye that I haven't used before (I usually use L'oreal Preference and it's fine). Anyway I think I had a bit of an allergic reaction - my forehead went all red and itchy and I've been left with weird boil-like spots under my hairline. And no, I didn't do the 48 hour patch test thing - when I want to dye my hair it's a bit of a 'got 30 minutes to myself, get it done' sort of job!

Anyway, I'm wondering whether it's safe to go back to my L'oreal or whether I will now be susceptible to reactions from any dye. Also where would Henna fit it with this? I would want to use indigo henna for the dark colour but have people I've spoken to have said that can cause reactions (although I think that might just be because of the warnings about black henna tattoos??)
And if I decided to go down the Henna route would I need to remove the conventional dye from my hair first with Colour B4?

Sorry for all the questions but any help and advice would be great!
Thanks in advance, Bex :)

Welcome!

Everyone is susceptible to a reaction to various ingredients in any dye at any time and they can be severe (think entire face ballooning so your eyes shut or you cannot breathe properly), that is why we are advised to run patch tests every time. Allergic reactions to chemicals you have encountered before are actually more common than those to novel chemicals, so you have no way of knowing if the issue is to something in the new dye or your L'Oreal as well - the only solution is to start running patch tests or head to a private dermatologist for boring and pricey patch tests for individual ingredients/ common allergens.
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/nov/28/could-hair-dye-kill-you

Both henna and indigo contain many (natural) chemicals including protein allergens, so again anyone is susceptible to a reaction at any time and you should run patch tests before each application. Henna is considered very permanent and generally has to be grown or cut out of hair, and you may well get a very uneven result if some of your hair has been peroxided once, some parts several times (porous) and some never (virgin). Use body art quality henna only which is lower risk for allergies and less likely to react with the chemicals already in your hair. Run plenty of strand tests on shed plughole hair then on head hair and let the henna oxidise rather than use your head as a laboratory. If you are one of us who don't have the patience for that, don't use henna. Henna is always red-orange, indigo is a different plant (blue-black) that you use in addition to the henna.

Colour B4 will strip some of the colour out but blacks are notorious for not shifting and Colour B4 won't fix any porosity issues, so again run strand tests if you choose that route and expect to spend several weeks in transition. Colour B4 is highly alkaline so can damage the skin barrier and leave you more susceptible to negative reactions, you should allow this plenty of time to heal before moving onto your next colour, artificial or natural.

Whilst your reaction is currently mild you might be wise to cut back on/ out ingredients that are known pre-sensitisers/ irritants/ damage the skin barrier, especially in haircare. Ideally avoid anionic surfactants (in most commercial shampoo, shower gel, liquid hand soap, washing up liquid, foaming face wash, hair dye, toothpaste), anything alkaline such as traditional soaps, go for skincare and haircare that is pH 4.5 to 5.5.
http://www.eczema.org/aqeous
http://www.thenaturalhavenbloom.com/2012/06/are-sulfate-free-shampoos-really.html
http://www.naturallycurly.com/curlreading/curl-products/curlchemist-porosity-and-curly-hair?page=4
http://www.naturallycurly.com/curlreading/celebrities/ingredients-commonly-found-in-hair-care-products

HTH!

[Firefox7275]

Hello and welcome!

Body art quality henna and indigo (BAQ for short) do not have metals and impurities which can react with conventional developers. If you buy BAQ henna or indigo, you will not have to worry about adverse reactions due to hair dye sensitivity. Some sites preferred here are hennasooq.com and hennaforhair.com.


Sorry but this is so badly worded as to be completely misleading and even dangerous. IF the OP has had a reaction to PPD in hair dye only and IF she has no damaged her skin barrier she is less likely to experience a reaction to pure BAQ henna/ indigo compared with lower quality henna/ indigo blends since these do not contain PPD.

However we have no idea what ingredient or cocktail of ingredients the OP has reacted to, we don't even know for sure whether PPD or indigo itself or a derivative of indigo was in the box dye she used! Being allergic to one chemical does not protect you from being allergic to another, in fact the risk is increased so the OP should be concerned and she should run patch tests. I have skin prone to contact dermatitis and have a mild reaction to the combination of sulphate surfactants in and alkalinity of hair dye, others react to fragrances or preservatives, PPD is probably the most severe reaction but far from the only one.

[rut.de.leu]

I apologize for my confusing wording.

I was responding to Bexxybex's concern mentioned here - "I would want to use indigo henna for the dark colour but have people I've spoken to have said that can cause reactions (although I think that might just be because of the warnings about black henna tattoos??)"
This seemed to be meant in conjunction with the previous reaction to a conventional dye; I read it as though the question is whether henndigo is safe to use after conventional dye and whether that safety is related to previous reactions.
I did mean the entire clause that I typed, including the words "due to hair dye sensitivity" - not just the portion bolded in Firefox7275's response. Bexxybex could certainly be allergic to henna or indigo anyway, but should not have an adverse reaction to BAQ henna or indigo related to the reaction to conventional dye, in the sense that is warned about by stylists or as part of box dye kits (the "black henna"/PPD issue). In addition to that, my understanding is that the reason that low-quality henna and indigo are problematic when combined with conventional dye is the metal impurities of the lower-quality products which can be reactive with developers, regardless of the PPD content.
I intended for my entire sentence to be read as a whole, in context as a response.

Definitely, always run patch tests! It is unclear what the reaction was from, and it could be that heightened sensitivity is an indicator that other things might not work out so well either.
If Bexxybex does decide to try henna or indigo, samples are a good idea to try first as they are inexpensive in manageable amounts for both strand-testing hair results and patch-testing skin for reactions.

Again, I am sorry for confusion and any misleading my words caused.
Thank you for your corrections, Firefox7275.

[alexis917]

I'm sorry that happened to you, but using indigo right over conventional dye might cause a less than favorable result.

[Firefox7275]

I apologize for my confusing wording.

I was responding to Bexxybex's concern mentioned here - "I would want to use indigo henna for the dark colour but have people I've spoken to have said that can cause reactions (although I think that might just be because of the warnings about black henna tattoos??)"
This seemed to be meant in conjunction with the previous reaction to a conventional dye; I read it as though the question is whether henndigo is safe to use after conventional dye and whether that safety is related to previous reactions.

I did mean the entire clause that I typed, including the words "due to hair dye sensitivity" - not just the portion bolded in Firefox7275's response. Bexxybex could certainly be allergic to henna or indigo anyway, but should not have an adverse reaction to BAQ henna or indigo related to the reaction to conventional dye, in the sense that is warned about by stylists or as part of box dye kits (the "black henna"/PPD issue). In addition to that, my understanding is that the reason that low-quality henna and indigo are problematic when combined with conventional dye is the metal impurities of the lower-quality products which can be reactive with developers, regardless of the PPD content.
I intended for my entire sentence to be read as a whole, in context as a response.

Definitely, always run patch tests! It is unclear what the reaction was from, and it could be that heightened sensitivity is an indicator that other things might not work out so well either.
If Bexxybex does decide to try henna or indigo, samples are a good idea to try first as they are inexpensive in manageable amounts for both strand-testing hair results and patch-testing skin for reactions.

Again, I am sorry for confusion and any misleading my words caused.
Thank you for your corrections, Firefox7275.

Thank you for the clarification, I appreciate I did selectively embolden but I actually feel "hair dye sensitivity" is equally misleading if you meant "PPD sensitivity". The OP has had a reaction to one or more ingredients in one specific box dye, we have no idea what that ingredient is - for all we know she is fine with PPD and other common box dye chemicals but is now reacting to a chemical found widely in skin and haircare such as a fragrance or preservative or plant extract, not an ingredient specific to hair dye and not even necessarily artificial.

[rut.de.leu]

Thank you for the clarification, I appreciate I did selectively embolden but I actually feel "hair dye sensitivity" is equally misleading if you meant "PPD sensitivity". The OP has had a reaction to one or more ingredients in one specific box dye, we have no idea what that ingredient is - for all we know she is fine with PPD and other common box dye chemicals but is now reacting to a chemical found widely in skin and haircare such as a fragrance or preservative or plant extract, not an ingredient specific to hair dye and not even necessarily artificial.

I certainly did not mean any harm and hope not to have caused any. I could have been more clear and completely agree with everything you've said here.

[Bexxybex]

Wow, thanks for all the advice!
It all got a little 'chemisty' towards the end there, but basically there could be something in the cheapo own-brand dye that's NOT in the L'oreal one which could be what I'm sensitive to? So if I really love the L'oreal results then it's still worth doing a patch test cos I might be ok with it?

Although saying that, since lurking on this forum for a bit I have really started to appreciate my hair a bit more and I feel a bit bad for using dye on it!

Thanks again for the help :) x

[Firefox7275]

Wow, thanks for all the advice!
It all got a little 'chemisty' towards the end there, but basically there could be something in the cheapo own-brand dye that's NOT in the L'oreal one which could be what I'm sensitive to? So if I really love the L'oreal results then it's still worth doing a patch test cos I might be ok with it?

Although saying that, since lurking on this forum for a bit I have really started to appreciate my hair a bit more and I feel a bit bad for using dye on it!

Thanks again for the help :) x

It could be a new ingredient or combination, equally it could be something you have been exposed to many times and have suddenly reacted to, it is absolutely normal for that to occur. Is there PPD (p-Phenylenediamine) in either or both products?

If not patch test away, given the obvious nature of this reaction if you are sensitive you should get some sort of reaction if there is an issue. Be sure to do it well in advance and on a patch of thin/ reactive skin, don't assume your leg or arm will react the same as your face or scalp. Even the slightest negative reaction IMO do not progress to a full head. IF the issue is PPD (which is only one possibility) bear in mind there are different concentrations in different lines, so you might seem to have a much milder reaction but that is still high risk for suddenly getting a severe reaction when you do a full head. And if you get any burning, itching or discomfort during the session, rinse it off thoroughly with cool water and consider going to hospital taking the packaging with you.

Plenty of us here use home or salon dye, I do roots only with a weak blonde box dye then a bright/ rich semi permanent over that and the lengths, 'refreshing' the lengths every six to eight weeks was killing my hair. I use proven ingredients in haircare products to patch repair the damage and reduce porosity like coconut oil, hydrolysed protein, ceramides and panthenol.

[HylianGirl]

It could be reaction to PPD, but only a doctor can be sure. If you are considering henna, the ebook in this page is very informative: http://www.mehandi.com/shop/hennahairbook/

There is much less chance of getting a alergic reaction to henna/indigo than commercial dyes. If that doesn't work for you either, try getting a vegan black dye like manic panic (they have black), though they wash out much more easily