Highlights/lowlights but fear of PPD?

[Blondieee]

Hello!
I'm wanting to go blonde like I was when I was younger. I have natural light brown hair but it can appear reddish in certain lights/pictures which I hate. I saw this girl at the salon whose hair looked amazing and just what I was looking for. She had her stylist come talk to me, and I liked him a lot. He uses highlights (with bleach) and lowlights on her hair. He wanted to use blonde dye on me instead of bleach since my hair is thinning due to low iron and B12 but I'm going to ask for bleach for the highlights. However, I'm worried about the lowlights and if I should get them or not. I'm not allergic to PPD but I'm terrified of it and don't ever want to become allergic. Would it be okay to do highlights and lowlights in foils? The lowlights would be light brown probably. Or should I just have him do the highlights and leave my natural light brown/reddish color? I really liked her hair a lot. I read about Pauley Perrette and what happened with her and she didn't react until 20 years with jet black dye. This would be just light brown in the lowlights plus it would be in foils. Is this a good idea or not? I do have sensitive skin though. I am allergic to DHA in self tanners and I have had eczema for years (it's mild now that I sunbathe to keep it away). I'm not sure if this makes a difference or not. I know the dye still touches your scalp with foils but it's much safer than applying it directly and rubbing it in I assume. I also want to mention I have used brown dye before just a few times, only that was directly applied. So I have been exposed to it before. I have severe anxiety though so if I ever did have a reaction, I wouldn't be able to handle it. I need to make a decision soon though. I've been wanting blonde for 2 years!

[MidnightMoon]

Why don't you ask for them to do an allergy test before?

[Blondieee]

Why don't you ask for them to do an allergy test before?

Because an allergy test doesn't work. There have been lots of people who have gotten an allergy test before dying their hair, they didn't react, and then dyed it the next day and had a full blown reaction. Plus when you leave it on there for 48 hours you're exposing yourself to it way longer than you would for dying your hair and could potentially cause a reaction. :(

[Blondieee]

Anybody have any advice? The main reason I'm scared of becoming allergic is because I have an anxiety medication I have to take on a daily basis and there's a color dye in the ingredients. I'm worried if I become allergic to PPD I could react to my own medication. I've read about cross sensitization. Maybe I'm just overreacting though.

[ravenreed]

The problem with PPD allergies is you never know when or if they will develop and even a small amount can cause a problem. I would say that if you are concerned to give it a pass. FWIW, I have a dye allergy (fabric dyes gave me my very first case of hives when I was in elementary school) and haven't yet reacted to a PPD dye. However, I have given PPD dyes up because I have the sort of reactive system that would probably develop such an allergy at some point. Since I have been using them for about 25 years, I figured I was pushing my luck.

[Blondieee]

The problem with PPD allergies is you never know when or if they will develop and even a small amount can cause a problem. I would say that if you are concerned to give it a pass. FWIW, I have a dye allergy (fabric dyes gave me my very first case of hives when I was in elementary school) and haven't yet reacted to a PPD dye. However, I have given PPD dyes up because I have the sort of reactive system that would probably develop such an allergy at some point. Since I have been using them for about 25 years, I figured I was pushing my luck.

Wow that's great that you got 25 years out of it! That makes me feel a little more comfortable. I think I'm just going to dye it. I'm 21 and very concerned about appearance so I can't just not dye my hair. Can I ask what color you used to dye it and if you used foils or just applied all over?

[Maverick494]

Um I know you didn't ask for my opinion and you're free to ignore it if you wish, but from your description we have naturally the same haircolor. I too was blonde as a child and as an adult it has become a light brown with some reddish undertones, which I too, hated. Last summer I took the plunge and went blonde with balayage highlights for a natural sunkissed effect, which is basically the hair 12 year old me had. Turned out adult me didn't suit blonde as well as kid me. Seriously, it washed me out so much and it wasn't even a dramatic dye job! After a few months of trying to tell myself I liked it I dyed it back to light brown 3 weeks ago. I wish I'd spared myself the money, the damage and the fact I now have to grow all the dye out again.

But yeah, I'd really advise trying on a wig with similar coloring to see if it still suits you before you even consider getting it done.

[Blondieee]

Um I know you didn't ask for my opinion and you're free to ignore it if you wish, but from your description we have naturally the same haircolor. I too was blonde as a child and as an adult it has become a light brown with some reddish undertones, which I too, hated. Last summer I took the plunge and went blonde with balayage highlights for a natural sunkissed effect, which is basically the hair 12 year old me had. Turned out adult me didn't suit blonde as well as kid me. Seriously, it washed me out so much and it wasn't even a dramatic dye job! After a few months of trying to tell myself I liked it I dyed it back to light brown 3 weeks ago. I wish I'd spared myself the money, the damage and the fact I now have to grow all the dye out again.

But yeah, I'd really advise trying on a wig with similar coloring to see if it still suits you before you even consider getting it done.

Thank you for the advice. I'm sorry it didn't look good :( there's nothing worse than when you dye your hair and it doesn't turn out how you were expecting. Fortunately I've had it bleached before and although it was a very bad job and looked white it didn't look that bad on me at all. It didn't wash me out (even though I'm super pale) and I think it's because they left some brown in. That might have been what occurred with your hair. You have to leave brown in to create contrast or either do lowlights or else it will wash you out, no matter who you are. If they did leave brown in, maybe it was the shade. The hair color someone is born with is 99% of the time what looks best on them so they probably didn't use the right shade. But either way I'm glad you're happy with it now and that you dyed it back light brown. I dyed it light brown before too and it looked great. I just prefer blonde. It's something about the reddish undertones, it just looks bad. Well that and discoloration which I'm about to start a topic about. But light brown dye looks gorgeous!