A test before applying the coloring
In fact, the hair dye instructions always specify: it is essential to carry out an allergy test beforehand, 48 hours before applying the dye to your hair. This precaution is as important at home as at the hairdresser’s , because both professional and consumer hair dye formulas contain PPD.
After a quick survey of the Femme Actuelle editorial team , it turns out that few people are used to doing this…
Hair color allergy can appear at any time
“Since we shared these photos, we have received a large number of testimonies from people who have experienced the same type of thing ,” explains Estelle. “And in particular women who after years of coloring became allergic overnight . ”
Several cases of PPD allergy have been publicized in recent years, both among hairdressing professionals, but also following the craze for temporary henna tattoos . Some preparations, highly dosed in PPD to be darker and have a better hold than traditional henna, have caused impressive skin reactions. And an important clarification: if they do not systematically cause an immediate reaction, these temporary tattoos greatly increase the risk of becoming allergic to PPD (and therefore, of no longer being able to apply permanent coloring…).
It is also good to know that you can suddenly become intolerant to a coloring product that you have already used several times. It is therefore necessary to carry out a test before each application.
PPD a well-known allergen
When Estelle and her mother arrived at the hospital: “ the doctors didn’t seem particularly surprised . They immediately identified what I was allergic to, they were familiar with the phenomenon and knew exactly how to react…”
This is not surprising, since PPD is infamous. The substance was even voted “allergen of the year” in 2006 by the American Contact Dermatitis Society, as it causes so many reactions…
Doctors also deplore the manufacturers’ unclear warnings and the lack of precautions on the part of consumers .
In the article in Le Parisien reporting Estelle’s misadventure, Catherine Oliveres-Ghouti, a member of the National Union of Dermatologists, states: “We have known about PPD for a long time; 2 to 3% of the population is allergic to it , whereas today, one in two people dye their hair .”
On the manufacturers’ side, the known allergy frequency is approximately 1 case per million coloring products sold. (In France, there are around 300 million hair dyes sold each year, Editor’s note).