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Allergy to PPD?

Hi! I have been colouring my hair blond for 20 years using different products and brands available on the market.  I never had any problem until last time.  Around 24 hours later, my eyelids started to get itchy.  In the matter of 20 minutes, they had become very swollen.  The next day when I woke up, they were SO swollen I could not see a thing.  My lips wre also a bit swollen as well as my throat.  I was totally disfigured and stayed this way for 3 days!  HORROR!!... Have I suddenly become allergic to the PPD contained in most colorants?  Has anybody suffered such a reaction?  Do you know any alternatives to color hair safely, at least the time I go back gradually to my natural colour?  I'm stuck and very worried of what would happen if I had another episode... Please, help!
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Avatar universal
Hi Cathie,

You can buy Dried Leaves of the Plants :Emblica Officinalis (Amla) , Indigofera Tinctoria (Indigo Plant). Grind them to Powder . Mix in 55-45 Ratio with equal water and make a paste - leave in an iron bowl for 3-4 hours - then apply the paste into your hair Covering all and leave on for 1 Hour - When paste dries - cover with Cling Film or Poly Cap and keep for another Hour. Afterwards wash thoroughly with luke warm water. rinse again. Do this Every 15 Days and after two - three apllications your hair will be Natural Brown/Black with the goodness of nature.

Alternatively You can check out following links for PPD Free Natural Herbal Products:

1) In India : a Himalayan Co. : Deewal makes a product named BH+ (6th from Top) at :

http://www.deewal.com/CatProducts.aspx?cID=aa051fd6-5f9a-44d9-8ceb-3c48470b3dc7

2) Santoint in Italy :

http://www.cosvalitaly.com/en/sanotint

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Avatar universal
I've never had allergies to anything before, and after coloring my hair regularly for nearly 15 years, I developed a PPD allergy.....lucky me.  My first experience with the allergy resulted in a trip to the emergency room, as my head, neck, face, and eyes were swollen, crusty, weeping, red, and utterly disgusting.  The ER treated me for an allergic reaction but it was never determined what i was actually allergic to.  After a second reaction six weeks later and a considerable amount of online research, i was able to diagnose myself.  Adapting to this allergy has been a nightmare because of the limitations on what i can use on my hair.  My hair color is dark brown/black, and those dyes contain the highest concentrations of PPD....lovely.  Additionally, since I started going gray at 24 years old, I require color that actually covers gray.  Most of your natural dyes can't even touch gray.  There is only one product that i am able to use, and even that product causes frustration for me. In late 2012, Chi developed a line of color that is PPD free completely.....how wonderful.  There is a drawback to this color line.  Because PPD is a chemical that works in the oxidation process of developing color, a similar chemical had to be used in this reaction.  That chemical is touline 2.5 diamine.  This chemical is much less aggressive than PPD, but can mimic the same reaction on a lesser scale.  It is estimated that approximately 50% of people with a PPD allergy also react to touline 2.5 diamine....and i am one of them!  It is sometimes a process to get my hair colored, but you have to be careful.  If you apply vaseline around your hairline and ears, it will help repel some of the dye.  Also, get a prescription strength corticosteroid ointment from your doctor.  This will help if/when the skin begins to ooze.  Yes, this is gross, but it does work.  Benadryl and other allergy medications can help, but they aren't designed to prevent something like this, so you will still have the symptoms.  I've found that as long as my face doesn't swell and i don't require a trip to the ER, that a little bit of crustiness is managable.  Sure, i could just go gray and never color my hair ever again.  However, i don't feel like being more than 50% gray at the age of 30....and i don't think it's vain to want to be gray-free at my age.  
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Avatar universal
In December 2012 I had a severe reaction following a NAK hair dye treatment at my Hair Salon. I have lighter colours (blonde/light brown).  While the hair colour itself was lovely, later that day the nape of my neck swelled, red hot and my scalp started to burn - became red and raw with raised red buffer zone around my hair line.  My face swelled over the following 3 days and I didn't even recognise my own face when I looked in the mirror 48 hours after. I was placed on high dose predisone and when the reaction was still trying to continue 3 weeks later I was placed on higher prednisone for a three week period and finally the reaction was under control.  Mind you during that time I also ballooned in weight which my doctor had warned may happen with the steroid.  I have now had allergy testing completed through a dermatologist and the three chemicals I had the biggest reaction to - PPD, Black Rubber (PPD mix) and Disperse Blue (also a PPD mix).  Three weeks after the tests I am still trying to get the test patches to calm down.  

During the initial days of the reaction, my scalp was red raw and by the fourth day, I developed an infection, in the ***** blisters, which started to spread down my neck.  I was put on antibiotics, but the next step would have been hospitalisation if this had not been effective.

I have been advised by the immunologist not to risk even foils as the PPD can contact the skin during wash off.  She has suggested investigating Henna.  But caution here, make sure the company guarantees no PPD. The Immunologist has had quite a number of people return from Bali with severe reactions to Henna tattoos.  These tattoos often contain PPD so take caution.

As for NAK, they do not seem to be concerned or interested in the fact that I have had a reaction after having one of their hair dyes.  Their rep has said that it must be just a reaction I have had, not a possiblity that others might have similar reactions.  My medical costs have been significant including the allergy testing.  But they have not provided the hair salon with a straight answer to whether other customers have had reactions to this product or not - no positive or negative response - so maybe I am not the only one.  I am not naive enough to say it is only their product, as many other brands have been listed in people's feedback on websites I have read.

Beware if you have had a reaction to PPD - it can also be in some makeup including mascara.

So now I join the decision queue - try henna or try to go natural and let the greys shine. Thanks to those who have given their warnings on henna hair dyes as well.
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Avatar universal
PPD is not banned in any European country (or in fact, anywhere in the world. In spite of what you may have read in postings all over the internet, allergic reactions to hair colorants are actually very rare.  For example, consider just the United Kingdom. Fifty million units of home hair colorants are sold and forty-five million salon applications of hair colorants are done in the UK each year. The incidence of allergic reactions attributable to oxidative hair colorants, including serious reactions, is less than five adverse reactions in every million units sold (similar data is available about US usage).

The truth is that even though the symptoms can certainly be horrible when you are the one having a bad reaction, we don't want to provide the impression that the hair color products on the market are unsafe. If these reactions were at all commonplace, the customer outcry would be so huge that the products simply would not be sold (or allowed to be sold).  In both the the US and the UK (and in all other first world countries), hair colorants are subject to the same stringent safety laws as all cosmetic products.  Such regulations require an individual safety assessment for every cosmetic products and ingredients will be banned if they don't meet the safety standards.

Even California, which has the strictest cosmetic ingredient regulations anywhere in the world, because of their Proposition 65,  doesn't  ban it and only requires one limitation, but not in hair color and instead, only for tattoo ink which contains it, stating that the operator must warn any potential customer that they might be at risk for an allergic reaction, prior to continuing with their procedure.
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Avatar universal
Thank for posting this, I thought I was the only one with this problem. I have just turned 42 and at a time where I really want to be coloring my hair. In the past few yeas I have been searching desperately for an alternative. I went to a hair saloon and told them about my allergy and they assured me Henna would be a good solution. this was one of the worst reactions I have had to date. my scalp was red hot after just a few hours it became really itchey , my glands behind my ears came up and the next day my face was swollen, the tips of my ears were burnt and started weeping.If anyone has found anything that is safe to use, Id appreciate your help.
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Avatar universal
hi there I have been colouring my hair for 28years and yesterday I dyed my hair black...This morning I woke up with and the tips and back of my ears were red and weeping. My scalp was itchy, red and weeping...My hands, fingers and wrists have red legions and are ultra itchy..After reading this article I think I maybe allergic as well...
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