Hello, Talku Talku people! Is it safe to dye your hair? Today’s subject of discussion will revolve around one of the social media viral topics this week. A Twitter user, who is also a doctor, tried to sensitise his followers about the dangers of using hair dyes. A certain woman had a very severe reaction to the hair dye. Talku Talku reached a victim of hair dye reactions and she talked to us about her experiences with hair dye chemicals.
We will also be telling you if Is it safe to dye your hair? Hair dyes are not generally harmful but there are people who have had severe reactions to hair dye, either because their skin is sensitive or because they are allergic to a particular ingredient in the product. There are different types of hair dye such as temporary, semi-permanent, and permanent dye. Some dye products contain extremely harsh ingredients that may be harmful.
Is it safe to dye your hair?
Here are some ingredients to look out for in hair dye products. If your hair dye products contain any of the following, kindly find a better alternative:
- Resorcinol
- Formaldehyde
- Ammonia
- Coal Tar
- Paraphenylenediamine (PPD)
- Hydrogen Peroxide
It is fun to dye your hair. My hair is dyed too and I love it but it is important not to make it a habit. Give your hair some time to breathe when your hair grows out of the dye. Hair dyes could cause hair damage, so it’s advisable not to dye your hair too often. Let’s talk to Margaret Ugbomah, the business owner of Marghys Collection about her experience with hair dye. Excerpts:
Can you kindly tell us about your experience with hair dye?
The first time I dyed my hair was in 2017. I was on dreadlocks and hair dye was one of the things they use in maintaining dreadlocks. I noticed whenever I maintained my hair, I would start having rashes on my face and ears and some pus-like fluid would come out of my head as well. I never knew it was caused by the dye. Until I used a shampoo dye and then the pus-like stuff started coming out again.I got angry and had to cut my dreads.
Before I knew it, my head and eyes started swelling. I went to the hospital and they asked if I changed my soap or cream and I said no. The doctor told me to think well because it’s obvious I was reacting to a chemical. Then I told him I dyed my hair recently and he told me that was what I was reacting to.
My second dye experience was the one I posted on Doctor Aproko’s page on Twitter. That happened in November, 2020. Around March 2020, I tinted my hair to colour wine and I was okay. No reaction at all. So,I continued changing from wine to gold till around November, 2020 when I got tired of coloured hair and wanted my black hair back.
So I decided to dye it back to black. That was when the problem started. Immediately after I dyed it, I regretted making that move because my head started itching terribly and I had to scratch it. Before the next morning, pus had started coming out again. From there I got the swelling. My face and head started swelling like crazy.
Do you see a silver lining in all of this?
The only lesson is that I learnt to hear word and allow my hair rest. I no dey hear word. I always want to try different colours but this has taught me to take it easy with the hair dying. I will not be dying my hair black any more.
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What is your advice to people who use hair dyes or plan to use them? Is it safe to dye your hair?
My advice to people who use hair dyes is that they should first test it on a small part of their skin before applying it to their hair. If you are allergic to dye and you can apply it on any part of your skin, that place would most definitely react. So it’s advisable to apply it on other areas first before applying it on your hair.