A colour change up top is a great way to cut a fresh figure without spending the earth on new clothes. After all your fashion budget is still recovering from the pre-Christmas onslaught. What could possibly go wrong? Actually, quite a bit. Have you ever heard of paraphenylenediamine? I though not. Well thankfully it’s called PPD for short and if you like changing hair colour with the seasons the chances are you have washed this chemical into your locks as it’s found in most permanent dyes. The problem is that it can cause a rare but unpleasant allergic reaction in a small number of people. When it goes wrong, it really goes pear-shaped. Puffy eyelids that make you look like you’ve done a few rounds in the ring with a heavyweight champion are amongst the symptoms. Then there’s the itchy red inflamed scalp and forehead – perfect for that fancy-dress entry as a human pumpkin-head. But before we get carried away it’s worth bearing in mind that it only causes these problems for a distinct minority. So what should you do? 1.Go for an organic product that doesn’t contain PPD. It should be declared on the packaging if it has it in. 2.Use the provided test patch on a small area of skin that doesn’t normally see the light of dye. 3.Avoid using too many different colouring products close to one another in time. One of our contacts went black in the morning, blonde in the evening, and inflammation-red the next day – but the last change was without any work in the bathroom. Enjoy your colouring but play it safe, won’t you? We don’t want any hair-raising accidents. Live to dye another day...
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hair, hair dye, ppd, allergic reaction, paraphenylenediamine,
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