Carmen Rowe goes on record with her traumatic experience, right before Christmas

Mar 3, 2012 11:40 GMT  ·  By
Woman recalls horrible experience with hair dye to warn others of the dangers of using home kits
   Woman recalls horrible experience with hair dye to warn others of the dangers of using home kits

That hair dye home kits can cause allergic reactions can’t be news to anyone – this is precisely why you’re to perform a skin test before you apply the color. However, these reactions can also occur when the test comes out right.

This is what Cameron Rowe, 25, says happened to her when she wanted to dye her hair before Christmas.

In an interview with the Daily Mail, the woman shares all the unglamorous details of her horrible experience, together with photos, as a warning too all those women considering coloring their hair at home.

These kits are not safe and they can cost you, as it happened to her, more than you’d be willing to pay.

Cameron bought a Clairol “Nice n’ Easy” kit in natural black from her local Asda, thinking she’d be more glamorous for the winter holidays.

She’d been coloring her hair since 13 or 14, so she didn’t think it’d be a problem now. However, just to be on the safe side, she also performed a skin allergy test.

She did it 48 hours before she applied the dye and, because it didn’t show any allergic reaction, she proceeded with coloring her hair.

The next day, she woke up with the head the size of a football. She went straight to the hospital, she recalls.

“I looked in the mirror and half of my face was swollen. It looked like half of my head had been pumped up like a football,” Cameron says.

“I went straight to hospital and by the time I got there my head was swollen everywhere, even my ears were huge. The doctors admitted me immediately,” she explains.

“The most disgusting thing is my head started to leak pus. I had to wrap my head in a towel, it was horrible and it smelt like a wet dog,” she adds.

Photos available at the Mail confirm her story.

She was sent home after 3 days after the swelling went down a bit, but she was admitted again later, after more complications appeared.

In one month, she was admitted to the hospital 4 times because of the hair dye – she had a very bad allergic reaction to the Paraphenylenediamine in it.

A spokesperson for Procter & Gamble, which makes the Clairol dye, tells the Mail Cameron is yet to lodge a formal complaint, underlining that cases like hers are very rare.

“Millions of people all over the world use hair colorants without experiencing any adverse effects. In the UK, around 100 million hair colorant applications are carried out every year in homes and salons,” says the rep.

“Hair colorants are one of the most thoroughly studied consumer products on the market and their safety is supported by a wealth of scientific research,” the spokesperson adds.

Even so, Procter & Gamble is doing everything they can to help Cameron.