Dye jobs are supposed to be a "treat yourself" way to change up your look. But for one fitness and health blogger, an attempt to transform her lovely locks left her swollen and unable to see for two days.
Blogger Chemese Armstrong recently learned she was allergic to Paraphenylenediamine (PPD), a chemical often found in hair dye. Instead of swearing off hair color for good, Armstrong turned to her dermatologist, who recommended she try henna hair dye—a supposedly natural and chemical-free alternative to standard dyes. As it turns out, Armstrong was also allergic to the henna, and her body reacted worse to that than it did to PPD.
"I had a severe allergic reaction as you can see," Armstrong wrote on Instagram. "I was in severe pain from my scalp burning and itching with my face completely's swollen to the point I was unrecognizable. The most scary part about this whole thing is that my eyes was completely swollen shut where I couldn't see for two days."
Armstrong said her doctor was worried her reaction would affect her breathing, but fortunately, that didn't happen. The blogger also said her health steadily improved during the days following the reaction. Though her face stayed swollen for a while, she was able to open her eyes after two days. "I hate that this had to happen but now I'm even more focus on making sure that my health is number one priority," she wrote.
When she was feeling a bit better, Armstrong took to YouTube to open up about her experience. In the nearly 14-minute video, Armstrong gives followers the backstory of her PPD allergy and explains the step-by-step process that led up to her allergic reaction. Apparently, though Armstrong had an open discussion with her hairstylist about her PPD allergy, the hairstylist misunderstood. Instead of using the all-natural henna dye Armstrong requested after extensive research, the hairstylist used henna with chemicals in it, which caused Armstrong's reaction.
See the scary pictures below, and visit Armstrong's YouTube page for the in-depth video commentary on the experience.
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Photo Credit: Instagram / @chemese
