Woman suffers horrendous allergic reaction to Garnier hair dye that left her face covered in weeping and painful sores
EXCLUSIVE: Samantha Ford said she was terrified that her face would not be able to heal from the horrific sores
A MUM has revealed the stomach-churning sores that left pus oozing out of her face after she dyed her hair black with a DIY dye kit.
Samantha Ford said her face swelled up so much so that she couldn’t open her eyes, with the 42-year-old’s face covered in painful sores, with pus leaking from her head, after using a Garnier hair dye product.
Now, three weeks on, her injuries are finally starting to heal, with the carer saying at the worst point pus was leaking out of her face and from her ears.
Samantha told The Sun Online: “I dyed my hair and rinsed it all off, an hour later my head started itching.
“I rinsed it out again but two hours later, the whole back of my neck was swollen and from there, things just got worse and worse and worse.”
She said she had not done a strand test beforehand – saying she desperately regretted not checking how her skin would react.
Samantha, who said she had often dyed her hair at home with no problems, said that she woke up the next day, March 26, with her face and lips completely swollen, calling 111 before rushing to hospital as her sores grew worse.
She said: "My face had swelled up, it was quite painful but more uncomfortable. My eyes were half closed.
"I had blisters on the back of my neck which had already started to weep.
"All this pus was leaking out of my head."
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She was prescribed some antibiotics by the doctor but the swelling didn’t go down – with the pus coming from her face soaking up to 13 pillowcases overnight.
At her wit’s end, Samantha went back to the doctor’s several times, with medics trying to find the best treatment for the painful sores.
Mum Samantha, of Stourport-on-Severn, Worcs, was finally given a prescription for steroids that seemed to help the swelling finally go down.
She said that while she had the skin condition psoriasis, doctors told her that the painful sores and blisters covering her skin were a reaction from the hair dye.
Samantha said: "It started to scab over and left a yellow crust around my neck.
"It was so horrible I didn't want to leave the house.
"Every time I was waking up, my face was swollen again - I was quite scared, I've never had anything like that."
Having had to fork out about £70 for prescription medications, Samantha said: “I’m never dying my hair again.
“I’m always someone who is changing my hair style but never again.”
Urging others to at least do a strand test, she said it was better to leave it up to the professionals.
A Garnier spokesperson said: "Reactions to hair colourants can occur for a very small number of people, in the same way that some individuals can react to a variety of foods and natural substances.
"Allergic reactions to hair colourants are extremely rare.
"Of those individuals who have the potential to react to a hair colourant, potential reactions can be detected by carrying out the Allergy Alert Test, as directed, 48 hours before you wish to use the product.
"The Allergy Alert Test must be completed before each colour application, even if you have previously used the same hair colourant or the colourant of any other brand."