HairColor sensitivities is known to be the third most common allergy afterfragrance and preservatives and I am not exactly sure nor an expert on why weare seeing more and more allergies towards hair coloring products today. It hasbecome more apparent to me that bringing back the patch test and making it amandatory policy in the salons is the safest approach for both client andstylist to do. There could be thousands of reasons why some people haveallergies towards hair dyes and some don’t, it is very possible to also suddenly becomeallergic maybe during times of stress, change of life, diet, medicines, water(plumbing) or simply a product formulation change.
A patchtest is a tiny patch of color product which we place onto your skin to test foran allergic reaction. I always dot either behind the ear, nape or in the crookof the elbow. I leave it on for at least 15 minutes and if there is an allergicreaction it generally takes place almost immediately, the area would feel itchyor redden and possibly a bit of swelling might occur. Now having said all thisplease keep in mind that even if you use non-debilitating non-aggressiveproducts things can change, so let new and long term clients know to ALWAYSmention to you that they are feeling something different on their scalp.
Recently I had a client who has seen me foryears and all of a sudden she tells me that she is feeling a bit of burning(this has never happened before) quickly I moved her to a cooler spot in thestudio which seemed to subside what she described as burning, she alsomentioned that lately she had been experiencing hot flashes and when I touchedher shoulder I could not believe the heat that was coming off her, hence peopleand things change. At the end of her service at the shampoo sink we finishedoff with a cool water rinse, her hair color was as always the same and noindication of sores on her head, could it have been because I acted fast incooling her down ? Might be but I do know for next time to take extra care inhow to approach this client who is suffering with menopause. I am a firmbeliever in practising the art of being safe after all we are servicing the generalpublic and with that comes many challenges, let’s eliminate this one by simplydoing a quick patch testing.