When I was 16 masses of my hair fell out after using a popular semi-permanent hair dye. It never grew back. My mum's friend at work had a daughter who had also used the same dye and ALL of her hair fell out. It's still on sale though! I also had a terrible reaction to a popular brand of baby lotion which left my skin stinging for hours and bright red, and I had a reaction to a body wrap treatment favoured by celebrities, which damaged my skin - again it never recovered from the damage.

Posted by: Dawn | December 16, 2009 11:45 AM

Sorry to hear that Dawn - sounds like you've been really unlucky. It's mainly hair dyes I've heard the worst scare stories about, and it often seems to be those semi-perm ones that do the most damage.

The body wrap treatment sounds especially bad though. Are you sensitive to a lot of foods and other chemicals too or do you think it's one ingredient that gets used in a lot of hair and body products?

Posted by: Abi | December 16, 2009 11:50 AM

Eyeliner repeatedly irritated my eyelids when I was 17-19. Liquid eyeliner was worst - it used to leave swollen red crinkled red patches on my lids. Nowadays I'm very careful which brands I use, never use low-end products and haven't had problems in years.

My grandmother still has a purple patch on her lip from a bad reaction to a cheap lipstick about five years ago. I can't remember the brand, but think it was high street rather than random.

I'm also very careful with shampoos and so forth - I have trouble with Juniper extract and large amounts of citrus oils in some popular brands. Some essential oils are known irritants (or can be phototoxic or lead to photosensitivity) so they should be more careful , and so should you if you know you're susceptible.

Posted by: Antonia | December 16, 2009 1:21 PM

I am normally quite resistant to allergens in products (touch wood!) but I would be quite scared if this happened to me. Poor you Abi having to give up something you enjoyed. The only bad reaction I remember having is to a Sanctuary body lotion years ago which gave me red spots on my legs. No probs with any other Sanctuary products, even those with the same scent theme, so a bit of a mystery.

Posted by: Sarah | December 17, 2009 12:00 PM

I have to be VERY careful with mascaras - It starts as a simple stinging, and then excessive tearing, and then my eyes swell shut - it's sadly the lower-end products that do it as well. I've learned to stay well away from the 'cheap and cheerful' - the old adage, you get what you pay for.

Posted by: Dana Fisher | December 17, 2009 2:35 PM

All the cosmetics have potentially dangerous components. Fragrance, propylene glycol, parabens, sodium laureth sulphate, just to name a few. They are used for the manufacturer's convenience, not for the health of people. I stopped using cold cream (a famous brand, S-.I---) after my mother told me my 29-years old face was wrinkly. From then, I only use olive oils or vaselin. No more chemicals!

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