Changing the hair colour using hair dye is done for fashion conciousness majorly. The use of hair dye to colour the hair is very common now. It is applied by both men and women. It is also used to cover up the gray or white coloured hair, but people apply it for a change in their look and style too. Highlighting the hair has also become a trend now. However, hair highlights and hair dye are two totally different things. For all party or lifetime purposes, there are temporary and permanent hair colours available in the market as well as online. The question of 'Is colouring hair safe?' must definitely cross your mind. Hair dyeing should be done cautiously and regularly as it can be harmful for your health and hair. Your hair care regime can go in vain if you keep dyeing your hair. In this article, you will get to know about the side effects of hair dyeing.
Side effects of hair dyeing
There are many types of hair colours like permanent hair dyes, semi permanent hair dyes, bleaching, ammonia free hair dyes, etc. However, maximum amount of chemicals are present in the permanent ones. Check out these side effects of applying hair colour:
1. Conjunctivitis
If you are not cautious enough, hair dyeing can have a negative impact on your eyes too. They become an easy and sensitive target for all the chemicals present in hair dye. Hair colour contact with your eyes can lead to conjunctivitis or pink eye. In some cases, it just causes irritation and discomfort in the eyes.
2. Allergic reaction
As mentioned earlier, hair dyes contain many chemicals which includes paraphenyldiamine which is also an allergen. Due to this, people who have dermatitis can have a severe allergic reaction. In fact, people with eczema and psoriasis should also avoid hair dyes. A hair dye allergic reaction can cause itching, skin irritation, redness, and even major swelling.
Also read: 10 Effective Home Remedies to Treat Hair Dye Allergies
3. Asthma
Asthma is one of the symptoms of serious allergic reaction to hair dyes. The inhalation of chemicals present in hair dyes can result in continuous coughing, wheezing, lung inflammation, throat discomfort, and even asthma attacks. Hair dyeing can be very harmful for those already suffering from asthma.
4. Effect on pregnancy
Colouring hair can even be harmful for the unborn baby of a pregnant women as it can cause malignancy. It is especially advised that one should not apply hair colour during pregnancy. Hair dyeing can have an effect on your baby.
5. Hair fall
It is quite obvious that something containing so much of chemicals will have a negative effect on your hair too. So not just health impact, hair dyes can damage your hair too. Ammonia and peroxide can lead to hair fall, split ends, weak hair and lustre loss.
Also read: Getting White Or Gray Hair At A Young Age? Try These Home Remedies And Tips To Treat Them
Precautions before hair dyeing
There are some measures that you can take from your side to ensure unnecessary harm to your hair and health. Below listed are some precautions that you can take before dyeing your hair:
- Avoid the usage of permanent hair colour
- Try choosing alternatives like henna, beetroot juice, etc
- Dye after proper research about the chemicals of various products and brands
- Don't colour at home. Try going to a professional instead
These were some major side effects of using hair dyes. Some earlier studies even said that harmful effects of hair dye also include cancer. However, there has not been any scientific proof for the same. Therefore, you can now easily make an informed decision considering all the side effects before applying hair colour.
Read more on Hair care