Hair dye patch test **WARNING!!**

Bloody hell. I never do a patch test but this has taught me a lesson! Glad he's (relatively) ok.

Yipes! I'm like Peanut - pretty much never do a patch test. Will definitely remember from now on! Hope your OH's arm is better soon.

That's food for thought, l have lots of allergies but never do the patch test

No, I never do either. I've been dyeing and bleaching my hair for years without ever testing first! But last time I got it coloured was at a salon, and they did one. Same for my eyelashes.

That is really bad. I thought they were required to by law? Mine were insistent I came in 24hrs before my appointment for it.

Hope your OH is OK schwelley. I saw a woman on the news the other day who had her hair done at a salon ready for her wedding, her scalp was burning for a couple of weeks at least, she lost a lot of hair, had to wear a wig on her wedding day and take a lot of drugs just to get through the day. Poor thing. I've never dyed my hair but I would never have worried about a patch test, when the inevitable greys start creeping in I'll make sure I patch test now!

Ah, that's the problem ID, its not regulated, neither the stuff they use or the people doing it. Very concerning

I've been thinking this for a while about MUAs, it seems like we're seeing an increasing number of "my makeup trial was a disaster" posts on WP, and I'm pretty sure anyone can just buy some products and set up a website calling themselves an MUA. There are qualifications you can take, but it isn't regulated. Unfortunately tattooing is very similar, you only need hygiene certification to set yourself up as a tattooist - nothing to verify your skills.

Yep, very true. Same with a lot of the botox etc, I find it terrifying that you can just shove needles in peoples faces! Definitely worth doing your research

I have to admit I never bother with a patch test, and I have been dying my hair for years with various brands. I know I should.

Bless your boy for wanting to cover his greys!

What I never understand about the patch test is that you have to mix the dye immediately before using it don't you? Am I bring stupid!?

Yep, really important.

So many people say that they've used a product lots of times before and know they can use it but what can happen is that your body doesn't actually like it, tolerates it or fights the reaction off a number of times but one time you'll use it your body will pretty much go ballistic and react terribly.

When I ran a beauty salon I used to make people have patch tests and insisted on it, some people would get a bit stroppy about it but I always thought it was better to be safe than sorry.