DYEING YOUR HAIR...

Gulnara Sirinova (name changed - author) always used hair dye from one of the world's best producers. And this time, she did not change her preferences, buying it at the store, which is near the office where she works. Ten minutes after she applied the dye to her hair at home, her face and then her whole head started to swell. Gulnara began to feel a burning sensation in the skin and pain in the eyes, and blisters began to appear on her body. Soon, she started choking. Only one thing helped Gulnara - the ambulance service was near her home. As a result of intervention by doctors who arrived within five minutes, Gulnara was saved. Had they been even one minute late, it could have had dire consequences - Gulnara could have fallen into an anaphylactic shock, an immediate allergic reaction. And the culprit is ordinary hair dye, which hardly differed from other such products. But carefully examining the package of the well-known dye, Gulnara's brother discovered that the inscription on it was dimmed and the printing quality was far from perfect - it was a fake. Unfortunately, Gulnara's relatives did not contact the law enforcement authorities to identify the supplier of the dye. They just did not want to get involved in it and take action. In addition, they should have contacted the store where the counterfeit was purchased, since it is likely that the shopkeeper had no idea what kind of time bomb he was selling. The batch of hair dye should have been removed from sale. As a result of the lack of consciousness and civil illiteracy in Gulnara's family, someone else can still get poisoned. And that "someone" might be less fortunate than Gulnara and die.

By the way, counterfeit dye is sold not only in Azerbaijan, where, as we know, there are problems with the import of various fake products, which was highlighted not so long ago by President Ilham Aliyev. This is happening everywhere, including in Russia, where similar incidents with fatal consequences had been reported. The Azerbaijani authorities "declared war" on counterfeits, which is regularly reported by the State Service for Antimonopoly Policy and Consumer Protection under the Ministry of Economic Development. So, in 2011, the service withdrew from sale and destroyed 167.7 tons of obsolete and inadequate food products. The products were of unknown origin and old, and their labelling, quality and safety did not meet regulatory requirements. Among them were meat and meat products, sugar, honey and confectionery products, milk and dairy products, canned fish products, and soft drinks. One ton of non-food products (detergents and cosmetics) of unknown origin were also destroyed as their labelling did not comply with regulatory requirements. In accordance with the Code of Administrative Offences, 1,485 decisions were taken against businesses that violated the law, and on this basis, fines worth 1.29 million manats were imposed. Nevertheless, no buyer is now immune to counterfeits manufactured by underground workshops despite all the efforts of the authorities.

Beware of chemicals!

But are allergic reactions always caused by counterfeit hair dye? For example, a case similar to the one that happened to Gulnara was reported in the English county of West Yorkshire. Julie

McCabe, 38, lost consciousness and stopped breathing a few minutes after using a home hair dyeing kit from a well-known cosmetic concern. Julie, like Gulnara, suffered a severe allergic reaction. Terrified relatives took her to hospital, where doctors said she was in a coma. Experts concluded that the cause of the tragedy could be a chemical called paraphenylenediamine (PPD), which is present in 99 per cent of all hair dyes. The doctors' conclusion was disappointing: even if the woman survives, her brain will almost certainly be damaged. The incident with McCabe happened less than a month after another incident with a 17-year-old Tabatha McCourt in the same county. The young girl died 20 minutes after dyeing her hair at home.

But if in Azerbaijan Gulnara's relatives decided not to investigate the cause of poisoning, in England no-one is going to leave it like that. The police launched an investigation into the causes and the link between the two incidents, and experts expect the results of the examination of the composition of the dye, which was used by the women. The relatives of both victims are ready to sue the cosmetic company, and their lawyers are looking for other similar cases of poisoning with the dangerous chemical. "We are very interested to know more about this serious situation. We do not know details of what happened, which is why we considered it inappropriate to comment on it, but we will do everything we can to help the family of this woman," company officials said.

Vigilance is first

Regardless of whether we are dealing with a counterfeit or PPD, hair dye poisoning can have, as we see, the most deplorable consequences. It should be remembered that if, after applying the dye to the hair or even during the dyeing, you feel burning or itching of the scalp, the dye must be immediately washed off and the skin should be washed for 15 minutes with running water. In addition, consumers should not rely on the honesty of the seller and, accordingly, his supplier. Before you purchase a product, you need to check its authenticity, expiry date and, of course, the degree of your susceptibility to allergic reactions caused by the dye. It is necessary to use simple and obvious advice - do not buy goods from street stalls and in underground passages, where most fakes are sold, but go to specialty stores. Pay attention to the quality of packaging. It should be thin and of high printing quality. If the package is too soft, it is a fake.

At the bottom of all packages, there is a batch code. If it is not there, it shows that it is a counterfeit - it is better not to buy it. Each box of hair dye has an instruction of use, which must be strictly adhered to. It also contains information on how to verify whether the dye causes an allergic reaction and individual intolerance. Do not neglect this procedure, even if you always buy the same dye. Individual intolerance should be checked every time you use it. This can be done by applying a ready-to-use mix on the elbow bend. This is the most delicate part of the skin. If there is no allergic reaction 2-5 minutes later, you can safely use this dye.

Safe dye

Today it is difficult to find a woman who has never used persistent hair dye. It does not matter for what purpose - to change her image, hide her grey hair or just for the sake of an experiment. And they all know that even single use is enough to see the hair deteriorating. If the hair is dyed regularly, it becomes brittle and lifeless. All chemical hair dyes contain ammonia and hydrogen peroxide, which damage the top layer of the hair and desiccate it, making it brittle, lifeless and dull. But women are ready for everything in order to look better. So to keep your hair healthy and beautiful and to protect yourselves from various allergic excesses, experts recommend safe dye. How do you choose it? Safe hair dye does not contain ammonia, but it contains a small amount of hydrogen peroxide, and this dye is semi-permanent. Even frequent use of such dye will cause minimum possible damage. In safe dye, the lowest concentration is 6 per cent for the main colours and 9 per cent for stronger decolouring. At the same time, ordinary chemical hair dyes contain from 12 to 15 per cent of hydrogen peroxide.

Hair dye with the minimum exposure time (10-15 minutes) is also considered safe. However, in this case, you should remember that when choosing safe dye, it is better to trust well-known manufacturers and buy from specialty stores. There, you can get the necessary advice and professional hair dye, which is more secure, because its essential components are Provitamin B5 (or panthenol), herbal extracts, UV filters and protein supplements. This composition helps to improve the structure of the hair, smoothing the scales and making the hair more manageable. In order to ensure that hair dyeing does not cause casualties, it is necessary to thoroughly examine the instruction that is always attached to the dye. But the safest dye is one made from natural ingredients (herbs and plants). Safe hair dye can also be prepared at home by using henna and vegetable ingredients: to give hair a darker shade, it is necessary to use walnut shells and coffee grains, and for copper colour - warm beet juice. The dye is applied as a mask, an insulated hood is put on top, and the exposure time is 1.5-2 hours. For fair hair, a decoction of chamomile is used to give it a golden shade. A good dyeing effect is provided by a decoction of onion peel. Depending on the time during which the decoction remains on the hair, the colour can vary from golden to bright red. One downside of using home hair dye is that the process of making the dye and dyeing take a lot longer. And if you take the trouble, you can get not only the desired hair colour, but also improve the already damaged hair.