Halesowen mum suffers burns after allergic reaction to hair dye

Apr 19 2009 by Christina Savvas, Sunday Mercury

A MUM suffered burns after using a hair dye made by a company behind another product which caused an allergic reaction and killed a Birmingham woman in 2001.

Carol Whiston, from Halesowen, was left with blisters and severe facial swelling after using the Garnier Nutrisse home dye kit – and says she feels ‘lucky to be alive’.

The symptoms were similar to the reaction which caused the death of mum-of-three Narinder Devi from Edgbaston, who suffered anaphylactic shock, the most severe type of allergy, after using a Modiva hair dye, also made by Laboratoires Garnier.

Mum-of-two Carol had used just a quarter of the £4 bottle of deep red dye on Tuesday.

She said: “Hours after putting the dye on, I started to get blisters and weeping burns on my scalp. I tried to wash the hair dye out but then the swelling began.

‘‘It just kept getting worse and more painful and I was in agony. By Friday my eyelids were puffed up so much that when I woke up I couldn’t open them. I was so frightened.”

Carol visited her GP and was prescribed a lotion to reduce the swelling and advised to attend A&E if symptoms worsened.