You know when you dye your own hair and the packet tells you to do a patch test first and you think, ‘meh, I’ll be okay’ and get straight to it?
Yeah, just don’t ever do that. The warning is there for a reason and you may well end up being mocked relentlessly by your mates by the surprisingly odd side affects of an allergic reaction.
Stina Jörnvik, a student from Gothenburg, Sweden, shared some hilarious pictures on social media of a classmate who’d endured an alarming reaction to some hair dye.
The dye had led to the classmate’s forehead and hairline swelling up like a balloon, making the top part of his head look twice the usual size; rendering him almost unrecognisable.
Sharing the tweet on Twitter, an amused Stina explained:
My classmate would paint the hair, he realised he was allergic to hair colour. BEST I SET [sic]
The tweet quickly went viral, with many people expressing shock at how severe the unnamed man’s reaction had been.
Others shared their own experiences – complete with surreal photographs – in solidarity with the man who really should have read – or taken note – of the instructions and warnings.
One man had even experienced the same reaction, but with his beard, causing the lower part of his face to swell up. One genius merged the pictures, with the caption, ‘cuteness overload!’
The story inevitably made its way to Reddit, with many users finding the images completely hysterical.
One person commented:
The difference in facial expressions between the first balloon-head photo and the second is hilarious.
In the first he’s like ‘Wow, look at my frickin’ gigantor head!’ but in the second you can tell the thrill has gone away. [sic]
Another joked:
Don’t believe his lies. This is some high quality Jimmy Neutron cosplay.
However, others noted how allergic reactions to hair dye really are no laughing matter, and could have very grave consequences.
One concerned Redditor warned:
It may look funny but trust me this is a serious matter. I am Uber allergic to hair dye. I was stupid and ignored the problems that started years before. [sic]
The last time I dyed my hair I dried my hair with the blow dryer and went to bed. I woke up my pillow was soaked my hair was wet my eyes swollen shut.
My husband took me to the emergency room and I had to have several shots and scrips sent to the pharmacy. I missed about two weeks of work over it. So please be careful!
Another cautioned:
Real scary how a normally pretty harmless chemical compound can react wildly to different people with these allergies we don’t even know we have until after being affected by them.
According to Healthline:
You can become allergic to a product or substance at any time, even if you’ve used it before. That’s why it’s important to do a patch test prior to using hair dye, even if it’s a tried-and-true brand.
If you have an allergic reaction to hair dye, even mildly, stop using the product completely. You may have a more severe reaction with added use as your system becomes sensitized to the chemical. [sic]
I think I’ll be doing about ten patch tests each time I dye my hair after hearing this cautionary tale…
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Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.