What precautions should be taken if you dye your hair?

People who dye their hair should follow these safety precautions:

• Don't leave the dye on your head any longer than necessary.

• Rinse your scalp thoroughly with water after use.

• Wear gloves when applying hair dye.

• Carefully follow the directions in the hair dye package.

• Never mix different hair dye products, because you can induce potentially harmful reactions (if not an unappealing hair color).

Be sure to do a patch test for allergic reactions before applying the dye to your hair. Almost all hair dye products include instructions for conducting a patch test, and it's important to perform the test each time you dye your hair. (Salons should also perform the patch test before dyeing the hair of their patrons.) To test, put a dab of hair dye behind your ear, and don't wash it off for two days. If no itching, burning, redness, or other signs of allergic reaction develop at the test spot during this time, you can be relatively sure that you won't develop a reaction to the dye applied to your hair. If you do react to the patch test do the same test with different brands or colors until you find one to which you're not allergic.

Never dye your eyebrows or eyelashes. An allergic reaction to dye could prompt swelling, inflammation and susceptibility to infection in the eye area. These reactions can severely harm the eye and even cause blindness. (Inadvertently spilling dye into eye could also cause permanent damage.) FDA prohibits the use of hair dyes for eyelash and eyebrow tinting or dyeing even in beauty salons or other establishments.

Researchers continue to study the cancer-causing potential of hair dye ingredients, and FDA continues to keep abreast of such findings. Until definitive evidence come in consumers may want to proceed with caution when selecting a hair dye.

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