About Me

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Delta, British Columbia, Canada
I took very early retirement from teaching in '06 and did some traveling in Europe and the UK before settling down to do some private tutoring. As a voracious reader, I have many books waiting in line for me to read. Tell me I shouldn't read something, and I will. I'm a happy, optimistic person and I love to travel and through that believe that life can be a continuous learning experience. I'm looking forward to traveling more some day. I enjoy walking, cycling, water aerobics & and sports like tennis, volleyball, and fastpitch/baseball. I'm just getting into photography as a hobby and I'm enjoying learning all the bits and bobs of my digital camera. My family is everything to me and I'm delighted to be the mother of two girls and the Gramma of a boy and a girl. I may be a Gramma, but I'm at heart just a girl who wants to have fun.

Monday, May 26, 2008

Bitch of an Itch

About every 6 - 8 weeks I go to see Colleen, my friend and hairdresser. I get a trim and she touches up the colour. Today I got more blonde highlights for summer and I really like the look. The cut is just a teensy bit shorter than it was and I'm happy with that, too.

However, it seems that every time I get my hair done, Colleen puts in so much "product" that by the time I get home, my hair feels icky sticky and dirty. AND the worst thing is...my head is so itchy I could scream!

Usually, I try to ignore the itch and shampoo my hair the follow morning. Then it's like ... AAH ... no more itch and squeaky clean hair. I seem to be able to style my hair basically the same way Colleen does by blowdrying it and putting velcro curlers in. Then I do my makeup and when that's finished, I take out the curlers and brush it out, using a bit of hairspray to keep it in place.

I think I might be allergic to the dye she uses. Has anyone else ever had this reaction? Should I stop colouring my hair? EGAD! PLEASE DON'T SUGGEST THAT!!! Or maybe it's the brand.

HELP!!! I can't wait until morning ... I'm going to shampoo my hair now!

16 comments:

Claudia said...

My hairdresser said that she adds "sweet n' low" to the dye and it stops the itch. I don't know personally. I color my own. My awful itch is head and all over the body due to my PRP skin disease...it lasts about 9 months before remission.

Leslie: said...

I was thinking about you Claudia when my head was itching so badly. It's better now that I shampooed it. Thank goodness!

geewits said...

I would ask her to try a different brand of color. That will at least let you know something.

Sienna said...

Sweet and low the artificial sweetener? That's incredible, who'da thought..

It might be mousse? or the other waxy type product, and I think there is another one now too, forget the name, you should ask her Leslie...obviously doesn't agree with your skin.

Pam

Jo said...

Leslie, it sounds to me more like a burning reaction which is probably an allergic reaction. You should ask her to try a different product. Does she shampoo your hair afterwards?

Leslie: said...

Josie, yes of course she shampoos me and does a really thorough job. I think it's a reaction to the dye but the itch doesn't start for several hours afterwards. So when I shampoo my hair the next day (or tonight 'cuz I couldn't stand it) it's fine.

Ellee Seymour said...

Poor you. I've noticed that for the first time ever, my skin has started to get dry and flacky, red in places like an allergy. I have no idea what it could be.

RiverPoet said...

Okay, you don't want to hear this, but that is exactly why my sister and I have started letting our hair go gray. We both developed allergies to whatever hair dye we tried, and it CAN become serious, if you don't listen to your body.

You could try simply having your hair highlighted, instead of letting color touch your scalp. My stylist uses foil; my sister's stylist uses a cap. We have both made the choice to go gray gracefully. So we are having our hair highlighted lighter and lighter each time, to let the gray blend in. Many women are starting to embrace their gray.

For you, that might be mandatory. You don't want to push your body, because you never know when the next reaction might be anaphylaxis!

Peace - D

Anonymous said...

I always find that whoever the stylist, whatever the style, I always itch afterwards and believe it is simply the amount of products used. Always, my own styling never itches whatever products I use. From this I've deduced it's one of those things in life we have to go through to get The Look. But I always expect colourants to be herbal.

Daryl said...

Personally I think its due to too much hair washing it dries out the scalp.

Add to that the product used AND the dye .. well it all dries out your scalp ...

I havent colored my hair since I was a kid so I dont know much about dye .. but I do know going silver is not such a bad thing ..

:-Daryl

Country Girl said...

I color my hair, too, but have never had the itch. Perhaps switching to a different product? Have you told your hairdresser about the problem?

Anonymous said...

Grey is beautiful and is also quite fashionable! Go with it for a change!

Jamie

Liz Hinds said...

My head itches when they're applying the dye but it stops quickly. You should definitely mention it to Colleen and see if she can try something else.

Leslie: said...

I was thinking about it and I suddenly realized that she put a plastic cap thingy on my head and put me under the dryer for 1/2 hour. I wonder if I got a scalp burn. I'll definitely let her know about it.

nancygrayce said...

Well, I did stop coloring mine....not because of itching, but because I had a rebel breakdown after 3rd son's marriage. Plus I wanted to see what I looked like natural. It's dark, there really is grey, but it doesn't show up in pictures. Odd, I've always been.

Makeup said...

Any kind of 'product' makes me itch.I tend to ask them not to use any.