Receptionist left ‘looking like an alien’ after scary allergic reaction to hair dye – World News

Shaylene Gartly, 23, said she wasn’t offered a patch test and wanted to ‘rip her own hair out’ because of the intense pain caused by the hair dye

A receptionist left looking like an alien after an allergic reaction caused by hair dye is urging hairdressers to take proper precautions.

Shaylene Gartly’s face swelled to three times its normal size when she treated herself to a trip to the salon last month.

The 23-year-old said she felt ‘beautiful’ after having her hair done – but hours later, her scalp became extremely itchy and the next morning her head had started to balloon.

Friends thought she must have been using a Snapchat filter as she progressively began looking more and more like a Space Invader crisp.

Shaylene dashed to A&E twice that day and said the pain was so excruciating that it made her want to ‘rip her hair out’.

She almost resorted to shaving her head to speed up the healing of the scabs and blisters and had to wait a week and a half for the swelling to completely disappear.

After claiming to have not even been offered a patch test by the hairdresser, she is sharing her ordeal to raise awareness that allergic reactions can be life-threatening.

Shaylene, of London, Ontario, Canada, said: “When the swelling was at its worst, I would honestly say that my face looked like one of those moon emojis – it was very very round.

“My sister said I looked like a thumb, that’s kind of accurate as well. My face was just kind of flat and when the swelling hit my neck too I looked like I was maybe 300 pounds, it was crazy.”

Shaylene had visited the same salon for a cut before but said her hairdresser ‘definitely should have done a patch test’ when she returned to have it dyed.

She added: “Just after my hair was done I felt great, honestly I felt beautiful, it was the first time in a long while that I’d felt good.”

When she woke up on July 15, her left eye had completely shut so she went to A&E where she was given antihistamine and antibiotics but returned later when the reaction started to spread.

Describing the ‘unbearable’ condition, she said: “You could literally touch my forehead and see the indent of your finger because my face was so swollen. It was crazy.

“The swelling started at the very top of my head and slowly made its way down into my chest throughout the days.

She added: “It was quite excruciating. I had to have ice packs on my head almost every single night to freeze the pain. I was taking tylenol as often as I could and morphine at night just so I could hopefully sleep.”

The 23-year-old, who has thankfully recovered, believes she’s allergic to paraphenylenediamine (PPD), a chemical substance that is widely used in hair dye.

Shaylene said her hairdresser has been ‘messaging me asking if I’m okay’ but warned not taking the proper precautions could be ‘life-threatening’.