I was left blind for days and my face swelled up like a bowling ball after horror reaction to L’Oreal hair dye
A GRANDMA has claimed that she was left blind for days after a horror hair dye reaction made her face swell up like a “bowling ball.”
Saffron Veal, from Southampton, was left hospitalised after suffering a severe allergic reaction to a semi-permanent box dye last month.
The 49-year-old had dyed her hair ‘hundreds of times’ in the past and never expected her face to blow up to epic proportions after applying the L’Oreal Paris Casting Creme Gloss hair dye.
The mum-of-five had used the brand and specific shade – black cherry – countless times in the past, admitting she had reacted once to the hair dye, but says doctors had attributed it to the medication she was taking at the time.
Three years after her previous reaction, the grandma-of-three decided to spruce up her look ahead of an upcoming family gathering and headed to her local Superdrug in Southampton to purchase the dye.
But just hours later she had to rush to hospital after losing vision in one of her eyes.
Shocking photos show Saffron’s face blown up like a bowling ball, leaving her eyes so swollen she was unable to see.
The grandma admits she didn’t undertake a patch test before applying the dye – and now implores others to take the vital precaution.
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“I looked like a chipmunk or a bowling ball.”I didn’t expect it to get it as bad as it did,” she said.
“As soon as I felt the burning and itching I knew it was an allergic reaction.
“It all happened quite quickly. When I’d dyed my hair with semi-permanent in the past I’d never had this reaction.
“The last time I came out in a reaction it was a permanent colour and this was semi-permanent with no ammonia so I assumed it would be fine.
“I’ve dyed it hundreds of times in the past since I was 16/17, not always this shade but always L’Oreal.”
Saffron claims she was left completely blind for two days.
“The skin around my eyes swelled up so big, it stretched the skin, and they’ve only just healed now,” she say.
“I’m never ever going to do it again.”
Saffron said she was ‘really pleased’ with how her hair looked after applying the L’Oreal dye on the morning of September 9th – and was only concerned when her head began itching a few hours later.
The grandma admits the dye left her looking like an ‘American football‘ as her swollen cheeks and eyes were left unrecognisable.
“I’ve always dyed my hair as many women do,” she explained.
“I decided to get myself a semi-permanent hair dye.
“We had a few family gatherings planned so I thought I’d try and get rid of the grey, give myself a bit of confidence.
“I was really pleased with it.
“My daughter put it on for me that morning and that evening I felt like something wasn’t right.
I started swelling and my head was itching.
“By the next morning I looked a bit like an American football – I was swollen on each side of the temples.”
Concerned, Saffron’s family dialled 111 and paramedics applied a medicinal hair ointment to treat the blisters which had broken out on her scalp.
However, three hours later Saffron’s condition worsened and she was unable to see out of both her eyes due to the severe facial swelling.
“The ambulance came out at 10am and by 1pm I couldn’t see out of both eyes, they were completely closed,” she explained.
“We went straight to A&E at Lymington and they sent us to the general hospital in Southampton.
“The hospital took me straight through. I couldn’t see anything and had a terrible headache.
“I got admitted to hospital and they started me on steroids and antihistamines to try and get it to go down.
“It was just a case of waiting for the swelling to go down. They were a bit concerned about the swelling travelling down onto my chest and into my throat.
“I had a headache for ten days and it took about the same time for the swelling to go down too.
“It was scary. I sort of mentioned to my husband it’s not going down very fast, sometimes my eyes would open a little bit then just close up.”
Saffron was admitted to hospital for two days where she had to be guided to the toilet and fed meals due to her poor vision.
Saffron, who has a spinal condition which affects her mobility, said: “I’m in a wheelchair so had to rely on other people to guide me everywhere and take me to the toilet.
“It makes you realise how lucky you are because you really do rely on your eyes so much.
“I didn’t even know my breakfast was there because I couldn’t see anything – I had to be fed.”
Saffron said she feared her vision would never fully return due to her worsening symptoms.
“It took so long to heal. The right eye went down a lot faster than the left eye,” she continued.
“My vision in the left eye took a while to fully come back, it was smoggy in my left eye for quite a while, it was as if I was looking underwater in that eye.
“And I did say to my husband, ‘what if my vision doesn’t ever fully come back?’
“They did give me some eyedrops to use regularly to try and help.
“When it went down my skin was so loose and baggy. It’s left me with a lot of baggy, loose skin over the top of my eyes.
“I’m definitely going to embrace the grey now, I’m not risking it again. I think I’m lucky to come out with that without any lasting damage.
“I’ll never dye it again.”
She concluded: “We should listen and try out the patch tests first. An allergic reaction can happen so fast, it’s not worth the risk.”
L’Oreal and Superdrug have been contacted for a comment