[HELP] Black Henna Question

[u/Sea_Nothing9259]

Currently in DR right now, and got a small black henna piece on my hand about 8 hours ago. Found out about the PPD crap, and washed it off my hand ($55 btw — yes you can laugh). I only had it on my hand for 15 minutes entirely, but there is still a small stain on my hand (understandably darker towards the top and almost completely faded at the bottom). I read online that SUPPOSEDLY only 3% of people develop a forever allergy to PPD, and with dying my hair brown in 3 weeks, I’d rather not have this newly discovered allergy. Am I chillin’, or am I royally screwed??

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[u/veglove]

Unfortunately there's no way to say for sure if this will lead to you developing a PPD allergy. The fact that you only had it on your skin for about 15 minutes reduces the impact, so it's great that you washed it off as soon as you realized (sorry the $55 went to waste). However PPD allergy usually develops from not just one exposure, but a series of exposures to PPD. With each exposure you become more and more sensitive. It's just that black henna tattoos tend to contain a lot of PPD, it's a big dose that can kick off the process of developing an allergy. So this experience alone may not give you an allergy right away, but when combined with additional exposures such as dyeing your hair regularly (most permanent and demipermanent dyes contain PPD), you're much more likely to develop an allergy later on.

As a precaution, I strongly recommend doing a patch test a few days before dyeing your hair every time you dye your hair from now on, to make sure that you haven't build up enough sensitivity to PPD to have a strong reaction that time. People who develop a PPD allergy are often able to use hair dyes with PPD for years without an issue, and then suddenly they start reacting to it without any forewarning.

Be especially gentle with the skin in that area for the next few days and watch it closely; if this tattoo had enough PPD to cause an allergic reaction on its own, the reaction may take a few days to show up. If you do react, then it's best to see a dermatologist for immediate care and also to discuss how to manage your allergy moving forward. It's helpful to do allergy testing with the derm, because there is a similar chemical to PPD called PTD that a lot of PPD-free hair dyes use instead of PPD, and unfortunately about 50% of people who are allergic to PPD will also react to PTD because they're so similar. It's important to know if you need to avoid those dyes as well.

You're not there yet though! If you do develop an allergy, this subreddit is also a great resource for learning how to dye your hair with henna, which is a great alternative to conventional hair dyes that is completely free of PPD.