Q: My mother's hair is turning grey. She applied a particular brand of hair dye but got allergic reactions on her skin. After that she tested costly brands but it still causes some sort of allergies, particularly swelling in that area, sneezing and headache. We know she should have tested it on her skin but still all the brands behave the same way. Is there a natural remedy for this case? Please suggest a natural product? How can she cover her grey hair?

A:Nowadays, reactions to cosmetics constitute a small but significant proportion of the cases of contact dermatitis/allergy. Approximately, 10% of adult population may suffer adverse reactions to cosmetics. The top three cosmetic allergens are perfumes, preservatives, and hair dyes. Hair dye allergy is commonly due to paraphenylene diaminine dye or its derivatives. This dye is present in most of the marketed hair dyes, thus your mother is getting allergy to them. Once you get allergy, the best treatment is to avoid it. There is no other method of prevention. Allergy testing will only confirm the diagnosis. Your mother can still use hair dye of vegetable origin or metallic dye. Metallic dye preparations are costily and mostly not available in India, but vegetable dye i.e., henna is readily available, give reddish brown colour to the hairs. Thus, the present day, anti aging generation which is determined to look young and sexy until death, (not want to be called aunty or uncle) has to pay a small price for the cosmetics they use.