Woman Chemically Burns Her Scalp After Botched DIY Unicorn Dye Job

By Donna Freydkin, Allure

While some dye jobs are nice and easy to do in your own bathroom, you might want to leave the more intricate stuff to the pros who know exactly what they're doing.
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Exhibit A: The heavily-hyped unicorn hair, which is absolutely everywhere. So much so that British mom Kirsty Weston bought bleach to turn her own hair into various shades of pastel. Instead, she wound up with major chemical burns that required a skin graft, per the UK Daily's Mail. The photos, should you want to see them, are very graphic.

Given how much work goes into creating this look, it's little wonder that things can go wrong — fast.

In order to get the ubiquitous look (especially if your hair is darker), you absolutely must lighten it with bleach, which can cause irritation. "The higher the concentration of the peroxide developer mixed with the bleach, the higher the risk of a reaction. The hair can become dry, brittle, and damaged, and skin on the scalp may be irritated in the form of a chemical burn. In most cases, the scalp irritation may consist of redness, burning, singeing, or itching. However, in some cases, severe reactions may result in permanent scarring. After the hair bleaching process, colored dyes are applied to the hair. These may cause allergic or irritation reactions themselves as well," explains Joshua Zeichner, a New York dermatologist.

[post_ads]Yes, we've all had hair fiascos — my own foray into lightening with Sun-In spray resulted in grotesque and very vivid orange streaks, along with fried locks and major dead ends. But Weston's disaster is next-level because it landed her in the hospital.

The risks of DIY unicorn attempts are pretty major, says Michele J. Farber, a dermatologist at the Schweiger Dermatology Group. "The biggest concerns are allergic reactions and chemical burns. Bleaching products to create blonde hair before applying colors must be done safely and in experienced hands," she tells Allure.

If you're absolutely dead set on doing this at home, Farber recommends a trial run first. "You can try a small test spot, for example on the wrist, to make sure your skin does not react poorly to the dye. Also be careful with bleach and ingredients known to cause allergies, like PPD," she says.

And the warning signs that something is going wrong are many: "Any pain, itching, or burning should be a warning sign. Swelling or redness that extends to the eyes or difficulty breathing requires immediate attention. These reactions are unlikely when safe dyes are used in the right hands."

Yes, there can be long-term side effects of dyes gone bad. "If you have a minor allergic reaction and wash the dye off quickly, this is probably easily treatable by a dermatologist. However, if you have any burn that affects your hair follicles, it may cause permanent hair loss in that area. In addition, continual over processing can cause generalized thinning of hair — be kind to your scalp!" she urges.

[post_ads]The takeaway: Let the experts handle anything fancier than a simple touch-up or single-process situation. "The issue with unicorn hair dyes is bleaching the hair first to prepare for coloring, which can be disastrous at home. With that said, plenty of people dye their hair at home, and this practice is fine for normal coloring as long as people understand risks and choose appropriate products to use," says Farber.

Scariest of all, there's absolutely no way to judge if some chemicals are more dangerous for you, explains New York–based dermatologist Neal Schultz, founder of DermTV.com and creator of BeautyRx by Dr. Schultz. "(It) doesn't matter because it depends on strength, concentration and your innate sensitivity to any of the commonly used ingredients. There's really no way to predict; that is why it’s important you leave this job up to a professional, and even they get burns occasionally," he says.

His advice, for those adamant about trying this at home: "Just say no."

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