For the last five days, I've been taking one steroid a day, a Claritin twice a day, and two Benadryls every four hours. I've also been nonstop ice-rolling my face. This past week was emotionally scarring, so I talked to dermatologist Rita V. Linkner, MD, of Spring Street Dermatology to gather some crucial intel on the allergen in these tints.
"The allergen commonly found in lash tints is the same one that is in henna, paraphenylenediamine," Dr. Linkner said. "This reaction is much more exacerbated when eyelids are involved because eyelid skin harbors a lot of macrophages, which is the skin cell responsible for causing allergic reactions."
According to Dr. Linkner, eyelid skin is the thinnest skin on a woman's body, so any inflammatory reaction is amplified. "Patients will oftentimes require oral prednisone to help mitigate the reaction," she said. "If you were hospitalized then I can only imagine how severe of a reaction you had."
Today, after a full week, my face is finally back to normal. I now know to avoid any hair dyes with paraphenylenediamine, but there's an even greater lesson to take away from this experience: it's never a good idea to get an impromptu treatment without actual knowledge of the product ingredients. No beauty treatment is worth a hospital visit.
