A woman has vowed to stick to drawing on her eyebrows after she had two really bad reactions from using at-home tinting kits.
The distressing photos reveal how Stephanie Davies' entire face ballooned in size after reportedly colouring her eyebrows with Eylure and Colorsport products on two separate occasions.
The 20-year-old mental health support worker from Swansea, said she'd used the Eylure Dybrow permanent tint for brows in dark brown for a year without any issues and decided not to do a patch test before topping up her tint when the first allergic reaction happened in July 2018.
She was initially happy with the results, but claims her eyebrows felt itchy within a few hours.
Stephanie said she woke up the next day with a swollen face and her eyes were weeping 'green goo', leaving her needing steroids and antibiotics from her GP.
"I didn't recognise myself," explains Stephanie. "I looked like a completely different person, it was awful.
"I had to peel my eyelids open because they were folded over and my eyebrows felt rock hard and brittle, some hairs fell off.
Advert
"I went into work the morning after I tinted my eyebrows wearing sunglasses.
"When I took them off I remember my manager [at previous my job] saying 'you can't work today Stephanie you'll scare the customers'."
Having avoided at-home tints for more than two years following the first reaction, Stephanie decided to try another product last week hoping the first incident was an adverse reaction to that particular brand.
Stephanie used Colorsport's Diva 30 day brow tint in October 2020, but started to suffer a similar reaction and rang 111 where an operator suggested taking allergy tablets.
The make-up lover is now urging people to always carry out their patch tests, even if they have used the brand before.
Advert
Eylure and Colorsport said they advise all customers to conduct a patch test at least 48 hours before application, even if they have used the product previously.
Stephanie used to get her eyebrows tinted at a salon, but decided to do it herself around three years ago. Every month for a year, Stephanie used the Eylure product to tint her eyebrows with no problems.
When the first incident happened in July 2018, Stephanie opened a new packet of the product, applied it to her face and was fine for the rest of the evening. A few hours later when Stephanie lay in bed, she was plagued with itchy eyebrows, but brushed it off.
Stephanie said: "I put it on one night and I was fine. I was itching through the night but didn't think anything of it.
"The next morning I couldn't open my eyes and there was green goo coming out of them, like conjunctivitis.
"My face swelled up so much and all my ears and my throat was sore."
Stephanie says it took about a week for her face to go down.
Advert
Since the second allergic reaction, Stephanie has vowed never to tint her eyebrows ever again, and instead will stick to using an eyebrow pencil.
Stephanie said: "It's put me off tinting my eyebrows for life. I'll never do them again, I'll stick to drawing them on in future.
"I would say to anyone who does have their eyebrows done, to patch test 48 hours beforehand because it can take a while for a reaction to happen."
An Eylure spokesman said: "We always advise that a patch test must be carried out 48-72 hours prior to any form of dye application as stated on our packaging, even if you are a regular user."
A Colorsport spokesman said: "We are disappointed to see that one of our customers had a reaction to brow tinting.
"Our products are fully tested and compliant with European regulation 1223/2009.
"We advise our customers to conduct a 48-hour skin sensitivity test prior to application, even if they have used brow tint previously. Instructions will always be enclosed.
"If a customer has an enquiry or issue with any of our products, our contact information can be easily found and we are more than willing to offer any advice or assistance."
Topics: Life News, Beauty, Make Up, Real Life