Lois Queen isn't much different from other 13-year olds and wanted to experiment with her hair color prior to her upcoming birthday party next month. That sounds pretty normal activity for a teenage girl. Unfortunately her reaction to the L'Oreal Casting Creme Gloss she purchased wasn't so typical. After applying a patch of the dye to test for allergies per the instructions included with the hair color kit, Lois suffered a severe allergic reaction to the dye, which caused her face to swell dramatically.

Miss Queen said: "The pain was intense. It was terrifying. Within hours of using it my eye went red and itchy, then the swelling started. The next morning I could barely open my eyes. It was so painful. I thought I was going blind and dying. My head was such a weird shape, I looked like an alien."

Lois said: "Doctors gave me medicine but it didn't get better, it got worse. I had to go back three times. I'd wanted to look better but ended up looking like a freak."

Lois' mother was told it was fortunate her daughter had not suffered permanent eye damage from the incident. Lois has not left her home since she colored her hair and has vowed she'll never dye it again. Lois' mother is also questioning the "strong ingredients" L'Oreal is using in ther products.

She's not the only one. In 2007, a 12-year old girl from Southamptom used L'Oreal hair dye, which caused her face to balloon, her right eye to close over and her throat to close. At the time, a representative from L'Oreal claimed, "Reactions to hair colourants are extremely rare."

Tell that to 15-year old Jack Taylor, whose head swelled to the size of a football when he applied L'Oreal dye to his hair early last year (anyone else noticing a theme here?). The rash that followed the swelling stayed on Jack's face, head and torso for two weeks following the incident. Finally, a 16-year old who dubbed herself 'Elephant Woman' suffered a similar reaction in 2007, once again to a L'Oreal hair dye. Swollen face? Check. Difficulty breathing? Check.

It would be easy to blame L'Oreal in this case, however most hair dyes on the market, including those used in salons, contain paraphenylenediamine (PPD). PPD is a chemical known to cause severe allergic reactions and is still found in dyes that are marketed as being "natural" or "herbal." Even the ammonia-free and henna dyes often contain the chemical. And while horror stories like the ones above are out there, they are definitely the minority.

Still, it makes you think twice about the products we so freely apply to our bodies everyday. The aforementioned reactions to chemicals are pretty obvious, but you have to wonder about all of the effects these products have on our systems - especially the ones we can't see. That's why it's important to read labels carefully and do some research before using new products. Websites like the Skin Deep Cosmetic Database allow you to see how products rate in terms of hazards on a scale of one to 10. There's never any guarantee adverse reactions won't ever occur, but equipping yourself with more information may at least help prevent you from having to lock yourself in your room because that new "must-try" product made you look like one of the extras from Star Wars.

» Daily Mail