Hair dye left Paddock girl blind and swollen
WARNING ABOUT HAIR COLOURING IN SALONS
On 29th April 2004, 16 year old Charlotte Gilchrist went to her local hair salon in Huddersfield for her hair to be coloured before her school ball, which was on the next day. When the colour was applied to her hair by a trainee hairdresser she felt a burning pain on her scalp. She then suffered an extremely severe allergic reaction to the hair colour leaving her temporarily blind and unrecognisable even to her own mother.
The claim was defended by the owner of the Huddersfield salon, despite her being refused cover by her own insurers for not carrying out a patch test. Eventually, last year an out of court settlement offer of £2000 was accepted by Charlotte…by which time her legal costs had risen to over £18,000. Following further legal proceedings the salon owner was ordered to pay all of these costs by instalments, which are secured by a charge on her property.
Sarah Young, Charlotte’s solicitor comments “this was a clear case of negligence and I was astonished that liability was denied for so long. For any woman the appearance of your hair is so important to how you feel about yourself. This was a devastating incident for my young client. I hope that hair salons will take notice – but I am concerned about recent research which indicates that they are lax about patch testing.”
The Association of Personal Injury Solicitors (APIL) recently conducted a survey of Welsh hair salons to find out how many undertake skin tests on clients before they have their hair dyed.
Last week, Welsh national newspaper Wales on Sunday ran a story on the results, which revealed 84 per cent of salons surveyed by APIL in Wales will dye hair without following the dye manufacturer’s instructions.
APIL chief executive, Denise Kitchener, said: “While there are many reputable salons out there, others have a careless attitude towards the safety of their customers.”
For further information please contact : Sarah Young, Ridley and Hall Solicitors on 01484 538421/558838, mobile 07860 165850
