Oxidation
hair-dyes, which are the principal
hair-dyes, sometimes induce painful sensory irritation of the scalp caused by the combination of highly reactive substances, such as
hydrogen peroxide and
alkali agents. Although many cases of severe facial and scalp
dermatitis have been reported following the use of
hair-dyes, sensory irritation caused by contact of the
hair-dye with the skin has not been reported clearly. In this study, we used a self-assessment questionnaire to measure the sensory irritation in various regions of the body caused by two model
hair-dye bases that contained different amounts of
alkali agents without
dyes. Moreover, the occipital region was found as an alternative region of the scalp to test for sensory irritation of the
hair-dye bases. We used this region to evaluate the relationship of sensitivity with skin properties, such as trans-epidermal water loss (TEWL), stratum corneum water content, sebum amount, surface temperature, current perception threshold (
CPT),
catalase activities in tape-stripped skin and sensory irritation score with the model
hair-dye bases. The
hair-dye sensitive group showed higher TEWL, a lower sebum amount, a lower surface temperature and higher
catalase activity than the insensitive group, and was similar to that of damaged skin. These results suggest that sensory irritation caused by
hair-dye could occur easily on the damaged dry scalp, as that caused by skin
cosmetics reported previously.