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| Metro.co.uk |
A woman was left with a swollen face that left her ‘terrified’ when she reacted badly to her Halloween fancy dress costume.
Emma Forsythe, 33, wanted to go to a party as a dead prom queen so stuck a zip to her face using spirit gum adhesive and wore a ripped ball gown.
But the morning after, her right eye was so swollen that she was barely able to open it.
She is now on steroids after being told that she was on the verge of going into anaphylactic shock.
The supermarket worker from Rubery, Birmingham, said: ‘When I saw my face it was terrifying. I couldn’t believe that make-up glue had done that to me.
‘My eyes were so swollen, I’m just glad my sight hasn’t been affected.’
This year, the mum-of-two was determined to impress along with her husband Phil, 37, who’s in the army, and children, Drew, 9, and Georgia, 6.
Emma says: ‘As Phil works away often, I love making great memories for us when he’s home. We went out as a family on Saturday for my work’s Halloween party.
‘I decided to dress as a dead prom queen and was excited to test my make-up skills.’
Emma has sensitive skin so made sure the make-up she bought didn’t contain harsh chemicals.
She said: ‘I bought the glue from a fancy dress shop where staff advised me to do a patch test before I used it. That day, I left a patch of the glue on my skin for a few hours and it was fine.
‘So I used it for the Halloween party. I loved my outfit and the party was great.’ That night, Emma showered when she got home to ensure all the make-up was removed properly.
She said: ‘Even though I was careful not to use cheap make-up and do my patch test I still wanted to be sure there was no risk of it hurting my skin.
‘When I went to bed, I felt absolutely fine as I nodded off.’
After seeing herself she said: ‘I panicked but tried to reassure myself that the swelling would go down. My kids could see that I looked different but I just told them that I was a bit poorly.’
On Monday, Emma’s condition deteriorated and she could barely get out of bed.
She says: ‘I was exhausted and couldn’t stop shivering. My face was covered in a rash and my tongue was tingling. I could feel that I was getting worse and began to worry.
‘So I went to my local pharmacist who advised me to go to A&E at Queen Elizabeth hospital in Birmingham.
‘I didn’t want to waste anyone’s time but my temperature was raised and my tongue was beginning to feel numb.’
That afternoon, doctors revealed the severity of Emma’s condition.
She said: ‘The doctor told me I’d suffered an allergic reaction, most likely from the Halloween make-up. He said I could have gone into anaphylactic shock if I had used more of the glue on my face.
‘He prescribed me with a heavy dose of steroids.’
Now, four days on from the party, Emma still has a pink rash on her face although the swelling has gone down.
She says: ‘Phil has had to stay home to look after the children. It is ridiculous that a bit of glue could do so much damage. I’m just glad I didn’t put any on my children and want to warn other parents not to as well.’
Emma says that despite how ill she felt, she still went trick or treating with her children last night for Halloween.
She says: ‘My daughter loves it and I didn’t want to let her down. My son is so sweet, he can see that I’m poorly and so keeps wetting his hands and rubbing them on my face trying to cool it down.’
Emma says that her reaction has changed her mind on using special effects make-up in the future.
She said: ‘There’s no way I’ll ever touch anything like that again. I was vigilant with my patch test and checking for ingredients and yet it still happened to me.
‘I just hope that other people are careful. I’ve been really ill but it could have been so much worse. I won’t be dressing up again in a hurry.’
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