Suffer from allergies? Your makeup may be to blame

What Carol Grabauskas thought was a bad bout with seasonal allergies was actually an allergic reaction to her makeup.

The self-misdiagnosis is apparently common.

It also happened to professional makeup artist Melyssa Chisley.

"I found out the hard way," she said. "I put a red-based eyeshadow, which was purple, on my eyelids and I noticed that instantaneously I started breaking out in red, itchy bumps. So I noticed that I couldn't breathe and it was causing an internal reaction. So that's what made me get two and two together that I was allergic to red dye."

Chisley said reds are always in.

"Of course red is the forever revolving color," said Chisley. "Also, plums are in. Hot pinks, nudes, anything on the color spectrum. Even blues are really popular nowadays."

"When I wear mascara, that is when my eyes are the worse," said Heidi Costa.

Dr. Talal Nsouli said people are wasting massive cash on medication thinking they are suffering from seasonal allergies when it's really their makeup.

"Millions of dollars because this is something that we see all the time," said Dr. Nsouli. "People are suffering from this type of reaction."

Nsouli is the director of the Watergate and Burke Allergy and Asthma Centers.

"When they are having contact dermatitis, they are allergic to the chemical that they are applying on the skin and they have to be very careful, especially things that have fragrances, especially things that have color," said Nsouli.

If you are allergic to the color in your cosmetics or the products and ingredients in your makeup, there are some alternatives.

"Use something that doesn't have fragrances as well as the color -- also the red dye, blue dye and yellow dye," said Dr. Nsouli.

He said he has seen a significant spike in skin allergies caused by an increase of additives in products.