Well i was very impatient & dyed my hair today which is exactly 3 months after my last chemo. I used Naturtint from Holland & Barrett & the colour said Dark Golden Blonde & looked a similar colour to my natural hair. BUT its turned out dark ginger! I don’t like it, is there anything i can do? I know it’ll only last for about 5-6 weeks but can i dye it again any sooner than that does anyone know? Advice gratefully received,lol xx
Hiya Hjv I was like you too very impatient. I dyed my hair 3 months after chemo stopped and had just enough to dye. I used a permanent dye but didn’t like the colour so 3 days later dyed it darker. It was fine have dyed it twice more since no problems.
Good luck
Judy xxx
I actually waited over 2 years before I dyed mines because I was just glad to have hair again. I also knew that I was going to be completely grey as I had been colouring for about 25 years. When my hair first came back it was a gorgeous shade of platinum and I was really chuffed with it as it wasn’t wiry, but soft and silky. I was happy for it to be that colour Then it started changing to black and grey, with most of the black being at the back. It was at that point I decided I couldn’t live with it. I now get my hairdresser to colour it an ash blonde colour which is about 2 shades away from the grey. As I’m slat and pepper it takes on the look of highlights and lowlights, despite being a solid colour when applied. I was a coppery brown before, my hairdresser advised me not to go back to this as once you are grey that is your natural colour, so it’s better to stay close to it. My former colour wouldn’t suit my skintone now anyway.
Many moons ago I coloured my hair what was supposed to be dark brown but the result was soooo dark and flat with no natural highlights. Yuk! I hated it. My hairdresser recommended washing it with washing up liquid to lift the colour. I ended up washing it about 3 times a day with just about everything from washing up liquid to bubble bath and even nitty shampoo! However, this was on my ‘normal’ hair and not post-chemo hair which is really soft and fine so do be careful. I know that you can buy hair colour removers but I can’t vouch for them at all.
I think that you need to consult a hairdresser as not only is your hair delicate, but your scalp is probably more sensitive than previously too. Personally I would have a word with one of the My New Hair salons who take part in the ‘Look Good Feel Better’ initiative.
Good luck!
ps I hope it doesn’t look like my profile picture!
head and shoulders shampoo will strip hair of colour , leave it on for a time x
J
Thanks ladies, i might try the head & shoulders first before i do anything else to it. Think i should have gone to a hairdresser in the first place,lol x
If you can still get hold of it try using using Wella Toners & Shaders, these were a blessing when my hair started to come back in. You use like shampoo but leave for a couple minutes.
How soon after your chemo did you use them please, Gardengate?
Hi, practically from the word go. Once my hair had grown enough that you could then see the grey, about 1/2 inch. There seemed to be a huge amount of grey to begin with but its not as bad now.
When was your last chemo session and how long did it take you to have ‘normal’ hair rather than the ‘baby-soft, very fine’ hair please? How long before your ‘normal’ colour returned?
My last chemo was end of December 2010, by the time I had my op in the middle of Feb 2011 my hair was coming back. I madwe a decision at that point to try drop the wig. i wasn’t entirely brave enough though and once back home some days I wore the wig others I didn’t, quite funny as i could see the confusion on the shop keepers face as my hairstyle continually changed!! By the time I went for rads at beginning April I was wig free and using the colours. not sure when it all returned to normal, actually think my hair is more like it was in my 20s as opposed to the hair i started off my 40s with. The colour I’m not sure about, it is grey in part but it seems to have a sligt tinge to it. Over Christmas I bought a colour stripper so i could see the real colour but either it didn’t work or it’s not the same grey as it was.
Very odd, but not unwelcome, feels like a small prize after all the horrible stuff
I’m 6 moths post-chemo and my hair is soooooooo soft and fine and the hair that is not grey is almost black whereas I am normally dark brown - pre-colouring that is!!! I do have fine straight hair anyway, but a lot of it, whereas it is still not as thick as it was. I have been told that 6 months post-chemo is still early days, and my eyelashes and eyebrows haven’t regained their pre-chemo state yet. I had 3 FEC, followed by 3 docetaxel and whereas my eyebrows and eyelashes stayed with me through FEC as soon as I started on docetaxel they decided to jump ship!!! Docetaxel is the killer for eyelashes and eyebrows. I had op before chemo and then followed chemo with rads.
I’m holding off even using a wash-in wash-out colour until my hair covering thickens up in case they stain by scalp which would show through and look worse than grey hair methinks!