I am hoping for advice on hair dye. I am 6 months post chemo (woo-hoooo, its good writing that!). My hair hasn’t grown back as quickly as i expected but i have quite a thick covering all over now, though not as thick on top. Its an inch or two long, looks like its getting a curl, is mid /dark brown.
I want to do something with it. A girl i saw in hospital had a post chemo short hair do, though a bit longer thzn mine, and it was a purple type colour. I asked what colour it was and she said cyclamen by crazy colours. I have googled them and they are semi permanant bright colours. Wouldnt be too bright on my hair as its dark anywAy.
But they dont look very gentle or chemical free, so i’d like to get some info on what different products people have used, how long post chemo, how your hair reacted and if they are chemical free? I recall holland and barratts do one (nattratint??)but seem to think e en that wasnt just vegetable based. I’ve bought a block of red/brown henna from lush but am a bit scared to use it.
All comments gratefully recieved.
Vickie
ps. Has anyone gone down the annie lennox white blonde short hair route?
Hi Vicky, i’m also 6 months out of chemo, i have coloured my hair using the herbal hair colours naturtint, from holland and barratt. I have managed to get 2 lots out of it too, its got equal amounts of dye, and activator, so i just mixed half and half each time. It worked really well, and my hair is so shiny and soft now. I had atrim about 3 weeks ago, and it has really thickened up now. I really quite like it, just wish the fringe would grow abot faster.
Hope this helps.
Sharon.x
I,ve recently had my hair cropped very short and I,ve not gone totally blonde, but i have put a few highlights through the front of my hair (between fec 1 and 2). I avoided the colour touching my scalp because i didn’t know if it would be harmful. Didn’t seem to have any undesired effects. Colour seems to be as it usually would be without chemo. I think you still have to be carefull with henna and you may have to do a skin test as some people can be allergic.
Hi Vickie - I used the H & B Naturetint one about 4 months after chemo, and it was fine - I don’t think they do many wacky colours though. I don’t know if it makes a difference but I kept most of my hair, so I wasn’t dying new growth.
Hi Vickie
I have used the henna from Lush in pre chemo days…its great stuff but must be used totally according to instructions! Also cannot be used on grey hair or it goes pink.
Was told to be careful using chemical dyes after henna or you can get green hair!
Thanks ladies, think i might try the h and b one first, seems more sensible not to risk my new growth? But will order the crazy colours one and maybe use it next time round. I hopefully will never have hair quite this short again, and have one more year of my career break left before sensible solicitor appearance has to return, so just fancy using this as an opportunity. Will have a nosy at h and b after half term so i am not juggling small people.
V
Ps. Sick of being sensible, might still just sod it and go straight for cyclamen.
i, Vickie, I went into H & B in Stockport on Sat. asked about their semi-permanent. we read the box and it has peroxide in it. I already bought a Superdrug semi which also has peroxide.I have been told that the permenant ones open up the hair folicle but the semis don’t. still don’t know if it’s ok tho.
Carol
no whacky colours either. I’m looking for shine rather than colour.
If your hair is naturally brown then you could use the lush brown henna first and then after the red. I don’t have much grey hair probably about 10% and mine is naturally mid to dark brown and I found a mix of those two worked really well - I used Lush. Grey hairs will go more red which can actually look lovely.
Another option is to use Naturtint Reflex colour which is semi permanent and doesn’t contain any PPDs (unlike the permanent dyes in their range) also no ammonia,parabens or peroxide. I can’t find anywhere that stocks them so order by phone:
The only thing I’d say is that the colour isn’t necessarily that close to the one shown. I opted for mahogany which made my hair actually dark with a few red tints. also went very shiny. So you may want to strand test first. I might be brave and opt for their red one next time.
Definitely do a skin test though for anything you’re going to use.
Elinda x
There are a lot of alternative hair colour dyes on the market, most claim to be kind to the hair and are semi-permanent so no lasting commitment. Google Bee unique for colour ideas - the results are not so bright on top of undyed hair as they would be on pre bleached hair - the cyclamen sounds great tho
I wanted blue hair after chemo as I’d always had safe colours in the past, unfortunately the colourist decided (without consulting me)that mahogany was more suitable for me - looked dreadful, so depressing Has since been bleached twice more and survived :-o
Good luck with what ever colour you choose. If it goes wrong (doubt it will)it will grow again.
I always thought henna was difficult to dye over if you didn’t like the results? All the home dye kits have a warning on them NOT to use after henna.
Tors yes ive gone down the annie lennox shrt very blonde look although mine has a bit of a chemo curl still but I bought myself some mini straighteners Babyliss minis £ 10 from amazon and they work a treat untill its long enough to get conventional ones in my hair ha ha xxJulie
They look great. The" henna red" is available in their semipermanant as well as permanant too. Might try that. Thanks everyone. This forum is so good for this kind of info!
My hairdresser suggest HERBATINT these are specially designed for cancer patients and you can use them anytime, when my hair gets a proper covering will be dying mine blond again.
Hi ladies, I purchased Herbatint and showed it to my Oncology nurse and she spotted that it contained Peroxide so was not happy for me to use it. Even the health shop was surprised it contained it as appararently it has been sponsored by one of the Cancer charities. Not sure which one. I think it is up to the individual but it did put me off using it. Good luck. Adi
hi all. im over a year post my last chemo. havent had the “guts” to dye my hair yet as im scared it will have a reaction to my scalp for 1 or damage my “new hair” now.
was looking advice so any would be greatful
thanks xx
Hi, I lost all my hair during chemo and it was such a boring horrible colour when it grew back that I couldn’t wait to get it dyed. I had it done 7 months after finishing chemo having checked with my docotor first who said it would be OK. I treated myself to a professional job at Toni & Guy. T&G have some stylists and colourists who have done training on a MacMillan initiative called ‘Strength In Style’ so you can be confident that the person who deals with you will be tactful, understanding and knowledgeable about hair issues affecting cancer patients.
Has since been bleached twice more and survived :-o