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Has anyone tried coloring their hair after it grew back in? I have heard that hair won't hold color well after chemo. I have dark brown hair, but it is coming back with so much white in it. LOL! Don't know if I can handle that! Besides, I like my hair with a touch of red, looks better on me with my very pale skin.
Purple
Purple...I dyed my hair after chemo and it did not take. My hair used to be straight and it came back like a brillo pad...multi colored...except for brown. I am 68 and have dyed my salt/pepper hair for years. Water seemed to bounce right off my hair! But..it eventually became straight and the dye worked.
My hair is now again coming back after 8 chemos for recurrence. I am anxious to see what colors pop up this time! I am in remission again and losing my hair will now be at the bottom of my "worries".
LOL, PLE, I know we have bigger worries than hair color. I am not sure if I will have any more chemo, my doc doesn't seem to think it will do much good, not that that is a bad sign. I have low grade ovca. But you never know. She may decide to try it again.
I kinda like the bald look, don't have to worry about shampoo, conditioner, hair spray, all that stuff to fix it up.
Purple...that is wonderful news about your prognosis. Congratulations!!
I have always worn my wig in public...just wanted to look the same as I did before chemo. It is easier to get ready..just plop it on and go. My kids and grandkids always call me first before coming so I can put my wig on. One day I met them at the door and it was all lopsided...We all had a great laugh especially my 3-year-old grand-princess.
On cancer.org, I just read this...
"Following chemotherapy, your hair may simply have changes in its texture and fullness. Hair dyes contain chemicals like peroxide that can damage hair. Although there is no research that supports hair dye damaging hair further after chemotherapy, most doctors recommend patients do not use hair dyes until their hair returns to normal. This may be as long as 6 months after treatment."
Now, I didn't lose my hair from my chemo, but I only waited two months after chemo to dye mine, and it was fine. So maybe if I had lost mine and it regrew back, I would wait for the 6 months.
Blessings and hugs!!
Thanks PLE, I still have the tumors, but with low grade they grow so slow. I am just taking Femara for now.
Thanks for the info abbaschild. That is good to know!
Purple
I've wanted to dye mine, but my hubby says there's no need. I do have a lot more grey since so many chemos.
My hair was always the least of my worries and I could still care less if I lose it to know that the cancer is gone yet again.
Take care & God Bless
Everything I read said to use caution with the new hair growth, as it was very fragile. The last thing I wanted to do was jeopardize my hard won new hair, so I waited to color it. I have colored my hair all my adult life, so seeing all my grey hairs wasn't too thrilling. However, now that I have grown used to it, I am really, really enjoying having such low maintenance hair. Although I still sometimes miss my hair color, I have adjusted to this. I actually get compliments on it, so I guess it isn't that bad!
I dyed mine when it was about an inch long. Did fine. Will do it again ;)
When my hair grew back, it was curlier than before and I was surprised how dark my "real" color was (I had been dying my hair for 25 years). And even though I had some gray hair for the first time in my life, I vowed to never use chemicals on my hair and body again ( I was obsessed over avoiding toxins ). That lasted for almost 2 years. I am still a bit obsessive about avoiding toxins, but I have started to hi-light my hair again. I feel so much better about my appearance after hi-lighting my hair.
my hair was growing back while on carbo/taxol. It came in white and curly but my face is ruddy so I hated it. I dyed it then and it made it a bit rough but the color came out more red. We kept adding ash to the color but it remains more reddish than I like.
I do it every six weeks and it holds color poorly, sort of fades but it looks so much better. The hairdresser is telling me to wait till it is a big longer for foil highlighting.
I sacrificed the soft curly texture for somewhat dry slightly red color and texture and am glad I did it. It does seem slightly more damaged than usual. But with thin hair, the coarseness seems to thicken it up.
I like it better but it isn't perfect. BTW I am trying men's rogaine for thinness. It looks sort of flea bitten in places it is so thin.
But man, I hated that white color on my red face,,I looked like some kind of weird person. Didn't have the stomach to face white hair altho I wanted to see it for years.
And now I know why curly women complain,,if you let hair dry naturally and I do the curls are okay but once you brush them, you look so of like hair sticking out all over the place.
I felt somehow that concern about hair which I didn't have at all when bald was a sign of getting back to normal and I wanted that so much that it cheered me.
I started coloring my hair 6 months after finishing chemo. I havn't had my hair cut and it's in good condition now 10 months post chemo. The color took the same as it had before chemo. I have colored my hair for years. I wanted to look as much as I could like I did before cancer.
I am glad to have read this post as tomorrow I am going to have my hair cut and possibly coloured.......and was wondering if I should. My last chemo was 9 months ago! Wow.....hardly seems possible............
I have a question - my hair has come back very soft and it is curly - not super curly but pretty wavy/curly.......making it easier to grow out. I have heard it almost always goes back to being straight. Has this been the experience of most? Or does it sometimes stay somewhat curly or wavy? (yes, hoping it does as my hair is pretty fine.............)
Thanks,
Amy:)
I was told that most women's hair returned to "normal" after about a year. That has proved true for me. My hair grew in very, very curly, but now that I have had several trims, only the ends have retained their curl.
Purple - I broke down and colored my hair after it grew in dark and curly with a fringe of grey. I asked my hair dresser to find a non-toxic product and she did just that. It is a professional product and it took very well!
I just bought a Nice and Easy and plan to color this weekend (my one week off chemo). I had brown hair and after one year on chemo and it is probably 2' long coming in white (and pretty, mind you .. I look like my mom did) but it is NOT me. I wear a wig all the time and now with the re-growth coming in ever so slowly these white hairs stick out when the wind blows so am coloring brown .. sorry I am just so vain!, Ellen
dear kitbitzqueen, funny you should suggest that! The wigs I wear (got 12 now!) are all either frosted or lite brown vs my natural (colored of course) dark locks. I am 60 and am very pale (the irish in me I guess) and when I was bald and no facial hair at all (and today my eyebrows/lashes have gone now that I am back on Taxol) I just looked awful in dark brown. So the color I bought is a lite brown. Aging along with cancer sometimes it I have to think where the changes are reall coming from. Someone on this site said she pops her wig on and goes and honestly I have gotten so used to that instead of spending an hour every morning .. I am blessed. , thanks for sharing, Ellen
I bought a rinse in the drug store(It in a pink bottle at the botton of the shelf), It hols for three washes. I started it because it did cover the gray.
I then went to a hair salon store and bout another temporary one which covers well for 25 washes.
For me the top of my hair was lighter than the hair at the nape of my neck(matched it that color) well, it came out red. I always had red under tones but
It still covered. I then went backa and bought a darker color It worked out ife. I haven't seen gray yet. It's just lighter on top than the nape of my neck hair.
I colored my hair as soon as I stopped wearing a wig, about 3 months after chemo. The color took but now that my hair is longer I feel it is finer.
I highlighted my hair about 4 months after chemo and the color held up fine. I wanted my hair to grow back a different color and wavy or curly. It grew back the same color(with a little more gray) and as straight as ever. It is thinner then before which is fine with me. I had very thick hair before and now my hairdresser says it is medium to thick.
I did and had no problem. I also had the white and grey. I did a med brown with highlights and it turned out great!
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