Coloring Hair After Chemo

Jill, I had my last chemo Thanksgiving week and colored my hair the first time in May. I did not have hair at all until February so I did not delay because I had heard the "6 month rule" but because my hair was not long enough to bother until May. I am not sure what kind of color it is. It takes out the grey and colors in one step if that is helpful. I almost stayed grey but it made me look tired I thought so I went back to color. I did read an interview of a woman who was 106 years old or something like that and she said the secret is: "tell the ladies to keep coloring their hair.!" Hope we all live a long time, hair color or not. Polly

Ha!! NotveryBrave 🤣

Colored mine around the 6 month mark. I didn’t wait for any particular reason except I still wear wigs. My hair is so wild it started poking through my wigs and it’s a completely different color.

My hair is resisting color though. Anyone having this problem? My virgin hair is a mix of grey and dark brown. Who knew? And my dyed color a copper blonde to light auburn. Halp!!???

I coloured at the 3 month point with a demi-permanent product (gentler than semi). Chewed my nails waiting for what little regrowth I had to fall out, it didn’t. I picked a medium goldish brown. Result...about the colour of a mushroom top...and not in a good way! At least it wasn’t grey

I'm just about 4 months post chemo and colored my hair two weeks ago. I went to a salon that does organic hair color. I am so glad I did as now I go out wigless and feel great!

Hello,

I waited about 6 months. My hair came in much darker than normal. My hairdresser used an all over color. It went crazy orange even with toner. Had to apply toner again. It was a bit better. Then she suggested I go dark for a good base to eventually get to the highlights I had before. It lasted about a week. Then back to red. Even in areas that had not been previously dyed. Weird! After that she added a bit of blonde. Now some days I swear it's got way more blonde than she actually added. It's way too warm a color for me. I feel like a chameleon. I don't know if it will ever take color like it did. In my case I wish I had left it dark, but I didn't have any grey. Wishing you all well in your hair adventures.

Same here to what some women have said on here. I coloured my hair with store bought hair colouring pretty much when I had enough hair to do so. I agree, how can hair colouring be any worse than chemo? If it makes you feel better, and gets you out of the house, it's worth it.

Hi Stubborn Dog-

I had my hair professionally colored almost 6 months PFC. My hairdresser had to apply color twice and it faded very quickly. Of course I am going from a brown/grey color to copper red and I think my "hair growth shampoo" also faded it quickly. Red fades terribly if you ever had any experience with it.

Anyway, I bought some hair dye at Whole Foods called Naturtint and applied myself. I loved the color but it "took" unevenly. So I asked a friend to reapply it again a few weeks later, and it took beautifully. Even and the perfect color I was looking for. My point is you may need to try a few times before you nail the color you want, depending on your natural color and what you want to achieve. I do love this product and I think a bit milder than most store bought drugstore brands, although I'm hardly an expert on store bought hair color.