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Hair colouring during Chemo

littleangels
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Hi there, i hope its ok to ask this here, i know there are much more serious issues but this is really bothering us and nobody ive asked so far can give a straight answer!...im the caregiver of a friend with BC, shes done the 4 big ECs and is now on 12 x weekly Herceptin and Paxli, has another 7 to go, the thing is that her hair has grown back already and is almost at the Pixie stage, we dont know if this is temporary and if it will fall out again? but its a very strange color mixed with grey, which is bothering her such a lot and adding to her depression whilst on chemo as she really wants to ditch the wigs and just wear her hair this short, but not this color!! is there anything we can try to color her hair while shes still on chemo? we know its not possible to use real hair colors yet but  i heard that coffee rinse  works temporarily.... would this be safe? even though it would wash out of course i think it would help to make her feel so much better, or is there anything else we can try?... i hope this is not an inappropriate question, but it really is a problem for her right now...thankyou. 

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    Hello Littleangels. 
    I was told a few months ago by the hospital hairdresser (who fitted my cancer wig) that I could use Daniel Field's vegetable based hair dyes during chemo. It's available online. I didn't bother in the end as my grey skinhead hides my bare patches well! But she gave me a struck warning not to use anything else. Don't think she works for them, lol! 
    Give it a go. Good luck x

  • Hello Littleangels
    It isn't a good idea to use chemicals on hair either during chemo or within the first 6 months after stopping chemo. This is because the hair is very susceptible to damage and you could find that it breaks or falls out completely. The chemicals used in chemo also react with the chemicals in the dye and could cause a completely different reaction.

    Many members feel the same when their hair started coming back between chemo sessions so please don't feel that your friend is alone in feeling this way. I know one of our members spoke to her oncologist about the options and they were advised either a vegetable dye or natural dyes. A couple to try are Daniel Field's Watercolour (which Larbel has also mentioned in their post) or Herbatint, which are formulated without ammonia.  A good alternative if your friend simply wants to disguise roots or colour re-growth is a tinted styling mousse.  These wash out every time you wash your hair, but are a safe, quick and easy alternative to harsher dyes and tints, until you are able to start using other products again.

    I hope this helps. 

    Best wishes, 
    Jenn
    Cancer Chat moderator

  • Offline in reply to Moderator Jenn

    hi, thankyou so much for your replys everyone, we have looked at the Daniel Field page and will be ordering from them, but also like the idea of a tinted mouss as its probably the safest of all....we really dont know if this lovely hair that has grown back so well is going to fall out again as she has another 7 weekly treatments to go, and some people say it can fall out at the end :-((( we hope not anyway and in the meantime will try the tints, anything which will make her feel better is worth it.....again thankyou, i love this site, its so great to be able to get advice and share problems with others and the lovely nurses..xxxx

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