Q&A: Crowning glory!
My roots are showing, but I’ve heard that you shouldn’t colour your hair during pregnancy. Is that true? I think I’d rather play it safe and avoid all colour, but what can I do to make my hair look better?
RENEÉ ANSWERS: Many moms-to-be stop colouring their hair due to concerns surrounding toxicity and chemical exposure. Here are the options for the chemical-conscious among us:
BLONDES If you are foiling or freehand lightening (known as balayage), you are at minimal chemical exposure risk – as long as the dye doesn’t touch your scalp. If lightening is not an option, weaving your natural colour into the old highlights from the regrowth will naturalise your blond and soften the regrowth, not to mention give you a longer-lasting look that will save you from visiting the salon after your baby has arrived.
TINTING DARKER AND CHANGING COLOUR WITHOUT TECHNIQUE Ifyou have been tinting your hair and are not covering any grey, make like Elsa from Frozen, and let it go! As time passes, your colour will lighten slightly. If your ends start to kick up some unwanted tones, shampoos and conditioners that have direct pigments for colour control can help the colour stay fresh. Products like the purple shampoo that blondes use to maintain colour are now available for all colours and tones.
If your roots are lighter than the colour you were applying, soft foils or balayage on the top will soften the regrowth, blend in with the old pigment and give you a more natural look that, when done correctly, will work wonders with your natural aesthetic. COVERING GREY Although it is an issue that women don’t address often, going grey early is a real phenomenon that is largely controlled by hormones and genetics. Based on your overall chemical exposure, well-considered colouring with ammoniafree dye can be the perfect balance between feeling good about your hair and keeping you and your baby safe.
A gentle ammonia-free colour, free from other nasty chemicals like formaldehyde and heavy metals like lead, applied three to six times during your pregnancy that only makes contact with the skin for 40 minutes, shouldn’t cause any harm.
If you are a purist and want to abandon colouring altogether, a powder or stick concealing product that is applied to the regrowth on dry hair can work, but it does wash off easily, so lots of maintenance is required. Avoid any aerosol products, as you run the risk of inhaling them.
There are also innovative new products that concentrate on restoring the hair’s natural melanin. Henna is being used to avoid grey going luminous, and it is your most natural maintenance option for grey management during pregnancy.
Pregnancy is clearly making me produce more oil. I used to be able to get away with washing every third day, but now I really must wash every day, as my hair already starts to go limp and oily by the evening. Should I switch products, or is there anything I can do differently to change things? I’m going through a fortune in shampoo.
RENEÉ ANSWERS:
With your hormones all firmly on the march to mamahood, any existing imbalance will be amplified. The majority of shampoos and conditioners you can buy at your local store might not have the right pH level for a healthy scalp or hair. Clean up your shampoo choices and wash your hair only as is needed while your body stabilises. Dry shampoo is also a dream at helping moms that are adjusting to the new normal and don’t have time to constantly wash their hair.
I’m a few months postpartum, and my hair is falling out in clumps. It has gone from super thick to a ponytail as thin as my pinkie. What is going on, and how can I improve matters?
RENEÉ ANSWERS: Pregnancy can change the character of your hair due to the drastic hormonal changes your body experiences while it creates another human. I’ve seen straight hair become curlier, curly hair become straighter, dry hair become oily and oily hair become dry. Not to mention hair popping up in unexpected places and falling out in others.
Stress and tension and the hormones they produce, such as cortisol, have a profound impact on both our general and hair health, and adjusting to motherhood can be downright stressful.
Many pharmaceutical drugs don’t help either, and many of the most popular medications on the market have sideeffects that include hair loss. Nutrition affects all aspects of our bodies, including the health of our hair and scalp. When you are nutrient deficient, your hair is often the first thing to indicate something is missing. Hair requires the right nourishment for its formation and the maintenance of its continued health. This includes a regular intake of all nutrients, including carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, fats and minerals.
For example, keratin consists of two essential amino acids – lysine and cystine – which are found in meat, fish, liver, game and certain vegetables. If you want to avoid fragile, dry, or thin hair, it’s important to eat white meat and/or fish at least twice a week.
You also need a balanced intake of sugars – preferably in the form of complex carbohydrates such as whole grains (bread, pasta and cereals), while avoiding refined sugars that are found in sweets and confectionery.
Eat fresh, organic fruits and vegetables at least once a day. If you can eat them more often than that, all the better. Iron is also extremely important as it serves a primary role in the synthesis of haemoglobin in the blood and is used to oxygenate the tissues in the body. Other minerals such as zinc, magnesium and copper (which assist in the composition of melanin, which colours the hair protein) are also important.
A protein shortage in the body will affect the hair shaft, leaving it fragile and dry, and decreasing its diameter. After ten days of excluding protein from your diet, the diameter of the hair-bulb will be significantly reduced. A lack of protein can also damage your skin and nails, because they are also composed mostly of keratin. While your diet adjustments are made to support your body, biotin, collagen and tissue salts work well in supporting new hair growth while your body realigns. Ensuring your shampoo doesn’t have sodium lauryl sulphate (a common lathering agent) will not only slow down hair loss post-partum but also as you age. ●
Eat fresh, organic fruits and vegetables at least once a day.If you can eat them more often than that, all the better.