Chemo hair regrowth

Chemo hair regrowth and experiments with hair colouring

Chemo finished in mid March 2013 and my hair has been slowly but surely growing back.  I've been getting my husband to take photos to record the growth (like an expensive hot-house plant).

At 8 weeks this is what it looked like - white fuzz!

White fuzz chemo hair

And this is what it looked like a week later.  Hair at 9 weeks.

More white fuzz chemo hair

Ten weeks worth of white fuzz.  It is getting longer!

White fuzz chemo hair at 10 weeks

Experiment 1

My hair at 3 months after colouring with Clairol Beige Blonde (6-8 wash) after one wash.  The colour is fading already, but it is still an improvement on Chemo White.

Chemo hair after first hair colouring

See here for my thoughts/research on the subject of hair colouring after chemo.

Experiment 2

The next colouring experiment involved using the Beige Blonde for 45 minutes (instead of 30 minutes as tried previously).  The new colour has remained largely intact after one wash.

Update: after 4 washes, the colour has mostly faded away, leaving my hair a faint mauve colour.

Experiment 3

Light Golden brown for 40 minutes.  Hair washed 24 hours beforehand.  Three and a half months after last chemo session.

Did the colouring an hour ago and I must say it looks absolutely fab!  A lovely colour and no sign of the chemo white.  Will have to see how it fares after a couple of washes though.

Photos after one wash

Chemo hair colouring second experiment

Update 1:  This colour seems to be lasting well.  My hair is still looking good after 5 washes.

Update 2:  Colour continued to look good until  9 or 10 washes.  It looked faded by then, but still better than chemo white.

Pictures 4 months after chemo (Experiment 3 after 9 washes).
You can see the hair is a little longer and thicker but no sign of chemo curls yet.  Hair colouring is starting to fade.

fading hair colour chemo hair

Experiment 4
Mixture of Light Golden Brown and Dark Blonde 40 minutes. Hair washed 24 hours beforehand.

My hair has just dried after this wash and it looks even better than Experiment 3 at this stage. Lovely natural colour -no sign of the Chemo White.  Still no chemo curls or perhaps it is too short to see them.

Will post pictures after a couple of washes, so we can see how it is lasts.

Here are the promised photo but these are taken after around 10 washes so there is significant fading.  The hair regrowth corresponds 5 months since chemo.  The hair is very thick, but still short.  It certainly doesn't seem to be growing at 1 cm per month (which is the "normal" growth rate often quoted).

fading chemo hair colour but not chemo white

Experiment 5  
Mixture of Light Golden Brown and Beige Blonde,  35 minutes.  Hair washed 24 hours beforehand.

Coloured my hair yesterday.  Looks Golden Brown (not much influence of the Beige Blond), all grey/white completely gone. Much darker colour compared with the fading remnants of the previous colouring.  May look better after a couple of washes to tone it down.

Experiment 6
Mixture of Light Golden Brown and Dark Blonde, probably more Dark Blonde than Light Golden Brown in the mixture. 30 minutes.  Hair washed 24 hours beforehand.  

Coloured my hair about half an hour ago.  It is just over 6 months since end of chemotherapy. I love the colour - less gingery, presumably due to the greater volume of Dark Blonde in the mixture.  I think this may be the best it has come out so far (although I always seem to say this).  Will have to see how long it lasts and how it looks after some fading.

And here the pics taken a couple of days after the hair colouring.  This also shows the hair regrowth after 6 months from my last chemo session.  I now have some chemo curls (or waves anyway).

chemo curls with hair colour

Experiment 7

Mixture of Light Golden Brown and Ash Blonde, probably 25% Light Golden Brown and 75% Ash Blonde. 30 minutes.  Hair washed 48 hours beforehand, but went swimming (in chlorinated pool) a few hours beforehand - not sure if that is likely to affect colour.

Hair colour looks fantastic immediately after colouring.  Will post some pics soon.

And here are the pics, taken about a week after hair colouring.  The chemo curls seen at 6 months are even more apparent here at nearly 8 months. My hair was dead straight before and I would really like to keep my lovely wavy hair.  It will be interesting to see how long it is before it reverts back to straight hair.  

Although my hair is very thick it doesn't seem to be growing as fast as it used to - I haven't needed a haircut for over a year!

 

Longer chemo curls

Experiment 8

I have decided to try Medium Golden Brown this time.  I have mixed it with Beige Blonde but the Medium Golden Brown clearly dominates.  I am starting to wonder if the Beige and Ash Blonde colours are just not sticking to my chemo hair, whereas the Golden Brown shades both last for weeks.  

I love the new colour and now at 2 weeks after the colouring, it still looks fab.  Will post some pictures soon.  I am getting close to 9 months after the end of chemotherapy and have thick, but still fairly short hair, with lots of chemo curls.  It definitely isn't growing at the half an inch per month rate typically quoted, so no hairdressing bills yet.

In case anyone is having trouble getting hold of the Clairol temporary hair colour (Level 1, notional 6-8 washes), you can order it online at Superdrug (who sometimes have special offers).  I've not found any High St shops that stock it.  Boots used to have their own brand of level 1 hair colour but I've not been able to find it any more.

Update on Experiment 8

I'm afraid I didn't get around to taking photos of this one.  It is now 11 months since the end of chemotherapy and I've not yet renewed the hair colour I put in for Experiment 9.  It more or less lasted 2 months despite being temporary hair colour.  OK, the colour gradually faded with time to a very light gold, but even after two months it is nothing like the chemo white it replaced.

These temporary hair dyes can really do last for ages, in the sense of covering up white or grey hair.  The main issue seems to be that the Medium and Light Golden Brown are really long lasting, but the Beige and Ash ones only last a couple of weeks.  So you are rather limited in colour options.  I've not tried the darker colours so I can't comment on them.

I've been to the hairdressers and had my chemo curls chopped off.  They were getting too long and too unwieldy and had to go.  It had been over 15 months since my last proper haircut.

Experiment 9
This time I used about 80% Beige and 20% Medium Golden Brown, so similar to Experiment 8, but weighted far more towards Beige this time.  The idea is that the Beige component should last a couple of weeks and then the residual Medium Golden Brown (toned down a little with time) would take over.

It looks very nice now, so I will just have see how long it lasts.  It is now just a couple of weeks short of a year since my last chemotherapy treatment.

And here a the pictures taken a couple of weeks later.  This is my hair at 1 year from the last chemotherapy session

Experiment 10
It is 14 months since my last chemo session but I am still staying with the temporary hair colours as I'm reluctant to inflict ammonia or peroxide on my potentially still delicate hair.  

In this experiment, I've used a mixture of the Beige Blonde and the Ash Blonde.  Yes I know the Beige Blonde didn't last very long (based on Experiments 1 and 2) but I'm giving it another go.  Perhaps the Ash Blonde will reduce the fading?  

After one wash, it still looks pretty good.