Hair dye and nail enhancements

[Avocuddles]

Hi!

I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed by all of the conflicting information out there around the dos and don'ts for pregnant ladies. The thought of going another 8 months without sorting out my grey roots is terrifying (although not quite as terrifying as the thought of birth, but hey everything is relative!). What do others think? Would I be best off switching my monthly cheap home dye for a trip to the salon every couple of months instead? I've been dyeing my hair red for around 20 years and guess that I'm probably getting on for 50% grey so I'm not keen to go 'au natural'.

My other question is re nail treatments, in particular acrylic nails and shellac / gel polish. I have had an appointment for acrylics in the diary for ages in advance of a holiday next month, and also have a wedding in the summer where I would normally have treated myself to acrylics or gels. Are both ok during pregnancy, or are there any stages at which they are not advised?

Thanks in advance!

Ps another unrelated random question - is there any way you can edit a post after you've submitted It? Seeing typing errors in my posts makes me cringe - nothing grates on me more than seeing a misplaced apostrophe in my own post!

Hi @Avocuddles unfortunately there is no way to edit a previous post but sure we can all blame it on baby brain 😂😂 from what I have been informed by friends and family who have been pregnant recently its better with regards to hair dying to have it done at a salon as the issue is more that your hormones may mean the colour doesnt take as well and they will do a patch test first for no cost so if you happen to have a reaction then you arent left with a box of dye you cant use.

With regards to nails I had gel extensions put on the other day and its fine I was told just to avoid acrylics due to the chemicals they use and that it can be quite smelly & inhaled but gels should be fine.

The only thing I usually have that cant at the moment is my monthly back, neck & shoulder massage as the lady who does it won't massage anyone under 4 months pregnant due to the risk of it causing miscarriage but she has told me once I hit the 4 month mark to go back and she will do it with me sitting up instead of laying down.

Hope this helps xx

I have the same issue... I tried to leave it for a while but felt so awful everytime I looked at myself. I know this must sound vain to others but my greys really get me down.

NHS guidlines state that there's no evidence to suggest that it's not OK to dye your hair. I do a home dye for my greys and leave it on for the shortest amount of time I can get away with and ensure I rinse it very throughly afterwards to make sure there's as little prolonged contact with my skin as possible. My home dye is a natural one with less chemicals than usual dyes so you may want to look into that. I try to do my hair less often than usual too. Just make sure you follow safety guidelines. Talk to your hairdresser too, they may have a gentler dye they can use. x

I’m a beauty therapist and we don’t advise against nail treatments during pregnancy.
I obviously also had to provide them as part of my work and suffered no ill effects.

I boxed dyed my hair and had acrylic nails through both of my pregnancies . All fine!

I've been looking in to this and I'm going to get henna dye from lush.

I’ve had acrylics and lash extensions every 2-3 weeks throughout. The research I did online suggested you would have to be constantly inhaling the fumes for 8 hours a day 5 days a week before there’s any real risk. I will have to forego lashes at some point in the next few weeks though due to advice against lying on your back for prolonged periods.

Thanks everyone for the reassurance. Think I'll still get my nails done as planned, will reduce the frequency of my hair dye habit but glad to hear I don't need to give it up entirely.....

I’m dying my hair as normal. The thought of grey roots for the next 5.5 months makes me feel more sick than the nausea I’ve had.

I skipped gels for the first trimester. Had them done again last week and feel like me again.

I’ve dyed my own hair as normal throughout my pregnancy, GP said it was fine. I use one without ammonia, leave the window open during application and make sure I don’t leave it on any longer than necessary. I last coloured my hair at about 26 weeks (2 weeks ago) and don’t think I’ll manage it again myself because I struggled to hang my head over the math to rinse it with my growing bump.. I have a lot of hair so I have to use two boxes of dye and it takes an age to rinse! So I think I’ll have to go to a salon to have my hair dyed for the rest of my pregnancy.

*bath not math!

I’ve also been getting shellac on my nails since early second trimester.