Monday Q&A: Is Hair Dye Safe During Pregnancy or When You're Trying to Get Pregnant?

Is hair dye safe when pregnant or trying to get pregnant?

Expert advice on using hair dye to minimize health risks for you and your future baby

Hi friends, I hope you’re doing great. I’m Sonia and I’m a fertility coach with Fertilligence.

And today is Q&A Mondays!

As you know, in these series, I am answering YOUR questions about all things fertility — everything from lifestyle hacks to boost fertility to handling things when pregnancy DOESN’T happen so fast.

If you have questions, be sure to post your questions in the comments below, and I’ll answer as many as I can in future videos.

So, onto today’s question: Is it OK to dye my hair when I’m TTC or pregnant?

I hear this question all the time… so I am happy we address it here. This is a question where I’d love to hear from you guys, so we can all learn from each other, so here’s my take.

In general, I recommend my clients to be as safe as possible when trying to conceive and during pregnancy, and hair dyes and colors are known to have some dangerous chemicals that might go into your bloodstream when they are in touch with your scalp or that might be inhaled when the product is applied to your hair. Those chemicals can be endocrine disruptors, which means they can damage hormonal balance and, also, they could potentially damage a growing fetus and cause birth defects.

Generally speaking, most doctors consider it safe to dye your hair when trying to conceive and they have different opinions about dying your hair when you’re pregnant. There are different schools of thought:

Although research in this area is limited, there is no clear link between dyeing your hair during pregnancy and any adverse obstetrical outcomes.

Some doctors say that only a very small of amount of dye would feasibly be absorbed through the scalp into your circulation to reach the fetus, if at all

Having said that, some other doctors might advise you to avoid coloring your hair during the 1st trimester, which is when the baby’s vital organs are being formed.

Also, please note that during pregnancy you might experience some hormone changes that might make your skin more sensitive and even have allergic reactions to hair color.

So, if the general recommendation is to play it safe during your 1st trimester, you might consider it’s better to also play it safe when trying to conceive, since you won’t know that you’re pregnant until you’re well into your 1st trimester.

So, if you’re currently dying your hair, should you stop now? The answer might be personal and my 1st suggestion is for you to speak to your doctor.

If you do decide to dye your hair, I have some tips for you, so you can minimize health risks for you and your future baby:

• Tip number 1: You can choose safer hair coloring options. The Environmental Working Group classifies all sorts of products and rates them from 1 to 10: 1 being the safest and 10 being dangerous for your health. If you go to their website ewg.org and search for hair color and bleaching products, you can see their list of safer options.
• Tip number 2: you might want to do a skin patch test to check if you’re allergic to the product. You apply a small amount of product on the skin behind your ear and wait a few hours to see if it turns red and shows a sign of skin reaction. If it does, then it’s probably better to be cautious and look for an alternative
• Tip number 3: in order to minimize contact with your skin, I would suggest a coloring technique that does not put chemicals directly onto your scalp. For example, you can get highlights and lowlights instead of full color, or you can choose an ombré effect, which leaves your roots uncolored and gives you a lighter effect at the ends.
• Tip number 4: color your hair in a well ventilated area
• And last but not least, Tip number 5: keep the chemicals on no longer than absolutely needed to get the desired effect.

So this is my answer to today’s question. I hope it was helpful! Now I’d love to hear from you: what hair dye products are you all using when trying to conceive and while being pregnant or breastfeeding? Please share so we can all learn from each other!

If you want help finding clean products with safe ingredients, feel free to book a consultation with me via the Fertilligence app.

I’ll see you next Monday! Remember: write your questions in the comments below and I’ll answer as many as I can.

Have a wonderful week, bye!