Why is dying your hair while pregnant

Registry Builder New. Hair Dye and Highlights During Pregnancy. Medically Reviewed by Jessica Wu, M. Medical Review Policy All What to Expect content that addresses health or safety is medically reviewed by a team of vetted health professionals.

Being pregnant doesn't mean you can't have fabulous hair — just exercise a little caution and common sense. Back to Top. In This Article. Can you dye your hair while pregnant? Please whitelist our site to get all the best deals and offers from our partners. However, these doses are massive compared with the very low amount of chemicals you may be exposed to when colouring your hair.

You may decide to wait to dye your hair until after the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, when the risk of chemical substances harming the baby is much lower. If you're colouring your hair yourself, you can reduce the risk further by making sure you:. Highlighting your hair, by putting the dye only on to strands of hair, also reduces any risk. The chemicals used are only absorbed by your hair, and not by your scalp or bloodstream.

Semi-permanent pure vegetable dyes, such as henna, are a safe alternative. These choices will be signaled globally to our partners and will not affect browsing data. We and our partners process data to: Actively scan device characteristics for identification. I Accept Show Purposes. Table of Contents View All. Table of Contents. What Is Hair Dye? Nikki Lee If you must do a base color, typically an ammonia-free color is a good route. Hairdressers Who Work When Pregnant If you make a living as a hairstylist or colorist, it is fine to continue working while pregnant.

Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Sign Up. What are your concerns? Verywell Family uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles.

Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. An ultrastuctural study of hair fiber damage and restoration following treatment with permanent hair dye. Int J Dermatol. Cooke GM. Biomonitoring of human fetal exposure to environmental chemicals in early pregnancy. Contact dermatitis to hair dye: An update. Indian J Dermatol Venereol Leprol. Int J Toxicol. Related Articles. For example, exposure to high levels of lead while pregnant can cause problems like preterm delivery, low birth weight, and miscarriage.

And if you eat a lot of fish with high mercury levels while pregnant, your baby could have problems with their nervous system. Even if you already know the importance of limiting your exposure to these types of toxins while pregnant, you may wonder whether this advice applies to hair dyes. This is true whether you choose a semi-permanent or a permanent dye.

Small amounts of hair dye can get on your skin during a treatment. Although dye may come into contact with your forehead or scalp, only a small amount of the chemical is actually absorbed into your skin. But you should still take precautions to minimize the risk of causing harm to your baby. Hair can grow at a faster pace while pregnant, so you may need more root touchups during these nine months.

To minimize potential harm to a developing fetus, some experts advise against coloring hair in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. You should wait until your second trimester to color your hair. Rapid growth and development takes place during the first trimester.

Rather than dye your entire hair, ask your stylist about highlights, frosting, or streaking to avoid applying dye directly to your scalp or skin.