Hair dye and shellac

Hi Wee maza welcome to the forum. From what I understand there are a lot of therapists in the beauty and leisure industry who will not do any treatments until a certain time has passed after treatment and for some this can be up to one year after treatment ends. I am sorry as I recognise that it is possibly not what you wanted to hera but both of what you are asking about involves chemicals coming in contact with your body and nobody knows how you will react to this, hence the hesitancy.

Best thing to do is to check it out with them and see what they can suggest for you. xxxx

I 've never died my hair (and it is coming back in a lovely colour similar to what it was before) so can't advise on that, though I have read that dye can ruin your new hair so try and hold off.

But I did do my own gel nails before chemo and my nails on my hands have only just grown out completely from the weird discoloration and lumps and bumps from chemo. I also had docetaxel, and UV can make the effect worse so I won't be doing any gel nails (with UV light) for several more months just to be safe. I'd hate for my nails to be completely ruined now I only just have them looking normal. I'd kept them really short during chemo so it is nice just to have long nails again!

My toe nails still look very discolored and are growing extremely slowly - most of the nail is still unhealthy and the wrong colour. I think I would probably wait until my toe nails are normal again before putting gel on my hand nails.

I finished chemo mid-January so what GRANNY59 says - about a year - sounds about right.

For nails, I painted mine a dark color during docetaxel as it is supposed to help. I got a really nice natural, organic nail varnish so there are possibilities with your nails that isn't shellac.

Hi Wee Maza, I don't know about hair colouring, whilst having chemotherapy, which I used to have done.

I hate those "grey highlights" that appear from nowhere (maybe there are cheeky fairies that come out at night, while I'm asleep & put them in - HA! HA!) Well, a girl has got to keep her humorous side active (this girl had her 70th birthday last month).

Once I knew the chemo drugs would cause hair loss, I had my almost waist-length hair cut into short bob.

With regards to nail polish, I treated myself to a luxury manicure & luxury pedicure. I read somewhere (can't recall which site it was on), it said water-based varnish was best. Also, today when ny chemo nurse spotted my pale varnish, she mentioned that dark shades were better for protecting our finger & toe nails. Debating what colour to have next time - black, brown, dark blue, dark red. Decisions, decisions.

Please forgive the rambling/waffling of this poor old lady.

Stay safe everyone & look after yourselves.

Jen x

I see it's been a while since this topic was discussed, but I’m curious if anyone has tried any gentler hair dyes recently. I’ve been looking into options that might be less harsh but still give good results. Also, has anyone found a good alternative for shellac that doesn’t weaken nails too much? Would love to hear any updates or new experiences!

I used a gentle, ammonia-free dye after chemo, and it worked fine for me. My nails were a mess too, so I stuck to breathable polish at first. When I finally went back to gel nails, I made sure to use the best acrylic nail glue to keep them secure without damaging my already fragile nails. Taking biotin helped a bit as well, but patience was key for both hair and nails.

Literally today the lady who I saw about wigs recommended Sanotint - it’s on Amazon in a yellow box. I was going to ask my chemo nurses tomorrow if it’s safe to use whilst you’re still having chemo. My scalp is pretty tender. I’ve lost ~80% of my hair, but the fact that the 1st inch or so is silver is making it look even thinner! Still, only 4 more weeks to go - it could be a lot worse!