Just as every mom-to-be is different, so too is her head of hair, with some pregnant women sporting faster-growing locks that adapt to any style, while others are surprised to find that their hair is suddenly a new texture or even one to two tones darker from their natural hair colour. That’s because during pregnancy you have increased levels of estrogen and androgen, which promote shinier, healthier-looking hair. Some women also experience changes in hair texture, such as more or less natural curl or suddenly oilier strands, which could be attributed to those hormonal fluctuations.

Most common for many moms-to-be notice a fuller head of hair. Why? Every strand of hair goes through a three- stage cycle of growth, transition and rest before it falls out. Normally, we shed up to 100 hairs a day, but the extra estrogen we produce during pregnancy prolongs the growth stage, resulting in very little shedding. When your hormone roller coaster levels out about six to nine months postpartum or possibly later, if you’re breastfeeding your hair’s growth cycle will go back to normal. For some women this transition can be intense for a couple of weeks or months (telogen effluvium ).

Pregnancy and colour Although in our Hair Lab we are using high quality and technology products for colour and treatments, we advise our pregnant clients not to colour their hair, at least for the first trimester (12 weeks). After the 13th week we can work together to find the best way to treat your hair during your pregnancy (no ammonia colour, highlights,etc ). We always do a strand test! Remember that hormonal changes can make your hair react differently, so you might not get what you expect even from your regular formula. Before we move forward to do your whole head, we always try a test strand so you don’t wind up punk pink unless that’s the look you were going for, of course!