Hair colour drastically changing, naturally, by itself

[Amber_Maiden]

I was discussing my hair with my mom today (I hadn't seen her in 3 months, and it turns out she's pretty supportive, now, of me growing my hair), and we discussed pregnancy and hair. We both have very similar hair, and hers used to be red auburn, like mine. Then when she became pregnant her roots started coming in a drastically different colour- dark dark brown- and it stayed that way, even after I was born, and even now, 23 years later. My hair also, since being pregnant, has changed from red auburn to dark dark brown. My roots started coming in this colour the month I became pregnant. It made my hair look like I'd been dying it red... (It didn't help that I had been using henna for a year, but still- I was pretty close to my natural colour). I started playing around with indigo to darken it after and then herbal dye (neither of which worked, you can still see henna).. ANYWAYS... I don't mind at all... Well, maybe I do a little, but it's a small price to pay.

I was wondering if any other board members have had this happen to them? Have their hair colour change drastically when they became pregnant and not have it go back to the way it was before?

[Springlets]

It hasn't happened to me (I've never been pregnant) but my sister's has always darkened during pregnancies. After her second child and while she took a break from having kids, her hair lightened to the color it was in middle school- strawberry blonde. Then when she got pregnant again, it darkened, and as far as I know hasn't lightened. :shrug: Sorry if that doesn't cheer you up, but as far as I know, it is fairly common for hair to darken during pregnancy, depending on how light your hair is in the first place.

[WaitingSoLong]

Never happened to me and never heard of this, been pregnant several times. My roots began growing in darker a couple years ago and I chalk it up to age. My youngest is 13, so it was very NOT pregnancy related. My metabolism is also changing, just part of being in my mid-thirties I guess.

[Orangerthanred]

A hair colour change? That happened to my mom when she was pregnant with my brother. If you look at pictures of her before the pregnancy her was firetruck red. Then it turned light strawberry blonde with some grays out of nowhere, and it started growing really freaking fast. Hasn't changed since- it still grows like a weed and has the same blondish colour.

[jacqueline101]

I've noticed my hair is getting darker. I thought it was my life style change I went from being a sun goddess to sleeping during the day to working nights. I'm just 30 and I've noticed changes in myself. I've noticed physical and emotional changes.

[Anje]

Redheads and Auburns often find their hair changes color with age, and often the redness reduces a bit. I was always on the light and red side of auburn (about level 5, I'd guess), and in my 20s my hair has definitely taken a step darker and less red. Other lighter redheads I've known, such as my sister-in-law, have gone sandy-toned in their mid and late 20s.

It could be that you're another one whose hair color will shift a bit, and/or it could be pregnancy-induced. Only time will tell.

[Amber_Maiden]

Redheads and Auburns often find their hair changes color with age, and often the redness reduces a bit. I was always on the light and red side of auburn (about level 5, I'd guess), and in my 20s my hair has definitely taken a step darker and less red. Other lighter redheads I've known, such as my sister-in-law, have gone sandy-toned in their mid and late 20s.

It could be that you're another one whose hair color will shift a bit, and/or it could be pregnancy-induced. Only time will tell.

I agree with what you said. I know several red heads this happened to when they got older.
I'm wondering though why it affected my mom to the point she lost all the red out of her hair? I'm really hoping my hair goes back to auburn after pregnancy, but my mom is not very optimistic that it will... Considering I have the same hair as her. :(

[Heartwillfollow]

this is what my red hair did was orange when I was little went deeper red up and through my 30's then started going back more blonder once entering my 40's

editing to add: I didn't have any kids, but my age factor and changing hormones could be the same affect with changing hormones of you and your mom having kids.. would wonder if your hormones after having kids wouldn't go back to the way they were before.

[ktani]

Apparently, it is more common than you think, http://pregnancy.familyeducation.com/signs-and-symptoms/skin-hair-and-nails/57326.html

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Can_pregnancy_cause_change_in_hair_color

[einna]

My mothers hair went from medium blonde to dark blonde when she had kids. Hard to tell ho much of a difference there really is, since she highlights it at keeps it short. But she was 27 with her first pregnancy (me), so I would think she knew her hair colour before.

[Amber_Maiden]

Apparently, it is more common than you think, http://pregnancy.familyeducation.com/signs-and-symptoms/skin-hair-and-nails/57326.html

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Can_pregnancy_cause_change_in_hair_color

Wow! Thanks for the links! :)

[Liene]

Congrats on your pregnancy :)

I noticed that my hair got darker during pregnancy. I stopped colouring my hair, so it was very obvious at my roots.

It's still darker, I went from being a mid-blonde, to a very dark blonde and stayed that way.

[ktani]

Wow! Thanks for the links! :)

You are very welcome.:)

[teal]

My mom reported this happening when she was pregnant. It might have happened to me but to be honest my hair is pretty dark to start with so I didn't notice any marked change.

[holothuroidea]

I didn't notice a color change in my hair but it had been dyed since I was 14 and I'm just now growing out virgin color.

My eye color did change, though, it went more towards green. My eyes have been getting greener and greener as I get older and I notice more drastic changes with pregnancy. It's like they didn't get the message that they're supposed to be their final color after a year.

I think that pregnancy hormones often induce the same kind of hormonal increase in melanin we have at 1 year and then again around 7 and then again at puberty, so I'm not surprised that a lot of people have reported that their hair is darkening.

[w/o freak]

My hair gets darker and curlier with each pregnancy. I started almost strawberry blond and stick straight, now a dark auburn and very very wavy.



My eye color did change, though, it went more towards green. My eyes have been getting greener and greener as I get older and I notice more drastic changes with pregnancy. It's like they didn't get the message that they're supposed to be their final color after a year.

That's really interesting!

[holothuroidea]

My hair gets darker and curlier with each pregnancy. I started almost strawberry blond and stick straight, now a dark auburn and very very wavy.

My hair went from 1a to 1c/2a with my first pregnancy but I haven't noticed a change since my second. I wish it would get wavier!! When I think about it, my hair did get darker. In pictures of me before I started dying my hair it was medium blonde and now it's light brown. It's hard to say exactly when it happened though since it was always dyed and it might have just been puberty or whatever.


That's really interesting!

:) Yeah, it's pretty weird. I've never met anyone else that it's happened to. My eyes were definitely gray/blue when I was a kid and now they have a dark green ring on the outside, are yellow/brown around the pupil and a shade of green-blue in between. The yellow/brown part didn't develop until my last pregnancy.

I do love my variegated eye color, it is very interesting and unique. I never have any idea what to tell people when they ask what color they are, though. I have noticed that people with brown eyes call them blue and people with blue eyes call them hazel or green. It's all about perspective, I guess. :D

[Orangerthanred]

Redheads and Auburns often find their hair changes color with age, and often the redness reduces a bit. I was always on the light and red side of auburn (about level 5, I'd guess), and in my 20s my hair has definitely taken a step darker and less red. Other lighter redheads I've known, such as my sister-in-law, have gone sandy-toned in their mid and late 20s.



the opposite is true for me. Up until a year ago my hair was honey blonde. Then it turned orange.

[FrozenBritannia]

My hair colour didn't hange when I was pregnant, but it did change when it all fell out last winter, it came in a strange orangey tone, but it is now coming in more its old colour, a dark blonde/light brown mix, so I think hair CAN go back to the colour it was before?

[moxamoll]

At least yours is only changing colour. My mom and sister both lost a lot of hair with their pregnancies and it never grew back. I don't know what my mom's was like before pregnancy (obviously :roll eyes: ) but my sister had hair like mine and now you can almost see across the top of her scalp.

I'm not sure if she thinks it was worth it. :p

[Amber_Maiden]

My hair colour didn't hange when I was pregnant, but it did change when it all fell out last winter, it came in a strange orangey tone, but it is now coming in more its old colour, a dark blonde/light brown mix, so I think hair CAN go back to the colour it was before?

My mother's didn't go back... which is what I'm afraid will happen to me.

[Amber_Maiden]

At least yours is only changing colour. My mom and sister both lost a lot of hair with their pregnancies and it never grew back. I don't know what my mom's was like before pregnancy (obviously :roll eyes: ) but my sister had hair like mine and now you can almost see across the top of her scalp.

I'm not sure if she thinks it was worth it. :p

AGH! I hope that doesn't happen to me!!! I haven't stopped shedding (and I have been shedding A LOT) yet!!! :(

[holothuroidea]

I'm not sure if she thinks it was worth it. :p

Ugh, seriously? :disgust:

[Amber_Maiden]

Ugh, seriously? :disgust:

Agreed.

Kind of reminds me of a blogger I know, online. She is so obsessed with her body that she took her two week old baby on her treadmill with her, so she could workout out and keep an eye on him. She's only a month, now, into motherhood and is complaining that she can't got into her clothes like she used to and has implied that having a baby really has wrecked her life, because it has "wrecked' her body.... I must add that her entire pregnancy she looked like she wasn't pregnant and exercised for hours a day while she monitored her eating. :disgust:

[FrozenBritannia]

My mother's didn't go back... which is what I'm afraid will happen to me.

So? My mother has a ton of stretch marks, and I got only one from each pregnancy. That is supposed to be hereditary too. Your hair might stay darker, or it might go red again, it will ultimately depend on how many nutrients etc you take in, what the baby takes from you, and how many pregnancies you have in general. Genetics does play a role, but what did your fathers mothers hair do? You have her genes too.

[Amber_Maiden]

So? My mother has a ton of stretch marks, and I got only one from each pregnancy. That is supposed to be hereditary too. Your hair might stay darker, or it might go red again, it will ultimately depend on how many nutrients etc you take in, what the baby takes from you, and how many pregnancies you have in general. Genetics does play a role, but what did your fathers mothers hair do? You have her genes too.

True... I didn't even think of that! Haha.
My mother's hair went white... Not such a bad thing :D

[FrozenBritannia]

True... I didn't even think of that! Haha.
My mother's hair went white... Not such a bad thing :D

I would love to have white hair!!

[holothuroidea]

Agreed.

Kind of reminds me of a blogger I know, online. She is so obsessed with her body that she took her two week old baby on her treadmill with her, so she could workout out and keep an eye on him. She's only a month, now, into motherhood and is complaining that she can't got into her clothes like she used to and has implied that having a baby really has wrecked her life, because it has "wrecked' her body.... I must add that her entire pregnancy she looked like she wasn't pregnant and exercised for hours a day while she monitored her eating. :disgust:

There were many times, during long nights of pacing, that I wished I had a treadmill so that I could at least walk in one place and watch something entertaining instead of listening to myself think for hours. :D

Anyway, priorities people!!

[moxamoll]

Ugh, seriously? :disgust:

No of course not - hence the "kidding" smilie. But she does like to give me a hard time. Before she was pregnant, she said that she got all the good genes and the only good things I got were height and lips. Now I've got better hair than her and it burns her up.

I think people have the right idea though... there's more than genetics involved, your diet, history, the other half of the genetics, they'll all play a role as well.

[holothuroidea]

No of course not - hence the "kidding" smilie. *snip*

My apologies, I read it differently. I thought the tongue-sticking-out was like a "nanny nanny boo boo" face, like taunting or "I told you so."

[Amber_Maiden]

My apologies, I read it differently. I thought the tongue-sticking-out was like a "nanny nanny boo boo" face, like taunting or "I told you so."

Same. Ah well, the miscommunications of the internet.

[Mairéad]

I've never been pregnant but my hair has been a ton of colors over my life. Born with bright red, turned dark brown, went auburn, lightened all the way to strawberry. Continues to get lighter and less red.

So, if it happens without pregnancy it probably sure as heck happens during it. My mom was a redhead and her hair when brown after having kids.

[Alex Lou]

I think that the changes during your mom's pregnancy camouflaged the genetically pre-programed age-related changes in her hair color. So it seemed like her hair suddenly changed color with pregnancy. While really two things were happening: her hair was darkening temporarily because of pregnancy hormones and her hair was darkening gradually because of age. By the time her pregnancy hair grew out, her hair had darkened due to age.

You are not "doomed" to have darker hair. You may or may not have the same pattern as your mom. My mom's red hair never darkened. I got her red, but I got my dad's pattern of darkening. Me, my brother, and my dad all started out blonde. All of our locks darkened through childhood and on into young adulthood. But my dad's hair ended up almost black. Me and my brother have hair that's about the same value. Although mine is also red. His is a medium light brown and mine is a bright auburn.

So you see? My brother and I didn't follow our father's pattern exactly and you may not do the exact same that your mom is doing.

[Schrei777]

My mom had my sister when she was 19. Her natural hair color was pure platinum blonde. When she was pregnant it turned almost black, the pictures looked like she was growing out bleached hair lol. After she had my sister, then me a year later, her hair gradually went to a medium brown, but nowhere near the blonde hair she had.

[auroraclio]

My colour didn't change from pregnancy but it became wavy, I used to have 1a hair all my life until I had my daughter

[newbeginning]

I've never been pregnant but I started off being strawberry blonde when young and my hair has darkened over time and I've lost some of the redness. I think it's just age related.