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Top hair care tips for new and expectant mums

Expert tips on how to manage pregnancy-related changes to your hair, plus style and colour tips pre- and post-birth.

Pregnancy is quite the journey – filled with ups and downs, a minefield of rules and MAJOR changes. These changes aren’t just restricted to your body, as surprisingly their locks are one of the key areas that many women notice a big transformation in.

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We asked super-stylist Nathalie Jensen, hair guru and mum of five-year-old Phoenix, to share her expert tips and advice for any new and soon-to-be-mums concerned about how their locks appear to be changing before their eyes. Plus we picked her brains for some helpful style and colour tips pre and post birth.

What changes can we expect to see during pregnancy?

You can expect to not lose the normal amount of hair per day and it usually feels thicker and lush. Some women get less oil in their roots which means your blow dry can last longer too! One of the most common things I’ve noticed with my clients is their natural colour growing through half a shade darker during pregnancy, then the moment the baby is born, it grows out back to the normal natural shade – it’s incredible! You can actually see a nine-month patch of slightly darker natural hair.

How about after?

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Once the baby is born the extra hair you have held onto during pregnancy tends to come out for most women. It can happen either quite soon one to four months, or once mum starts to wean baby off breast feeding. It’s called post-natal alopecia and usually lasts four-six weeks but don’t worry, your new hair does grow back again and eventually will catch up to the rest! It occurs mostly around the hairline.

Can I colour my hair during pregnancy?

Colouring hair during pregnancy is perfectly safe but it is a personal preference. As is what we choose to eat while pregnant or put on our skin i.e. moisturiser, tooth paste, nail polish.

Any cuts or styles that new Mums could try to make life easy?

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New mums rarely have a lot of time to spend on their hair and in my experience cutting it all off is a mistake as shorter hair usually requires much more styling. I suggest a lob length or slightly longer so you have more options – you can still tie up in low or high knots and it’s quicker to dry than really long hair by either blasting quickly with hair dryer or even leaving to air dry. Having a good serum is great to keep it looking healthy and fresh. If your hair is long and you don’t want to cut it shorter you can’t go wrong with a cute plait. After drying off the roots plait hair while the ends are still a bit damp. It’ll be off your face and tidy really quick!

What about the best low-maintenance colour ideas?

A lot of my clients opt for balayage as the effects last a long time. If you want to keep your blonde I suggest softening out the blonde fresh colour at the roots with a deeper, more natural toner to ensure your regrowth doesn’t look so harsh when growing through. It can help you push out your usual 6-8 week appointment to 12-14 weeks. For my brunettes with grey roots I suggest softening out that line regrowth with baby lights/micro lights a few shades lighter and then toning down so that there are variations of lighter and darker brown to help blend grey when it appears. It can help you go from 6 weekly apppointments to 10-12 weeks.

Can you suggest some lifesaving products?

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A great frizz dismissing serum and a good hairspray to finish and tame any wild bits. And for those days we just don’t have time to wash our hair your best friend is dry shampoo!

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