At what age do you think hair coloring is OK

[mamazee]

I mean permanent dying, or highlighting? Is there a difference between boys and girls? What about between something not that dramatic, and something like bright green?

I saw a boy (maybe 10) with a bright green mohawk and my daughter said he told her that the dye is permanent. A friend said she wouldn't let her child get permanent hair coloring at that age, and particularly not something so dramatic. She thought kids should be teenaged before giving them so much freedom with hair.

I would be fine with it, personally. However, I also know someone who colored a toddler's hair because she thought her dd would be prettier blonde. I can't imagine having a toddler, (like even younger than 2) sit through and have chemicals on her head. But this toddler's grandmother was a hair stylist so she would have known what she was doing anyway. I don't know if that makes a difference on not.

My overall feeling is that if they're old enough to initiate the conversation and ask for it, then I'm OK with doing it/getting it done. Even something dramatic. But I'd want them to be old enough where they've formed an opinion and ask for it themselves.

[journeymom]

I'm torn. On the one hand, no matter what the dye, it's still not permanent. Hair can be cut, hair grows out.  It can be re-dyed.  On the other hand I wouldn't want my 10 years old to dye her/his hair. But my kids are like me, and weren't interested in that when they were 10.  My daughter is almost 18 and has been coloring-highlighting-dying her hair since she was...16 years old?   She's done standard natural-looking hair colors mostly, but several months she did both blue and purple, both at the same time at one point.  She thoroughly enjoys it.  I'm okay with it. I miss her gorgeous, thick, lush brown hair sometimes. 

Spelling!!

Edited by journeymom - 1/31/13 at 10:28am

[MrsGregory]

I asked my mother to dye my hair when I was about 15-16.  She said no.  I did it myself.

Moral?  I  was am a jerk.  My plan for Little Miss?  She can have whatever she wants as long as she lets me take her somewhere that will do it right, with a minimal amount of damage, and then take it off again when she's sick of it.

Sweet mercy, I did my hair black, too.  I am a natural blonde.  Haha, take THAT, Mom. 
 

[tbone_kneegrabber]

Ds had purple streaks at age 3. We did again at 4. He wanted rainbow streaks for his 5th birthday but when I suggested we do it at the neighborhood salon instead of at home he backed out. (Stranger anxiety I think).

Anyway having dyed my hair a million colors a million times I am pretty sure there are no easily obtainable dyes that do "crazy" colors that are "permanent" most/all are semi-permanent (even the stuff used at the salon near our house would be considered "semi-permanent"). The colors wash out in 4-6 weeks usually. So that is not "temporary" like it washing out in 1 shampoo but it is not permanent the way other colors are. And usually less chemically than other dyes.

[stormborn]

Dd first asked at 11 and it was ok with us...she's only done it twice (by a pro because her hair is too dark for the OTC stuff to show up) but it looked nice. All she got was a red streak down one side but next time she wants more; not sure if she'll lose interest when she finds out the cost!

[Red Pajama]

I colored my 4 year old's hair with kool aid. It was supposed to wash out in 10 washes. it was colored for halloween, and was still slightly pink in the spring.   If she asked me to do it again I would.

Chemical hair coloring?  not until teen years for us.

[journeymom]

Originally Posted by Red Pajama 

I colored my 4 year old's hair with kool aid. It was supposed to wash out in 10 washes. it was colored for halloween, and was still slightly pink in the spring.   If she asked me to do it again I would.

Chemical hair coloring?  not until teen years for us.

Wow! Good to know about the KoolAid! I'd heard of it, thought it washed out pretty quick.

[marsupial-mom]

For me it would be more about chemicals than how dramatic the look. In general, those crazy colors are usually safer than anything with bleach. So highlights can be more dangerous than a green Mohawk.

[fruitfulmomma]

I think I was 13? My aunt was a stylist and I was staying with her for the summer. I don't know about my kids, not really on their radar at the moment.

[beanma]

I let my girls henna a streak in their hair last spring when dd1 was 11 and dd2 was 8. Dd2 still has a bit of an orange streak. She has blond hair and while the box said it was going to last 6-8 weeks, it's lasted 6-8 months for her. On dd1's brown hair it's no longer noticeable, though.

For more chemically hair color I would probably wait until they're teens. I'm pretty anti chemicals, though. Don't mind so much about the color.

[Lazurii]

My kids had their hair dyed as soon as they could ask for it, around 2 and 4.  I was starting to dye my hair crazy colors at that point and I'm sure it prompted it.  Both my kids are pretty blonde so I didn't have to bleach anything out or have the semi-permanent dye sit that long.  We did not have a good experience with Koo-Aid, the blues and purples burned my son's scalp.

[mtiger]

My daughter went purple around 12 (she has brown hair, so you couldn't necessarily see it - until she was in the sun. It looked really cool). Then she went crimson in HS during FH season. I thought that was a better option than her alternative - shaving her head. ;)

My son dyed his black in HS. I wasn't so fond of that, simply because I didn't think it suited him, but <shrug>. Not my hair. He bleached it last fall, but has now shaved half, and dyed the rest hot pink. Looks pretty cool.:D
 

[journeymom]

Originally Posted by Lazurii 

My kids had their hair dyed as soon as they could ask for it, around 2 and 4.  I was starting to dye my hair crazy colors at that point and I'm sure it prompted it.  Both my kids are pretty blonde so I didn't have to bleach anything out or have the semi-permanent dye sit that long.  We did not have a good experience with Koo-Aid, the blues and purples burned my son's scalp.

Seriously??  Wow, and those are 'foods'. Ick.

[ambersrose]

My girls had their hair dyed (pink and blue) for the first time at age 8 and 4.  I was surprised they got so many comments.  Colored hair is really pretty common these days but I guess not on young children.  Some adults were rude but most kids were envious :)

[meemee]

i have no problems at any age to colour hair. 

its the bleaching that i object to. 

dd is 10 and not allowed to colour her hair in school. so we havent faced this battle yet. next year however she will be in middle school and will be allowed to colour her hair. she can only colour it if she bleaches it. gah!!! i'll have to figure out what to do then. 

[Lazurii]

Originally Posted by meemee 

i have no problems at any age to colour hair. 

its the bleaching that i object to. 

dd is 10 and not allowed to colour her hair in school. so we havent faced this battle yet. next year however she will be in middle school and will be allowed to colour her hair. she can only colour it if she bleaches it. gah!!! i'll have to figure out what to do then. 

Yeah, I don't thinking bleaching at a young age should be encouraged.  It's pretty nasty.

How dark is your daughter's hair?  I have fairly dark brown hair and I've gotten good results with a demi-permanent dye ('N Rage) without bleaching.  I had to let it sit overnight but it worked well.

[mtiger]

I found that most parents were shocked that I allowed it, while most kids thought I was the coolest Mom.
 

Edited by mtiger - 2/4/13 at 2:55pm

[meemee]

oooh that's good to know. dd has fairly dark hair too. we'll probably do 'nonnatural' colours in summer (except how to coordinate swimming) and then do 'natural colours' during school year since middle school will not allow unnatural colours. 

now henna i dont even view as 'hair colour' more as a hair conditioner.

dd and I have thought about superman hair (since i told her i wont let her bleach her hair - its more about her then me, she has super sensitive scalp and she really has no idea what bleaching actually feels like).

however i think dd is going to be more the cut and experiment gal than colour. she had waist length hair which she cut to shoulder and now supershort. since 4th grade she has been the only girl in her elementary school with short hair. everybody has at least shoulder length hair. which i am grateful about coz she has super fine hair like me and i have kinda ruined my hair with chemicals. i would not like that for her.  

[Peony]

I recently dyed my 10 and 6 year old's hair pink. I didn't bleach it and have no interest in doing that at this age. It's been about 4 weeks since. DD2's hair has faded to a soft pink, DD1 (who has the darker hair) still has really bright hair. I used some boxed L'Oreal stuff that claimed to dye even the darkest hair pink without bleaching, and it did! I have no problem with it obviously. I'm all about temporary things that allow children to express themselves.

[MrsGregory]

Whoah, Lazurii, is that your hair?  I am obscenely jealous!