It’s a natural part of growing up for young girls to want to copy adults in the way they do their makeup or hair. Dying hair has more impact then simply adding a swipe of lipstick or eyeliner. Unlike her experiments with make-up, your daughter can’t just wipe hair dye off at the end of the day. This needs more thought.
Safety Risks when your tween wants hair dye
In fact, most hair dye is not thought to be safe for children. Hair dye manufacturers provide a clear age limit of 16 on their salon products. If you look at home dye kits, they may contain PPD and also have an age 16 limit. I have read articles describing risks including rashes, asthma and allergic reactions.
Should a parent agree to hair colour?
Fashions in hair colour are pretty bold these days. Strong reds, purples, blues and even grey are in vogue. My own reluctance to say yes if my tween wants hair dye is partly cultural. Times change. When my grandmother was young, any woman who painted her nails was thought to be “fast”. Now we paint our toddler’s toenails for fun.
Even so there are school rules to consider. Nail colour, obvious make-up and hair colour are all forbidden at my child’s secondary school. This does perpetuate a feeling of rebelliousness and freedom when the holidays come round and the nail art comes out of the cupboard.
Because the school ban these things, when my tween wants hair dye or makeup then I don’t have to make a rule that is different to other parents. That really makes life easier for me.
Our Kool Aid Hair Dye Adventure
Provided it’s the school holidays, and provided it is safe, I think I’m happy to agree if my tween wants hair dye. But how to do it safely?
Last summer while visiting family in New York State, my sister-in-law introduced us to Kool-Aid hair dye. Kool-Aid is not true hair dye at all; it is supposed to be a drink similar to squash. It is a powdered solution which you add to water. It’s just food colouring and flavours. The colours are pretty wild and in fact several contain e-numbers which are banned in Europe! They are legal in America and I hope most people suffer no ill effects.
My sister-in-law has no plans to feed her children these additives in a drink but she discovered that you can use them as a temporary hair colourant. It’s just food, so I’m happy that it’s going to be safe on hair.
Belle and her cousin V were 12 and 11 years old and had tremendous fun getting their hair dip-dyed in various Kool Aid colours. V’s hair is light blonde and took up the colours really well until she had quite a rainbow of dip-dye. It was all new to me so I was more cautious and just let Belle dip dye the very ends.
Washing out Kool Aid
According to these instructions we found on the internet, Kool Aid hair colour should wash out in a couple of weeks. It was a good thing I was cautious because it did not wash out, and I had to get Belle a haircut before school started.
We brought home lots of Kool Aid sachets and at Christmas we dip-dyed Belle’s hair again. This time we just dipped the underneath layer of hair for five minutes. We used a dark red colour. I thought if it didn’t wash out again then it would at least be hidden under her natural hair for school.
Six months later, the colour has faded but it has not washed out! The internet has suggestions of using bicarb of soda to get it out but that sounds quite abrasive and I think it’s better to leave it. The red tone looks almost natural now.
Temporary Hair Dyeing Tips
As the colour sticks so well, I would only ever use it for dip-dye. I fear it would stain skin if we tried to do it all the way to the roots. Next time we will try just 3 minutes of soaking, and with luck it will come out more easily.
Each sachet of Kool Aid cost just 12 cents and makes 4 pints of squash, or half a pint for hair dye. It is ridiculously cheap, so if you know anyone going to America then why not ask them to visit the squash aisle of the supermarket? There are loads of instruction pages and videos on the internet.
If your teen or tween wants hair dye to try, I have researched a UK alternative. You can get wash-in wash-out hair gel called Manic Panic which has no lower age limit and no PPD. Here is my affiliate link for Manic Panic on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2Hs0uJ8 The manufacturer still advises a patch test (and that’s a wise idea with Kool Aid too).
How do you feel about hair colour on children?
Related reading on this blog: Should I let my child wear make-up?
NB. This is my story and not advice, please follow manufacturer’s instructions on all products.
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I have had this conversation with my 12 year old in the last week! So far, I have persuaded her to wait until the summer holidays and then try a temporary die – just at the tips of her hair. Manic Panic looks like a good option! Thanks for sharing with us at #TweensTeensBeyond
I can remember many of my own teenage hair dying disasters and my mother just sat back and did that thing all teens hate which is “i told you so!”. Luckily for me my daughter has gorgeous red hair and for her every summer holiday she watches in amazement as her friends do the whole hair dye malarkey and smiles smugly saying “why would I? i am a rare breed and that’s the way I like it!” Of course that may change but which way will she go? Blonde maybe? Watch this space. Great tips for those whose children want to do it and be sure it comes out ready for school again. Referring to the school rules is always a good means of grounding them on certain things. #TweensTeensbeyond
I had my hand over my mouth when you said that it didn’t come out. There was I thinking maybe a little for some forthcoming festival days too. I think I’ll give that a swerve. Isn’t it funny how we spend our whole life wanting to dye our hair – until we have to. My daughter has lovely red hair and she can’t wait to dye it. Fortunately we are also protected by the school rules! Thanks for sharing with #tweensteensbeyond Jan.
My neice says the green did come out after a few weeks but not the red. We haven’t tried the green. I think it would look too Halloween on it’s own !!
I would never have thought Kool Aid could work as a dye – such a good idea though, all of the fun of dyeing but nothing permanent!
I would never have thought about using kool aid! It looks fab but a little worrying you are meant to drink the stuff. Imagine what it does to your insides lol! I think this is a great compromise though!
Koolaid is terrifying stuff! I’m so glad you don’t get it over here, I didn’t know that some of the E numbers in it are actually banned in Europe. No wonder! I have seen that Koolaid is GREAT to dying almost anything though, didn’t know about that hair but it seems to last better than semi-permanent hair dyes adults buy in the shop. Maybe I should just use this from now on haha.
I am really amazed at how long lasting the koolaid has been on her hair. It does have a pretty strange looking list of ingredients, at least to European eyes.
I’m going to sound so boring but in 35 years I’ve never dyed my hair. Not even a tad! I always loved my hair colour – I did have a friend obsessed with purples and pinks but it also got her fired from a few jobs as it was against company policy. I’m hoping my daughter won’t want to dye her hair.
I’ve never dyed my hair either, I hope I don’t have to as I don’t like the sound of the chemicals and I feel sure I’ll have a bad reaction. I’m glad my daughter is happy with just a bit of play with food colours in the holidays, and she’s not likely to become a close follower of fashion. That’s quite scary about your friend.
Having worked as a scientist in my previous job, and testing hair dyes for the presence of PPD, I am not comfortable with teens dying their hair. It’s a rather nasty chemical, especially for anyone who unknowingly has an allergy to it. My 18 year old nephew has been dying his hair for a few years but won’t listen. I hope I don’t need to utter “I told you so” in years to come!
It is surprising how few people know about the recommended lower age limit for those sorts of dyes. It sounds nasty enough to avoid for a good while after 16 too, and you have confirmed my feelings on this!
Oh wow I would never have thought of doing this! What a good way to compromise if your tween is asking to have their hair dyed 🙂
It is good to find these alternatives.