My Daughter wants Pink Streaks in her Hair!
By jennybianca
@jennybianca (12912)
Australia
March 17, 2008 7:38pm CST
My 14 year old daughter (nearly 15) informed last week that she wants pink streaks in her hair. Just a few, she said.
I was reluctant at first, thinking it would be against the school policy to have unnatural colours in one's hair. Plus, I am concerned that the pink colour will interact with the pool chlorine she is exposed to ten hours each week (although she does wear a swimmers cap).
She informed me that it is not against the school policy, & that oner girl has had totally green hair for two years.
Her natural hair colour is medium brown with lightish streaks in it. Also, it is very thick & goes to her shoulders.
I have finally promised to ring up the hair dresser & ask about pink streaks today.
Would you let your teenage daughter have pink streaks in their hair?
12 people like this
37 responses
@ersmommy1 (12588)
• United States
18 Mar 08
Yeah I probably would. It's hair. It grows back! It can be changed if she doesn't like it. It is a relatively safe way of her expressing herself. It isn't a lip peircing or a tatoo. I may not like it, but she will outgrow it. Again hair is the safest of things she could ask about changing.
3 people like this
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
18 Mar 08
That is very true. And I dont want her to have lip piercing, nipple piercing or whatever.
I have noticed that my daughter is very much an individual & wants to express herself in unusual ways.
1 person likes this
@killahclaire (3665)
•
18 Mar 08
Right first off, I used to do hairdressing so I can tell you how it will go.
The Chlorine will have not much bad effect on it. It is only really processed blonde hair that you have to worry about.
If she is allowed the pink streaks at school then I would say just let her have them. I don't see it as any big deal at all and when you are 14 it just seems like the end of the world if not allowed.
Do you have a picture of your daughters hair up close though?
Basically you can only lighten hair one or two shades without using bleach. Bleach can be very damaging to the hair especially with the chlorine.
Take her to the hairdressers and get a proper consultation. To keep the cost down if you decide to go a head then just get the "T-Bar" done. This means that it will look like it is done all over when her hair is down but the underneath does not get done so is alot cheaper.
And tell your daughter that pink fades fast. It is in fact the fastest to fade. Due to the size of the pigmentation. The more often she gets it done the more colour will cling to the hair. Probably at first it will fade within 2 weeks. After two weeks it will seem washed out and crap. But maybe the second time she may get 3 weeks. After she has had it done about 5 times it will seem almost permanent.
And just cos the hairdresser says its permanent doesnt mean it wont wash out. Cos it is all to do with how her hair holds the colour. If they try and tell you it is permanent get them to confirm that if it needs redone before 6 weeks that they will do it for free. i have had to do this with various salons.
Tell her good luck, and tell her she should get some purple too lol.
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
18 Mar 08
This is incredibly useful info & I will show it to my daughter. It was news to me that pink fades the fastest. She loves her hair & loves doing "pretty" things with her hair.
I am going to see if I have a close pic of her hair.
PS. The photo I have found is only 3 months old, although her hair is a little shorter now. Unfortunately she has that silly thing on her head.
1 person likes this
@killahclaire (3665)
•
18 Mar 08
No probs. I wish someone had been there to give me tips as I ended up doing it myself first time without knowing too much.
tell me, has she got colour in her hair already cos the thing that concerns me is that he ends look alot lighter than her roots. this could be from previous colour or from sun.
Basically you cannot lighten pre treated hair without bleaching it first so if she is wanting a soft pink then the chances are that it won't work as well as what it could if it wasn't. Do you understand what I mean?
And if it is just the sun, the prob is the ends will absorb the colour much more than the roots. He ends could be as pink as what she wants but the roots may look a bit browny mushy pink. That is without getting her full length bleached. The hairdresser would have to account for this when bleaching it. She would put the bleach up at the root and maybe after 10 minutes put it through the ends.
For the hairdresser to put in streaks in this way then the best way to do it would be with tinfoil highlights, do you know what these are. They are generally a bit more expensive because there is more manual work and means that you can't get in as close to the root. So basically after two weeks you would be able to see the natural colour coming in at the top.
Ask your daughter to find a pic of what shade of pink she is hoping to get. Is she hoping for shocking pink or baby pink.
Don't let all this put you off. A good hairdresser would know how to deal with this and be able to offer you the best way of doing it. And explain she is only 14 and this is a fad so you don't want to spend a crazy amount.
Don't whatever you do, take her to any old fuddy duddy salon where the woman would look shocked at her wanting pink.
Go somewhere with young fashionable salons.
I know that here in the UK alot of salons have a trainee salon which means it is someone learning with supervision and you would only have to pay for what buying the tubes of salon out the wholesalers.
Right, so if you get me a pic of the pink I will look her up a link explaining which colours she would get the longest out of and what hair care she should think about.
2 people like this
@killahclaire (3665)
•
18 Mar 08
Right well basically I have a look and couldn't see much about the size of molecules except red is the one that will fade the fastest but if she is willing to do the upkeep of this then that is fine.
I did find a site though all about hairdressing that I thought was quite a good site.
http://hairdye-info.com/
So basically I would say take her a long to a funky salon and ask them what they think and how much it will cost and remind them though that she is only young so you don't want to spend a fortune. They should be able to do something at a price you can afford.
It is a shame you aren't here in Scotland as I would love to do it for yous. Lol.
The other option is buying her the stuff and letting her do it herself or letting a friend do it for her but she would really need to read up on it all and find out exactly what she is doing.
I have bought stuff before and just got my friends to do it. If she was to do this though I would advice her to just take a section of hair and get this done. That is called a panel as opposed to streaks.
Good luck and if you wanna show me a pic I will tell you what I think and she can IM me on MSN and ask me for advice if she wants.
I am killahclaire@hotmail.com
2 people like this
@emeraldisle (13139)
• United States
18 Mar 08
If you don't have a problem with it then go for it. Can't hurt any. It does grow back and all so if she doesn't like it she isn't stuck with it for ever. If you aren't sure why not pick up some of the temporary spray in colors. My niece does those. She loves the purple one. She gets it at Wal-Mart but also at Sally's Beauty Supply. It's like a hair spray but with color added. It doesn't last very long but it's a great way to see if she really likes it and looks good with it before doing the full on dye job.
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
19 Mar 08
We never thought of the temporary ones. But anyway, I have made an appointment for her at the hair dressers to have a few pink streaks.
1 person likes this
@emeraldisle (13139)
• United States
19 Mar 08
The nice thing with the temp ones is you can see how it will look before putting out the money for the expensive ones. This way if for some reason pink looks ghastly she can get purple or blue or whatever is in at the moment :)
Good luck with it and I hope it turns out as great as she wants it to be.
1 person likes this
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
19 Mar 08
In a way, its a pity that I am 50 years of age with totally grey hair, as I would have liked the opportunity to try different hair colours, with the temporary ones. I just put in a permanent dark brown colour now.
1 person likes this
@Galena (9110)
•
18 Mar 08
I'd let her. I was dying my hair at 14 (mostly pillar box red, and my mum used to do it for me)
at 14 she'll be starting to work out who she is, and how she wants to look. it's nice to let her do it now, as when she's older and having to work, she may not have so much freedom with her appearence as she has now.
and there's no reason not to have a bit of fun with your hair colour.
I'm naturally blonde, and dying my hair is fun. I'd love to have red streaks in mine, and I'm in the sort of workplace that would be fine in, but the black dye won't bleach back out enough for the red to take.
there's also lots of wash in wash out bright coloured dyes you can play around with as well which are very temporary and great fun.
so.
she's 14. let her have some fun.
2 people like this
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
19 Mar 08
Great, thanks. Yes, she is very creative & individual & wants just a few streaks, & even though it may shock the grandparents, I am going to let her.
@aseretdd (13730)
• Philippines
18 Mar 08
Well, i remember during my teenage days... hair sprays was the IN thing... and back then... it seemed like we cannot go out of the house if we do not have hairspray on our hair...
I can totally understand why your daughter wants the pink streaks... it is the in fashion today... so as long as it is allowed in school... i would totally allow her to have those pink streaks... and since your daughter is an athlete... which is quite a status among students in schools... she might think that adding color to her hair will make her look cooler...
2 people like this
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
18 Mar 08
Not that anyone will see her hair whilst she is swimming, as she has to wear a cap. But they do exercises & warm ups before & everyone wears their hair loose then.
1 person likes this
@just2crazygirlz (2479)
• United States
18 Mar 08
Why not? I did it when I was younger.
My hair has been thru the ringer. And it's still pretty. LOL.
Let me let you in on a secret. I don't know if she will go for it or not, but it's worth a try.
Kool aid. We used kool aid to color our hair when I was younger. It washes right out. And there are so many colors. You can put it in with the powder or boil the kool aid then dip your hair in it. However, you want.
Also, magic markers. We colored my hair with magic markers one day. It was really cool when I washed it out. I did it in the sink and I could see all the colors going down the sink and mixing together.
Does this make me weird?
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
18 Mar 08
I kind of laughed at what you wrote. No, not weird. I will pay for my daughter to have the pink streaks done professionally.
1 person likes this
@just2crazygirlz (2479)
• United States
18 Mar 08
It was the thing to do when I was younger. Glad I amused you! Have a great day!
1 person likes this
@patgalca (18366)
• Orangeville, Ontario
18 Mar 08
My daughter will be 15 next month. A couple of years ago (probably about 3) she asked to have blue streaks in her hair. She showed me a product at the store that is temporary. Not temporary enough that it washes out first time you wash your hair, but over time it fades and disappears. I actually bought her the product for her for Christmas AND applied it to her hair. It was messy for me, and took awhile to apply so that it was noticeable enough, but she looked great and everyone loved it. I even did her younger sister's hair last year.
Believe me, I am very conservative and don't like it when my kids want to change things about themselves in such a way, but this seemed harmless so I went along with it. Like someone else said, it wasn't a tattoo or extra piercings (she's been asking me for those too!). Both my girls are blonde (strawberry blonde) so the blue streaks were noticeable enough that I had my younger daughter put her hair in a pony tail when she altar served at church.
Also, the way I went is probably cheaper than going to a salon and certainly doesn't last as long.
Also, the way I went is probably cheaper than going to a salon and certainly doesn't last as long.1 person likes this
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
19 Mar 08
Your older daughter must be nearly the same age as mine then. My daughter will be 15 next month too, on April 7.
You did well to do the streaks yourself. I once tried to do blonde streaks for my daughter & I was hopeless at it. Found it a hassle. I do my own hair colour, because as you said it is much cheaper than going to the hairdresser, but with streaking, I will pay the professionals to do it.
@Fishmomma (11377)
• United States
18 Mar 08
Well, I would first have to get over the shock, but after thinking awhile would say yes. She would have to pay for it. My feeling is that its not the worse thing I could hear, so I would stay calm.
My youngest daughter has decided to go red, which sure surprised me. She informed me yesterday, but first asked what I would think if she changed her hair. My first thought was please don't cut off your hair. Its all the way down her back. I would have trouble getting use to that kind of change.
She is going to a convention and the character has red hair. I just hope its not a bad red, as my daughter has a very fair completion. I'm just glad its not black, as her face would look chalky white.
Keep in mind my youngest is an adult, so she can dress and do whatever she wants to her hair. I just have to get use to the change.
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
19 Mar 08
Yes, I was a bit shocked too, but recovered quickly. I am going to let her have these pink streaks.
Regarding your daughters proposed red colour change... I really like auburn reds. I guess if she has it professionally done, & choices the red carefully, it may turn out quite attractive.
@Fishmomma (11377)
• United States
19 Mar 08
Her boyfriend is doing her hair and he has never done anyones hair. I sure hope its not shocking.
1 person likes this
@Modestah (11179)
• United States
19 Mar 08
I saw a teen boy the other day with the hot pink streaks in his otherwise medium brown hair... the way it was applied it looked quite haphazardly done. I thought it looked ridiculous and made his pimple speckled face all the more obvious.
Is pink the new fashion statement? boys and girls?
I do not know if I would let my 13 year old do it or not, as of yet it has not come up. I am thinking it would not appeal to her, she is not very fad conscious at this time. Thankfully!
1 person likes this
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
24 Mar 08
I am not sure of pink is specifically a fashion statement, but I know that any brightish colour is. Apparently there is a girl at my daughters school who has green hair & has had this for 2 years.
@Galena (9110)
•
18 Mar 08
exactly. ONE DAY.
you don't have to look respectable for work when you're 14.
so why not experiment with hair before boring old real life gets in the way.
and there are lots of workplaces where tattoos, peircings and bright hair colours are not a problem at all.
I work in a natural cosmetics and skincare shop, and lots of the girls have peircings, bright hair and make up and tattoos.
it's not the end of a career.
1 person likes this
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
18 Mar 08
You are right.(Galena). She is only 14 years & pink streaks wont effect her work ability or her swimming.
The fresh appearance will be suited to some jobs, but as my daughter wants to go to Uni, it doesn't matter yet about her hair colours.
@julievy (593)
• United States
18 Mar 08
I would. It's only hair, it'll grow out. My son (now 22) had lime green hair for a while when he was that age. He got sick of it pretty quick and cut it off after a few month.
You have to pick your battles I guess. I didn't think the hair was worth getting upset over. I did draw the line at tattoos (since they're permanent)
1 person likes this
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
19 Mar 08
Lime hair! Wow! A couple of Bianca's male friends at swimming are going for the bleached blonde look, which kind of looks startling in a boy of Italian/Malaysian background.
@julievy (593)
• United States
18 Mar 08
PS - I also have fun dragging out the pictures of the kids with green hair and showing it to his friends. We he was away at Army Basic Training last spring/summer I send a copy to him. He said he had to hide it quick before the drill sargent got ahold of it or he never would have lived it down... ;)
1 person likes this
@Blackribbon (66)
• United States
19 Mar 08
Why not? She's a teenager and wants to play with her hair, there's no issue here. I have a sister that colored her light brown hair red, black, green, blue, and purple (not at the same time of course). And maybe that's a little too much, but streaks are no big deal to me.
1 person likes this
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
19 Mar 08
She loves her hair & doing things with it, & yes, she wants to express herself.
@MsEddie86 (234)
• United States
19 Mar 08
i would but they have to be tasteful and i guess at first it would be good to get the non permanent ones like the ones that come out slightly every time you brush your hair it takes about a month for them to come all the way out but i would do that jus to see if she likes it how she thinks she will and if she does then i would let her get the permanent ones.i use to have red streaks in my hair and i'm african american mixed with portuguese so red looks burgundy in my hair it was cute but it started to weaken my hair so i let it grow out but i do miss them
1 person likes this
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
24 Mar 08
Probably I shoulod have encouraged her top have the wash out colour, but I let her have permanent. It has turned out really well. Just a few streaks down the front side of her hair & on the to.
@MsEddie86 (234)
• United States
24 Mar 08
well i'm glad they turned out very well. Does she like them? I hope she does because it does take at awhile for permanant to come out. my red streaks jus finally grew out this year and i got them back in 2006, so i would suggest she keep them up cuz the color could change once she stays out in the sun to long also. havea great day
@slipknotfan (57)
• United States
19 Mar 08
I know what your going through.My 8 year old son came to me the other day and told me that he wanted to grow his hair out long. At 8.I sooooooooo don't want to let him,but you have to give them that little bit of freedom to make thier own decisions,if you don't then they start to rebel.I think something little like how thier hair is, is a good place to start.Hope i helped
1 person likes this
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
19 Mar 08
At Age 8! Wow! How long did he want it & why? Is a fashion there with boys?
@slipknotfan (57)
• United States
19 Mar 08
He didn't really say how long. Yes, it is the thing here.All of his friends are doing it.It is the skate broader thing. So i don't think it will be that long. Maybe just to the ears. I am hopeing anyways.LOL
1 person likes this
@Stiletto (4579)
•
18 Mar 08
Yes I would. When I was a teenager I had all sorts of different colours in my hair (I was a punk) in fact I can't really think of a colour I didn't have! It's just fun and it will either grow out eventually or can be covered up when she gets bored with it - which she probably will! You are right to be concerned about the chlorine reacting with the colour though, I have personal bad experience of that one! However, wearing a swimmers cap will help avoid that, and I also suggest she puts conditioner on her hair under the cap, just to act as a barrier in case any water gets through.
1 person likes this
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
19 Mar 08
Thats a good idea about putting the conditioner under her swimming cap. Thanks.
@lingli_78 (12822)
• Australia
18 Mar 08
i don't think that there is anything harmful at all in putting pink streaks in the hair... so if i were you, i will allow her to have it as long as it is not against the school policy... 14 is the age when teenagers want to look cool and stylish... it is still better rather than having a piercing or a tattoo... i wouldn't allow that if my child ask me... also, i think your daughter is a good child... she asks for your permission first before she goes ahead in coloring her hair... many teenagers don't... so i will say yes...
1 person likes this
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
19 Mar 08
I was pleased that she asked me first, & she assures me that it is not against the school policy.
@bonbon664 (3466)
• Canada
18 Mar 08
I would let her have them. It's not permamanet, and I'm a big believer in picking my battles. I don't think this is an issue worth having a battle over.
1 person likes this
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
19 Mar 08
No, there was no way we had a battle over it. I am letting her do it.
@moneyandgc (3428)
• United States
18 Mar 08
Yes, I would let my daughter change her hair. Or, my son for that matter. I am pretty liberal in this area. It's not really going to hurt anything and it can always be changed back if she doesn't like it.
My six year old informed me a couple of weeks ago that she wants red hair. My daughter has the most beautiful light blonde hair with natural highlights. The color that people pay thousands of dollars to accomplish. Aside from the fact that she is only 6, I would hate for her to change it.
Though when she is older, if she really wants to I won't stop her.
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
19 Mar 08
Yes, blonde hair with natural highlights is gorgoeus. My daughters was medium brown with natural blonde streaks when she was young, but most of the blonde streaks have gone. I was surprised at her hair colour as her Father had black hair & myself dark brown.
@gemini_rose (16264)
•
18 Mar 08
Yes, I would, she is at the age now where she wants to express her personality and her choice of what she likes and I think that you have to let them. I was never allowed to do anything, there was never even any compromise, it was always no no no. As a result I just went off the rails and turned into a child from hell, I was never treated as an adult and at 14/15 I felt that I should have been.
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@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
19 Mar 08
I see it as her expressing her personality. She is certainly becoming more individual & creative.
