"We all love a good Hair pinstrosity, right? We, my daughter and I, did a little experimenting back in April. A little back story: my daughter has been friends/classmates with a wonderful little girl named Maureen since kindergarten. In March Maureen was rushed to the Children's Hospital and was diagnosed with a very rare form of Leukemia. Less than 2 weeks later she passed away from complications from an infection. The school organized a "wear blue" week in honor of Maureen leading up to her memorial. My daughter wanted to go an extra step. She wanted blue hair!!"
"I had no idea how to do this so I turned to Pinterest. I found a few different ways to dye hair, but I wanted a non-permanent option. I decided to try this pin:"
http://shoulditpinterestyou.wordpress.com/2013/02/07/dye-hair-with-food-coloring/
"The blog post showed nice easy directions - I even had everything on hand!! Score a Use It Up challenge as well!! I used a hotel sized bottle of white conditioner & a bottle of blue food coloring. I even pre-cut my foil into easy to use sheets like my hairstylist uses."
"Mixing it up seemed to go okay, just like the steps on the blog."
"I put a towel over my daughters shoulders and my lap. Divided up her hair in sections so I could easily apply the mixture. I foiled each section. I thought it looked a little light, but I figured the blue would show up with her blonde hair so it didn't need to be too dark."
"I continued on until her whole head was foiled. Following the blog's instructions, we let her sleep in them over night. I wrapped her head in a scarf and then put a knit cap over it so that nothing would fall out and possibly stain her new sheets."
"The next morning she jumped out of bed (a rare occurrence for her) and we took out the foil for the big reveal. Not bad!!"
"The last step of the blog said to rinse but not to use shampoo. My daughter put her hair over the edge of the tub and I watched all the blue rinse away down the drain. OH NO!!!! It was Monday morning, less than an hour before school. No time to run to the beauty store and buy blue dye (if they even have it) and I am about to have a very disappointed daughter when she realizes that this pin was just BUSTED! No color remained in her hair at all!"
"I didn't even have that much blue food coloring left, some but not a lot. In a hail Mary pass I put the ends of her hair in the bowl and put the blue food dye directly on her hair with the help of my handy dandy sponge brush. I had no idea if this was going to work, if the dye would stain everything or be permanent. All I knew is my daughter wanted blue hair and it had to be this morning."
"To lessen the chance of having blue food coloring everywhere I went ahead and blow dried her hair. It seemed to seal the majority of the color onto her hair. It did have a nice effect."
"It lasted the week that she wanted it too. She was turning a little smurf-esque by the end of the week, but she didn't ruin any clothes at least. The night of the memorial when we got home she took a bath, we all laughed at the results."
"It lasted the week that she wanted it too. She was turning a little smurf-esque by the end of the week, but she didn't ruin any clothes at least. The night of the memorial when we got home she took a bath, we all laughed at the results."
"On the GCT scale the original results was a 1. It didn't work but at least her hair was in the same condition as it was from when we started (maybe a little softer!).
My fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants results were a Pin Win! It gave her the blue hair she wanted and last the week until she shampoo's her hair and then it came out without a trace."
First off I am very sad to hear of the passing of your friend. I think the schools memorial was a very thoughtful and sweet thing to do, and I was touched to hear how passionate your daughter was about it. We send our love to those who were close to Maureen.
As a hair dresser, officially I am supposed to say " I wouldn't recommend this because you just never know what can happen. Everyone's hair is different." I have had a few friends who used the one wash spray Halloween dye on their blonde hair and it didn't come out for MONTHS. One of them even attempted bleaching it out and still no luck! I would suggest letting colors be left to the professionals, but as a kid who colored my hair myself staring when I was 11, I know what it's like on the other side!! When you need blue hair you NEED BLUE HAIR! So...you all have been warned!
But...I actually think this might work for like a "one time use" kind of thing. It WILL stain your clothes, and your towels, and your skin but it is kind of fun and it is a kid/mom approved way of adding color for a little bit. I haven't tried this, but it's kind of fun and I am interested to see if anyone else has tried this with similar results?? I have heard of girls using markers, or Kool-aide, or chalk and water to try this affect but never actually using actual food coloring. So Pinstrosipeeps, what's the word on the street??? To blue or not to blue??
Happy Thursday!!
