<p>hyperJulie, that and people who try to dye colors that don’t work on them are my biggest hair pet peeves. If you’re going to bleach your hair, you have to baby it at least a little bit. It involves a bit of sacrifice (ugly, nasty, greasy hair for a couple days beforehand) but it’s worth it to have your hair healthy.</p>
<p>In Seattle, you see people of both sexes and all ages with hair of any color you can imagine. It’s not for me-I just dye mine the conventional colors, but I’m so used to it I wouldn’t mind if either of my D’s went for a bright color. H is more conservative and doesn’t want our D to do it. She’s almost 14 though, and of course loves to do things with her hair. So we’ve compromised on hair chalk or clip-ins for streaks and are avoiding anything that would involve chemicals. She also just bought a "half-wig with a funky style and color (burgundy) that she’ll probably wear to school this year.</p>
<p>II had never heard of mixing food coloring or anything else with conditioner-how interesting, Jade. If I ever want to go dramatic, now I know how.</p>
<p>I love funky hair colors. I donate my hair every two years so I’ve never dyed it. I want to dye it eventually… maybe after my next donation.</p>
<p>Sseamom, I looked up homemade dyes to use as refreshers between dying after I dye my hair purple because you have to constantly add more color if you want it to stay vibrant. But it is as simple as food dye (or drink mix or berry juice) and some cheap conditioner. Best way to do it is just sleep with the conditioner mixture on your hair and then rinse it out in the morning.</p>
<p>I live in a conservative area and aim to go into a field which is even more conservative and somewhat notorious for sexism. No way am I going to dye my hair an unnatural color for fear that it might create a negative impression among potential contacts/ employers. I also just plain don’t find dying my hair exciting or worth it (although if someone wants to do so, all the more power to them).</p>
<p>“In Seattle, you see people of both sexes and all ages with hair of any color you can imagine”</p>
<p>Love it (although I have never colored my hair). It brightens up the gloomy downtown streets when the days get short. When my natural color fades away, I will add something like dmd’s lock. :)</p>
<p>I’m curious if anyone can do their hair like Lightning from final fantasy 13 (google it). I seen real people trying it but many don’t have the “look” for it.</p>
<p>My very arty D cut her very long mousy brown hair into a pixie cut and stripped all the color out then dyed it an absolutely gorgeous aqua. She has eyes that change color between blue and green depending on what she’s wearing and the blue brought out a color I’d never seen before. She has pale skin and the aqua was really beautiful. However, the stripping of color from her hair trashed it so badly that after about a year of being aqua, she again cut almost all her hair off and began the process of regrowing healthier hair. She has had to use henna to provide an even tone. I don’t think she’ll ever go that severe again because of the damage.</p>
<p>However, I liked it and I like Kelly Osbourne’s lavender/silver hair color. A lot.</p>
<p>My niece wants to put some blue streaks (she’s 12) and I told my brother the difference between a bad hair do and a good one is 6 weeks. As stated above at least it’s not permanent. Unlike the tats my (same) arty D felt she just had to have. :(</p>
<p>Not a fan but I don’t really care if people want to put colors in their hair. If my kids tilted this way at least hair color is not permanent like tats and strange piercings. I wouldn’t recommend it for kids that are interviewing in industries where non-nature-found colored hair is not common.</p>
<p>Since I started putting in my pink streak, I’ve been very amused by the reactions people in places other than Portland have to it. The best so far was the teacher who asked me, at the wake after a family funeral in a conservative suburb of Chicago, “how hard is it to do your hair like that?” We adjourned to the bathroom where I told her about it in detail. </p>
<p>Having the pink streak has had an unexpected side effect; apparently, not a lot of white-haired women dye their hair pink, because it has made me memorable to people. It simplifies introductions and social situations; it gets me better service in restaurants (where they recognize me and remember that I tipped well the last time I was in–and they bring me my club soda before I even ask now).</p>
<p>I am envious of you, dmd77! I don’t have much gray but, what little there is I hide with L’Oreal. When I was in college, I was able to rock a Billy Idol haircut and color. I’m about the most uncool person now, though. I kind of like seeing people express their own individuality through different hair styles and colors which can be changed frequently.</p>
<p>It’s just hair.</p>
<p>I am an “all natural” person–don’t wear makeup, jewelry, or dye my hair, don’t even have pierced ears. I do have some gray hair, and don’t really care about the look of it. </p>
<p>My (naturally dark blonde) D highlighted her hair with lighter blond streaks her soph year of college. I thought it looked good, but I was surprised to see how many young women were dying their hair. When I was young, hair dye was only for old ladies to cover the gray, and you didn’t want people to know (remember the “Does she, or doesn’t she?” commercials 
). When I was in college during the punk era, there were a few people, usually with red or blue hair, spikes, Mohawks, along with dog collars, etc.<br>
Last year D decided that she was meant to be a redhead, and she has continued to keep her hair red. Her hair looks damaged and unhealthy to me, and she tries different shades–some of which do not look natural. She said she gets a lot of compliments on her hair, and she definitely does stand out as a redhead. I’m used to it now, but still think of her as a blonde. Sigh.
Personally, I don’t like unnatural hair colors. (I live in a conservative area, so don’t see much of them–probably more middle-school girls with green or blue streaks than anything else.)
I put unnatural haircolors in (sort of) the same category as multiple piercings, tattoos, etc. I associate this “hard” look with drugs, bad attitudes, attention seekers with “issues,” etc. It just doesn’t look “clean, nice, and wholesome” to me. If someone is in the art/music/entertainment field, or works in a bar, this look is more acceptable. But for someone working in a medical/dental clinic, or serving food in a restaurant, it looks icky or dirty to me. Unnatural colors make the person seem less “sanitary” and less “trustworthy,” imo. All that said, I’d much rather see my kid with weird hair than tattoos/piercings.</p>
<p>Funny story, 17yo S has vitiligo. He has irregular white streaks/patches in his (light brown) hair. Everyone at his school recognizes him by his hair. He doesn’t dye it. It is sort of his trademark and he is used to people asking him about it. Last week he went to a college program in another state. He said he was asked about his hair at least 50 times.<br>
A stranger, an adult man, came up to S on the street and asked him what he did to his hair. S replied, “It’s vitiligo.” The man said, “Wow, cool. I gotta get that done to mine!”
Other times people have said “What happened? Have an accident with a bottle of bleach?! Hahaha!” Then son will say, very seriously, “No. Actually, it’s a disease.” (Then they apologize and feel bad about it.) Anyway–lesson is, don’t assume weird hair is “unnatural.”</p>
<p>Unfortunately, S is now talking about dying his hair after all the explanations he had to do last week. I don’t want him to dye it, but I can’t see it as other people see it since I’m his mom and I’m so used to his unusual look.</p>
<p>Seattle is full of “unsanitary”, “dirty” and “untrustworthy” people. I’ve seen hostesses and servers in some of our top restaurants with gauges, dreadlocks, and all kinds of tattoos. One of my D’s teachers a few years back had a few piercings. Shrug. I don’t see what any of the above have to do with someone’s ability to do their job, know how to wash up and be drug-free. The good news though, for people who feel that it DOES, is that the national “family” chains still make sure kids in Seattle who work for them look just “clean” and “trustworthy”. You all will be safe to eat there. I can’t speak for the teachers though.</p>
<p>I was expecting a lot more opinions like atomom honestly. It’s nice my expectations were wrong.</p>
<p>I’m not sure how long I’ll keep up the unnatural hair colors but it’ll probably keep for at least the next few years. Though I think that by the time I’m job-hunting I’ll be dying it similar to Ariana Grande’s red instead of the purple I’m going for now. I believe most principals and school boards would be comfortable with that since it’s almost brown.</p>
<p>I don’t care for unnatural hair colorings for the simple reason that they don’t look natural. I don’t associate them with any sort of attitude, but I do find that it’s a bit distracting, and I often don’t remember much else about the person when I first meet someone with an odd hair color. I feel the same way about face piercings. Distracting. Tats, not on the face, don’t bother me. I just don’t like to try to talk to someone and find that I’m staring at their hair or nose piercing instead of listening to what they are saying.
I know, it’s my problem, not theirs. But you asked.</p>
<p>I’d bet that a lot of people share my opinion, but are afraid to express it because they don’t want to seem “judgmental.” Or people who were not interested in the topic of the thread didn’t read it.
Everyone knows it is “just hair.” But any choices people make in dress/makeup/hairstyle/body adornments, etc. send out an impression–which could be one they might not want to be sending. This is why companies or schools have dress codes. This is why advertising works, because certain “looks” have certain connotations. Looks may have nothing to do with ability to perform a job, or the actual hygiene or lifestyle of the person, but if customers don’t come back because workers look “gross” or “scary,” then that is bad for business.</p>
<p>Atomom, I was expecting people who really didn’t care about seeming judgmental to reply and say it’s stupid/terrible/immature to dye your hair something so unnatural.</p>
<p>Jade, I would love to do my hair like yours when it gets to the mostly gray/white stage. It sounds so fun. My SIL wore a purple streak in her hair for years (even at her job for a major government agency). When she retired she let her hair go natural both in style (think mini afro) and color (grey). </p>
<p>People should know what the standards are where they live-obviously in some places pink hair and a few tats would get them turned away, but here they’d probably have lots of competition who look even more “unnatural”. These things are fluid though. I’m sure at one time clean-shaven men were considered odd and there was a time where women showing their ankles or heads were “forward”.</p>
<p>atomom, your first paragraph describes me too. Always been non make-up wearing, non-hair dying. None of my kids has done anything to their hair yet, and my oldest works in the business world, so I doubt she will. If people want to, they are free to do as they wish, but I don’t really like unnatural hair colors. I’m sure there are a lot of us who don’t bother replying.</p>