Dyeing a child's hair.

[BadgerBadgerMushroom]

Looking for opinions. My best friend messaged me this morning asking me if I thought it would be okay if she dyed her 10 year old daughters hair with permanent hair dye. I did a bit of research and the general consensus was no and it shouldn't be used if the person is under 16. I told her this but she thinks it would be fine. Any hairdressers or experts out there know more so I can show her? Her daughter has beautiful hair but is adamant she wants it done and has refused hair chalks etc.

Whatever she decides she needs to do a patch test first in case of allergic reaction. What sort of colour does she want?

I’ve done my 11 and 9 year olds loads of times

I was colouring my hair well before 16, as PP said, patch test 48 hours before just incase

I don’t think it will do any harm, however I wouldn’t risk it at present as if it goes wrong there are no hairdressers available to fix it. Plus, depending on the colour, what will happen when schools go back?

Can’t she use a semi permanent? Or compromise and just do the ends to they can be cut off, if necessary?

@dementedpixie. She wants it red. She's got blonde hair at the moment

I bleached some streaks in my 8 year olds hair yesterday and today we are dying it with semi permanent colours.

I didn’t know about the under 16 thing oops. I only did a few streaks though - just to lighten it a little before we apply the pink and blue dye!

Won't she accept a semi permanent ? Not so bad if it goes wrong then

Saying that though I know a few blondes who went red and it took very well . I wouldn't use a permanent dye with a 10 year old but that's just my opinion.

Blonde to red sounds potentially tricky?

@wrongkindofface I said this and maybe wait until after lockdown. But she wants it all done not just the ends.

Personally I wouldn’t do it
If I was going to I deffo wouldn’t use permanent

I dyed my 10 year olds hair pink but wasn't permanent. Looked fab when it was first done and she loved showing it off. 2 weeks later its just got a peach tinge to it, expecting it to be back blonde after the next couple of washes. Was perfect for her and no harm done. Wouldn't use anything with bleach on her in a million years

I dyed DDs yesterday semi permanent so should last a couple of weeks. I wouldn't use permanent what if she hates it? 🤔

I wouldn’t mind wash out colours, but definitely not permanent.

Both my DS' have their hair dyed bright colours in the summer, and have done since they were 9/10ish. As they've got older and their hair has got darker we've had to bleach it first. Doesnt seem to have done them any harm ( now 15 and 13)

I think the actual colour wasn't a permanent one, but blue and green are very tricky to wash out! We've had to dye them back to their natural colour more than once

My dd dyed the ends of her hair in the summer holidays a few years ago. If it had gone wrong or not faded enough before school restarted we would have cut the end off so no harm done.

If I was your friend then I'd wait to see what Boris said about schools tomorrow. If schools reopen 1 June, she might want to pick a semi permanent colour.

Buy manic panic/colourista/crazy colours in red. She will get a very very vibrant red that can be topped up like a regular wash and conditioning when it starts to fade and it doesn't have the harmful chemicals that permanent does. I used to use it all the time and I've had bright red/orange/purple/blue

@Shinygreenelephant which product did you use?

"Before puberty, a kid's hair is typically thinner and more fragile and can be easily damaged by even the most gentle hair colour formulas ... An allergic reaction could result in broken skin, hair loss, hives, itchy scalp, swelling, burning and difficulty breathing."

@ilovesausages I just read that it can affect the texture of their hair because of the chemicals and that's why salons won't dye under 16s. I'm sure it will be fine :)

It’s going to be orange!!

@unravellingslowly God that's scary! I know it's all a right of passage but it seems a bit risky. And her daughter really does have the most beautiful hair! Maybe I'll message and suggest a semi permanent one.

My blonde DD put in pink hair chalk
It didn't wash out but stained it pink.
Used head and shoulders, washing up liquid, vinegar, commercial hair colour remover, all home remedies from google and it didn't move
She should be prepared for it to stay

I recently went blonde to red with no issue at all. Going from dark to blonde involves removing red from the hair so when I went blonde to brown years ago, I had to go red first.

I am unsure about safety but I dyed my hair from about 12. The patch test is the most important thing

Semiperm somewhere underneath as a patch test. Some people's skin/scalp do not like hair dye.
Blonde to red is usually no problem.
Tell her to use a conditioner with UV protection in it. Red fades very quickly.
I'd love to go red, but it wouldn't suit me at all!

Hairdresser here. As PP have said, it certainly is not recommended that a child has their hair dyed. The hair is a lot thinner and prone to breakage and the skin on the scalp is a lot more sensitive. Hair dye chemicals are very harsh and I really wouldn’t use it on a kid.
I can’t speak in terms of up to date research on it but I know when I was training we were told about cancer risk from using hair dye especially in children. I’m not sure how much research has been done on this or how significant the risk is.
Codes of practice say that hairdressers shouldn’t apply dye to hair of anyone under 16 for the above reasons.
If your friend is still certain she wants to dye her DDs hair, I’d encourage her to use non permanent dye in case it goes orange (which it probably will!) or vegetable-based dye which is less harsh on the hair.