To think that calling hair 'mousy' is an insult, not a description of the colour

[JustT]

My daughter has beautiful long hair that I call 'golden brown'. It was blonde as a baby but has got darker as she's got older and she's now 8. She's always been really happy with her hair colour and I'm pleased because I remember my own mum putting lemon juice and 'sun-in' in my hair when I was a kid to desperately try and keep it blonde for longer. I want my daughter to be happy with her hair as it is. So I was a bit upset when she was having her hair cut last week and the hairdresser said that her hair was 'mousy'. This doesn't sound like a colour to me, it actually sounds like an insult and a way of saying that it is an unattractive colour. Since then my daughter's actually said that she doesn't like having 'mousy' hair and that it isn't a nice colour. I'm so upset as she's never expressed this before and I want her to have confidence in her appearance. Not sure what to do now or whether to speak to the hairdresser about it. Surely she should know that this isn't a nice way to describe a little girl's hair, or even a neutral description of colour. It's an insult right?

I think now it's called ash brown or mink and is v. Sought after. There was a Vogue article. Will try and find a reference.

"it's called ash brown or mink and is v. Sought after. "

But it is noticeably not called "mousy."

gunpowder Would that be a Mink with a coat not dissimilar to a Mouse?

Please God do not complain.
If this complaint landed on my salon desk I would think I was on a hidden camera show.

What should I tell my clients who want too go mousy brown? Please don't use the M word in my shop it's insulting? I personally think there are big things in the world too get worked up about, rather than a hairdresser saying your daughters hair is mousy brown.

Bigger * Oops

I can't really see why it's an insult unless you perceive particular colours of hair in a child to be more desirable than others.

It's like someone who describes their child as auburn or strawberry blonde being offended that their hair was described as ginger. It's (pretty much) the same colour - the problem is that some people feel being ginger is a bit unglamorous (which it obviously isn't).

My hair is mousy/dark blonde/ash brown/dishwater/whatever you want to call it!

I also think there's some conflation between mousy as a colour and mousy as a character trait - the latter is far more loaded IMO.

Kungfu - do you actually get a lot of people coming in and specifically asking for "mousy brown?"

As someone with mousy hair, it's not a neutral term, it has a negative ring to it. It means you can't think of anything positive to say about someone's hair.

Ash brown was positively liberating.

puppy strangely enough I have. At the moment it is quite popular, at my salon the in thing is mousy brown with another colour at the ends. Normally an ashy blonde/other shades of blonde.

Ds1 has "mousey" hair and I call it "light brown" because mousey sounds so non-descript. I sort of see what you mean op

Yep I understand you Kungfu, think I"ve seen it.

And they actually say "mousy brown all over apart from the ends, please?" Or do they point to the shade on your lovely big chart thingy and say "that one all over apart from the ends please?"

Of course it's a negative term. Sometimes also used to describe women.

It's also a big deal: I know many women with light brown hair who have changed their colour over many years, far more than those with dark brown or blonde hair.

Red is the only other colour that people are (even more) negative about.

I used to have mousey brown hair and it never occurred to me to mean anything other than light brown hair.
Light brown always sounds dull to me. I'd rather have mousey brown hair.
I've been trying to find a dye that's mousey brown for years but its just a selection of rich/light/golden/ash/red/auburn/any other weird colour variation of brown.

"I've been trying to find a dye that's mousey brown for years but its just a selection of rich/light/golden/ash/red/auburn/any other weird colour variation of brown"

It's probably something to do with the fact that marketing people at hair colour manufacturers know mousy brown would go down like the proverbial lead balloon.

Of course golden brown hair exists, it's shade 5.3 or 4.3 in most brands

"adj mousey quiet and timid and ineffectual; adj mousey of something having a drab pale brown color resembling a mouse "a mousy brownish-grey color""

Have already posted a similar typical dictionary definition earlier in thread, sharing again. Drab - such a positive word.

puppy they actually say mousy brown!

Ive heard heard of somebody have a problem with that description towards hair. You learn something new everyday.

I haven't RTFT.

It is an insult. It's usually 'just mousy brown'; 'mousy' as an adjective on it's own is uncomplimentary and means drab or boring. Mousy brown basically means dull, drab brown.

People who don't think it is insulting ask yourself this: have you ever seen a hair dye colour described on the box as 'mousy brown'? You get strawberry blonde and jet black, but the mousy colour is described as medium brown or something. Because mousy isn't something you want.

(btw, I have gorgeous mousy medium brown hair, with red and blond highlights when the light shines through it. It's not a bad hair colour, but it is a horrid description.)

Yup, cross posted with everyone in the world. Sorry.

I have 'mousey' hair. Doesn't bother me. I don't see it as an insult.
Ok, so its not golden, or dark brown glossy, its just a kind of bleurgh colour, mid, sort of nothing, colour. It is what it is. Why lie about it?

yes shagged! mink sounds more luxurious though, no?

I think you sound totally bonkers!!!! I've never really given any thought to my children's hair colour! And more importantly, neither have they...(beyond wanting hair like Elsa). Thinking about it, yes they do have mousey hair, it looks fine. If a hairdresser said they had mousetrap hair, they'd probably think it was a funny word! You are definitely passing your insecurities on to your
daughter. You need to teach her that hair colour is completely irrelevant.

Mousetrap? I mean mousey

The colour half way between blonde and brown is surely the same colour as a piece of caramel, not a mouse.

Brown hair with some red is the same colour as a conker, hence chestnut.

Mousy brown is not a bit blonde or a bit red. It is light brown hair, the colour of a mouse.

Hairdresser probably meant it just as a description, but it comes over as an insult - because mousy is also a character trait, and not a good one. It's also an inbetween colour, neither blond nor dark. I can see why a child could feel upset.

A dictionary for ESOL students defines mousy as: "A slightly negative term to describe hair. Mid-brown is much more diplomatic."