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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To say she has brought this on herself?

299 replies

GreenHairDontCare · 23/04/2017 21:52

Dd is 13. A couple of months ago at great expense I let her have the bottom half of her hair bleached blonde. It looked lovely.

Last week she phoned me from her friend's and said she was putting a wash out green dye on it. I told her not to as it would stain the blonde.

She did it anyway. She has spent the last week washing it with dandruff shampoo, baby shampoo, washing up liquid and today as a last try we did a vitamin c powder twice.

Somewhat predictably she still has bright green hair.

She goes back to school tomorrow. They are VERY strict. Natural hair colours only. She will likely be sent home. She is now (at nearly ten pm) having a screaming fit about it. I've told her that if they send her home I'll be marching her straight to the hairdressers to get it cut short. This is the worst thing that's ever happened to her apparently.

I'm leaving dh to deal with her. As far as I'm concerned this is her problem to sort out, I told her not to do it and told her it wouldn't wash out.

AIBU?

And does anyone have any suggestions, other than bleach which I'm trying to avoid?

OP posts:
GlitteryGlitter · 23/04/2017 22:36

There are loads of hairstyles you can hide the green with. A gibson tuck would hide the ends as another suggestion to a bun.

AlternativeTentacle · 23/04/2017 22:38

Green is a natural colour. Have they never seen grass before?

BrutusMcDogface · 23/04/2017 22:39

I love the idea of a green bun! Grin

You have been given good advice, op.

We all went a bit nuts with the sun-in back in the day; I had stunning blonde streaks right at the front of my dark brown hair (!!!) but many a friend of mine sprayed the whole lot and ended up a fetching shade of yellowy tango orange, with dark bits underneath....stylish!

JustCallMeKate · 23/04/2017 22:41

As far as I'm concerned this is her problem to sort out

Jeezo she's only 13. You're being very harsh IMO. Wrap it up in a bun sock where the ends go in and the colour further up will hide the green. If it was that much of a big deal why did you not advise her a few days ago to sort her hair out instead of waiting to the night before she goes back to school?

owenjonesismyhero · 23/04/2017 22:42

Anne of Green Gables Grin Grin

Completely unrelated, new adaption of Anne of Green Gables coming on Netflix in May!

As you were........

Crisscrosscranky · 23/04/2017 22:43

I haven't read the whole thread but I had a similar issue in past with blue wash in/out.

Try:
Anti-dandruff shampoo mixed with baking powder
Ketchup (this stinks btw)

Plus LOTS of conditioner.

It took us 37 washes to get most of the colour out - tube said 4-6!

toomanytolist · 23/04/2017 22:44

Been there done that with the green/blue. Absolute nightmare. Colour reverse didn't work (though it had with blondes and darks), standard hair dye didn't cover it, hairdresser bleaching and dyeing back to the natural colour didn't cover it, nothing worked.

The only option in the end was to cut it all off.

DaviesMum · 23/04/2017 22:45

All teenagers should do stupid stuff with their hair, experiment with awful fashions and have the odd stomp about at their parents. Much better than alcohol and drugs.

^ This, 100%. There are far worse things in life that she could get mixed up in. You'll both look back on it one day and laugh...a bit!

Time4adrink · 23/04/2017 22:46

Slather it in ketchup and leave for about 30 minutes. Seriously, it works. May need a few tries, though.

TondelayaDellaVentamiglia · 23/04/2017 22:47

these are BRILLIANT at holding buns in, and cover all the ends.

Ebay link but they usually have them in packs of two in Poundland.

GoodDayToYou · 23/04/2017 22:48

Completely agree with the pp that this is a rite of passage for her. I would just be as understanding to her as you can be (even if you do that silently). She's learning the lessons here on her own and is probably suffering enough. Smile

I dyed my hair constantly from 12 and can still remember the hunger for it! The only thing I regret is, when I was 15 someone gave me a box of dye which ended up looking dreadful on me. That was over 30 years ago and I still wish my mum had helped me make it right as it really affected my confidence at the time. (Money was tight and she probably didn't even think of it.) So that would be my only reservation here - to ensure she's sorted out soon-ish and not left suffering for too long. Smile

TheExuberant1 · 23/04/2017 22:51

When I was a teenager, I accidentally dyed my hair black. I thought it was a wash in wash out dark brown but someone must have switched up the contents of the box. My hair looked awful because I was so pale!
Later on in my 20s my hair went green after going to an expensive salon and asking for dark lowlights over my blond highlights! The green did eventually fade, I used lots of tomato ketchup to speed up the process and a purple shampoo called Silver which you can get in Boots.

toomanytolist · 23/04/2017 22:52

I'm a lot more cautious about the hey it's the summer let's dye my hair nowadays! i think it's lovely, but not when it costs £5 for dye x several attempts, £10 on the colour remover x several attempts, £50+ on the hairdresser and then you still have a child who hasn't got school appropriate hair

Auspiciouspanda · 23/04/2017 22:52

I have had green stained blonde hair, if you put a brown box dye over it'll go a swampy green brown colour. Even one with red tones in it

voice of bitter experience

QuiteUnfitBit · 23/04/2017 22:53

School might not be that bothered. DD goes to a school with quite a strict hair policy. She dyed hers in a similar way, and went in with it in a plat, and a couple of the teachers said it looked great. Shock She never did get told off, and it faded quite quickly.

Awwlookatmybabyspider · 23/04/2017 22:57

I think you are being a bit harsh, TBH.
Of course this is the "worse" thing to ever happen to her. She's 13. Her hair is ruined.
Yes I know you warned her not, but. She's not the first 13 year old to think she knows best and she most certainly will not be the last. I thought I was running the world at that age. I'm 41 and I'm still learning.!
There's an old saying.
"I'm not young enough anymore to know everything"
Absolutely she's got to learn that there are consequences.
Obviously I don't know your financial circumstances, but if you could afford to how about taking her to the hair dressers and getting her hair stripped and keeping her pocket money from her until its all been paid back.

Catzpyjamas · 23/04/2017 22:57

Another thing to try:
Bicarbonate of soda and some anti-dandruff shampoo mixed together then wash her hair in as hot water as she can stand. Leave the shampoo mixture on, wrap the hair in a plastic bag and leave for 20 minutes. Rinse out with really hot water then shampoo and rinse a couple more times.

motherofdaemons · 23/04/2017 22:59

Brown won't cover it. I know from personal experience (dip dyed the ends of my hair green). When I got a sensible job I had to dye it jet black until it was long enough to cut off. Brown will turn it a sludgy khaki color. I also tried bleaching it out (all at a salon). Green/blue is very very hard to shift. Black or cutting is the only option.

gillybeanz · 23/04/2017 22:59

It's times like this I'm glad my mum made me wai until I was 16 and left school.
It's 16 for my dd too, I couldn't be bothered with all this agro tbh, and £80 no way in a million years.

I'm sure school will be fine if you explain and like pps have said, you'll both look at it in years to come and laugh.
Yes, she should have listened but who listens to their parents at 13.

2014newme · 23/04/2017 23:00

Our secondary school doesn't allow dip dye hair either. "natural colour" isn't dip dye bleach! So she may have been sent home anyway.

What,a colossal waste of money

Original poster
GreenHairDontCare · 23/04/2017 23:04

She's had the dip dye for weeks now, it's not been a problem.

It's a girls school and they are almost all identical. Long dip dyed hair, tiny skirts and ballet pumps. So I'm glad she was showing a little bit of individuality.

OP posts:
Plainlycrackers · 23/04/2017 23:05

Don't bleach it!! It might make it greener!! (Happened to a friend trying to get rid of a red wash out colour... bleach made it worse... Vosene faded it) you may well have to dye it brown or cut it off

Oswin · 23/04/2017 23:05

Just bleach bath it. I have white blonde ombre hair, every few months I get bored and dye it blue/green/pink/purple, sometimes all at once.
When I'm bored I just bleach bath it and it lifts.

ImperialBlether · 23/04/2017 23:05

She just has to cope with the consequences of her own decision, OP. In future if she wants her hair done, I'd tell her to book in with a trainee in a salon or a college.

MsGameandWatch · 23/04/2017 23:07

What,a colossal waste of money

Not your money though so not to worry.

OP I'm glad you're helping her sort it. My parents were "you made your bed" types all through my teen years as many on here seem to be and gradually the bond between us just died away, i barely see them now.