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Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

My red hair is 'unprofessional' but tattoos aren't!!

284 replies

IntegrityisDead · 30/09/2022 14:57

I work in a uniformed role in the UK, uniform standards say 'Conspicuously "unnatural" colours (e.g. pink) and extreme hairstyles are not allowed.'
I am spitting feathers!!
My hair is L'Oréal Preference Bright Red 8.624.
Yes it's bright

OP posts:
Thread gallery
17
pennyfairweather · 30/09/2022 17:20

Noteverybodylives · 30/09/2022 17:04

Say also that some natural shades of red are very bright and you have many such very bright redheads in your family so this is a heritage rather than fashion issue for you.

Who’s her mum? Ariel the little mermaid?

Post of the day Grin

OP I agree it's probably a really silly petty policy but the bottom line is it is their policy so you suck it up and change your hair colour again or leave.

Dibbydoos · 30/09/2022 17:30

What a lovely colour! It's similar to my nephews colour (all natural!), his sisters are dark and probably dead jealous!

Why is it unprofessional? I honestly don't get all this stupidity around aesthetics.

ScruffMuffin · 30/09/2022 17:31

I have actual red hair (auburn... browny red) and am not allowed unnatural hair colours at work. Someone has SERIOUSLY pissed me off recently, so I've dyed the tips blue. I keep it hidden in a bun because I know full well it's not allowed... the people that annoyed me don't know about it, but I do. Ha.

Bestcatmum · 30/09/2022 17:35

I have pink hair and tattoos and work in the NHS in a clinical role, nobody cares.

Starsinyoureyes13 · 30/09/2022 17:41

I'm a natural red head, there's a difference between natural redhead and a bright red from a bottle..
And tattoos are on the fence as some esp if country is multicultural can be heritage based.
Is this a real thread?

HollyJollyXmas57 · 30/09/2022 17:49

L'Oréal Preference Bright Red 8.624 Isn’t natural. It’s bright red. It’s artificial.
No one is born with hair that colour.

GreenFly56 · 30/09/2022 17:51

I just googled the shade and its not a natural shade of red hair. If your work policy is no unnatural hair colours, I dont think its unreasonable that this shade contravenes the policy.

Nanny0gg · 30/09/2022 17:55

IntegrityisDead · 30/09/2022 15:07

The policy said "eg. Pink", 3 years ago it said "eg. pink or blue".
2% of the world's population have red hair - it's not unnatural.
Tattoos can be visible.

But is it anything like a 'natural' red or not?

iklboo · 30/09/2022 17:58

What a lovely colour! It's similar to my nephews colour (all natural!),

Your nephew's hair is naturally this colour?

My red hair is 'unprofessional' but tattoos aren't!!
HelloDoggy · 30/09/2022 17:58

I think it depends on your role! I had a young apprentice die her hair blue. Everyone in the office kind of took the approach of 'well, she's young, learning the ropes etc.. being a bit teenage and expressing herself'. I thought it suited her. She was quite quirky and liked to think she was 'arty' and creative :) In my role (largely responsible for the whole team, it would be considered a bit weird. I'd feel a bit unprofessional. I doubt my colleagues would care but they might wonder why I'm doing it. My manager might have a conversation about the need for it.

CredibilityProblem · 30/09/2022 18:03

Tattoos are a different kettle of fish because so many twenty somethings have them on their arms, hands and neck that if you banned them completely you'd be excluding a huge number of good potential employees unless they wanted the job enough to get expensive and painful removals.

The hair rule by contrast excludes anyone who currently has brightly coloured hair and doesn't want the job enough to grab a seven quid box of Iced Coffee Brown from Superdrug and spend half an hour shoving it on.

BatteryPoweredMammy · 30/09/2022 18:04

PanPacificBallroomChampion · 30/09/2022 17:20

Oh behave! Containing women, good grief. If a male colleague turned up to work with scarlet hair do you think they’d ignore it?

Exactly my point! 🤦🏻‍♀️

It’s a policy to keep women in their place because it’s only women who tend to colour their hair; bottle blondes, rich brunettes and copper reds…

If it was something that men did too, no one would bat an eyelid.

Ergo “TATTOOS ARE FINE.”

You’re so conditioned by the Patriarchy, that you no longer notice the blatant discrimination.

starfishmummy · 30/09/2022 18:05

I thought it was going to be fire engine red....I love it and don't think its that bad at all.

But then I was the fifty something who went bright blue (except that on a base of natural auburn it looked green)!

PonyPatter44 · 30/09/2022 18:11

I think you might work for the same organisation as I do. You could always go non-op if your hair colour means that much to you.

Tigertigertigertiger · 30/09/2022 18:12

You’re just being obtuse

StandingInTheMoment · 30/09/2022 18:13

Dibbydoos · 30/09/2022 17:30

What a lovely colour! It's similar to my nephews colour (all natural!), his sisters are dark and probably dead jealous!

Why is it unprofessional? I honestly don't get all this stupidity around aesthetics.

Your nephew can not possibly have actual red hair? 🤣

Fucking hell I love mumsnet. 🤣🤣🤣

Redqueenheart · 30/09/2022 18:17

For goodness sake...

I can't believe the number of people commenting who are bleating that ''rules are rules'' or that it is ''unprofessional''. Are you really that much of a sheep?

What on earth should an employer get away with dictating what you can do with your hair?

As long as you are clean, tidy and wear decent clothes what exactly is the issue with having a slightly brighter shade of red?

Hardly a case of someone wearing a punk mohican or turning up with hair a radioactive shade of green...

I would stick to your guns OP if they try to cause you problems over this. L'Oreal is a well known and mainstream company and you can argue that these dyes are widely available in most stores and are hardly a niche product.

If you use hair dye the effect achieve is by definition ''unnatural' because it is not real hair pigment'. I have ash blonde hair and when I colour it every month it usually goes a bit silver or purple before I give it a first shampoo when it settles into blonde. That would be ''unnatural'' too I assume....

People who write these silly ''rules'' should get a life.

Or OP just play them at their own game and argue that you follow the Wiccan religion and that dying your hair red is part of your practice :) that should shut them up as they can't discriminate on religious grounds :)

This ''rule'' is also more likely to affect women rather than male employees so you could argue that this is discriminatory practice that disadvantages women and is a clear attempt to control how they choose to present themselves.

ElizabethBest · 30/09/2022 18:18

@IntegrityisDead try L”Oreal preference in Brooklyn

TheClogLady · 30/09/2022 18:21

With so many people getting tattoos on their student years, it’s no longer possible for recruiters to blanket reject on that basis.

Hair can be dyed in a day. Tattoo removal is an improving technology but it’s expensive, painful and takes months.

challenge the hair part of your dress code if you want to, but using tattoos as a comparator doesn’t move your argument forward, it’s too easy to dismiss.

CheezePleeze · 30/09/2022 18:24

IntegrityisDead · 30/09/2022 15:23

I did quote the actual words
"conspicuously" unnatural " colours (e.g. pink) and extreme hairstyles are not allowed."

"Non-offensive visible tattoos are permissible anywhere on the body, including hands and arms, as long they are not on the face or on the front or side of the neck (above the collar line). Tattoos behind the ear lobe on the back of the neck are also acceptable within these policy guidelines."

I have asked that I be provided with swatches of acceptable hair colours. It has been this colour for at least a couple of months - I change it quite frequently.

As a bit of history I come from a family of extreme redheads and have always been gutted that I missed out hence resorting to artificial (not unnatural) colours for at least the last 30 years.

Eh?

I use L'Oréal Preference Bright Red 8.624 too and it's one of the most unnatural colours on the market Confused

No redhead (extreme or not) has that colour naturally.

YellowTreeHouse · 30/09/2022 18:25

TheClogLady · 30/09/2022 18:21

With so many people getting tattoos on their student years, it’s no longer possible for recruiters to blanket reject on that basis.

Hair can be dyed in a day. Tattoo removal is an improving technology but it’s expensive, painful and takes months.

challenge the hair part of your dress code if you want to, but using tattoos as a comparator doesn’t move your argument forward, it’s too easy to dismiss.

Perhaps if recruiters still had standards and refused to hire visible tattoos we would have less people ruining their own body.@

TheClogLady · 30/09/2022 18:27

YellowTreeHouse · 30/09/2022 18:25

Perhaps if recruiters still had standards and refused to hire visible tattoos we would have less people ruining their own body.@

Perhaps.

Although I doubt it, due to natural impulsivity between the ages of 18-25.

By the time career becomes a priority, the tattoos already exist.

And positions need to be filled..

Panjandrum123 · 30/09/2022 18:32

If you work for Tesco they will hold out. I worked with a colleague many years ago, she died her hair red and they sent her home. It was too much for them. She was on the tills and customer facing, though it wasn’t unkempt they would not budge.

1FootInTheRave · 30/09/2022 18:33

Yellowtree, or maybe employers could move with the times and employ the best person for the job. Irrespective of tattoos.

Aside from my rather fabulous colleague I mentioned earlier. I have another fabulous colleague that works on labour ward. Loads of tattoos (natural hair though!) and she is phenomenal. A truly great midwife, massive advocate for women and someone you would 100% want in any emergency situation. She is amazing, her tattoos don't detract from that.

SemperIdem · 30/09/2022 18:34

Tattoos can look lovely, that shade of red does not.

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