Dying 3 year olds hair...

[Loupenny25]

I know in a normal situation you wouldn't dye a young child's hair but this isn't a normal situation.

My nearly 4yo Daughter is losing her hair after a critical illness left her in ICU at the beginning of this year. Apparently its pretty common amongst ICU survivors and hits about 3 months after the illness.

Over the past week she has lost about 50% of her hair and it is just falling out like mad, there's nothing we can do to stop it/improve it. She loves her hair so much (not going to lie so did I), it was long thick blonde ringlets. We're going to give it another week or so and then we're both off for radical mummy/daughter haircuts together, I'm hoping there'll be enough left for pixie cuts but we'll see!

To get to the point - before we cut or shave her hair she wants purple hair. Specifically lilac.

I have never dyed my hair so I have no knowledge at all.

Are there any gentle or suitable products we can use to give her purple hair? She has quite light hair and even just a touch of purple she would be happy with.

I'm very nervous about chemicals etc on her scalp but we could dip dye the ends maybe?

Are there any good temporary wash in and out type things we could use? To be completely Frank it doesn't have to last very long. It does however need to be something I can lay my hands on quickly via amazon, boots etc, we have a Sally beauty in town too.

This is just the shitty icing on a really shitty layer cake so anything I can do to do something fun I'm going to grab with both hands.

Food colouring mixed with conditioner.

Your poor daughter… I hope she’s on the mend soon.

what about a temporary spray like this?

https://www.superdrug.com/hair/hair-colourants/coloured-hairsprays/pick-mix-temporary-hair-colour-spray-pastel-purple-75ml/p/792423

or what if you boiled up some beetroot or red cabbage and soaked her hair in the water? Might be a slightly mad idea…

No idea, but just wanted to say that sounds like a lovely plan.

Speak to your hairdresser, they can advise.

I've heard of people using jello. I don't know much about it, but wanted to offer up the idea as it sounded like a safe one you could research.

to you and your DD

You can get hair chalks next day delivery from Amazon - lots of different colours 💐

My very blonde daughter had loads of fun with hair chalks. They lasted till washed out. She has also tried just dying th ends with the 10 wash dies from Superdrug. We went for blue. It did not come out in 10 washes. Or 20. Or ever. We had to cut the colour out eventually as it took to blonde too well. However, if it’s going to be it anyway might be ok. Hope your daughter continues to recover and enjoys getting her hair purple.

Hair chalk?

Hair chalk on amazon

I would recommend using Directions dye. It’s ammonia and peroxide free so should be gentle on her hair. It has lots of different shades as well. https://www.directionshaircolour.co.uk/

To you and your daughter.

Argos sells them

Yes, I think hair chalk would be perfect. Or if you prefer something to wash in, this Umberto Giannini Flowerology Temporary Hair Colour Mask, Vegan & Cruelty Free Deep Conditioning Mask, 200ml (Mulberry) amzn.eu/d/4fNqkke is very gentle and would be dark purple on light hair.

I hope your daughter is feeling better and her hair grows back stronger than ever ❤️

I'm sorry to hear about your daughters illness  we have those hair chalks mentioned by @dementedpixie and they are fab. I used them on my nearly 3 year old for crazy hair day at preschool. Washed out a treat when required, and can be both subtle or more obvious depending on how much you used. My DD enjoyed applying them herself so yours might like that too? X

Coloured crepe paper works. You wrap sections of the hair up with the crepe paper inside a small food bag filled with water and tie the top. Can’t remember how long to leave it but we did this in lockdown and the colour lasted for ages.

Sure you can use wet crepe paper to dye hair

You can buy purple hair spray in Superdrug/ boots. Or you might be able to use henna

How vibrant do you want it? Bleach London do some awesome colours (including purple) and they aren't permanent! I've had pink when I was at uni for a fancy dress costume, it looked so cool and didn't wash out immediately. You can dilute with conditioner should you need to! They sell them at boots

Sorry just to add, they are like a thick gel, and you keep the bottle for top ups. None of this full hair dye kit stuff

You can buy pink and purple hair spray on Amazon or in Superderug, etc. We used pink for DD for an event when she was 3. Did no harm and lasted several days until we washed it out. I'm sorry your little girl is going through this and hope she enjoys her purple hair.

Thank you all, like the idea of some of the DIYs like jelly, crepe paper or food colouring especially as I think she'd enjoy that, I'm not great at embracing mess so letting her rub food dye all over her head would probably add to the fun!

Thank you for the recommendations on the hair chalk brands there's so many options it can be A bit overwhelming!

Second directions hair dye. We used it on dd over lockdown. If you can’t have pink hair when shit stuff is happening when can you?

wishing your dd and you well

We’ve used purple wash out hair spray on be dry light yellow hair and it looked great, really purple and washed out well. All the best with the pixie haircuts - such a lovely idea to go and do this together.

I use a purple shampoo as I’m very ashy blonde and it tones it down.

If you leave it on as a hair mask it gives a purple tinge!

(It also gives you purple fingers if you’re not careful…)

I second the bleach London wash out dyes recommendation. I’ve dyed my little girls hair with them multiple times, I just dip dye the ends so it’s not touching her scalp, she loves it.

Schwarzkopf colour and care live hair mask in velvet plum will colour her hair. It looks brown when you put it on but is like a plum ish colour. It’s only £3.75 from wilkos. Don’t forget the before and after pics !