My 11 year old want's to dye her hair.

And hey, be glad your daughter isn't doing this to her hair That's what I had done to my head when I was 16, hah. My mother, the hair dresser, was devastated!

Ok...gotta chime in. I am a pageant mommy (no judging people...we aren't all nuts like the shows make you think) and my daughter wanted to dye her hair for a pageant.

I REFUSED (she's 7) to do a total dye job, or even one in the gown portion. We went all natural there...BUT...we got crazy with the costume and day wear portion.

She did one (4th of july) with multi-colored one time wash dye and had a freaking BLAST! For day wear we allowed her to streak her hair with blond...she has jet black hair and it looked so awesome. We did that with a temporary dye and it was like that for a week. She loved it.

We do occasionally let her dye her hair with some fun streaks with washouts...since they do come right out it is no biggie. I would say no to anything permanent though. She likes being able to color her hair for fun a few times a year, and I don't see the harm in it...it comes out and no one gets hurt.

So, I came across this and thought about your daughter! Since these are clip-on real human hair extensions, they look real, are interchangeable to allow the frequent changing of one's "look," and -- best of all -- they do not damage the hair because there is no chemical treatment to the user's actual hair!

Definitely worth looking into . . . they look pretty fun.

I think it's pretty harmless to let her do it. It will please her and probably boost her self confidence and make her feel "cool", which every girl needs at that age. Plus, if you say yes to some of the little things it makes you a "cool" parent in their eyes too which as they get older is a plus and makes it easier to relate to them. I'm saying this as someone who's mom always let her express herself. I really, really value that in my mother.

I say hold her off as long as you can. I started asking to dye my hair around that age but wasn't allowed until I was 15ish. In the long run, I've been really thankful. Dying is kinda addictive and my hair would have been fried that much earlier had I been able to start when I wanted. A couple wash-out streaks are harmless, it's true, but it may to make it harder to say no if/when she wants more dying soon. Natural healthy hair is such a wonderful thing, haha. Can you tell I miss mine?

Totally forgot about this thread. duh

Update; For her 12th birthday, she bought some dye with her B-day money. She went with just the tips in a bronze/red (don't know the specific color) on the sides and back, permanent dye. Lasted about two weeks then washed out. ??? Then we tried a light blonde on the last 3" of her tips followed by a inch of the red. Same thing, lasted about two weeks. Seems her hair did not take to that brand of coloring.

She really enjoyed it while it lasted and the wife and her enjoyed doing it. Plans are for a different type of dye in the same colors. They looked rel nice while not being to much.

Thanks for all the feed back!

I say go for it

From what I've heard, dying your hair before your late teens can really screw up the hair's health, kind of like how you shouldn't do plastic surgery before the body is finished developing. I'm sure some children dye their hair with no negative effects, but it isn't something I would want to chance.

Beauty supply stores like Sally (and I'm sure lots of other place) sell mascara wand-style hair color that you can sort of paint on and wash out that won't cause any damage. Ir you can pick up super cheap clip-in extensions in almost any color. I would be way more comfortable with that type of option on someone so young.

She's young, but she isn't dying her whole head. A few streaks couldn't hurt anything, and she can still have her natural hair color.