Getting a Lil Manic Panic'd

Leah has been bugging me and asking to dye her hair purple for 3 years. Every year I've told her "maybe in the Summer" but the Summer would come around and we'd never get around to it. I promised her once it was the last week of school I'd do it for her.

I struggled quite a bit with the decision. I spoke to other friends, including two top of the line Vidal Sassoon colorists (one does Dakota Fanning's hair and other celeb kids) about it and at the end of the day I decided that it Leah's hair and she could do what she wants with it. Her stake in her own individuality is more important to me than what others may deem as appropriate for a 7 year old.

Hair at the end of the day is a decoration and as such she can choose what to do with it. My only guidelines were that she had to take care of it and that it would only be for the Summer. In elementary school hair colors can be a bit too much of a distraction for some kids.  It was just like her ear piercings. I refused to take her until she wanted to have it done and was willing to care for them on her own.

In order to get the purple she wanted I knew we'd have to lighten her hair, after some research on what the best natural alternative would be we settled on a plan of action. She wanted just the front of her hair done so we lightened the front. Followed by an application of Manic Panic Purple Haze. Manic Panic is a great choice for anyone who wants some alarmingly unnatural colors. It is gentle on the hair as it is a vegetable based dye (Vegan too!) and it is a conditioner. It stains the hair, is semi-permanent and on hair like Leah's? It washes out very quickly. She will be swimming every day at camp so it won't be long before it's gone and I'll have to retouch it.  I've been using it for years (since childhood) and considering all the comments I get about how vibrant and shiny my hair is? I felt confident that her hair would be fine afterward and that her health would not be adversely affected.

She absolutely loves it and I do love that she shares my love for the quirky and fun colored hair. It suits her.