How to Dye a Child's Hair With Food Coloring for Halloween
One of the delights of Halloween is the opportunity for children to dress up. The Halloween costume allows a child to change her identity for a few hours and indulge in her fantasies to become someone else. Safety is a concern when a child is dressing up. Children love to color their hair to go with costumes, and using food coloring is a safe way to say "yes" when the child asks to color her hair.
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Things You'll Need
- Food coloring
- Hot water
- Plastic bowl
- Aluminum foil or a plastic bag
- Blow dryer
Instructions
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1
Buy powdered food coloring with no sugar in it. Artificial sweeteners are fine, but sugar will make the mixture sticky. Start with one package of food coloring. More can be added if the color needs enhancement or strengthening.
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2
Mix the food coloring with hot water in a plastic bowl. Use enough water to form a paste.
Choose the color or mixture of colors carefully. Test the color on some of the child's hair taken off of a hairbrush to see how it will turn out. Shades will vary depending on the child's natural hair color. Colors can be mixed to produce various hues.
The choice of color will depend on the child's Halloween costume and her wishes. All food coloring will tint a child's hair, though darker coloring on light-colored hair and light colors on darker colored hair will show best.
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3
Apply the warm paste to the hair, taking care that it is not hot enough burn the child's scalp.
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4
Cover the hair with a plastic bag or aluminum foil. This will maintain the moisture of the wet hair.
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5
Blow-dry the hair through the plastic bag or aluminum foil. This procedure allows the hair to dry more slowly than it would if the blow dryer was applied directly to the hair. Blow drying the hair through the plastic bag or aluminum foil allows the hair to absorb the color as it dries.
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Remove the plastic bag or aluminum foil. The color should last until the child's next shampoo.
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Tips & Warnings
Even though food coloring does not generally produce allergic reactions it's still a good idea to test the color on a strand before coloring the full head of hair. If any rash erupts, abandon the effort.
