Mum shares hack for how to dye child's hair with tissue paper

We’ve seen plenty of examples of parents getting creative during the coronavirus lockdown and the latest hack is no exception.

One mum used tissue paper to dye her children’s hair to give them temporary “mermaid” hair.

The results are pretty impressive, but it does come with some dos and don’ts.

The resourceful mum simply used tissue paper and a splash of water to create the effect and it’s a bandwagon many parents and children have jumped on since.

To achieve the look, mum, Sam, 33, put tissue paper in a bowl and poured boiling water over it. This makes the colour run into the water.

You then just dip the hair in the water at the desired length and watch as the dye soaks into the hair to create a temporary mermaid look.

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The hack was first shared of Facebook, with many girls up and down the country dyeing their hair using this quick trick.

L’Oreal colour expert, Ruby Hook, recommends parents proceed with caution if choosing to try this method of dyeing at home, though.

“In some tissue paper the pigments are fake and could be damaging for the hair. Not only that, depending on how it is made and what is used it could stain hair and make the colour harder to come out.

“Also, if it doesn't turn out the way you want and it stains, it could take a while to get it out your hair. If anything and if possible use the temporary colours you can get in the shops. Like a lot of internet trends and hacks, be careful.” She warns people looking to try this at home.

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Emileigh Marley, 10, originally saw the trick on YouTube and begged her mum to recreate it at home.

“I was very worried it would damage her hair, as her hair is so beautiful and light blonde but I researched it a lot online and read a lot of reviews to make sure it was safe and everything seemed positive so thought it was worth a try.” Sam explained.

"Emileigh chose the colour pink as she thought it would be really bright on her hair and look the best.

"The results were so much better than I thought it would be and the colour was so much more vibrant.

"She has had so many compliments and comments on it and now loads of her friend's parents have ordered the same paper to do their hair.”

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With parents running out of inventive ways to entertain their children during lockdown, a pop of colour in their hair could provide a day’s worth of entertainment.

“Emileigh loves it and doesn’t want it to wash out, she’s already planned her next colour - purple - for when it’s all washed out.

“It’s definitely been a memorable part of lockdown that has cheered her up whilst being isolated.”

Nursery assistant Sarah Etheridge, 43, also tried the hack on her 16-year-old daughter, Charli.

“It was really easy to do, I just put the coloured tissue papers into bowls and put boiling water in.” She explained.

“Whilst I waited for it cool down, I sectioned Charli's hair into ponytails then just laid each ponytail in the bowls.

"We dried her hair as usual and washed it this morning and some of the colours have kept in.

“I just used whatever tissue paper colours I had in my craft box and left the choice to my six year old Tommy who said we should use all of them.

“I think it looks pretty good, Tommy said it looks like a rainbow and Charli thought it was cool, better than she expected!”