Last updated: July 31, 2024
Is your daughter just begging you to dye her hair? That’s what my daughter was doing and we decided to experiment with using Kool-Aid to dye her hair.
In this post I am reviewing how to simply dye hair with Kool-Aid, plus reviewing the pros and cons, whether or not you should, and sharing some mistakes we made along the way. Finally, I will also be sharing how to easily remove Kool-Aid from hair.
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Deciding if You Want To Use Kool-Aid To Dye Hair
Disclaimer: I am not a hair stylist in any way, so don’t take this as professional advice, just an experimental mother.
My daughter has been begging me to dye her hair for like the past year. I’m not really ready to start dying her hair, plus her beautiful blonde natural innocent hair is so pretty. She has these awesome curls, that I absolutely love. If I knew anything about curls, they’d probably look better. But…I don’t (if you have any tips, please leave them in the comments).
A couple of her friends have dyed their hair, so she was really bugging me. She kept saying she wants to be like Mal from Descendants. Then, the pandemic hit, and we were all stuck at home, so I caved, and I thought, why not? I started looking up cheap and minimal damaging options for dying kids hair, and I found the option to dye your hair with Kool-Aid.
We tried a few different ways, and I went through a lot of hemming and hawing. I included all that here for you, so you can have all the information and learn from our experience.
How To Dye Hair with Kool-Aid
Supplies
- 2 Kool-Aid packets
- Hair Conditioner
- 2 cups of Hot Water
- Container that can hold hot Water
Directions
1 – Boil 2 cups of hot water in a saucepan.
2 – Pour in 2 packets of Kool-Aid & stir to combine.
My daughter wanted purple, so we did red and blue.
3 – Remove from heat and pour into a container that isn’t going to melt.
4 – Add about 2 squirts of conditioner.
They say that this helps keep hair moistened and doesn’t dry it out.
5 – Dip hair into the container with the Kool-Aid concoction.
I would make sure your child is aware that the liquid is very hot. I would also put down a towel and make sure they are wearing an old shirt. It will stain whatever it touches (including your hands).
6 – Let hair sit for 10 minutes in the Kool-Aid.
7 – Let it dry. You could also blow dry it.
8 – After it dries, rinse it out.
I didn’t want to rinse it out right away. The hair will be really sticky, so you’ll want to rinse it or wash it that night.
9 – Wash hair like normal.
The first wash is going to be the dirtiest. The first time we washed my daughter’s hair the bath water was purple.
Hair Dip Dyed with Kool-Aid Before and After Pictures
Before:
After:
My daughter LOVED it!
Another Method to Dye Hair with Kool-Aid That Does NOT Work
There is another way to dye hair with Kool-Aid that you might find. However, we tried this method and it does NOT work!
With this method you combine the Kool-Aid packets with about a tablespoon of water and hair conditioner. You mix those together until the dye looks like colored conditioner. Then you apply it with a dye brush or your fingers.
You’re supposed to rinse it after letting it sit for 30 minutes. We did, and it rinsed right out. It didn’t hold to the hair at all.
We also learned that you cannot use an off brand juice mix. It doesn’t work. I don’t think it’s concentrated enough.
How To Remove Kool-Aid from Hair
There is a way to remove Kool-Aid from your hair if it’s not coming out as soon as you’d like it to. It’s been about 3 weeks since we dyed my daughter’s hair and it’s barely faded. However, we only wash her hair about 2 times a week. The method for removing Kool-Aid from hair is super easy, and it does work. A lot of people say it can dry out your hair, so beware, but I honestly haven’t felt that with my daughter.
Supplies
- 1 tsp. Baking Soda
- 1 cup of Water
- Container
Directions
1 – Boil a cup of water in a saucepan.
2 – Once water is to a boil, remove from heat and place it in a container.
3 – Pour in 1 tsp of baking soda and stir until combined.
4 – Place the Kool-Aid hair into the container.
The color starts to come out instantly. It took a lot out. However, she does still have a shade of pink in her hair. When we washed it that night, we made sure to let some conditioner sit on it for several minutes.
I plan to do the baking soda again to see if I can get the last of it out, but I’m not super worried about it. Maybe it will come out in the pool and chlorine.
I haven’t really noticed that her hair is super dry. We’ve been using conditioner at every wash.
Is It Safe to Dye Hair with Kool-Aid?
I did some research before dying my daughter’s hair. As a “nervous nellie” and anxious mother, I have to do my research. Here are some of my pros and cons to dying your hair with Kool-Aid, so you can decide for yourself if it’s right for you.
Pros
- It’s cheap: Kool-Aid packets cost like 25 cents.
- It’s easy: You don’t need any skills.
- It’s temporary: It eventually comes out with washes or you can use the method described above to get it out sooner.
- It doesn’t contain any chemicals
Cons
- It can dry out your hair: I don’t feel like this has happened with us, but it’s been reported by others. People also say that the removal process can make it dry.
- It might take longer than you want for it to come out: A lot of people said it took longer to wash out than they had anticipated.
Update: After 2 months my daughter still has a small tint of pink on the very tips of her hair. It doesn’t bother me as much as I thought it would. I will probably give her a trim right before school starts and take them out. I HIGHLY recommend only doing the tips. I haven’t done the baking soda again like I thought I would. I might do it before I trim it just so I can let you know if we got even more out.
From all the readings I found, it seemed like the worst thing that could happen is it could dry out your hair. The Kool-Aid doesn’t penetrate the hair shaft so it stays on top of your hair like a stain. When you try to remove the stain, that is when it can dry out your hair, which can damage it. If you need a good devil’s advocate, here is the article I read.
I hope you learned some valuable information on how to dye hair with Kool-Aid – here are my final thoughts before you proceed.
I’m sure there is a hair stylist reading this just cringing, but I assure you everything turned out okay. Do whatever you feel comfortable with. I was worried at first, and then realized it wasn’t a big deal.
That being said, I have read about some temporary hair dye for kids that you can buy. It’s like a wax that you apply. It comes out in one wash, and several people say they love it. Here are my last thoughts about dyeing hair with Kool-Aid.
- I was only doing her tips: I was only going to dye the tips, so if it turned out horrible, I could cut it off.
- Hair grows back: I felt like it wasn’t a big deal because hair grows back. It just does.
- Harmful chemicals: I wasn’t putting harmful chemicals in her hair that I knew nothing about. I don’t have to worry about burning her hair or damaging her roots.
- I got opinions from friends: Most of the friends I talked to said they had done it before and it turned out fine. Some of them said it lasted longer than they wanted, but it wasn’t a big deal.
- Drying out: I wasn’t worried about it drying out because I could use some leave-in conditioner, and she was going to be swimming in the pool all summer, which dries out her hair.
- I was doing it during the summer: I feel like my kids hair goes to crap during the summer because of the chlorine and sun. Plus, I rarely do their hair during the summer.
- Cut if off: If worse came to worse, I could cut off the ends. Not a big deal, and she usually likes to cut it in the summer anyway.
- It’s fun: This was THE COOLEST thing for my daughter. She LOVED it. So, if it’s really not that big of a deal, why not?
If there is anything else you’d like to know about dying your hair with Kool-Aid just ask in the comments below!
More kids activity ideas you might be interested in:
I’m excited to do this on a bit of my white Chinese Crested’s hair. How do you recommend applying it? With a paint brush?
Just dipping it into the cup of Kool-aid is best. Just separate out the hair you want to do and place it in a cup of kool-aid. Good Luck!