DIY Hair Chalk (tutorial)

A few days ago we were at a friends house and one of the older girls

used hair chalk on my daughter (with permission of course!).

Jules loved it - thought is was the best thing ever.

I had no idea what it was.

I had seen the girls dye their hair with Kool Aid...

I had seen the cans of spray on stuff...but the chalk thing was new to me.

Of course I had to try it!

I asked around and was told you could buy hair chalk at Claire's boutique
and I saw a kit at Target...
but being a DIY,
over the top,
I-have-to-have-more girl that I am...
I wanted lots of colors...lots of colors.

Then I started think...why can't I just use chalk?

No...that won't "stick" enough...ah-ha...
I had an art class flashback...pastels!

I did some digging around and thinking (it is amazing what you can think of!) 

all over and discovered this is a pretty simple process!
I also ran across this video tutorial from HauteBrillance and it is really good!

I do have to be honest at first I was hesitant.

My daughter is almost 6....and I wondered if hair chalk was too grown up.

After playing around a bit...I decided it is just plain fun

and I am all good with colorful hair (to an extent)...

and I am waiting for the comment that say they cannot believe I did this on a 6 year old.

BUT my husband even thought it was cute 

(and he is not a creative outside the box thinker!)

Here are some notes:

• This lasts with good color for about 1 day (maybe 2).
• It may take 2-3+ days for the color to completely wash out.
• Do this at your own risk (I see no/little risk... but think for a second...if you are taking senior portraits tomorrow or going to a wedding and multi-colored hair is not appropriate...WAIT until it is over!)
• The pastels may discolor your clothing while you are applying it...I have not had it happen...but there is the possibility.
• Different hair colors look better with different colors - experiment. I did this on a blonde girl and a girl with brunette hair...both looked great.
• I have done this method 2x now! Once as the tutorial states and, last night we reapplied chalk to her hair...I washed it, applied the chalk; blew it dry and braided it for her to sleep in. In the morning we heat set it.

SUPPLIES

• Pastels (find them in the art supply section). Aaron Brothers has them and so does Michael's and other craft stores...best yet look for a coupon...A set of 24 at my local store was $10.99 and I had a 40% coupon...Yippee! I have also seen sets for as little as $5 without a coupon!
• Small spray bottle and water
• Comb
• Blowdryer
• Curling iron or flat iron
• (Old) towel
• Gloves (optional)

How to Apply DIY Hair Chalk

• Drape an old towel around the shoulders to protect clothing from the pastels.
• (Optional) Wear gloves if you do not want you hands dirty. I did not use gloves and it all washed off easily.
• If you need to, you can section off the pieces and secure with a clip. I found it to be quite easy to start on one side of the head and grab 1" sections (some were bigger, some were smaller). I flipped the hair to one shoulder and worked my way across.

• Spray the small section of hair with the water. (I did try this twice and the second time...we did it fresh from the shower...so her whole head was wet)

• Select your color of pastel and working in a downward motion, begin to color the hair, from where you want your color to begin (top) through the end of the hair.
• You may have to go over the section 2-3 times (I also added some to the back as well).
• I alternated my colors randomly.
• NOTE: If you go up and down with the chalk it almost teases the hair. By just going in one direction (down) the hair will be less "teased."
•  Once you finish with your first section "move" it to the other shoulder and select another section...repeat as necessary.

• Once you have chalked all the pieces you want...the hair will most likely still be wet.
• Use a blow dryer and dry the hair thoroughly. 
• Once dry, use a curling iron or flat iron to heat set the color (this help it from discoloring your clothing, etc.)

That's it.
It is fun and actually kind of makes me happy when I look at the pretty colors in my daughters hair. I also may have told her that she is lucky to have a mom who likes to try crazy things!  

Have you tried Hair Chalk?

Would you try Hair Chalk?

This post is written and created at 504 Main by Holly Lefevre