Help a Momma Out Anyone?

I'm the mom of a cool little dude who is 8 years old and has been begging for a mohawk for about 2 years now. I told him he had to wait until he was old enough to help style it himself and I think he can do it now if we do a shorter one. I have a few questions however and want to talk to the pros.

1. What do you guys and gals think is a good height that would be fairly easy and quick for an 8 year old to spike himself? I can help some days but busy mornings he may have to do it himself.

2. He wants to dye it bright orange on the bottom with day-glo red tips so his hair looks like it is on fire. I know we have to bleach his medium brown hair first but what is the best way to dye the hair 2 colors without the colors running together too much? A little blending is fine.

3. Should I coat the freshly shaven sides of this head with lotion or vaseline to keep the dye from staining his skin?

I have included a picture of his hair from about 2 years ago and a recent one to show his hair color, texture and length. I had compromised with him and we went with a simple spikey hair style when he was 6 that he could manage with out help. It is down to his shoulders now so we should be able to get decent height.

Attachments:

79030019_2.JPG, 760 KB
DSC_0771.JPG, 2.8 MB

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Khaos on May 21, 2009 at 10:51am

3. You actually don't have to! haha, we've (the Mr. Khaos and I) found out medicated acne wipey things (like stridex) and lysol work just as well to remove dye. (lysol, you would have to spray onto a paper towel first or some other similar medium and then rub the dye off)

2. You might have to do the two colors separately. If the red is darker or more vibrant than the orange, then you can do everything orange first, rinse, dry, and section it into pony tails with the top side of the pony tail where you'd put the red dye (controls how much would be red, etc).

1. Length depends on him and how much upkeep everyone is willing to do. Short hair might be easier for him to handle by himself after a while (to spray hairspray into and mess up then dry), but if he is willing to take the extra few minutes, the possibilities are endless! I do my hair in sections - completely dry first. Spray each section with hairspray, and dry it completely. It might be hard for him to do that at first, but after a little practice, things will be fine! Heavier products (glues, gelatins, gels, pastes, etc) might make it harder for his hair to maintain height because of the length and style of his hair (fanning vs. liberty spikes).

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by JTurner on May 21, 2009 at 11:54am

Thanks for the advice! You gave me some really good tips. I'll post a pic so you can see how it turned out :)

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Khaos on May 21, 2009 at 9:54pm

Not a problem! :-) I can't wait, haha.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by pghmikeh on May 21, 2009 at 10:54am

I think it's really awesome that you're letting your son express himself like this. Kudos to open-minded moms!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by JTurner on May 21, 2009 at 11:54am

Thanks! Seems like mohawks are becoming more popular now that my generation are becoming parents. Maybe she'll change her mind :)

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by JTurner on May 21, 2009 at 11:54am

Thank you. He already is kind of the "odd one out" at his school. We live in a small town in the bible belt so you don't see a whole lot of self expression. He is the class clown who would rather play guitar hero and listen to heavy metal than baseball and country music like his peers. I think he wants his outside to match his personality and to pressure him or any child to "fit in" would be like telling them something is wrong with them. I hope his willingness to just be himself will be an encouragement to his classmates to also just be themselves. Life is fun, your hair can be too!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by So What on May 21, 2009 at 2:04pm

Not everyone thinks life is fun and you only live once. Tell him not to pay any attention to anyone in school(and anywhere else) who might stare at him a lot and make a little fun. Almost no one in the middle of jesus land is open minded. Kids are so cruel and I think you might as well do what you want because even if you didn't have a hawk and fit in to the mainstream crap someone would find something else to pick at. I dont want him to get discouraged and want it cut off the first day. Thats awesome how cool you are. Heavy metal is the only kind of music! I recomend a few of my metallica favorites.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmNNkBv34fs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9TtpP5wRy0&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcKGKhNlftM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QP-SIW6iKY

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by CorpseQueen on May 21, 2009 at 3:26pm

khaos pretty much said it all but rubbing alcohol will also take off any dye stains on your skin/scalp :]
for a young kid i would think about 3 inches would be plenty big for him that way he can do it easily with gel and not even have to blowdry it if you can find a gel that works well with his hair.. when i had my tiny hawk after growing out my chelsea all i had to do was rub some gel between my hands and press my hair between my hands pulling upward.. im sure he could manage that every morning!

as he gets older and more used to the style he can learn to upgrade to hairspray when it grows to a lenth that needs it. im excited for you both! youre a wonderful mom for letting him express himself ^.^

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jessinta on May 21, 2009 at 10:01pm

my nefiew got a Mohawk when he was 5.
it was kinda short tho...
...then he got got his head shaved, leaving just a long fringe
(to look like some guy inn a band he liked)
personally i'm not a fan of short Mohawks.

but being so young something shorter would be better to keep it more manageable.
as it gets longer, not everything holds it up.

just separate the hair into sections and dye one colour at a time.