Ombres and Mermaid Hair

Every summer, my daughter's hair turns green. No matter how much I spend on chlorine-fighting shampoo or how religiously I rinse her white-blonde tresses after swimming, it inevitably develops an aqua tint. I worry that the kids at her school will tease her over it. So far, The opposite has happened.

Last year when she returned to school from summer break with sea foam highlights, the girls in her class wanted “mermaid hair” too. I think their requests have everything to do with the latest rainbow ombre trend.

18-year-old Harley Moore has been dying her hair since she was 15.

According to Harley she gets a wide array of reactions mostly from older people and children.

"Elderly people always want to know what my parents think about my hair. Little kids love it and ask their parents if they can do the same thing to their hair," Moore told me with a laugh.

I found 18-year-old Michelle Dominguez on the orange line headed downtown. Dominguez was a hair- dying virgin until a week ago. Her aunt is in beauty school and needed to test her new skills out on a brave soul. Dominguez obliged and went for a drastic ombre.

"People say they love it. I wasn't expecting to get so many comments on it," Dominguez said.

26-year-old Jeskia Gonzalez surpassed the ombre for a full head of violet mermaid hair. It is so muted that it is nearly gray. Gonzalez wore a floral jumpsuit that gave her a modern Three’s Company vibe.