# Hair dying, piercings, etc--appropriate age? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 27, 2017, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hair-dying-piercings-etc-appropriate-age/799938 "2017-10-27T01:25:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hair-dying-piercings-etc-appropriate-age/799938/21 "2017-10-27T18:38:24Z")
My personal opinion (which I’m inventing right now) is that any body modification that causes irreversible changes needs to wait until you are a legal adult, but any changes that fade away or heal on their own are less of a big deal. So a teenager getting a lip ring=no big deal (other than risks of infection) while a teenager getting a [lip plate](https://www.google.com/search?biw=1056&bih=518&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=9nvzWZ-lCcrc0gLcoa_ICQ&q=lip+plate&oq=lip+plate&gs_l=psy-ab.3...1930.5054.0.5209.12.9.0.0.0.0.0.0..0.0....0...1.1.64.psy-ab..12.0.0....0.Xiau49IBWuk) would be a Very Big Deal. (This reminds me of a time in the 1990s when I was a the beach and saw a girl who was somewhere around 6 years old walking around with what I sincerely hope was a temporary tramp stamp.) ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hair-dying-piercings-etc-appropriate-age/799938/22 "2017-10-27T19:13:35Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > #1–Dyed hair. > > #2–The “standard”/common set of ear piercings. (One per ear.) For #1, I’d be concerned about the safety of the dye on the skin. If it’s not placed on the roots, then whatever. #2 - This is done in infancy in many cultures and that’s fine with me. > [@](#): > > #3–Multiple pairs of ear piercings. > > #4–Navel/belly button piercings. > > #5–Nose/lip/cheek piercings. > > #6–Tongue piercings. > > #7–Nipple piercings. > > #8–Genital-area piercings. > > #9–A small tattoo in a place where regular clothing would hide it. > > 10–Any tattoo in a readily-visible place where it can’t or probably wouldn’t be covered. #3-6 - Somewhere around age 15-16. The others should wait until adulthood. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hair-dying-piercings-etc-appropriate-age/799938/23 "2017-10-27T19:23:50Z")
Any non-permanent body modification is fine at the point the child is able to ask for it. Anything permanent should require them to be an adult and cultural or religious exceptions should not be permitted. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2017, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hair-dying-piercings-etc-appropriate-age/799938/24 "2017-10-28T00:15:45Z")
The objections to _earrings_ here are really astonishing. I had my ears pierced when I was _six_. My sister was five. Multiple piercings – she had her double pierced in fifth grade. I was in high school, but they closed up. ☹ (Anything more than three, wait until you’re a teenager) Ears though, I don’t give a shit. Any other type of piercings can wait until you’re over 18. Hair dye: if it’s permanent, I’d say teens. For younger kids, non-permanent or semi-permanent dye I wouldn’t have that much of a problem. Tattoos: I think most places won’t do it until I person is over 18. (BTW, I think it kicks ass to women in their fifties and beyond dying their hair weird-colors. Rock on, granny) ---
**Author:** ![Hector\_St\_Clare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5ac83/32.png) [@Hector\_St\_Clare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hector_St_Clare)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2017, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hair-dying-piercings-etc-appropriate-age/799938/25 "2017-10-28T01:51:25Z")
12 for the first two, 18 for anything else. The people saying “21” strikes me as weird: haven’t we decided that 18 is an adult? (Plenty of soldiers were fighting and dying in WWII at 16 or 17, and some countries have the voting age as low as 16). ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2017, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hair-dying-piercings-etc-appropriate-age/799938/26 "2017-10-28T02:09:35Z")
#1-- I think my daughter was in 2nd grade when I let her put coloured streaks in her hair - it’s only hair. #2-- She got them at about 7. I think if you don’t get them done as infants, you need to wait until they are old enough to help aftercare #3–She wants another ear piercing. By law here, she has to wait until her next birthday, but I would have let her now if it was allowed. #4-- 16, at least. They get infected. I have mine done. #5-- she got her nose done about a year ago #6-- nope. We spent too much on braces. #7-- her call after 18 #8-- same - her call after 18 No reputable tattoo place will do one until she is 18, and I would not trust a shop that would it without proper ID. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2017, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hair-dying-piercings-etc-appropriate-age/799938/27 "2017-10-28T02:13:36Z")
Tattoos - the only advice I gave her was “Put it someplace that you can cover when you want or need to, and make sure it has some significance for you. Finally, wait until you are at least 25. What you think is ‘cool’ at 18, you won’t think is ‘cool’ a few years later” so says the person who would have gotten a tramp stamp because they were awesome when I was 19. ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2017, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hair-dying-piercings-etc-appropriate-age/799938/28 "2017-10-28T02:23:53Z")
Regarding tattoos and piercings, there seems to be a significant difference between Doper opinion and what the laws typically say. > [@](#): > > Thirty-eight states have laws that prohibit both body piercing and tattooing on minors without parental permission. > **[Policy Research](https://www.ncsl.org/research/health/tattooing-and-body-piercing)** > > NCSL’s experts are here to answer your questions and give you unbiased, comprehensive information as soon as you need it on issues facing state legislatures. We answer more than 20,000 requests for information a year. Some states have a hard restriction of 14 years old, no matter what. Other states don’t have any specific age. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2017, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hair-dying-piercings-etc-appropriate-age/799938/29 "2017-10-28T03:12:03Z")
We made our daughter wait till she was 12 for pierced ears, just to make sure she was mature enough to take responsibility for them and not let them get infected. The Smaller Girl turned 12 just a couple of weeks ago, but hasn’t asked yet. Any other piercings or body mods…I’m leaning to “old enough that I can’t stop you”. But the thought of piercing tongues or other sensitive areas just generally gives me the willies. Hair dye, I really don’t care. School cares though. Gotta give those teenagers something insignificant to rebel against… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hair-dying-piercings-etc-appropriate-age/799938.md?page=1)