I’ve been considering those for myself, too, and they also sound like what O.P. may want, now that the whole “works as an attorney” thing was clarified. (I was prepared to say “What kind of office would care?” but yeah, that’s a different environment.) Anyway, piggybacking shamelessly to see if anyone has specific experiences or brand recommendations, since some of them appear to be cheap and trashy-looking as hell.
Nah, that’s just the sort of people who color their hair.
: DnR :
Be brave!!! Do it!!!
And be sure to post pictures afterwards so we can congratulate (or mock) you for it. 
I never heard of “Mermaid Hair” before. I can see where the term must come from – the way-too-red hair of Disney’s Little Mermaid, Ariel – but the term sounds like some kind of new pasta.
Like maybe waterlogged Angel Hair.
Might try the clip-ins for a party sometime, but I don’t see them surviving a week of diving. I’m leaning toward dyeing the very ends like the kid in the second link I posted earlier. That way, if I have to chop off my handiwork, I’ll still have at least shoulder-length hair. I might need to cut off that much after so much saltwater regardless. I’ve never done more than three dives in one day, and I’ve never dived more than three days in a row; this trip offers up to five dives a day for five days, plus two more on the morning of the sixth day. One way or another, my stylist is going to have her work cut out for her.
If you can hide it in a bun for serious things, then go for it! The worst case is you have a horrible mess that you can laugh about for years afterwards.
My partner has been a cosmetologist for nearly 35 years, and he’ll offer / do just about anything a client asks for, as long as it will look good and not damage their hair.
Hair chalk is really short lived. The first shampooing will probably take out 98% of it. It’s good for “I want orange hair for the Halloween party” type use.
Permanent color is just that - it’ll fade with time, but it won’t wash out. You need to either bleach the hair or cut it off to get rid of permanent color.
Then there’s a whole newish world of semi- and demi-permanent color. The semis have no bleach or developer, so they just sit on the surface of the hair strands and will come off in about 7 washings. His favorite semi-perm is Pulp Riot. The demis have some developer, so they penetrate slightly into the hair, and last around 15 washings, more if you use cool water and “color safe” shampoo. Given that the life of a demi isn’t much more than a semi, he does very little work with demis.
Bonus tip - regular blue Dawn dish soap will pull a lot of color out of your hair if you hate it. Not as much as bleaching, but possibly enough to get you to “I can live with it” levels. Just be sure to condition after using it.
This is the right answer. Go to the salon and get woven extensions a couple of days before the trip. They are strong and reliable and you can get any combination of colors you want.
To me, these sound exactly like what the OP would want. It would last long enough for the trip, but not risk being a permanent problem.
Can they be done only professionally, or are there kits for home use? And how much would each (professional and at-home) cost?
Heh, I smell more interest budding. Coupla rounds of margaritas, and suddenly a third of the Dopers have brightly-colored hair.
Never heard of “mermaid hair” as being the ultra-red Ariel from Disney, though. It’s either a rainbow look, or an ombre of green-blue-purple. Usually the latter.
about 30 bucks to do it at home …
If you’re just putting in some streaks, I don’t think anyone will give it a second though. I’ve seen so many people (women, specifically) with streaks of random colors in their hair. And, it’s all ages. High school aged, of course, middle aged and right on up to ‘old ladies’ that do it as well. Again, we’re talking about just a few streaks, not dying your whole head.
Regarding the scrunchie thing, I knew a girl that had dark hair and dyed one big chunk some other color (bright green, purple etc). It was sort of like one big handful of hair near the top, all on one side of her part. Any time she had to be ‘professional’, she’d just move the part over a few inches and in completely disappeared.
If you’re looking to just try it out, an old roommate of mine used to use something called Hair Mascara. It looked like a giant tube of mascara. She could brush in a few streaks of whatever color she wanted that day and wash it out the next morning.
I don’t know if they still make it, but ‘back in my day’ they had Punky Colors and Manic Panic. Really bright colors, but after a week or two, they’d be mostly faded out.
Where are you going? That’s a ton of diving. I’ve done 3-4 dives/day for a week (2 morning, 1 afternoon, 1 night dive every other day), and I was exhausted at the end of the trip. To where I could barely roll my luggage to the airport van… So I guess I’m saying that you may be a little too worn out at the end of the day to appreciate/care for your mermaid hair.
You’ll have an awesome time though. Hope you see some amazing underwater sights.
I’d say go for it, but then I’ve shown up at work with magenta ombré hair and crossed fingers, so I’m not the right person to ask.
If I were you I’d do some bright colours at the ends, which is not too scary and easily hidden if needs be. The semi permanent dyes discussed above are probably the best idea and, unless you want pastels, should show up on your highlights.
From experience: red tones fade faster than blue tones so if you’re worried about colours hanging around too long, choose red rones. Also, as a result of the above rule, purple tones will go blue as the red components fades faster than the blue, so be aware of that when chosing.
In the absolute worst case scenario, it’ll still grow out eventually. If you feel like doing it, go for it. Fifty years from now, you’re absolutely not going to say “Oh, if only I hadn’t dyed my hair that weird color back in 2020”.
Well, I did it. And it may not be Pinterest-worthy, but I’m thrilled with the result. Thanks for all the advice, everyone! I’ll update when I get back if anyone’s interested in how the color fared with all the diving.
Mermaid mode:
Stealth mode (or shark mode? ;-)):
That looks great!
That is awesome. Congrats.
It looks great! Have fun.
Shit, that’s utterly hidden in the bun. Looks fabbo!
Mind sharing what brand you used? Did you DIY yourself?