Kerry Anne Finley is married to a low-key robotics engineer from Ohio's Amish country, so she wasn't sure how his hometown would react to her new blazing fuchsia hair.
Amish women cover their hair with a bonnet for modesty, but when the Finleys visited Ohio, Kerry Anne's first stop was at an Amish quilt store to shop for fabric. An elderly Amish woman rushed over to praise her sunset-hued hair.
"Quilters universally appreciate color, no matter their cultural beliefs," the 43-year-old Finley says.
Pro tips for taking the mermaid plunge
› Avoid sulfates in shampoo.› Shampoo in cool water.› Shampoo every two to three days.› Think of dry shampoo as your friend.› If you have one all-over color, brighten by adding that color to conditioner. Leave it on a few minutes then rinse.Source: Creations Hair Salon stylist Summer Sheldon in Hixson
Women of color look great in rainbows
Tammy Muniz and daughter Lauren, 23, have given dozens of women mermaid hair in the salon they own, Rouge 22 off Gunbarrel Road. Daughter Savannah, 19, is earning her cosmetology certificate so she can join them. They all agree that Hispanic, Latina, black and Asian women look great in rainbow hair.“Darker skin tones are a good match for every mermaid shade while Caucasian women need to be aware if they have red undertones that might clash with a color,” Lauren says. “Women bring us photos of the cosmos and galaxies, pictures of cartoon characters and tropical flowers and tell us to match those colors.”An Asian client with long, lush, jet black hair brought them a picture of a Ninja turtle and asked for that shade of green. It took more than six hours to lighten her hair enough to accept the emerald and jade colors. The end result was beautiful.“But be aware that the darker your hair, the longer it will take to give it rainbow color,” Tammy says. Most of her clients worry mermaid hair would discombobulate corporate bosses with a distinct exception. Women could color their hair rather than wear an awareness ribbon—to support friends battling cancer including pink (breast), purple (colon) and green (lymphoma).
But in the three months since she went magenta, others have expressed their delight at the color.
"My 10-year-old son loves having the 'Pink Mom.' I'm involved in his PTA. His classmates tell him how cool (my hair) is.
"It was a transition for my husband, but I've been pink on the inside the 22 years we've been together. Finally, I'm as colorful on the outside as inside. I'm instantly acknowledged as a creative, outspoken risk taker. That's who I am. We only live once, so why not with as much color as possible?"
When the Times Free Press posted a request on its Facebook page to talk with women with blue, green, pink and/or purple tresses - often called "mermaid hair" - more than 222 responded in the first day. They spanned every race and ethnicity, ages 13 to 66.
British sociologist Angela McRobbie traces the mermaid trend to the 2007 recession when women toiling in minimum-wage gulags rainbowed their hair in an urge to express themselves vividly in a sea of cubicles or from behind a counter.
Women who've made the chromatic change often describe how their personalities blossomed with the new colors. Think of it as a battlefield banner inspiring the woman who wears it to triumph over bashfulness and bullies.
Sherri De Rose, who colored her hair a lush raspberry at age 64, says: "I made the move two years ago and will never go back. It suits my personality. As a 66-year-old woman, I broke out of my shell only a short while ago. I don't have magenta hair to NOT be noticed."
At work
Women still dreaming of taking the plunge often cited their bosses' reactions as the key barrier to embracing mermaid hair. ACT Business Machines service coordinator Kyndel Morris, 27, consulted her boss before she went rainbow. He says the dress code did not cover hair color. As a football fan, he had one request.
"He said: 'Please don't dye it Tennessee orange,' so I said: 'OK, I'll color it Clemson orange,'" laughs Morris, whose hair is cotton-candy pink.
Kate Mason, 32, colored her hair a rich orchid.
"I work in a corporate environment yet still color my hair like an Easter egg; this has not affected my corporate ascension or level of respect I command," Mason says. "I'm highly educated and a proud parent who had to work through feelings of isolation and loneliness my whole life. My hair helps me burn brighter and gives me more confidence."
Fitness instructor and former Chattanooga Roller Girl Tamara Whitworth, 36, once won $100 worth of Manic Panic hair dye in a contest. Her hair is jade, orange and sapphire, but she recently switched to a job where rainbow hair was banned.
"I dyed my hair a normal color, but after six months I just didn't feel like myself," she says. "Now my rainbow is back, and I wear wigs to work. I'm excited colorful hair is becoming so popular. I'm hoping it will become as accepted as tattoos in the workplace."
Beth Haley, 27, enjoyed sea blue and emerald hair thanks to Hartline Hair in Dalton, Ga. But Haley's finance industry employer forbids "distracting" hair colors, so the day before Haley takes vacation, she books salon owner Lea Hartline, who then spends four to six hours handpainting Haley's hair in mermaid colors.
"I go on vacation, enjoy my beautiful hair then, after my week of freedom, we reverse it all and go back to an acceptable-for-the-workplace color," Haley says. "I try hard not to cry as Lea takes colors out.
"I have shown photos of my hair to clients and they're usually jealous, not shocked or upset. I hope that, as my generation (millennials) become CEOs and corporate decision makers, it will be more acceptable to express who you are."
Ashley Hawkins' dark-blue hair melts into aqua and violet. Her Erlanger East OB/GYN co-workers and moms-to-be patients admire it, but the Chattanooga Heart Institute told her to cover her hair or lose her job. So she quit.
A resident of Dayton, Tenn., she understood that patients fighting heart attacks might be disconcerted by aurora borealis hair, but she wonders if it might have interested or cheered them up a bit if they were given a chance to see it.
Hawkins had colorful streaks since age 14, but says "it was still a big leap to take on my whole head."
"One thing I can say is that I wish I'd done it sooner. I have never felt more comfortable and more like myself. No matter what dirty looks I get, I'm happy. Back when my hair was green, I was grocery shopping when an old man asked if a parrot had pooped on my head. I had to laugh."
Society response
Many women say their mermaid colors were triggered by major life transformations.
Melissa Gallagher is a Soddy-Daisy soccer mom who rocks purple hair instead of a sweater. After she had four children - including twins - in quick succession, she was happy to home-school her kids and coach soccer. But she worried over how much of her energy was evaporating and whether that meant her personality was fading.
"Once I worried I might live in a ponytail and jeans, but having purple hair is like carrying a personal spotlight everywhere," Gallagher says. "It prompts me to take care with my makeup. I learned to handle constant reactions from strangers."
She tells little boys that her hair became purple when she ate too much candy, so be sure to eat their veggies. When little girls ask about her plum-colored tresses, she says, "I have purple hair because I'm a superhero. Their eyes get big as they smile. Maybe I'm launching a girl-power movement."
Cleveland's Alana Purple (truly) is a mom who sells her handcrafts on etsy.com. When her husband died three years ago, she recalls her "whirlwind of emotions depression, anxiety and self consciousness." She colored her hair turquoise and violet to boost her confidence; "I can't just fade into the crowd like I once did." She enjoys her color as an icebreaker that allows her to share life stories with others.
Band promoter Barbara Capehart, 38, and LaFayette, Ga.'s Morgan Jackson, 21, each lost over 100 pounds after gastric bypass surgery. Both say they wanted to stop being invisible.
And some, like Bre'Anna Bosworth, 13, seems born with stylish flair and panache. She chose grass green for her long hair. She told her stylist, Nicos Salon's Erica Baker, that the hue reminded her of her favorite Marvel superhero, Green Lantern.
Valetta Matthews offers a poignant reminder that world-shaking transformations can occur before a girl is out of her teens. The 15-year-old's blue hair showcases her porcelain complexion. She also has smart, compassionate parents. But that blessing can't always shelter a child from harsh turns of fate.
"A lot of things have happened leading up to me dying my hair," Matthews says. "Back in 2009, a tree fell on my leg and broke all the bones," then her family had tough financial times. In high school, she was "bullied, so I started to feel worthless and depression overwhelmed my body."
After her favorite uncle died in May, hiding from bullies felt too exhausting and she felt the need to assert some control over life. Her parents allowed her to go to a salon, where she chose turquoise and cobalt-blue hair.
"I automatically feel a weight come off my shoulders," she says. "I automatically don't care about what others think, and I definitely feel empowered."
When students compliment her, she says it "boosts my already low self-esteem back up to about medium self-esteem."
"Worst reactions would be - I don't really know," she says. "I mean, I get a lot of evil looks and mean comments, but with my hair I truly feel empowered and I shouldn't care what people think."
Contact Lynda Edwards at ledwards@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6391.