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    projects

    How to Dye Your Hair with Kool-Aid

    This post may contain affiliate links. Please see disclosure for more information. Published: Jul 14, 2015 · Modified: Mar 25, 2021 by Dee

    Hi all! My little Diva has been after me to let her use a temporary hair color before she goes back to school. We only have a couple weeks left of vacation, so I guess she's trying to have as much fun as possible while she can. She actually asked to try Kool-Aid hair dye last summer, but we didn't have any, so we used food coloring, instead.

    So this year, she reminded me to pick up some Kool-Aid when were at the store, and we did a little experimenting when we got home. In case you're wondering how it works, I thought I'd share our tips for dyeing hair with Kool-Aid.

    brown hair with red tips dyed with Kool Aid


    My daughter attends summer dance class, and the girls enjoy showing off their multi-colored manes when they come to class each day. When we tried using food coloring last year, it worked pretty well, and the colors were very vibrant, but it washed out right away. So guess who got to deal with that every day? That's right -- me!

    So that's why I was up for trying the Kool-Aid, which my daughter assured me was supposed to gradually rinse out after a few shampoos.

    We bought cherry flavor and grape flavor, and then we used two different methods to see what the color would look like.

    First, we boiled about two cups of water and mixed in the cherry flavored Kool-Aid until the water was nice and red. Then, we poured it into a glass bowl and let it cool. For the grape flavor, we just mixed the powder with cool water in an empty plastic container. My daughter told me that boiling the water is supposed to produce a richer color, while not boiling the water would make the dye a little lighter.

    grape flavor and cherry flavor Kool-Aid in containers


    To dye the hair, we just dipped the ends into the Kool-Aid for a couple of minutes. My daughter did the sides, but I helped her with the back. We left the back in the hair dye a little longer, so I'd say it took about five minutes to get the shade just right. 

    Oh, I also made sure she had an old towel around her shoulders. This stuff can be messy, folks! And when I took her hair out of the bowl, I patted it dry with a few paper towels. Then, I used a blow dryer to finish drying the hair and to set the color.

    dip ends of hair in red Kool Aid


    The ends of your hair tend to absorb more color anyway, and this is what happened here. My daughter just loves the bright red tips!

    brown hair with red tips


    My other daughter wanted to try the purple. I thought the color would be more noticeable because her hair is blonde, but because we didn't boil the grape flavor, the result is a very soft, almost pinkish shade. 

    blond hair with light purple tips


    The good thing about using Kool-Aid to dye your hair is that it does last longer than the food coloring. It didn't wash out right away, even after a swimming session and a shower later! And my daughter was able to show off her red hair at dance the next day, which she was totally thrilled about.

    And, I'm happy that we crossed another item off the summer bucket list!

    Thanks so much for stopping by. 

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    1. Mila Myk says

      July 30, 2015 at 5:44 pm

      Such a kool idea 😉
      And a great way to spend afternoon with your teen!
      xx

      Reply
    2. Dee M says

      July 26, 2015 at 7:17 pm

      It's nice to meet you too! This is a fun and cheap way to change hair color, so we were happy to try it! 🙂

      Reply
    3. Dee M says

      July 26, 2015 at 7:15 pm

      Thanks, Kim! The tips are still red, but since her hair is dark, it's not that bad. Still, I'm planning on getting it trimmed before school anyway! 🙂

      Reply
    4. Dee says

      July 26, 2015 at 6:58 pm

      Hi Dee, I'm also Dee and it's nice to 'meet' you. I've never heard of using kool-aid to dye hair, but I'm definitely going to share this information with my daughters. They will want to see this post. Thanks and have a wonderful Sunday... 🙂

      Reply
    5. Made In a Day says

      July 24, 2015 at 10:54 pm

      My daughter did this 3 weeks ago and her hair is still really red. I may have to bleach it out when school starts, our middle school doesn't allow color dyed hair, lol. Thank you so much for sharing this pin on the P3 party Board! We loved your pin and it will be featured this Friday on Made in a Day! So expect a little traffic from me on Social Media tomorrow.
      Kim

      Reply
    6. Dee M says

      July 18, 2015 at 9:20 am

      My daughter has dark hair, and she still has red tips four days later. You could also try using 1 cup water per 1 pouch of the Kool-Aid. 🙂

      Reply
    7. Samantha deFreitas-Bacon says

      July 18, 2015 at 9:18 am

      Really nice! Am wondering if it will work on very dark hair?

      Reply
    8. Dee M says

      July 15, 2015 at 8:01 pm

      Thanks so much, Sinea! 🙂

      Reply
    9. Sinea Pies says

      July 15, 2015 at 8:00 pm

      What fun! Pinned it!

      Reply
    10. Dee M says

      July 15, 2015 at 12:56 am

      My thoughts exactly! I just wanted to see if it worked. 🙂

      Reply
    11. Dee M says

      July 15, 2015 at 12:55 am

      It's big with the younger girls, I guess! 🙂

      Reply
    12. Laurie says

      July 15, 2015 at 12:53 am

      awesome fun! Would never have thought to use Kool-Aid to dye hair!

      Reply
    13. Pam Lauren says

      July 15, 2015 at 12:53 am

      Cool idea! My girls have both colored their hair too, but with more permanant dye. I figure, it's only hair! Have a great week!

      Reply

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    I’m the blogger, chief cook, recipe developer and photographer behind Meatloaf and Melodrama. I absolutely love to create easy, budget-friendly, homemade meals and treats for my family. I also love to think of new ways to repurpose leftovers so that my family will actually eat them!

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