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Can you be too young to have dyed hair? 6-year-old's 'teal unicorn' style causes stir

A hair stylist who gave her 6-year-old daughter 'teal unicorn hair' and shaved the side of her head is causing a stir online.
/ Source: TODAY

A Florida hair stylist who gave her 6-year-old daughter "teal unicorn hair" and shaved the side of her head is causing a stir online.

Mom Mary Thomaston told TODAY the colorful style was entirely her daughter Lyra's idea.

"She's been asking me to do it for a while," she said, adding that teal is the first-grader's favorite color. "I was nervous she would be one of those kids who freaked out afterwards, but she definitely wasn't. She was excited."

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Most people who stumbled upon the rainbow look on Thomaston's Instagram page praised it, calling it "adorable" and "super creative." But a few had harsher words, some even suggesting that Thomaston was putting her daughter at risk.

"Some people are saying I'm poisoning her by putting these toxic chemicals on her scalp — I'm not," she said. "It's Manic Panic. It's non-toxic; it's not harmful. It's basically a super, highly pigmented conditioner. I'm not going to harm my child."

It's also not permanent; Thomaston added that the teal color was nearly gone after a couple trips to the water park this summer. But she's been retouching it since Lyra still likes the look.

As for critics who suggest the style is inappropriate for a 6-year-old, Thomaston believes the opposite.

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"I feel like now is the time for a child to be able to express themselves," she said. "Because when they get older, they might not be able to, considering what job they have."

Also, before they pulled the trigger, Thomaston got the OK from her daughter's school, she said.

"It's a loud hairstyle so I wanted to make sure the school would be OK with it," Thomaston said. "So on orientation day, we got the go-ahead."

Lyra has only been rocking her teal hair since August, but she's already got plans for a new style in mind.

“She wants galaxy hair next!” her mom said.