How to get metallic mermaid hair at home

Looking to spice up your ’do for festival season? Well we’ve got just the thing. If you’re anything like us, you love the freedom and creativity of festival hair and makeup, so thinking outside the box is essential. Say bye-bye to dip dye and balayage – we want to make an impact. To do that, it’s gotta be bold… and what’s bolder than blue? Meet your new aqua-inspired metallic mermaid hairdo, and if you’re thinking you’ll never be able to do it at home… think again.

Prep your hair

Get your hair ready for the dye by wetting it. Don’t go crazy – you want it to be slightly damp, not completely soaking. Use a spray bottle to spritz your barnet or run a wet brush through it.

Section your hair

The thing that’s gonna make this do-able at home is the way you section it, and trust us – it ain’t complicated. Use your finger to grab two sections from the front of your head (one on each side) and divide the back section straight down the middle. You should be left with four easy-to-manage portions of hair. Use Superdrug Sectioning Clips to keep each part out of the way.

Sorry, this product is currently out of stock.

Superdrug Superdrug Sectioning Clips x 4 £0.10

First, roots

Before you start dyeing your hair, rub petroleum jelly on your skin around your hairline to stop the dye staining too much. Then take a dark shade of blue – we used Colour Freedom in Truly Blue – and apply this to the roots of your hair with a hair dye brush, wearing the gloves that come with the Colour Freedom dye. Once applied, massage the colour into your hair, blending it down to your ears on the sections at the side. When dealing with the back sections, use a mirror to see what you’re doing, and work the colour down to the nape of your neck.

TOP TIP: Work on one section at a time, lifting the hair in layers to avoid a patchy finish.

Colour Freedom Colour Freedom Truly Blue 077 £6.99

Time for the tips

Take a lighter shade of blue. If you’re using Truly Blue at the roots, Colour Freedom in Tropical Aqua is perfect for the ends of your hair. Apply this with a clean hair dye brush on the ends of your hair, leaving a two-inch section between both colours. Once again, work in sections and lift the hair in layers.

Colour Freedom Colour Freedom Tropical Aqua 041 £6.99

Get your blend on

Once all your colour is applied, use a wide-toothed comb to brush the colour through the strands of hair, blending them together in the middle section you left product-free. This will create a gorgeous ombré effect, leaving your ’do lookin’ positively mermazing. If you think a section needs more colour, just apply more.

Tick tock…

It’s always agonising waiting for hair dye to take, but if you want a bold look, be patient and give it the maximum amount of time. We left ours on for 30 minutes, but if you’re using a different dye, make sure you follow the instructions that come with the product. Once the time is up, thoroughly wash out all the product.

TOP TIP: To minimise the mess, twist each section and place at the back of your head while you wait.

Time to style

Now it’s up to you! You can style your new ’do in whatever way you like, but we went with loose curls to show off the ombré effect. To achieve this, blow-dry your hair, then use large-barrelled curling tongs and leave the ends straight.

Superdrug Superdrug Hair Curling Tongs £1.25

Superdrug Superdrug Travel Hair Dryer 1200 W £0.99

Go for glitter

This wouldn’t be a festival look if we didn’t include a glitter twist, would it? For sparkle, add glitter to your parting, using hair gel as glue. You want the glitter to be concentrated at the roots, so add the chunkier stuff here, then use finer glitter to blend the pizzazz further down your hair.