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Parenting
Celebrity Kids
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Entertainment
iVillage Celebrity Blog
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Parenting
parenting
How did Coco Arquette spend her summer vacation? In the hair salon, it seems. The 7-year-old daughter of Courteney Cox and David Arquette has already shown a penchant for wearing red lipstick, sported purple and blue streaks in her hair earlier this season, and most recently was spotted with blonde highlights.
We know things are different in celebrity-kid world, but would you let your little girl (or boy, considering Gwen Stefani’s son Kingston recently rocked a blue Mohawk) dye her hair? As moms, we have to wonder: Is hair dye for the pre-tween set harmless dress-up fun -- or a fast-track to years of future therapy? And since chemicals are involved, is it even safe?
We asked Cora Collette Breuner, MD, of Seattle Children's Hospital, for her take on the issue. "This just looks like fun – caught by the paparazzi and made to look like it isn’t okay," she says of Arquette’s blonde streaks, adding that it’s probably closer to dress-up than a true desire to look different -- and way less scary than what goes on in, say, kiddie beauty pageant culture.
On the other hand, permanent hair color can contain ammonia, which Dr. Breuner says isn’t okay for a 7-year-old to be exposed to because it can cause nausea and burns. (Admit it: those fumes even make you feel a little sick!) So if your kid wants to be like Coco or Kingston, it’s probably not a problem. Just look for a more natural semi-permanent color option, and make sure she knows it’s just for kicks.
