And Now, for Mermaid Hair

It seems as if 2017 is the year of crazy-color locks, the latest of which is taking shape as mermaid hair. Since TRUHAIR is headquartered in St. Pete, FL, not far from the famous Weeki Wachee Springs state park and its awesomely cheesy live mermaid shows (which have been happening for 60+ years), we know a thing or two about the attraction of these mythical creatures. So what makes this look different from, say, rainbow hair? It’s in the mixture of colors, which should mimic the blue, green, even purple hues seen in the ocean, worn in beachy waves and braids. If you’re thinking, like us, that this seems like a great way to stretch out the last few weeks of summer into fall, here’s some inspo in the form of three great mermaid-hair tutorials.

If you want to give a total DIY, as in, dye-it-yourself, a go...

This tutorial is great for teaching you how to score mermaid-colored hair without having to make a trip to the salon. This trend is all about mixing fun colors and textures together to create a whimsical look and this vlogger shows how surprisingly easy it is to get right.

If you’re only brave enough for a partial-DIY...

You can go mermaid without coloring your entire head. This tutorial demonstrates how to ombré the color into the ends of your hair by using a toothbrush and your hands to blend. This is seriously ingenious!

If you don’t want to DIY or have a pro dye it...

(Time-saving advice on this video: skip right to the 40-second mark, otherwise you’ll think we sent you to a kind-of-annoying tweens channel.)

For some no-crazy-colors mermaid realness, try braiding your hair into a fishtail style braid. This tutorial goes step-by-step to show you how to get a unique take on that look. The vlogger uses a technique called feathering, which takes small strands of hair out of the braid and then later reincorporates them back into the braid to create super-artsy half-circle/shell loops in the hairstyle. While it seems fairly time-consuming because of the small sections of hair she uses, you can actually move pretty quickly once you get the hang of it.