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Heads up. Hair chalking is trendy, temporary hair color
Photo
Wrobel’s blond hair is highlighted with bright colors after Myers applied special chalk to it. The temporary color can be used on strands of hair from crown to ends or just on the tips of hair.
Hair chalking is trendy, temporary hair color
By LINDA M. LINONIS
Niles
Mai Myers is coloring the world — one head of hair at a time.
She recently launched Chalk It Up!, an entrepreneurial effort that offers temporary hair color by applying special chalk. The trendy look using bright and bold colors is finding its niche.
Myers said a friend, Amanda Younger, formerly of Southington, who lives in Savannah, Ga., starting doing chalk hair color at festivals in the South. “It’s turned into something really big. They have fairs and festivals year-round,” Myers said.
Myers said her friend encouraged her to try it in the Mahoning Valley. Weather limits the time frame for fairs and festivals in Ohio, but Myers said she sees hair chalking as a fun diversion at other Valley venues such as benefits, birthday and theme parties, family reunions, church events and children’s programs. Those types of events are where Myers is making a place for herself. “I’ll carry my table and tent wherever I go,” she said.
Myers said she researched chalk hair color. “I watched a hair chalk infomercial and thought I would try it and see what happened,” she said. She said information and products are available on the Internet.
Her training as a licensed cosmetologist comes in handy when she’s sectioning someone’s hair to apply the chalk. First, she wets the hair to allow it to absorb the chalk. Wearing gloves to protect her hands, Meyers applies one color then another as she streaks a narrow section of hair from the crown to the ends.
Another technique is tipping, applying the color to the ends of the hair.
Myers said the hair chalk is a temporary color; it washes out after shampooing two or three times.
She said customers can choose their own colors, and she makes suggestions as to what might work best. Hair chalk can be applied to any color or texture of hair. Blond hair pops with bright colors such as pink and purple while red highlights brunettes. She’s also used a rainbow of colors for a different effect.
Her first event was a benefit in Bristol for a sick child that was sponsored by Miles of Hope, Myers said. “I’m a supporter,” Myers said of her involvement and commitment to participate in a benefit monthly.
She also set up her hair-chalking booth at the Harry Stevens Hot Dog Day Festival on June 30 in downtown Niles. “I probably had 70 customers,” she said. And she participated in the recent 14th annual Mecca corn roast. She’s collaborating with her friend in Georgia on a gay-pride event in September.
Myers said she’s testing the waters for hair chalking at flea markets. She’s thinking ahead to St. Patrick’s Day, where she envisions chalking beards in green for the day along with heads of hair. And she’s noted that some wedding attendants are having their hair chalked to complement their dresses.
Myers will offer hair chalking at North Lima Expo from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sept. 28 at the North Lima Business Complex (former South Range High School), 11836 South Ave., North Lima, and at a fall fest from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Oct. 5 at Stephens Park for Relay for Life.
Myers also does temporary tattoos. She had been using paper tattoos but switched to coloring tattoos with body glitter. “Glitter ones are cooler and last longer than the paper ones,” she said.
Myers also is a unit leader with Avon and does deliveries. She’s also enrolled in an online college and studying criminal justice and she’s looking into a course that will enable her to teach English as a second language. “I’ve been working since I was 15,” she said.
Contact Myers on Facebook or call 330-766-7767.