Mum hits back at criticism after giving her six year-old daughter rainbow hair

A mum has hit back at criticism for giving her six year-old daughter a shaved and multicoloured ‘unicorn’ haircut.

Mary Thomaston, a hairstylist from Florida, said her daughter, Lyra, had been asking for multicoloured hair and for the side of her hair to be shaved for ages.

Last month, the mum eventually decided to let her daughter have the unusual hairstyle, and gave her blue hair with a multi coloured buzz cut.

Mary shared a picture of her daughter’s new style, saying: ‘My very own baby unicorn. She's been wanting this done for awhile now. All her own ideas.’

Mary checked with Lyra’s school to make sure her hairstyle was still in line with it’s dress code, before dying her hair. She also assured her followers that the dye will wash out and she ‘wasn’t harmed in the process.’

However, some users disagreed with the idea of colouring a six year-old’s hair. One user wrote: 'How long did this little girl have to sit to accomplish that! Why? Sometimes we forget they’re little and not a little doll'.

Another said they were worried the dye would permanently damage her hair, saying: ‘Oh no I would never let my baby do this. Til she was at least in high school ... My mom was a hair stylist and I was doing my hair super young and ruined it for years and years of dye she can wait Til she is older’

But Mary has responded to the criticism, adding that the dye is semi-permanent, and that her little girl has asked for blue hair and saw it as an opportunity to let her daughter express herself.

In a response on her Instagram post, Mary hit back saying: ‘Dear Haters, I have this weird goal of raising self confident, self assured children, who know and feel the freedom of self-expression. So when my child asks for blue hair, I tell her how much I like her choice and how beautiful she is. Even better, I do it with quality products, that not only respect the integrity of her hair, but also fades out with time.’

She also added that, as a trained stylist, there was no reason to believe her daughter's hair would get damaged, and the dye will wash out.

Mary has shared a number of pictures of her daughter, who also loves her new hair-do. After finished dyeing Lyra's hair Mary wrote: ‘She said…”I feel GREAT!”…Mission accomplished’.