“I think the best reactions are from little kids because they think that you’re born with that color of hair. When I babysit, sometimes the kids are like, ‘Wow! How did you get your hair like that?’” -Alloquois Callaway, 16, sophomore
“A week before Halloween, my brother decided to dye his hair blonde because he was going to be Link from Zelda and then my step dad wanted me to be Zelda. He asked if I wanted to dye my hair and I was like, ‘Sure.’ I really like the contrast with the darkness of my eyebrows and the lightness of my hair. A lot of the time, people wouldn’t recognize me in the hall for a while until they got used to it. There’s this one model, Soo Joo Park, and they said I looked like her, but I think it’s just because I’m blonde and Asian. It’s kind of surprising. I think right before I go to Japan this summer, I’ll dye it again.” - Violet Dillard, 16, sophomore
“The first time I dyed my hair was in preschool. It was just like a blue streak that my mom did for me. My mom is a model so she always had her hair dyed either purple or red and I think that influenced me. I think I was just bored and I also wanted to make friends and I know that colored hair sometimes can help with that. My girlfriend has green hair, too, and we met through our hair. When I moved back to Portland, I really liked the fact that I could have dyed hair in school because when I lived in Ohio that wasn’t allowed. When I came back, there were a lot more people with dyed hair.” -Enrique Novelo-Lopez, 17, junior
“I like to be different and the fact that my mom is a hair stylist. The main singer of OMG Girlz had blue hair, so that was my inspiration to go blue. But it didn’t really look right, so then I did like an ombre blonde freshman year and then I started doing other colors. My dad used to always call me 'Grapes' and a whole bunch of fruits because of my hair color. I had blonde, blue, green, purple and I think that’s it so far. I get a lot of compliments on my hair and I don’t really get rude comments about it. A lot of people like it so I just keep going.” - Sade Means, 16, sophomore
“I’m not going to cut my hair until we win state for football. And if the dye starts to come out, I’ll just re-dye it. If I come out of high school without us winning, it’s going to have to stay, and I’ll just have to win a national championship in college. If I don’t win that, I’ll have to go into the NFL and win a Super Bowl. I might just have to live the rest of my life with this hair.” - Marquise Isom
“I had originally dyed my hair a dark brown and in eighth grade my drama teacher approached me with a role that he wanted me to play, and the character had red hair…It just sort of stuck from there. I think it gave me confidence. I liked short hair a lot more and I like having red hair even more because it sort of sets me apart. I like having the stability in my life. I’m not a person who has really experimented with a lot of different colors, although it does come out slightly different every time. It’s been a way that I identify to some extent.” - Rachel Peri,17, junior
“My natural hair is blondish-brown. I chose pink because it was the most extreme color I could do, and I figured all or nothing. If I was doing it, I might as well do it. People definitely see you differently. It really separates people who are open and those who aren’t. I think people’s opinion on it is a good indicator of their personality. I picked blue because it seemed like a cool color to do, it seemed fun...There’s a few more colors I’ve wanted to do, but I also want to have normal hair.” - Henry Brannan, 18, senior
“I think the best reactions are from little kids because they think that you’re born with that color of hair. When I babysit, sometimes the kids are like, ‘Wow! How did you get your hair like that?’” -Alloquois Callaway, 16, sophomore
“A week before Halloween, my brother decided to dye his hair blonde because he was going to be Link from Zelda and then my step dad wanted me to be Zelda. He asked if I wanted to dye my hair and I was like, ‘Sure.’ I really like the contrast with the darkness of my eyebrows and the lightness of my hair. A lot of the time, people wouldn’t recognize me in the hall for a while until they got used to it. There’s this one model, Soo Joo Park, and they said I looked like her, but I think it’s just because I’m blonde and Asian. It’s kind of surprising. I think right before I go to Japan this summer, I’ll dye it again.” – Violet Dillard, 16, sophomore
“The first time I dyed my hair was in preschool. It was just like a blue streak that my mom did for me. My mom is a model so she always had her hair dyed either purple or red and I think that influenced me. I think I was just bored and I also wanted to make friends and I know that colored hair sometimes can help with that. My girlfriend has green hair, too, and we met through our hair. When I moved back to Portland, I really liked the fact that I could have dyed hair in school because when I lived in Ohio that wasn’t allowed. When I came back, there were a lot more people with dyed hair.” –Enrique Novelo-Lopez, 17, junior
“I like to be different and the fact that my mom is a hair stylist. The main singer of OMG Girlz had blue hair, so that was my inspiration to go blue. But it didn’t really look right, so then I did like an ombre blonde freshman year and then I started doing other colors. My dad used to always call me ‘Grapes’ and a whole bunch of fruits because of my hair color. I had blonde, blue, green, purple and I think that’s it so far. I get a lot of compliments on my hair and I don’t really get rude comments about it. A lot of people like it so I just keep going.” – Sade Means, 16, sophomore
“I’m not going to cut my hair until we win state for football. And if the dye starts to come out, I’ll just re-dye it. If I come out of high school without us winning, it’s going to have to stay, and I’ll just have to win a national championship in college. If I don’t win that, I’ll have to go into the NFL and win a Super Bowl. I might just have to live the rest of my life with this hair.” – Marquise Isom
“I had originally dyed my hair a dark brown and in eighth grade my drama teacher approached me with a role that he wanted me to play, and the character had red hair…It just sort of stuck from there. I think it gave me confidence. I liked short hair a lot more and I like having red hair even more because it sort of sets me apart. I like having the stability in my life. I’m not a person who has really experimented with a lot of different colors, although it does come out slightly different every time. It’s been a way that I identify to some extent.” – Rachel Peri,17, junior
“My natural hair is blondish-brown. I chose pink because it was the most extreme color I could do, and I figured all or nothing. If I was doing it, I might as well do it. People definitely see you differently. It really separates people who are open and those who aren’t. I think people’s opinion on it is a good indicator of their personality. I picked blue because it seemed like a cool color to do, it seemed fun…There’s a few more colors I’ve wanted to do, but I also want to have normal hair.” – Henry Brannan, 18, senior
Grant Magazine sat down with seven Grant students to find the story behind their dyed hair.
The Grant Magazine is a hybrid publication, comprised of a 36 page monthly news magazine and this website. It is put out and run by a small staff of students from Grant High School in Portland, Oregon.
