Blue, green, red, yellow, purple. Side shave, mohawk, deathhawk.

These are just some of the millions of hairstyle possibilities.  According to The New York Times, brightly colored hair made a splash in the world of fashion in 2010 and 2011. This trend of more alternative or unconventional hair has been growing. Stacy Fager and Shannon Myers are two people who have played with these looks.

Fager, a hairdresser and Hershey High School alumni, has experimented with both her hair and others’. Shannon Myers has been trying out alternative hair style and colors ever since fourth grade. They both have used hair as a platform to express themselves.

At a young age, Myers had a fascination with hair and hair color. Her mom used hair dye, and she wanted to try as well. Myers had to wait until she was in fourth grade until she could start playing with color. Myers began with one long, temporary purple strip. This made her very excited, and she couldn’t wait to do more.

Myers said, “I never really liked it just brown.”

She felt that having brown was very ordinary. Myers yearned for color and individuality. She wanted something different.

Fager started out differently. She cut barbie hair. Then her brother’s hair. Eventually, she dyed her brothers hair, and then began experimenting with her own locks. Fager once cut her hair in an unconventional way that her parents didn’t approve of.

Fager said, “I shaved it [hair] from the temple to my ear.”

Her parents made her get a haircut to fix what she had done. Even though they changed her haircut, they couldn’t change her spirit. After spending her college years at Harrisburg Area Community College, Fager attended beauty school. She continued playing with styles and became a hairdresser. Fager now owns her own business called Waves of Style.

In her years of experience with hair, Fager has seen different reactions to alternative hair cuts. She said that most people get excited over blue or pink hair, and compliment it. When she is outside of her salon, she has found that is where negativity is shown.

Fager said, ”I have seen it [negativity] in the mall, you know people my age, in their forties…they just kind of roll their eyes.”

Meyers hasn’t seen a lot of negativity directed to her about her appearance, in fact, she has gotten many compliments on her multicolored hair. According to Myers, friends call her “the scene kid” sarcastically, but she hasn’t been bullied. She has never gotten weird looks.

Myers said, “Normally people say nice hair and go on with their day.”

Fager believes that it’s good thing that Hershey students are able to express themselves through their hair. In her opinion, styling your hair is like choosing your clothes. According to Fager, it’s all dependent on you.

Fager said, “It comes down to what you think. Not what your friends think, or what your parent’s think.”