How to Streak Hair

Adding subtle highlights or bold streaks to your hair doesn't require an expensive trip to the hair salon. All you need is bleach, dye, patience and a sense of adventure. By carefully following instructions that accompany hair products and asking a knowledgeable salesperson specific questions you can successfully streak your own hair.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Powder bleach
• Cream developer
• Gloves
• Hair dye
• Application bottle

1. Determine what color and type of streaks you want. Streaking may be done through bleaching pieces of hair for blond highlights or bleaching pieces and then adding color for colored streaks.

2. Visit a beauty supply store for salon quality products. Pick up powder bleach and/or hair color, developer, gloves, foils and an application bottle.

3. Put on an old shirt and use old towels as the bleach will damage fabrics.

4. Unpack all your materials and neatly arrange them on a bathroom counter. Make sure all items are easy to get to and ready for use.

5. Mix 1 oz. powder bleach with the 2 1/2 fl. oz. of cream developer. If you plan to color hair in addition to bleaching, prepare the dye according to package instructions.

6. Section out hair and apply bleach mixture to pieces. Once you have covered the entire strip of hair, cover with foil and fold. Do this to each sectioned out piece. Let foiled pieces sit for 25 minutes and rinse immediately.

7. Apply hair dye over bleached pieces. Separate out the colored pieces by clipping them up and away from untreated hair. Time accordingly and rinse hair thoroughly. Shampoo and condition.

Tips & Warnings

• Using a blow dryer, apply direct heat to bleached foiled pieces to get stronger lifting of natural hair color.
• Apply bleach or dye to dry, unclean hair.
• Leave bleach on for 30 to 45 minutes on darker hair.
• Monitor the progress of the bleaching by checking your foiled pieces every 10 minutes.
• Before streaking your whole head, perform a strand test on a less visible lock of hair.
• While not necessary to the process, you might want to pick up other application tools like brushes or frosting caps.
• Cream developer comes in 10, 20, 30 and 40 level. Lighter hair should use lower level developer while darker hair responds better to level 40.
• Darker hair is harder to lighten and may require repeat applications. Depending on how much lift you achieve upon your first attempt, use a lower level developer on subsequent bleach jobs. Bleach has harsh effects on hair and shouldn't be over applied.
• Know that bleach heats up and can burn skin and scalp.
• Over bleaching can damage hair and cause it to break off. Limit bleaching to once every three months.
• Don't use metal instruments or bowls for mixing bleach and developer.

Who Can Help:

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Resources

• This website discusses how to bleach your hair at home.