The White Stripe: a hair dilemma

[ClaraB]

I've always been attracted to hair that looks like this-

A white shock of hair or two around the face, while the rest of the hair remains natural. I've noticed a few ladies in the lounge sport this hair style and it looks very fetching!

This is one of those hair dilemmas I think about quite a bit. Do I or do I not? Right now I am considering bleaching a few white stripes into my hair, one to highlight the wave I set into the front of my hair and perhaps one on each side, a bit above my ears.

So here are my questions for you ladies:
Do I dare bleach my hair in this manner? Should I do it myself or seek professional hair help? or should I just abandon the idea altogether?

 

[Darhling]

Go for it!! I think the good thing about a bleached stripe is that you can always get it colored back to the other color!! Maybe the ladies with the stripes can advice you on home vs. salon stripes.

 

[ohairas]

What color is your hair now? If it is a deep shade of red, or even a red brown, it will be extremely hard to get a clear blonde such as the photo. Esp. without destroying your hair.

Also, bleach takes quicker at the scalp. And if you're trying to do exact placment such as this, it could all be about the timing. I advise you to see a pro.
Best wishes!

 

[Inky]

Go to a pro even if your hair is not currently dyed. They will get much better results, unless you are experienced at bleaching. The one time I was able to pull off white hair was when I lived with a hairdresser, we did multiple processes and used a toner to get rid of the yellow. It looked fantastic (it was very short) but was so high maintenance that I could have never done it alone.

I think it looks terrific!

 

[The Shirt]

I had this for a time. It took quite a few bleachings and then toning to get it to look respectable. I did it myself - but I am a cheapskate combined with a wild desire to dye my hair myself. I've majorly bleached mine about 4 times in my life - all with different results. I would recommend seeing a hairdresser though after my experience. I haven't had the best of luck with my hairdressers either though when it comes to lifting the color, they seem to be a bit timid. Bring in a photo and try to convince them that you truly want something this drastic. I finally went to a more "punk rock" salon and got better results, for what that is worth. If you have a lot of red dye in your hair, it may take multiple visits to get it as light as this photo. I adore this look though and you would look smashing with it.

Do note - this takes a tremendous amount of upkeep in my opinion. I was wanting to do my roots about every 2 weeks which is totally unrealistic for me financially.

 

[ClaraB]

Thanks for your help! This is definitely a look I am going to try but it may not last long because as The Shirt suggested, it will take a lot of upkeep. You have convinced me to seek the help of a stylist and I agree that a photograph is necessary to convey what I want.

This picture of Cherry Dollface, isn't exactly what I want, I wouldn't part my hair at the bleached area as I'd rather it blend more with my hair, perhaps it'd hide the inevitable roots more. I'll keep poking around for a more suitable photograph.

Right now my hair is natural red/auburn with a little enhancement from henna. Does anyone know if the henna will horribly impact the lightening process?

 

[artful dodgette]

hmmmmmmmmmmmmm i know most hairdressers will not touch your hair for lightening if it has had Henna on it, as it can react badly

 

[crwritt]

My sister has this naturally, from a traumatic blow to the head. So does a psychologist I know, and Bonnie Raitt, and come to think of it, a fashionable lady I see around town.
I think it looks stunning. My sister, over the years, has dyed hers. She also suffered brain damage from that blow, and feels she's unusual enough without the white stripe. The Psychologist has nice wavy brown hair, and the stripe looks great on her. Bonnie Raitt and the fashionable lady have as they age and go gray taken to dying the hair other than the white part thier natural color, in Bonnie's case, auburn. There is a limit, though, as a woman gets older the dyed hair just looks too harsh.
One hazard of bleaching your hair to this extreme is that it will dry out your hair. You will need to keep it conditioned. The hair in the front of your head is the most delicate, so you will need to be careful. There is also the issue of roots
growing in. wich you will have to keep up with.

 

[SuperKawaiiMama]

Having had this look myself for a number of years now I can tell you this:

• Always have it done by a professional - Melted hair or burnt scalp is not a good look!
• Be prepared for a few treatments before it is white and not a caramel, brassy colour.
• Be prepared for touch ups every 5 weeks.
• Be prepared for big hairdresser bills if you are also colouring the rest of your hair a different colour.
• Regular toning is also necessary (every other week) to keep it white.
• The piece will be fragile and cannot be treated in the same manner as the rest of your hair. Too much heat treatment and it will break off.

You can find loads of photos of my stripe on my site under Adventures in Hair if you so desire.

Hope all this helps.

 

[ClaraB]

Oh my, thank you so very much SuperKawaiiMama! I very much admire your stripe and I think it looks wonderful on you! Thank you so much for your list of considerations, this hair style is certainly a lot of work and I think I am going to have to throughly discuss it with my stylist before moving forward. I have a feeling the current condition of my hair would not support this amount of rather frequent chemical attention.

Thanks to everyone for their input on this topic, I really appreciate it!

 

[Lareesie Ladavi]

You can use purple toning shampoo (used it for years) on the streak, to keep it white. The key is getting it light enough, to do so.
I agree with others, I'd try a pro. Keeping the streak seperated from the other hair (during coloring) is a pain in the butt. I was streaking my son's dyed black hair, a blood red color. We agreed, it was too much to keep up with. It's hard to wash one color out of the hair, while trying to keep the other part of the hair, from getting it in there. It looked awasome though.

 

[kamikat]

Right now my hair is natural red/auburn with a little enhancement from henna. Does anyone know if the henna will horribly impact the lightening process?

Most hairdresser will not touch hair that has been treated with henna. In cosmetology school, we are taught that hennaed hair will break off at the new growth if it comes in contact with regular chemical dyes. I don't remember if the same is true of bleach.

 

[ClaraB]

Most hairdresser will not touch hair that has been treated with henna. In cosmetology school, we are taught that hennaed hair will break off at the new growth if it comes in contact with regular chemical dyes. I don't remember if the same is true of bleach.

Ah this is good to know! Thanks.

 

[ohairas]

Ditto what Kami said. We were taught not to touch anything with henna... esp. perms, ect.

Have you thought of clip in highlights? They are quite fun! They snap in at the root and you can still do victory rolls, ect. with them. I've seen them on ebay.

 

[helenhighwater]

I had a bleached stripe, though not white. I had to leave the bleach in for 90 minutes as it was! I did like it as it adds an interesting accent to hair, and hairstylists can do creative stuff with it like:

and

In the end though I got rid of it. I was finding grey in my hair, and so decided I needed to do a full-colour job on my whole hair, and I really couldn't be doing with the complications of factoring in a bleached bit too!

It was a huge faff with regards to upkeep as well because of course you've got an issue then with the regrowth being very obvious. 90 minutes of wanting to scratch my scalp and not being able to without spoiling the bleaching process was fairly nightmarish!

I went to black, but went via brown so that the bleached bits wouldn't have too drastic a jump in colour to cope with. I think it took a couple of applications before they disappeared.

 

[Dixie_Amazon]

My mom used to add a stripe (or blaze) to her black hair in the sixties. I think it was a spray on product something like this. I'll see if my aunt remembers. Seems like it would be a fun way to try it out.

 

[Laura Chase]

kamikat and ohairas, about henna: Could it perhaps be that you were taught this because you can't really count on the chemical color to behave consistently and the way it's supposed to if the hair is treated with henna?

I can understand that part, but I don't understand if the henna-treated hair "breaks off at the new growth if it comes in contact with regular chemical dyes" (I'm not sure I understand what this means, though). I've switched between henna and chemical dyes for the past 5 years, I just wait some months in between, preferably half a year. Nothing's ever happened and I wouldn't say my hair has broken off, it's growing just fine. [huh]

 

[16_sparrows]

I would suggest getting a streak of white extensions. I've seen this done as "hidden color" and it looks great. A woman I know has purple streaks and uses extensions with keratin tips, which is suppose to be healthier for your hair.

 

[Real Swell Gal]

I would suggest getting a streak of white extensions. I've seen this done as "hidden color" and it looks great. A woman I know has purple streaks and uses extensions with keratin tips, which is suppose to be healthier for your hair.

OHHH!! That's a good idea!

 

[Lareesie Ladavi]

Extensions are great, but kind of a pain to diguise, when doing up-dos (rolls etc). You have to play around with them, to hide the weft track, which can end up hiding the whole streak under your hair. It won't have the same effect that the streak comming out of the part would have.
All in all, I think it depends on how processed your hair is (if you consider doing it yourself). In order to get my son's black hair red, I bleached out of the streak. It started to break off because he flat ironed his hair a lot.
Keep in mind that to redye processed hair(if you decide you don't like the streak), the color will bleed out between dyes, until you get enough dye build-up to seal the cuticle back up. Hair bleach is pretty harsh, but can be manageable if you keep other aids of styling (heat /chemicals) to a minimum.
I've done my own color for years, party for cost, but a lot of it is because I know that stylists do the minimal, when it involves hair bleach (like others have stated about hennah). I can understand the liability thing, though.
If you decide to give it whirl, you have to show us.