Colorful Character, Coloful Hair?

As a 25 year old woman, I've made a lot of mistakes in my life. These mistakes were broad and occurred often, ranging from finances, family, men, and more. The greatest of these mistakes fell into the "and more" category and occurred several years ago in the bathroom of my college apartment. It was during this time that I decided to purchase a home hair coloring kit and create blonde streaks in my otherwise brown hair.

Working on the budget of girl whose only income was the wages of a part-time ice cream store gig, I bought the cheapest kit I could find. It was the off brand version of a major at-home hair coloring company. Thinking that blondes had more fun, I rushed home, stripped my clothes off in preparation of stripping my hair of its natural color.

Shivering and now filled with goosebumps, partially from the excitement but more so from the cold of being naked in November, I mixed the bleach concoction and started applying streaks to my hair. I was surprised when it would not go on smoothly, evenly, and where I wanted it. Not only did bleach end up in my hair, but it ended up on my face, my back, me arms, and everywhere else. At least I had the foresight not to wear my nice clothes. Unfortunately, I spending as much time wiping off bleach I was applying it and the application kept getting messier and messier.

After I had enough and decided I had plenty of streaks in my hair, I set my timer for the 25 minutes the directions suggestion and waited. And waited. It felt like an eternity as the scent of the bleach mixture grew stronger and stronger, even causing my eyes to water. When the timer dinged, I silently praised Jesus and let out a not-so-silent Hallelujah as I hopped into the shower to reveal a new me.

And a new me I was. After drying my hair, I went to admire it in the mirror only to find that my head looked like a bad faux-fur coat. I didn't quite look like a zebra, but I did look like a leopard. A red leopard. I could scarcely believe my eyes. Splotches and half-lines filled with reddish-orange delight. It would have been the perfect "do" for the zoo. But it was not perfect for a 19 year old college girl trying to make it in the world.

Without any hesitation, I dressed myself, put my hair in a ponytail paired with a hat, and made my way to the mall where I stopped at four hair salons before someone was able to take me right away. Two hours and two hundred dollars later (after color correction, and highlights), I left with beautiful streaks of blonde over my otherwise dark brown hair.

I wrote the above story as a preface to the rest of this article which is supposed to be a "how to color streak your hair". The short answer is: don't. You can save yourself massive amounts of money if you would simply go to your hair salon instead. Anytime you color your hair, you are putting yourself in jeopardy of looking like a fool. Those chances decrease if you go to a reputable salon who at the very least, will fix ridiculocity at no additional charge if they mess up.

If you absolutely insist you are the Superwoman of hair color and must color your hair at home, follow these simple tips:

1. Use a trusted name-brand. While there are no guarantees, if you use a brand you've heard of and utilize consumer reviews , you may have a higher likelihood of success.

2. This should go without saying, but read the instructions thoroughly. And follow them!

3. If you want chunky streaks, start with just one and add more at another time if you can master the first. It is very difficult to brush on color evenly and focusing on one or just a few will produce a higher success rate than trying to do your whole head.

4. If you want streaks all over, use one of the kinds with the pull-out caps and not the brush. This will help you control your highlights and be less likely to leave a mess.

5. Keep the product on for the whole time recommended. If you have darker hair that you are trying to make significantly lighter, you may need to increase the time. You can check your results as you go.

6. Say a little prayer.

Color streaking your hair is a complicated process with much room for error. If nothing mentioned above seems to work for you, you can always invest in a wig or clip-on hair in order to save yourself from the hair-aches!