In guitar terms, a skunk stripe refers to the thin brown strip running down the neck of the instrument.
And when it comes to hair, it’s pretty much the same thing—a bleach blonde, light brown, or brightly colored highlight patch that contrasts the rest of your hair.
The trend recently went viral on natural hair Tik Tok and to be honest, it’s cute AF.
While it looks like something that must be done by a stylist, it surprisingly can be done safely at home with little to no fuss. Here’s how to do it.
What You’ll Need:
- Hair Dye. Because this is the easy method, we’ll be using hair dye instead of powder bleach and developer so that there’s no mixing or measuring required.
- Comb. This is super important, given that you’ll need to neatly section off the piece of hair you wish to dye for your skunk stripe.
- Gloves. For safety purposes, make sure you have gloves available so that your hands are protected when dealing with chemicals.
- Towel. To prevent hair dye from making unwanted contact with your skin or clothes, grab a towel for your shoulders, just in case.
- Long tail tint brush. You can apply dye straight from the applicator to your hair, but a tint brush will help you coat your strands more evenly.
- Mirror or a helping hand (optional). If your skunk stripe will be placed at the side or back of your head, you’ll need extra visibility. Considering asking for help or using a handheld mirror.
Choosing the Right Hair Dye:
Now here’s the most important part. Because you’re not using powder bleach or a developer to color your hair, you’ll have to find the appropriate hair dye.
If you’ve never lightened or dyed your hair before, we recommend using Creme of Nature hair dye in the colors Ginger Blonde or Lightest Blonde for the best results.
If you have chemically colored your hair before, you can also use Creme of Nature or Dark and Lovely Fade Resist hair dye in Light Golden Blonde (384) or Luminous Blonde (396) for the best results.
How To Do Skunk Stripes:
- Prep. Make sure you gather all of the appropriate supplies before you begin. Please note that dying unwashed hair is the best option because the build up of natural oils on your hair will protect your scalp from irritation.
- Section off. The magic of the skunk stripe is in the positioning, so make sure you section off the part you wish to dye using nice, neat parting. You can do a single stripe, bangs, or even the nape of your neck.
- Mix dye. Put on your gloves and follow the directions on the box dye of your choice.
- Apply. You can apply the dye going from tips to roots using the tip on the applicator bottle or your long tail tint brush. Follow the processing directions on your box dye.
- Style. Congratulations, your skunk stripe is complete! After you’ve thoroughly conditioned and moisturized your hair, you can now style. Try a slick and sleek ponytail or voluminous ‘fro to really show off your stripe.
What should I watch out for when doing a skunk stripe?
This is a relatively safe and easy method, but one thing you must absolutely watch out for is bleeding hair dye! Sometimes super runny mixtures can bleed over and dye parts of hair that you didn’t even want colored!
This is why it’s important to section off your hair properly and be patient and observant while applying hair dye for a skunk stripe. Again, it’s recommended that you use a brush for a even and careful application.
