Two Tone Hair: Yuck or Yay?

In recent years, two tone hair has been seeing a resurgance on our favorite celebs: Drew Barrymore rocked a blond bob with black tips at a Whip It! premiere, Rihanna (the hair chameleon) choose to add black streaks to her short blond cut earlier this year, and Alexa Chung usually has some variation of brown that fades to honey blonde. There are many variations to this trend that range from subtle to "OMG!?"

Of course, two tone hair is nothing new. I believe Blondie's lead singer and namesake, Debbie Harry, was the first to popularize the trend with her signature mane of peroxide blonde with dark brown underneath. (Correct me if I'm wrong!)

The culture vulture herself. I'm still sad disco is dead.

A more modern take on Harry's famed locks is beautifully done by Beyonce.

Her sleek honey blonde tresses give way to a chocolate brown in the under layers.

Another way to wear this trend is merely by lightening the ends to create a gradient of color. Depending on how you do it, it can look like you're growing out a dye job or have sun kissed hair.

I like Alexa Chung's suble take on the trend in this picture. I love how the walnut shade fades to caramel in a seamless way.

Cameron Diaz proves blondes can pull of the trend as well. Dark ash blonde transitions to a lighter shade. I think this look works especially well with curls.

It's hard for me to keep up with all of Hayley William's hair changes, but I was completely jealous of this auburn/cherry red gradient look. The color is bold, but the take on the trend is just as subtle as Diaz's or Chung's.

A more drastic take is the dipped ends look. This is a bit more dangerous, since your hair can either become punky or sloppy.

A buttery shade of blonde dipped in jet black? I'm on the fence with this one, merely because I know Drew has the personality to pull it off. It's still NOT my favorite look on her. I miss her red hair!

  

Lady Gaga's followed this trend numerous times (remember that blonde wig with the bright yellow ends at the Grammy's?), but this my favorite take. She proves you can have fun by dipping your hair in not-so-normal shades like lavender. Unlike Barrymore, there is more transition to the shade and isn't so abrupt.

Abbey Lee Kershaw rocked pink-dipped strands in a photo shoot. Brunettes are going to have to bleach their ends in order for the color to take hold. There are lots of temporary colorful dyes to choose from. I think brown hair looks super edgy when dipped in a more sophisticated red.

The two tone look also makes use of highlights. A major contrast is required from your natural hair color and the very visible streaks.

Rihanna's natural black was offset by majorly chunky and majorly blonde highlights. It looks punky and pretty on her, which is no small feat.

Joss Stone chose to work some thin raspberry streaks into her dark brown hair, concentrating the color in the front. I was in love with her hair when her "Introducing Joss Stone" album came out in 2008.

Back in Xtina's dirrrrty days, she was rocking this decidedly unglam (read: skunky) platinum blonde and black streaks combo hair.

What about Kristen Stewart's "Bella" hair color? Auburn was heavily streaked in a black base. It's a pretty and subtle take on the trend. Just remember to brush your hair or something, KStew!

My final verdict on the trend: YAY! I like to color outside the lines, if you will, and I find this trend can work on all lengths, textures, and colors. That's quite rare, isn't it? I would most like to attempt a look like Joss Stone's brown/raspberry combo or Hayley William's auburn/cherry red combo. I like the appearance of streaks as opposed to being dip-dyed. Once the dye fades, I think it'd be much harder to blend the ends into one tone if you get bored of the look. In Drew Barrymore's case, she may have had to chop off the black in order to get rid of it or dye all of her hair black to match. Too much fuss! Currently, I'm trying to grow out my hair and black dye I used to blend away my all-over blonde highlights. I'm too poor at the moment to buy hair dye, but I think I shall go redder my next dye job. Oh, and I think some burgundy streaks in it would be fun, right? I'm an incoming college freshman, so I think it's age-appropriate. 

xx Chloe

P.S. Post "Yuck" or "Yay" in a comment to let me know whether or not you're feeling the trend. It's okay to add plenty of qualifiers if you need to!