Sunstreaks in Fort Myers
Sunstreaks are the soft, uneven brightness that looks as if a summer on the Gulf did the work: fine pieces around the face and through the top layer, with your natural color still showing underneath. At Canterbury & Co. Salon, inside Gulf Coast Town Center in Fort Myers, the Canterbury Color Team places them with Wella Professionals color, and founder Alli Canterbury is a former Wella Professionals color educator.
Sunstreaks are a look rather than a single technique. Depending on your base color and how often you want to be in the chair, your stylist may use fine highlights for brightness that reads clearly, or hand-painted balayage for a softer grow-out, and tone the result so it stays natural.
Reviewed
Which technique makes sunstreaks?
Fine highlights put brightness exactly where the eye goes first, around the face and along the part, and they lift cleanly from near the root. Hand-painted balayage places the light a little lower and softer, which stretches the time between visits. Babylights are the finest option, for a shimmer that is only noticeable in the sun. Many sunstreak looks combine two of these, and your stylist will describe what each would look like on your hair before any color is mixed.
Who sunstreaks suit
Sunstreaks suit anyone who wants to look brighter without looking colored: brunettes who want a little light around the face, natural blondes who want their sun-lightened summer look to last, and anyone on the first scattering of gray who would rather add dimension than cover. If you would rather have a bolder change, we will say so, and point you to highlights or balayage instead.
Soft, dimensional brightness
Real client work from our chairs: brightness placed where it reads, and toned so it looks natural. The first pair is a before and after.
Placed for you, toned with care
Every set of sunstreaks here begins with a consultation. We look at your base color, your skin tone, how you part your hair and how often you realistically want to sit in the chair, then design the placement around all of it. Sunstreaks live or die on the toner, so we never treat it as an afterthought.
How often will sunstreaks need refreshing?
Because sunstreaks are placed softly and kept away from a hard root line, most clients return every three to four months for the color. Between visits, a gloss every four to six weeks brings tone and shine back in under an hour. Your stylist will suggest an honest schedule at your first appointment, one built around your hair rather than around filling the diary.
Keeping sunstreaks bright in the Florida sun
Sun, salt and chlorine pull tone out of lightened pieces, which is the quickest way for sunstreaks to turn brassy. We recommend a sulfate-free color-safe shampoo, a weekly moisture mask, and wetting your hair with fresh water and combing through a leave-in before the pool or the Gulf. Our guide to keeping lightened hair maintained in Florida goes into more detail.
Sunstreaks questions, answered straight
What are sunstreaks?
Sunstreaks is the name many Fort Myers clients use for hair that looks lightened by the sun: soft, uneven strands of brightness around the face and through the top layer, with the natural color still showing underneath. It is a look rather than a single technique, and it can be made with fine highlights, babylights or hand-painted balayage depending on your hair.
Are sunstreaks the same as highlights or balayage?
They overlap. Highlights are foiled and lift evenly from near the root, balayage is painted by hand for a softer grow-out, and sunstreaks describes the finished effect both can create: a few bright, natural-looking pieces rather than all-over blonde. In consultation your stylist chooses the placement that gives you that look on your base color.
How many sunstreaks do I need?
Fewer than most people expect. Face-framing pieces and a light scattering through the top and part line are usually enough to read as sun-lightened. If you want more brightness later, it can be built up over visits without starting over.
How long do sunstreaks last in Florida?
The lightened pieces stay lightened, but the tone in them fades faster with sun, salt and chlorine, so a gloss every four to six weeks keeps them from turning brassy. Placed softly, the grow-out is gentle enough that many clients return every three to four months for the color itself.
How much do sunstreaks cost?
Our color price ranges are published on our services page. The exact price depends on which color service your look needs and on the length and density of your hair, and your stylist confirms it at your consultation before any color is mixed.
Sunstreaks at Gulf Coast Town Center
Canterbury & Co. sits inside Gulf Coast Town Center in Fort Myers, minutes from Estero, Gateway and San Carlos Park, with parking right outside the door. Book online and your appointment starts with a conversation about the light, and the glow, you are actually after.
In online booking, choose Consultation, then Color Consultation.