How should I cover my roots please?

[quicklydecides]

Until recently I had a very cheap hairdresser who would put in a full head of hi lights every few months. My base hair is/was light brown with a lot of grey. So now I have a fully blonde head of hair from repeated hi lights.
(It doesn't look at all natural but I don't really care, it covers the grey and it was a really cheap solution to grey)
But now my hairdresser has retired.
So if I keep up with regular hi lights out will now become really expensive.
So should I switch to boxes from Boots?
Does that look like hi lights?
I'm afraid that it will look "blocky" and even more UN natural?
Any advice is appreciated..

[EttaJ]

My advice ( I have had a fair few hair colours but always go back to blonde) re box sets is going darker is ok and pretty hard to get wrong but for blonde ALWAYS go to a salon. They have better ,stronger products and equipment and know how to care for your hair. They tailor it to your needs where box kits are one size fits all.

Just have a half head then a full head next time etc. I do spend a lot on my hair but as another poster said on MN we wear it every single day so it needs to look good. I've had some hilarious hair distasters in my youth lol. All Boots or Superdrug box related 😂

[quicklydecides]

Mmm, that's the voice of experience I think.. Thank you.
I haven't used them since my teens when I went accidently red for a few months. I guess I hoping that they might be an inexpensive solution.
So maybe I should stick to proper hi lights and just accept the cost..

[Trickymoments]

I have a similar problem. When my roots start showing they are dark brown with lots of greys.
Quickly do you find the highlights are enough to cover the greys? I've been having a brown tint to cover the greys and then highlights as I could still see them with just highlights. This is quite costly & time consuming however so wondering if there's another way?

[SuperFlyHigh]

You could always embrace the grey and do an all over box colour, ex colleague of mine did that went ash blonde. Think gets her hairdresser (mobile) to do the colour but cheaper than highlights.

[babyboyHarrison]

Not sure if it would work for you but have a look at balayage. It's sort of a sun bleached look so gradually gets blonder through the length of your hair blending into your natural colour. Because it is gradual you don't get a stark line like with highlights do you can go longer between dyes.

[NameChanger22]

Hi

I wouldn't get the Boots hair dye if I were you. Buy professional hair colours and it will look and last much better. Go to a proper hairdressing shop or buy online.

Buy 1 bottle of peroxide, 1 tube of colour (deepshine is a good make), plastic gloves, brushes and a small tub for mixing. For just roots you'll need about a quarter of a tube of colour with the same amount of peroxide. If you want it lighter use 1 third colour, 2 thirds peroxide. Apply to roots and leave for 30 minutes. Then rinse and shampoo out.

The colour should last a long time on your hair, much better than a box die. If you buy a big bottle of peroxide it will last a long time. I buy it from a shop where it costs about £7. Colour I buy online and it costs about £14.

A hairdresser gave me this advice 10 years ago and it's always worked great for me. In fact, I think it looks better than when a hairdresser does it.

[Trickymoments]

Namechange what colour does that come out, is it blonde?

[Judydreamsofhorses]

Namechange I am interested in this too - please can you be any more specific about peroxide as I think it comes in different strengths? I am a dark reddish brown with greys round the temples. Also where is good to buy online? We have a Sally's but I don't think you can just walk in unless you're trade.

[StatisticallyChallenged]

The colour it comes out will depend on what you buy TrickyMoments - both the colour of the tube of dye and the level of peroxide (there's different volumes for different levels of lift)

[StatisticallyChallenged]

Most Sallys you can walk in to but there are a few which are trade only. I have bought online from this shop a few times and never had a problem.

[Trickymoments]

Thanks so would that be instead of having highlights? I'm not sure I'd be brave enough to do it myself so
I want to know what I should be saying to a new hairdresser. Sorry to hijack your thread OP!

[quicklydecides]

That's OK, I'll re read it all again now, but my initial impression is that I'd be too scared to do my own mix. I'm not even able to blow dry my own hair, I can't coordinate my hands at the back of my hair!

[NameChanger22]

If you go to a branch of Sallys they will tell which peroxide to buy. I have tried different ones and they all seem to work about the same though. Sallys peroxide is quite expensive (about £12), so I buy it from an ethnic hairdressing shop now and it works the same as any other. In the deepshine colours I buy a light golden brown, but you can get all shades. Sallys has lots of different brands of colourant, but deepshine is the best make I've tried because the colour lasts ages and it makes my hair really shiny. Just find the right shade for your hair colour.

[StatisticallyChallenged]

If you struggle to blow dry and co-ordinate at the back then you might find that you're going to struggle to make a good job of applying the dye evenly - it's not all that easy to do well. Patchy dye is not a good look

Trickymoments - highlights need a hairdresser, you can do your own if its an all over colour though.