Best home hair colour?

[JustCallMeBaldrick]

Oh wise Style and Beauty gurus, pleasehelp!
I need to cover up my newly-emerging grey hairs for DD's christening.
My hair's mid-brown, and I usually go for blonde highlights with reddish lowlights, but I can't afford salon prices at the moment.
Which brand would you recommend that's easy and effective?

Olia is the bet I've used so far. It leaves the hair in good condition. But, you need to be aware that colours often come up much darker than indicated on the box. Take a look at the reviews on the Boots site, I find them helpful.

I have tried both Herbatint and Naturtint recently, as they are supposed to be more 'natural' and do not contain resorcinol [spelling?] (a main cause of allergic reaction). Both caused major irritation, initially, although this cleared in around a week.

Don't skip the allergy test!

L'Oreal Casting do semi-permanent colours which are quite good

Try L'oreal Excellence 5.3. Don't go to a level 4 because it will be too dark.

I use Nice and Easy, Perfect 10. Consistantly even and long lasting colour that doesn't fade and doesn't strip my hair. Also, the tube of conditions included lasts absolutely ages. I tried Olia last week and was really disappointed - the shade was much darker than indicated on the box and my hair felt like straw and was flyaway.

As Ohmy suggests, have a look on Boots or Superdrug websites for reviews.

John Freida foam (my mum's hairdresser has commented on how great it is on her hair - she puts it on herself!) Natural, even colour and not so messy to use with it being a foam. She used to use Nice n' Easy but much prefers the JF for colour, the condition it leaves her hair in and ease of use.

Oh, and those Nice n' Easy conditioners funnylittlenoddy mentions in her post are great.... You can buy them separately though for 99p (I've seen them in Tesco, Sainsbury's and, I think, Home and Bargain)

Another for perfect 10. I used it recently in an emergency between hairdresser appointments and have been considering stopping having my hair dyed at the hairdressers as it was so good. Agree the conditioner lasts ages, but I did find it quite heavy so use it sparingly if you have fine hair.

I'm very dark so can't recommend a colour.