Help me with hair colour please!

[DrRanjsRightEyebrow]

About 6 months ago I had a hair disaster. My natural hair is light ash brown and I'd been box colouring a darker for a few years. Hated it as it always ended up ginger (which doesn't suit me) no matter how much the dye purported to be cool or ash. So I used a few boxes of colour remover. I ended up bright brassy orange. I went to a hair dresser who did a lovely ombre - my natural (faked) cool ash light brown/dark blonde down to a lighter ash blonde. Nice a subtle. However the top half keeps fading and becoming gingery after 3-4 weeks so I have to go back and get a toner. At £20 a pop I can't keep doing this. The application looks super easy and I could do myself so I'm looking to get the right product/s. I managed to get her to divulge some info today- she said the developer is very mild, (1%?) so as not to strip my colour further. And she recommended I use a cool brown shampoo. I lack faith in these shampoos though. She just wants to keep getting £20 out of me once a month! Fair enough. So - I've been looking for a 1% developer but can't find anything. Does she mean 10vol? And are there any salon brands that have good colours? I will be strand testing so I don't balls it up...
Thanks!

Try Provoke Touch of Silver. It's a toning shampoo for hair that has that funny orange colour. Can't link but it is excellent in restoring "cool" tones to blonde hair that has become brassy. It is bright purple so don't be alarmed - read reviews online. It saved my hair when my highlights were more reddish than that elusive shade of blonde I'm looking for!

I've tried that and all the other silver shampoos - they work nicely on my blonde ends but do nothing to the orangey light brown top half. Even with leaving it on for an hour. I told the hairdresser and she said the silver shampoos only work on blonde and I shoudl use a cool brown shampoo but I'm looking for a longer term solution - something with a developer that I can apply once a month.

Ok, sounds like something a proper hairdresser needs to advise you on. I'd go to a couple of salons for a consultation and then go with the one who sounds a better option. I feel for you as I always seem to have a hair colour crisis. Don't home colour - l speak from experience!

This is the problem though - I've been going once a month for 6 months for the same toner treatment. I have access to proper salon supplies and the application of them is not specialist (apply all over with a brush, leave for an hour, wash out). I can't afford the £20 a month and don't want to go back to boxed colour - I just want to continue what she was doing myself. But I'm not sure what developer to get so was hoping a pro could advise. It's keeping the same colour level but just making it ashy and I'm happy to redo it once a month. She said she used 1% developer with a base but '1%' doesn't translate to the products in the shop. I see 10/20/40vol. Is she likely talking about 10vol? Would that do the job, with an light brown ash/pearl Demi perhaps?

I love the result when she's just done the toner but can't afford to pay for the upkeep to be done in salon.

Hmm, still would get expert advice. Hair colour can be so tricky, I wouldn't want to make it worse trying to do it at home. Sorry not very helpful but that's what I'd do.

I'm just not sure I can find a hairdresser who will tell me the products I need in return for zero money! I can't afford a hairdresser any more. So I either attempt to carry on the toning of my current colour or its back to box dyes, which I hate.

(So I figure I might as well give it a try with a decent colour and developer combination from a professional source then go back to boots specials if I can't do it)

I spent 6 months growing out my colour and then had a major wibble on Sunday and wacked on a natural blonde semi (I'm naturally a brunette with shed loads of grey.) Which left me with strawberry blonde hair. It wasn't an awful colour, but not what I was after. I've been using this stuff by wella which has really helped lighten and cool it down.

They do all different shades too. I order for HQhair, only because I've been ordering from them for years.

Fab. Yeah I need something to tone the brown (well it looks brown to me and everyone else, but is actually very dark blonde - a level 6) I've been looking at wella's illuminata colours - dark ash cendre blonde or dark ash violet blonde to tone the ginger in it, perhaps that with a very mild developer? I could get 10vol and dilute with distilled water at first? I'm hoping that would be non-stripping and subtle enough... (A stand test to check result!)

Oh that wells colour fresh looks good too - perhaps one to try first... Not sure which shade I should get. Maybe a silver?