Help me ask for what I want at the hairdresser this evening

[MrsFogi]

Can someone help me with the correct lingo - I have and always have had dark hair (now it's mainly dye covering the grey I suspect) but as I get older I'm aware the one block of a dark colour maybe doesn't do me as many favours as it used to (not least because I have very pale skin). So a while back the hairdresser persuaded me to have highlights and assured me they would be very natural. The were not....they were caramel coloured streaks. I want neither caramel nor streaks but I would like to have some second colour, if only to stop the grey roots being so blindingly obvious after what seems to be an ever-decreasing time. Can someone tell me - can "highlights" be copper/auburn/brown or do they have to be some variant of blond/caramel? Or should I be asking for something else to get a bit of a second colour in my hair but a colour that could conceivably have naturally sprouted from my head?

Go for a bit of purple hints?

Highlights are blondes, caramel colours. Ask for some lowlights reds, coppers er.

To late for tonight but if you see a pic of the colours you like bring it along with you. The problem usually lies between hairdresser and client understanding terms differently. Your version of caramel could be very different to someone else's. So having a visual help you explain what it is your looking for. Think about what colours you do and don't like. For example I hate having red tones in my hair. If I was to chose warmth I would go gold, or/and a very subtle copper. But mostly I prefer neutral or ash tones in my hair. Bare in mind it is not always possible to exact match to a picture especially working on fair that has already been coloured. Your hairdresser should make you aware of this before during your consultation. I hope you get the result your looking for tonight.

I am a hairdresser.