Can I achieve this colour change at home?

[AnjouPear]

My hair is medium brown with lighter bits (not dyed), similar to the brown hair in the pic although shorter. Can I give it a reddish tint, maybe a bit more subtle than in pic 2, with a non permanent home box dye?

I'm not going anywhere (who is?!) so am not too worried about it going wrong - especially as it will presumably fade pretty quickly. Last dyed my hair ca 1993 with a box of Harmony so am pretty clueless.

My own experience with box colours is that the hair can look very matte afterwards. They always make out the hair has a wonderful shine but not in my experience. Red also fades really quickly.

I know this isn't the point of the thread, but I think the first photo (which is probably professionally coloured with subtle highlights) looks much better, and if your hair is naturally like that you are very lucky.

My daughter has used the Schwarzkopf Live temporary colour in pillar box red on her brunette hair with fabulous results. On brunette hair it’s a lot more subtle than the colour on the box and although it’s described as temporary it’s lasted really well - like 8+ weeks and is still red toned. I would imagine a clarifying shampoo would have faded it quicker if she hadn’t liked the result though.

Thanks, all! Pillar box red sounds like it's for a braver person than me but I'll look it up...

Get Nice&Easy or Castings semi-permanent in a shade slightly darker than you think. It washes out after a few weeks, depending on how often you shampoo your hair.

You could check to see if Superdrug or Boots have wash-in wash out colour in a colour you like. The Superdrug one is quite good but I've not tried a red shade.

try henna! Unless you've got previously dyed hair... then don't. As the henna clings to the lightened parts... seriously, henna... it's messy to apply, but works lovely, and fades over time so if you don't like it, eventually, it'll be gone without having to strip it.