Is there a way to lighten/ highlight my hair at home to avoid straight dark roots?

[localnotail]

Hi, I have always had highlights in my hair - I have a light brown hair with a lot of grey. But my hair is growing very fast so I have to have the highlights redone every 2 months on average - which is quite expensive and takes forever, I hate sitting in the salon forever, its always a chore. But mainly the price - I'm trying to streamline my spending and it seems like one expense I could probably avoid.

I was wondering is there a way to lighten my hair a bit to, firstly, dye it at home to avoid straight black roots, and, secondly, to achieve slightly "uneven" colour that looks like low level highlights? I know if it was easy everyone would be doing it themselves and not using hairdressers but maybe someone could share tips )) I have some experience of dying my hair at home - I used to bleach it with very good results - but now want something more subtle/ natural looking. Thanks!

I had red hair, now with a lot of white. I've never died my hair as I didn't want the expense and didn't want to have block colour from a home dye.

On impulse I tried Glaze colour conditioner from Superdrug and I love it. It looks very natural. It doesn't cover everything so I still have a variation in colour in my hair. Ii only lasts 10 washes but in my opinion it's great.

It's this
https://www.superdrug.com/glaze/b/406161

That looks great. I've just grown all my blond balyage out I'm done with the expense and can't do balyage at home. Will definitely try.

Thanks! Will have a look. Does it have bleach in it? I'd like my hair to be a shade lighter ))

Also, one of the reasons I need to dye my hair is that its too "silky" - have a lot of it but its very thin and heavy so it looks shiny and healthy but is totally flat and doesn't hold any volume when styled. When its dyed it gets a bit dryer, has more volume and I dont have to wash it every day.

I don't think it does have bleach, no.

If you're worried about it slicking down your hair too much , it hasn't on mine. My hair is very fine.

I use those highlighting kits that come with a cap and you pull your hair through. Yes it’s old fashioned but I use them when I am desperate and can’t get to the hairdresser. I have been doing it for years so have the knack although if you have never done it it could be tricky and results are variable!

I have also used YouTube videos which show you how to do balayage yourself with bleach and a hair brush which I did in lockdown and it came out ok!

I do experiment with my hair though and like dyeing it myself.

Do those kits really work? I remember a hairdresser using a cap on me when I was a teenager ))

What brands/ products do you use please?

I usually use the Wella hair streaking kit.