I'm a ginge. Why can't I buy a hair dye in Boots?

[BethAndHerBrood]

I want to lighten/blondify my hair. But all the boxes I've seen are for brunettes or blondes. I'm a Hair Dye Virgin! Help me!!

DIY homekits are an utter waste of money IMO, get it done proffesionally, pricey but worth it. And a hairdresser told me, If you use pantene, when planning on having hair dyed, for 3 or 4 washes before use a different shampoo, pantene coats the hair in silicone making dying very hard to take.

You need to buy a blonde dye to go blonde! They aren't going to put a redhead on a blonde box.

Can't afford to get it done proffesionally.

So just because there is no mention of red hair anywhere, doesn't mean I shouldn't use it? All the boxes I looked at showed you what the dye would look like on different coloured hair. No red hair anywhere.

I might just leave it. I'm a bit chicken!

You could buy one and test patch first.

Oh sorry! I picked yu up wrong If I were you I'd try a highlighting kit. My hair is dark and and it goes from red to orange to blonde during the process.

"it goes from red to orange to blonde"

I am now officially frightened!

Tell me about highlighting kits, please? Is it easy?

Oh yes, hat on head, pull hair through, slap on dye and cross fingers.

Actualy I'm very gung-ho about dyeing my hair, maybe a test patch would be a bettter idea.

ttt?

Just a word of caution. I decided to dye my blonde (bleached) hair brown on Friday because I fancied a change and it HAS gone brown, but with a green tinge which isn't quite the effect I was after.
If only I'd googled BEFORE doing the deed, I'd have been forewarned. SO, I'd google it if I were you and there's bound to be some tips about which one is best etc.

Definitely get it done professionally - particularly if you're a ginge.

You need to get the strength of peroxide and development time absolutely spot on otherwise you'll end up a brassy orange colour or seriously damage your hair. Depending on how light you want to go it might have to be done in stages.

Am not a hairdresser by the way, have just had enough of my own DIY disasters!

Oh God.....

Do I have to sell one of DH's kidneys to get my hair done? I shall look into it tomorrow.

I deffo think I'm too chicken to do it myself now. I'm not particularly good with that sort of thing to start with, best not to tempt fate, perhaps?!

Thanks all.

Go to your local college and get a hairdressing student to do the job - she/he will have far more experiance than you do and it will cost you about two pound more than the dye kit, she/he will be supervised by a very experianced hairdresser so will be very safe.

You can get foils which cost a small fortune in some places for under twenty quid

Or ring round a few local salons and ask if they want customers for training days. A few salons I've been to do this and you can save a fortune.

It's very similar to what Ivy suggests, all fully supervised, but you might not have a college that trains stylists close by.