Help! Color or highlights???

> Please help me with my dilemma!> I started highlighting my ashy, drab, altogether blah> dishwater blonde hair when I was a teenager. Now that> I'm in my late twenties, my natural hair color has> become even darker and more drab. I was thinking of> coloring the base and then getting lighter highlights> put in (I think I've read a lot of celebrities use> this procedure)> My hair grows really fast, and I'm now spending $80 or> $90 at the salon to get highlights put in about every> six weeks. It would actually be cheaper for me to get> my hair colored every month at about $35!I'd like to> keep getting my usual highlights only, but the quick> growout and dingy appearance is really becoming a> problem! I'd love Karen's or anyone else's input that> has had this problem or can offer any suggestion.> Thank you.Jennifer,I had the exact same problem you are having! I'm 24 and my hair over the years has just gotten darker and darker. My hair is naturally blonde. I've been dying it red with a semi-permanent which looks cool for maybe 3 or 4 weeks, but then it fades and my hair ends up looking orange/gold/ and the roots are practically black!!Anyway, to combat the problem, I dyed my hair Light Blonde with Clairol Ultress and it looks GREAT! It really conditioned my hair (it was really dry before) and my hair a very nice light blonde! It's a permanent color so I'll have to re-dye my roots every 3 months or so, but it's well worth it to me because nothing else seemed to give me the results I wanted!If I were you, I wouldn't highlight. Isn't hightlighting done with bleach? If so, that can be very damaging to your hair.Good luck! I hope I helped!~Heather~