Help! Goreygirl or Sophie!!

Goreygirl--since you love auburn/brown hair thought you might have some suggestions and Sophie--since you are a beautician thought your expert advice would help also.

I'm trying to get back to my gorgeous auburn/brown hair. I had my hair highlighted professionally about a year ago, but I never liked it because it was way too much highlighting. It was blonde!! I lived with it until recently when I tried to "go back" at home. Naturally, it turned out very dark (almost black). I used a medium golden brown. I found this web (Thank God!) and was told how to remove the dark with ColorFix. I did that and it turned out a nice yellow/orange. I then recolored with Nat. Instincts #26 (Copper Brown). I was hoping the lighter shade would not "grab" like the first color. Wrong!! It was very dark also. So I used ColorFix again only this time I followed the directions for removing only part of the color. I now have dull brown hair. I went to sally's (again) and got some L'Oreal Hair Fixer because I wanted to correct some of the damage. My hair doesn't look too bad, but I sure would like to get back my rich brown/auburn hair. Will I ever see it again???