DIY vs Salon??

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   PLEASE HELP.

I've test stranded a part of my hair using Manic Panic bleach to lift out the dark mahogany so that I can do an even colored, lighter red.  I put the bleach on the test strand, rinsed it out after an hour, and re-applyed it to half of the test strand for another 15-20 minutes because it was still darker and didn't lift as easy.

It came out fine, no frizz, no breakage (even though I have used Colorfix and highlighted in the recent past).  I tried test stranding some box colors over sections of the bleached chunk, but they look washed out, even at the roots which weren't bleached (wtf?).  Came out evenly though, my first goal.

Anyway, I need help bleaching my entire head.  It's not that I don't think I can do it alone, it's just that it would take SO long and I'd have to divide my hair into sections to get everything done correctly and evenly.  

I'm thinking about going to a salon and having them do it since they'd probably do it faster and better than me, but I'm not sure... they could be slower and sloppier than I am.  The Manic Panic bleach that I'm using is 30 vol., and I don't know what kind salons use.  

Could I bring in Manic Panic bleach and have them apply it?  

If I did it myself, I plan on avoiding my new roots like I did with the test strand, which I think is too much to ask of a hairdresser since my hair is quite long and the roots are as long as a fingertip.  And I had to re-apply the bleach to the last half of my hair that was still dark.

Money is not an issue currently since I have saved up a good chunk just for restoring my hair to it's lighter color.  It's just that I have had some bad experiences with colorists in my town.  I've never had my hair lightened, but I'd had "permanent" color put in that washed out in 1-3 shampoos.  There aren't any board certified colorists in my area, but I found that 2 salons in town are "Redken colorists".  How is this different?  Is it just that they use Redken haircolor?

I'm terrified of my hair melting and of them doing it wrong.  I don't think I can do this full-head lightening alone though, since I have so much hair!  I plan on putting a vibrant red on top of the bleach and I'm curious of what the salons may have, but in my experience they've never lasted more than a week.

AH!  What should I do?  Please help, all suggestions are welcomed and appreciated!