I'm new to this and i have an acute interest in hair....! I've been doing my own hair blonde since i was 14, and never once have I considered to simply let it grow natural, but now i'm totally fed up with wasted money and heartbreak about my damaged locks... This is the situation.

my natural color is light brown, and i have been doing the roots with a "very light light ash blonde " whenever there is about an inch regrowth. My hair takes the colour quite well, theres no need to pre lighten it before i add the very light blonde. So i was thinking, what is the best way to let my roots grow and not look horrid??

1.  Should i get low lights of my natural brown shade( or is it called a weave sometimes?) at the salon, to keep some depth in my hair? would the stylist need to fill in a base colour in my hair before they added the natural brown shade to it?

 2. or could i dye over the blonde myself with a shade similar to my natural colour? and should i use semi permanent for a glossy finish?

please if anyones got some useful knowledge about dyeing brown over blonde, can you please give me a suggestion. i can upload a pic of the blonde. Ending up with brown faded into green will be heartbreak for me/.

I've been dying my light brown/dirty blonde hair blonde since I was 13, and I've gone brown a couple of times in the hopes of growing my natural color out. I never went through with it, BUT i do know alot about how your hair might take it lOl.

First, make absolutely without a doubt sure that you will not want blonde hair back next week, because i've done the transition BACK to blonde, and to put it simply, your hair will be wrecked. for a longg time.

Anyways, if it IS what you want, I would suggest doing a single process color over your entire head thats as close to, or even slightly darker, than your natural color. If it's slightly darker, when your roots grow in, they will blend alot better and you will eventually have your natural highlights blending in. also, dark hair dye layered onto blonde hair WILL fade with everyday wear and use, so a shade or two darker will wash out and lighten up a bit.

I wouldn't do lowlights, because that plus the light ash blonde PLUS your darker roots growing in will just look a little messy.

I like the L'Oreal line of haircolor for at-home, and I've discovered that if you can't find the exact color you want, mixing two is alright sometimes -- you have to make sure the undertones match though! no mixing a "golden so and so" with a frosted, ash, or "light so and so" -- your hair will turn a terrible color. Sally's beauty supply has slightly higher quality L'Oreal haircolor that has very accurate color samples, and mixing is more foolproof. Also, after you wash it, BE CAREFUL with what color shampoo and conditioner you use in the ensuing days! I used a purple one once, and lo and behold my hair had an interesting  sickly purple-gray tint to it afterwards.

I don't know if any of that helped, hopefully it did! good luck!

thank you so much for the advice, i certainly dont want lowlights if they are just going to look messy.

i cant wait until my hairs all grown out and healthy! about 2 years to go tho...

this single process you mention, do you mean a permenent dye, or a semi? I at least want lots of shine and have heard that semi is good for that because it coats your hair.

 i'm going to become a hairdresser next year!!!