Blondes are the hardest to do at home. When you see white or brassy haircolor it is usually done by a home job or a stylist that doesn't know how to color (don't assume because one is a hairdresser they are experienced colorists).

If you have a little gray and dark hair it is the easiest to color at home for natural results.

My suggestion to you is to try a semi permanant color that will wash out in six weeks (although many do build up on the hair). It may not "cover" your gray, but should blend it. Very resistant gray can be difficult for do at homers.
If you go with a semi permanant it is better to go lighter than your desired result as these are a deposit only color and will be darker to begin with. You can go darker, but not lighter.

Pros and Cons:

If you can get a color you like you can save a lot of money.

Since you sound like you have naturally warm skin and hair, it will be easier to do at home.

If you mess up the color a color correction will be much more exensive than the original color would be to begin with in a salon. Particularly if you use a permanant color.

In a salon the stylist can use low and high level of colors using foils. This gives a more natural look, and dimension to the haircolor. It is also more exensive to do this than an all over color, and some hairdressers don't know how to do it. It can also be done off scalp for those will sensitivities to the color on scalp.

If you go to a salon, find someones hair that you love and ask who does it. That would be a pretty good bet for you.

Hope that answers some of your questions.

Thank you for your excellent advise. I wound up at the drugstore and was floored by all the choices, there's more boxes there than in the cereal aisle at the supermarket. After much decision making I selected a box of Revlon, High Dimensions, color #63. I look very good now. I don't regret not doing it sooner, I wasn't ready yet to make that change, but now that I have colored my hair I do feel happy that I have done it. I saved the box and put it under the sink so when it's time to redye I'll be able to remember what brand and color I used.

Thanks again,

Trudi

Here is an unfortunately true story from last winter....

February 4, 2003

Taxes are done and sent, we've our first break in sub-freezing temperatures in a month and life is good.

Except I got bored, which is a dangerous thing. So I figured I'd blend a bit of grey hair away with a bit of light brown dye. Not so bad. So it wasn't all one color I figured I'd now add a bit of dark brown dye. Picture Mortica Adams black hair except flaming red where the grey was. Oh that'll never do! No time last night to fix it so off to the drug store this morning. I found a light brown dye with highlighter. Perfect I think, that'll save this blending different colors. If a few highlights are good more are better, and if 15 minutes of highlights are good 30 minutes would be better no doubt. So back to the net to check the news never looking in the mirror I spent a half hour cruising the net.

Egads! It is not highlighter in a different color, it was peroxide! Now I have various shades of dark brown hair and large white bleach stripes through it all. Off to the drugstore in a baseball hair, hair still wet, I grabbed some plain brown dye. Now I have a fine head of bright red hair just like Laura Bush. I don't dare touch it again anytime soon I'm sure it'll all fall out if I do.

I'll just have to find safer things to play with in the future.
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After this was a trip to the hair dresser. She had gorgeous red hair and could not understand why I wanted to have brown hair.

She frosted it with a medium brown which helped some.

A few months later I had another hair dresser frost it with some dark brown.

Now it is just my own growing back.

Thats great!:) I have a similar story.
I tried to get the red out of my hair about 10 years ago. I bought a kind of color stripper that claimed to do just what I wanted. After I used the stripper I wanted a brown shade, so I bought "light ash brown" and was on my way! Well...the combination was a disaster. I guess that any color with "ASH" has a green undertone or hue. My hair wasn't brown, it was putrid greenish gray!!!!!!!!!
Cost me almost $100 to have professionally FIXED!!

Hi Trudi, I'm glad your color worked out well for you. I am unsure if that is a permanant color or a temp.

Don't pull a permanant color through your end every time or they will continue to get more damaged...and then the color washes out sooner and gets off tone. If absolutely necessary do only at the end to refresh color. Most hairdressers use demi or semi colors to refresh the ends as needed rather than a permanant color because it is less damage and deposit only.

Temp colors...same thing if those ends are getting dark. They DO build up on the hair with regular use, so if you have long hair be careful.