I seem to have the opposite problem: when I have my hair coloured at the hairdressers it never turns out any good... but when I do it myself it's passable. I have long dark brown (almost black) hair, very thick. I dye it my natural colour... i colour it only to hide the greys. I can use almost any permanent dye with success as long as it's a got no red in it.

The problem when I go to the hairdressers is that they don't leave it on long enough and I can still see greys when I leave the salon damn, what a waste of money THAT is!!! When I dye it at home the top and front look great (no greys) but i know that I have missed spots at the back... which isn't a problem usually because I 99% wear my hair in a pony tail.

Anyhow sorry to hijack your thread Willow... but I was wondering what the ettiquette would be about asking the hairdresser to leave it on longer... they leave it on about 18 - 20 minutes i think. I know that it needs to be at least half an hour (my hair is so thick, this doesn't seem to damage it). I assume that they wouldn't like it if i asked because they have limited time before their next client comes in.

I know I could probably get a friend to do it... but there's no one... I'll probably get my DD to do it in a few years...

ETA: I don't blame you for wanting to save that $85... it's IS a lot of money every few weeks.