Hi Lisa - I have been dying my hair (myself) forever! I use a permanent medium/dark brown (Loreal Preference is my favorite). I've noticed that just everyday activities (shampooing, being in the sun, etc.) lighten my dyed hair from the brown (which is my natural color anyway) to a reddish color. Once that starts to happen and my gray roots start appearing I just re-dye it. Usually I saturate the roots and then I sort of strip it through the rest of my head with my fingers (I have a LOT of long hair). It looks pretty good. Even my hairdresser thinks I do a good job (Kudos to me!).
Funny Story...
When I was younger, I was punk living in London. I dyed my hair jet chalk black. When I returned from London to be "human" again, I was in a hair show. They used straight peroxide on my hair and left it on for 45 minutes to try and cut through the black. This left my hair bubble gum pink!! Which they then put a rinse of eggplant onto. So, I had brown roots, black, purple and pink hair! It just had to grow out.
So - I think if you just colored your hair with your natural color - after a while it would just redden anyway - mine does every time!
You could always go to a salon and ask their professional opinion without using their services.
