Ok, so you know the economy is going down the plug hole when the Sunday Times Style Magazine (my favourite sunday morning reading material) is advocating doing your own highlights at home. Today's magazine includes a how-to for what they call 'Autumn Lights', a process you could use to do the balayage trend that has been out and about for a while. I am so happy that they have put it out there. Not many people would advocate home hair bleaching, particuarly highlights, but I know how expensive it is to get it done in hair dressers and its pretty bloody easy. To create your own highlights, basically all you need to do is take a clean mascara wand, and using a light bleach bought from a chemist, paint some highlights onto the your hair, concentrating on the ends if you want the 'balayage' look. Could go horribly wrong yes, so take it slow and steady. Another blogger I know painted some light peroxide solution onto the ends of her hair in summer, and created some lovely and subtle highlights. Why buy when you can DIY?
I would also definitely advocate using a different colour for the ends - red comes to mind. A friend in Australia has done it recently and it looks a-maze-ing.