Hair Dye VS. Bleach Blonde

[NikkiSpags]

Hey everyone!!  I am stuck in a bind where I cannot afford to go to a salon to get my hair colored for a while.  Some months ago I went from my natural color (in my picture) to bleach blonde on top and like a chocolate-brown underneath.  I've had my roots done a few times at the salon and, as much as I love getting pampered, I cannot afford the $100 visits to get the roots bleached and the entire underneath re-colored (they do not use a permanent color underneath so by the time I go to get my blonde roots done, the under color has faded so much it needs completely recolored).  

So my options are....I can either attempt to bleach my roots and recolor my brown at home -OR- find a single color for my whole head and do it at home.  I am 27 and have never dealt with bleaching my hair before without a professional, so I have no idea what to expect because I've always been darker browns or natural.  Also, I was thinking of coloring my hair one color..like a dark to medium brown, or even brown/black.  The only thing I worry about is if I put one color in my hair won't the end result be different where the blonde was compared to the brown underneath?  I don't know what is safe to put over top of bleach blonde hair. 

I'm afraid to just take the risk without some feedback.  I'm a corrections officer so if something goes wrong I can always whip out the handy hat and wear it at work..problem is that the temperatures here are in the 80-90s for the next couple months and a girls gotta hit the beach.

Any help would be appreciated.  Thanks!!

 

[feemia]

I've always colored my hair myself. I've used demi-permanent color and ammonia-free permanent color without any problems. Bleaching at home scares me. There's so much opportunity to damage your hair.