I have been dying my hair dark natural/neutral blonde for a year and a half now, and I have been basically pleased with the results. The problem is that the color fades to a slight brassy/orangy tone after a while, and it is overall a little bit redder in tone than my eyebrows, which just doesn't seem right to me. This is true even though I am using a neutral base.

I was blonde when I was young, but my natural hair color (and roots) are a solid medium brown and I am about 20 percent gray.

I would like to drop down to a light brown, but I would also like to drop some of this red/orange tendency in my hair. I am afraid that an ash brown will be too dull and may leave a bluish cast on those gray hairs.

Is there any way for someone with my profile to get a natural light brown with some yellow (not orange or red) highlights? I may be too depressed if I am a solid brown, so a little two-tone lift with the highlights would be nice.

Thanks in advance for your help.

You could mix half of your regular color with half of an ash color so you'll still get some golden highlights, but they'll be a little more toned down. You'd buy two boxes of color, only use one of the peroxides and half of each color.