I had my hair colored last summer, I got a range from brown, light brown and some almond slices (that's what the colorist called my light blonde highlights LOL). I LOVED LOVED my color, it was so dope. She did an amazing job and is all about healthy hair, so she didn't blow out my cuticles by raising the color too fast etc. My hair was extremely healthy and still grew with no issues. I upped my moisture/protein but nothing crazy; I didn't feel like a slave to my hair.
The only thing I didn't like is that, while I was natural, I was getting BKT treatments. The BKT treatments always altered my hair color to make it lighter, so I wound up having to keep darkening my hair to a dark blonde after each BKT. I still never experienced damage, thankfully, but it was just a lot of work after a while.
When I'm fully natural again (ran out and got a relaxer all willy nilly, smh), I will likely go back to her and get a full head of color again.
I think it's important to go to someone who doesn't just do one-for-all color, and who is a COLORIST, not a stylist. Huge difference. She even added some precious oil mixture to the color mix, and my hair felt like SILK when she was done.