I have very dark brown hair and LOVED the deep red lowlights that I got put in a couple of years ago. It was fairly expensive, but I can't remember exactly how much. I went to a nice place with my Mom and we had a fun pampering day With the lowlights I didn't have to worry about maintenance at all. I have since just let them grow out and I never had an akward racing stripe stage. I have no experience with dying light brown hair though

Something that I have discovered from my female friends: getting FOIL highlights done by a professional will most likely give you infinately better results than regular cap highlights, even if the cap highlights are done by a professional. It's a matter of personal taste, but that is my opinion