I started using sun-in when I swam on the community swim team the summer before 7th grade. Between that and the chlorine, my hair was FRIED! Took a long time to get healthy again (sun in is the devil! Do they still sell it?).
Probably had my first highlights when I was around 14. My hair is naturally a light brown/dark blonde and I had light blond highlights. My first time, they used the cap. My hair was pretty long at the time, I have no idea why they used the cap. The pain was incredible of them poking and pulling my hair through! Looked fabulous, but not worth the pain.
I would occasionally get highlights throughout high school, or do the random coloring on myself. Never tried home highlighting, but would dye my hair a lighter shade. Never tried any funky colors or anything too radical, that's probably why I never had any horrible hair stories to tell.
Though my senior year, I cut about a foot off of my long, gorgeous highlighted hair, and then bleached it pretty light. It looked TERRIBLE, I didn't understand back then that it was way too light for my features, especially when I don't wear a ton of makeup.
Now I get my hair highlighted & cut approx every 3-4 months by a wonderful stylist in Shadyside. He does a FANTASTIC job and usually does 3 different shades of highlights. He's not cheap, but not ridiculously expensive, and he's worth every penny
