Hair dye map of Britain (Essex home of the red head)

DIY hair colour proved a beauty hit in 2011 with Brits keen to tighten their purse strings and dye their hair at home rather than at a pricey salon.

Emma Stone is one of the many celebs who have reached for the red hair dye

To celebrate the home hair dye revolution, staff at Superdrug have been looking at hair dye sales across the country to identify where the not so natural blondes, brunettes and red heads live.

2011 was undoubtedly the year of the red head, with sales of red hair dye doubling and celebs including Emma Stone, Amy Childs and Christine Hendrix all rocking the fiery colour. Sheffield came top of the list for red dye sales, with Essex coming in a close second.

Those looking for natural red heads should head to Liverpool, which topped the charts for products designed to enhance hair with red and ginger tones.

They say blondes have more fun, and we reckon this might just be the case in seaside party town Brighton, which was identified as the area that had the most natural blondes. The research showed that stores in the town sell more blonde enhancing shampoos and conditioners than anywhere else.

For the not-so natural blondes, there’s no shame in faking it. Newcastle proved to have the most bottle blondes in the UK.

Who didn’t long for Kate Middleton’s perfect tresses in 2011? And the Duchess effect had a big impact on hair dye choices too; with sales of brunette dye rocketing after the Royal wedding. The town which has more bottle brunettes than any other is Wolverhampton.

Simon Comins, Superdrug director of toiletries said: “It’s fascinating looking at the differences between best sellers across the country.  Who would have thought that Sheffield is a town of fiery, fake, redheads while you’ll find the real thing in Liverpool.

“This year we’ve been inundated with more women than ever before who are now becoming home hair colouring experts no longer afraid to pick up a bottle and become the woman they always wanted to be, whether that’s a blonde, brunette or red head.”