Ombre is "the Hombre"

I apologize for my horrible attempt at a play on words.  Lately the Hollywood hair trend seems to be "Ombré" highlights.  While in Spanish ombre means "man," in French, ombré translates to shadow. This particular color technique is defined by dying the hair so that the roots are dark, and gradually fade out to a lighter color at the ends.  If done right, the finished result looks like summer hair which has grown out just enough to make a fall debut.  OK OK, essentially it is an upscale version of "I'm-too-poor-to-keep-paying-for-highlights-and-my-roots-are-outta-control," but I am obsessed with this look...  I've noticed, however, that I am particular about how I like it. 

For example:

The looks above are done so well...  There isn't too much contrast between the root color and the end color, and there is a really nice gradient of in-between colors.  The picture of Hillary Duff is my favorite!  If I were to get this done, I would bring lots of her photos.  She has an beautiful, subtle, natural looking gradient of colors.

I do worry, however, that if I were to get ombré highlights, I would come out of the salon looking like this... In which case I would have to "burn down the barber shop."  Most stylists I've talked to agree on one thing: this isnt' a good look for girls with short hair, there just isn't room enough for the blending of colors.  Rachael Bilson looks like she really did run out of money in her Hair Fund.  The photo on the end just screams "NO!" Thank goodness it is a wig.

So I'm curious...