Dyed Dark Brown to Red Question

Hicolor only works on virgin hair.I know from experience.I did exactly what your attempting not very long ago.I had used a demi (med brown)And wanted to go bright red.You have been told right.Colorfix is meant for permanent color.What I did is used a color remover that was bleach based.It was also much less bleach power than if you straight up bleached.And yes you can stop it at the orangey stage to get your bright red.And make sure you use a protein filler so the color holds(demi or semi only).

Another option is to use a pro red color(not hicolor)with 30 volume.That could definitely work too.Good luck and post pics after your done.

This is what my hair looked like after stripping out the brown and using a filler.

And here's what it looked like after I applied the color.I was going for a natural red color.

HTH And good luck

if your hair is dark brown and you want to go to a bright red a demi permanent hair color will not work! It might leave a redish tint to your dark brown hair but it won't do much else. Semi permanent and Demi permanent hair color do not LIFT the hair color to a lighter color. Only permanent haircolor can provide the necessary lift to go from dark brown to a vibrant red.

Do you currently have any artificial hair color in your hair? If so what is it? Remember you can't put more artificial color over previously colored hair as it will not lift the artificial pigment from the original haircolor so it will only appear darker.

Bleaching your hair to an orange state then toning could work however you hair should be examinded by a professional to determine if you hair can withstand the bleaching safely without breaking off at or near the scalp. If your lifting more than 2 levels of color then you should probably have a little ash in your haircolor mixture as a drabber to control unwanted brassiness that could result from bleaching out and exposing the underlying pigment. If you add some ash don't add too much possibly limit it to 10% of your color mixture. I wouldn't go any higher than that especially if your bleaching the hair. Don't go any lighter than orange or you could end up with pink hair if you accidentially bleach to a dull blonde color. If that does occur you would need to add a filler back into the hair to add that underlying pigment you accidentially just bleached out of your hair back into your hair before adding the haircolor back in.

After to care for your hair get some shampoo for color treated hair and condition it often.

G'luck