Hair Color Question

When the new Feria product came on the market I was so excited about the exotic hair colors from the commercials that I rushed to the store and bought a box. It didn't take because my hair color is dark, so I waited a couple of months and re-colored. Even after dying it twice, I never took the time to read that it is a permanent color.My hair is naturally black/dark brown (of African ancestry)and the color is still dark but has a hint of reddish brown in it. It looks very good but, I don't want to use permanents anymore because I've heard that they are very damaging. But I still want to color my hair. I haven't died my hair since about April or May and was wondering if I can put semi-permanent color on my hair now instead of permanent. Since semi-permanent fades out over time I'm hoping that it's not as damaging as permanent hair color. And after time the permanent will grow out eventually and then if i don't want to color anymore the semi-permanent will fade.So, that is my question.... Can I use semi-permanent over permanent hair color?