Stuck in a rut...ideas please!

Hi all,

I currently have dark brown hair that I'm bored of.  I've tried to get it med/dark red by colorfixing, pre-pigmenting and dying red...but the colour just goes brown again.  I only use drugstore dyes which is a problem because they don't have enough peroxide in to lift my hair colour enough from a colorfixed orangey light brown to red...the colour just won't hold.

Now I want a kind of plum hair colour, or cherry..something rich and vibrant but not too shocking.  I'm naturally light blonde and roots are always a pain in the ass, but it will be easier to manage with red or purple because my hair shouldn't go black every time I dye.  At the moment, every time I dye my hair brown it goes darker on my lengths than my roots, even though I've left the colour on my roots for ages.

I'm contemplating colorfixing and bleaching to really get my hair light enough to change.  I've bleached once before but that's probably 6 - 8 inches down my head now...and it had been dyed over so many times.  I've kept it brown for a while now to let the bleach grow out more and for my hair to get healthier...but obviously now half of my head is extremely porous and the top half isn't at all.

Any suggestions on products that could work well or any advice please?  I cannot afford the salon for what I want them to do for me...I'm a poor student!

Thanks

Thanks so much for the advice 
I'll bleach again but not down to blonde.  Thanks again!

When you used colorfix before, how light did your hair become after?  You could possibly dye it a red color of the same level after colorfixing..and maybe get a red color that's brighter than what you anticipate.  What black dye do you use?  I had the same problem with my hair, but I found that using a deep rebuilding  conditioner at least once a week and using a protein rebuilder conditioner regularly seems to help my hair hold color better.  Since you can't do much currently, just work on improving the condition of your hair.  Also, you can try a filler (if available in the UK)...maybe even a red filler?   And use a demi-permanent color rather than permanent...permanent won't hold as well on porous hair.  (sorry if I'm just telling you stuff you already know)  I recently tried Clairol Radiance Demi-Permanent colorgloss and it is still holding in my porous hair.  I've tried a couple other products and Clairol Radiance worked well for me (as far as holding the color goes).  Good luck :)

Hey L~  Glad I caught this post so now I feel like I'm a bit more up to date with how things are going with you