Burgundy red hair?

Hi guys, my name is Jen- I'm new here!

I want to dye my hair at home. I am looking for a fashion dark burgundy red color (with a slight purple tinge)- not a bright punkish red.

I would love something along the lines of this color (it is perfect):

That is John Frieda's Precision Foam Color in 3VR Deep Cherry Brown. I actually did a strand test with another one of his Foam Colors (6R Light Red Brown) and it didn't change my current color! I thought a Lighter Red would give more lift. But I guess I was wrong? Maybe its because my history of hair dyes and not using a stripper/bleach? Currently I have dyed dark brown hair.

My natural color is a very dark brown (almost black). 2008 was the first time I ever put any color products in my hair. I was 18. I bleached my virgin, coarse hair with Clairol Born Blonde Maxi and it left my hair dry and splotchy. And of course, the dreaded orange oompa-loompa brassiness. I stupidly even processed my hair twice in 2 days with the bleach. I was aiming for a medium natural brown color, but I got an unsightly orange-light brown. My hair condition was pretty poor after the bleach, but after 3 years of nearly no bleach and good conditioning, my hair is in gorgeous condition.

I lived with that for about 6 months and got it professionally dyed to a dark brown. Then I got bored of the dark brown (it also faded and went brassy) and used various at-home hair colors to get it lighter. I tried to stay away from the heavy bleach, so I used hair colors with a small amount of bleach/strippers already in it. I only used bleach for my dark roots. I touched up about once a month or so. I did that for a while until January 2011. I got professionally dyed back to a dark brown again as it does look the best on me. Between that time I touched up with Revlon Colorsilk in Black/Brown and a root-touch up product, but that was actually pointless since the dark brown is very close to my natural very dark brown color. It started to fade and go light/slightly brassy on me again. Then recently at the end of September, I got it professionally dyed again. This time, the dark brown was too dark. It looked even darker than my natural soft black/very dark brown color. I didn't like it very much and really wanted it to fade to a noticeably brown dark brown. It did fade a bit due to shampooing.

Now I want to try the purplish-red dark burgundy. I know it fades fast...which isn't so good...but I just want to do something new with my hair. I've always been aiming for things that are natural-looking (even if it doesn't always turn out that way). Now I want my hair to "pop".

I have hair that is 2-3 inches past my shoulders. My hair is coarse and I've got lots of it!

My question is: Do I have to use a bleach (ugh...I really don't want to) or a stripper (which one?) to get it light so that the red would show? Thanks!

Thank you for your help!


Edited by pinkhearts777 - December 08 2011 at 11:06pm

Thanks, ghostieboo! Will it color my hair evenly? Roots and the already-dyed parts? My roots are currently 1 shade darker than my faded colored bits.