Professional Hair Color at Home...

Morning
If you haven't tried this already.. there are shampoos that have color in them, I USED to use artec when my hair was on the redder side.. It takes a couple of shampoos to amp up the color... then if you want to change it out, you wash it a few times... Also, the Artec can be used in conjunction with hairdyes.. so if you do dye your hair and the color starts to look dull, you can use the artec to give it more vibrance... this is one way of getting color..

the other. I used naturtint.. it's easier on the hair than say loreal or sally... (at least for me) I like it because it's not a strong, covers grey and although this part I don't necessarily like, it doesn't stay quite as long as other stronger dyes..but then again, i don't want the something too harsh..

I use a med to light brown... after about two weeks, it does lighten up quite a bit... not to blonde... but at least one shade lighter of brown... so this might be something that could work for you..

good luck

i don't think there's a lot of room to dance in the middle of this. i've used good ol' miss clairol in the past (haven't colored in several years now) and it was very nice, but yeah, it has to grow out. and i've used the manic panics and sally's stuff which was fun, but yeah, washes out very quickly.
if you want temporary results, i'd stick with the sally's stuff that doesn't damage your hair and just do it more frequently.
and then you have the option of shocking the world with fuchsia from time to time!
:) khairete
S.

The difference between a demi and a semi is the following -

Demi - you're right, has the developer (unlike semi). The developer is what opens the cuticle (shaft) of your hair allowing the color to go in. That's why they last longer than semis.

Semi - so this has no developer at all to open the hair cuticle, so it just deposits only. It washes out that much quicker.

I am not sure why your semi permanent color did not wash out over time (the black) unless you have really porous or fine hair (or damaged) like had highlights or something at one point. Then your hair will suck the color (deposits) up. That could be why. Ends tend to be more brittle/porous also.

Developer opens that shaft right - so your hair will be a little more damaged than if you hadn't colored your hair. Shouldn't be too bad though.

Remember too that even if the dark color does wash out over time, the top of your hair lightens naturally in the sun so it can look that much darker in comparison.

If there really is a buildup of color on the ends, you can try using a clarifying shampoo on the ends to try to remove the demi or semi permanent color.

Not sure if that helped :) good luck!

I've never dyed my hair. But, when the day comes, I'm heading to the salon. I just think some things need to be done by professionals:)

You make it sound so complicated. Get a box of hair color and do your hair the color you want. It doesn't wash out. Use a complimentary color. Millions of women permanently color their hair every day and have no problems.

I use eSalon to get my hair color every 6 weeks. I use demi-permanent, and even with that, my color (I go darker than natural) fades pretty significantly over the following 2-3 weeks before it "settles".

I agree with Gamma. You're way over thinking this. Just do it. If you hate it, you can dye it back. That's the beauty of hair color.