Going from semis back to permanent - how to do it?

Red can go over turquoise if it's really faded. It can turn the colour a little rusty, but it could be a cool ombre and you list mentions a rusty red and paprika so you can't be too against that. If it goes towards purple, tone with more orange. As red is a deeper tone than most faded turquoises it can cover it very well. I think you're over thinking the journey to red a bit. It's one of the most forgiving colours for an uneven base. 🙂

Red is a bad place to go to a natural colour though, depending on the colour you want to end up (natural is a bit vague 🙂 ). If it's darker than the colour you want to go it'll likely stain your hair too much.

Thanks for the reply!

To be a bit clearer, by 'natural' I mean a bold red, but not as bright as veggie dyes help you achieve - more the sort of bold red you get in permanent shades.

My main concern was whether using a permanent dye, or semi-permanent oxidative dye, over faded veggie red would be a disaster. I'm a bit concerned it will somehow bring any purple/old faded blue tones up. I did it once when I was 18 and had bleached and dyed it red, but I didn't have any other older colours lurking underneath.

I'd like to avoid having to bleach the whole thing out. I did try the bleach and hot water stripping technique a last year when I was fully turquoise and had issues with unneveness, and it went a weird splotchy muddy brown green that was impossible to dye over, and I had to bleach it a LOT to get a colour I could do anything with. It's taken a long time to grow out that damage.

There's no need to bleach it out. It's the worst thing you can do.

So we're talking what I call a "hyper natural" red then. This is the steps I'd take.

Fade the purple/turquoise as much as possible I can stand.
Use a colour remover, or three.
I'd then evaluate what I'm left with.

If it's all quite pale, red should cover it no problem. I'd do what you suggest and start off with a bright red and then gradually add more of the shade I want as it fades.

If it's still brightish in areas, but one colour, I'd tone if it were green/turquoise (with pink) to make it more neutral. That should be perfect for a bold but more muted red.

If it's still brightish in areas but mixed colours, it's more difficult. I'd just try a strand test and see what happens. It's likely a good bright red will cover it and look pretty even. Again, as it fades just add more of the tone you actually want.

Now, I'd ditch the idea of permanent red altogether. The best way with ALL reds is bleaching ONLY the roots and using direct dyes. Adore do some gorgeous "hyper natural" red shades. https://www.beeunique.co.uk/hair-dye/adore?zenid=7b6012c6c5af380ca302bc791b1c37f1 And the best bit is being able to mix them to get your perfect colour. It also means when you (inevitably) have to top up the colour (as you have to with all red dye) you won't be adding more damage. Ironically, they also last longer than permanent red. This is the tried and trusted way of many a (hyper natural!) red head that has been on the boards over the years!