Pre pigging? Please advise!

If you don't want to give up the crazy colors, you don't have to 🙂  Myself and quite a few others here have gone through "no bleach" phases to save the health of our hair - the unnatural colors look great with roots!  It's a nice way to grow your hair out and still have fun with your hair since you can change the bleached portion.

That being said, if you really do want to go dark - yes, you will need to pre-pigment your hair if you don't want it to fade to weird colors.  And yes, you can do it with semi dyes.  You will first need to dye your hair an orange based red.  Then you can dye your brown of choice over the top.  If you want a lighter brown that fades blonde, that is possible too.  Instead of pre-pigmenting you would just need to mix a warm brown with a cool brown.

Thanks for your reply BabyJ! I'm definitely going to give it a go with the roots and crazy colours! If I do decide to go brunette or a very deep red or purple in a semi permanent, do you know if Scott Cornwall colour restore deep red toner would be suitable for pre pigging? I have ready that you can use it for that http://m.boots.com/h5/cat_hub?unCountry=uk&path=/en/Scott-Cornwall-Colour-Restore-Deep-Red-Hair-Toner-100ml_1262300/

Also, when it came to pre pigging and I had roots, would I apply the red colour to my roots also before putting on the semi permanent and would it all go the same colour? One thing I can't bare is "root glow"

Would a direct red dye like directions not be suitable for pre pigging? Failing to see the difference between this Scott Cornwall stuff and a temporary dye like directions, although I'm sure there probably is one x

It is not necessary to destroy your hair with bleach, especially just root touch ups. So if you want to continue to bleach you can if you do it sensibly. Unfortunately many stylists are not great with bleach, and use stronger than necessary products to get you to the desired colour as quickly as possible.
You could get a nice blonde shade over that base too, if that is still your goal, it is all about the toner.

Honestly wicked Pixie I agree with what you are saying but they fried the hair at my temples so badly that it completely disintegrated so it would be a very long time before I would ever go near bleach again. Am I right in thinking that those areas also wouldn't handle permanent colour and that I will need to stick to semi only?

Do you think that scott Cornwall toner above would be the right pre pigment for me given the shade of blonde that I am under the lilac? Does directions work for pre pigging or is it not as pigmented?

Also what about the protein fillers do you think I need one? I'm currently using Philip Kingsley elasticiser if that means anything?

Permanent dyes also bleach the hair, they remove natural pigments before depositing the artificial ones. So yes, avoid anything that uses peroxide basically.
You can get any natural shade with Adore, you can mix and dilute to get a custom shade. They have both natural and unnatural shades, and are really long lasting. You will get a better pre-pigmenting red with Adore than Directions IMO.

Would you use adore over Scott Cornwall for pre pigment? Thank you for your help x

I would return the Scott Cornwall. I wouldn't bother with it at all.

What would you buy for the pre pigging then please? Heading to boots now I can't stand the faded mess since I washed it with a clarifying shampoo. I'm crispy 🙁 so gutted about what's been done to my hair c

I wouldn't use anything. I've never heard of doing it twice. Honestly, just seems like a waste of time and dye!

You have never heard of pre pigment when going from bleach blonde to dark brown? Honestly it's all I have read about online lol anyway I went ahead and did it, used the red (which went pretty bright pink, don't know if that matters) followed by a chocolate brown semi permanent which I hate by the way , plus condition is worse than ever. guess there is not a lot I can do now 🙁 so sad x

Was it a box 'semi permanent'? If so, they are not true semis, they are actually demi permanent which is exactly the same as a permanent dye but with less ammonia. That bottle of developer is peroxide, it will damage your hair, hence my advice to avoid anything with peroxide.

If you had used a true semi/direct dye such as Adore you can dye straight over bleached hair without adding any red back in first as long as you choose a warm brown.

I See yes that makes perfect sense now that it's been explained that way. I didn't realise that adore did semi, I thought it was the same as a direct dye like directions. I didn't see the peroxide in the ingredients until right before I used it at home. I think all I can do now is kiss goodbye to my purple hair and use a temp to even out and top up the colour of the brown.
Thank you for your help. What a mess, I have always been so careful with my hair and the condition was fantastic, it's really shocking me it being in this state x

If I was to use adore on top of this, would this semi fade? Or would I be locking in this undesirable colour whilst using the adore? I don't know wether I leave it and let it all wash out (though box semis never seem to do they?) or wether to cover it with a temporary.

(Moderator combined posts)

I've heard of using pre filler, or pre pig as you call it which I've not heard before, just never doing it twice, like you were saying with doing the yellow first then a red or using the Scott Cornwall stuff then another dye. Just seems like a waste when you can use an orange based red. Or as wicked pixie says, just do it in one go with adore.

I didn't realise that adore did semi, I thought it was the same as a direct dye like directions.

It is a direct dye like Directions, ie a true semi permanent dye that cannot damage your hair.
Box semis don't ever wash out because they are chemically bonded to your hair, it is only the visible colour that is 'semi permanent' the affect on your hair is totally permanent.