Pre pigging? Please advise!

I read I should "pre pigment" with red before dying either dark brown or red but it makes more sense now to think that it only applies to box dies because of the peroxide. I realise that the effects are permanent, just wondering if the colour will fade out completely or not. in my experience they don't tend to, but in the past I had only ever been a brunette using different shades of brunette so it wasn't all that clear just how much the colour faded.

No, it won't ever fade out entirely on its own. You would need to use a colour remover or bleach to get it out.

Am I right in thinking that adore dye is one hundred percent no damage? If so can you please advise me which colours will show on a mid reddish brown? x

Yes, Adore is totally safe, it just coats the hair, no chemical reaction involved.
What colour do you want?

Maybe a purple? Or a very deep dark red (not a brighter red) and if they weren't an option then I suppose a deep dark brown. Thank you for replying.

These all came up when searching "dark tulip on brown hair" but you can't trust google images. I like each of these -

The first one obviously I know isn't dark tulip, any idea how I could achieve that sort of purple? For the minute in the house I have tonnes of sealed tubs of lilac which I'm hoping they might be willing to exchange, and an open pot of violet, would violet take any effect at all on reddish brown hair or is it meant only for blonde? (I know this lilac is for very light blonde only, that's what I was using before) x

I don't think you'll get a bright purple like the ones in those photos now that you've dyed your hair a semi brown. It would've worked over the blonde or the lilac. Can I ask why you used a semi brown when you now want a purple when you already had lilac? I'm just confused what you want really. Could you post a pic of the colour you have now?

Also the Adore dyes are non damaging. I'm using a dark brown over my previously bright hair while I let my natural colour grow through and the fade isn't too bad, I just add a little colour to my conditioner sometimes

To be honest it all started because the hair dresser made such a mess of my highlighted hair, then my friend who is a hair dresser tried to fix it for me and I hated the mega blonde look, so I used the lilac as a temporary measure and loved the colour but I hated the grey fade on my damaged looking hair and I think  in my mind I thought that if I died it brown the condition would appear better but I was so wrong. I really regret it now. Honesty I don't think I know what I want at this point other than healthy hair which is not possible! The "brown" is actually more of a pinkish murky red. Will post a pic thanks. I was planning on leaving my hair without washing for a while just because of the damage but do you think it would be wise to wash it today while the semi is fresh to remove more of the colour? X

I would get some Joico K-Pak deep penetrating reconstructor if you can for your hairs condition(I get it from Amazon) leave it on for about 20 mins, rinse, then condition. If you want to remove the current colour then I would suggest decolour remover (not the stripper) but it is quite drying on the hair. Adores colours are great, non damaging, though they do fade but like I said you can add a little of the colour to conditioner when you wash your hair to help with that. There's some photos in the natural hair colour photos thread of Adore shades over various bases http://www.hairdyeforum.com/index.php?board=33.0

Edit to add - Oh just saw your photos! Your hair doesn't look too bad a colour to be honest. Reds and darker purples may cover it, when you said semi brown I thought it was going to be a lot darker. You may be able to shift it a bit with some head and shoulders left on it for about 30mins, condition after cause its drying!

Thank you! To be honest I daren't do anything at all that would dry it at the moment, I have never ever experienced such dry damaged hair before and I'm scared to death! I have a litre of Philip Kingsley elasticiser, do you know if it's as good as the product you mentioned in your opinion? It says not to use for three days after or prior to colouring because it could fade the colour do it seemed a good idea to Smother my hair in it and wrap up in cling film since the condition is crying out for it and if it's fades the colour who cares! It will just give me more options when it comes to picking a direct dye! Thanks so much for all your help, would you mind posting a pic of the sort of purple you would expect me to come out with on a base like mine please?

My mum tried to give me elasticiser. I can't remember what was in it, but I rejected it for some reason. Might have had lots of silicones? Honestly no idea. I'm certain it wasn't the best though and went with a lot of hype. I would get the k pak as most love it. I have to be very sparing with it and I can't get away with putting it on for longer than 5 mins once after Ive bleached my hair. Otherwise it makes my hair worse. So I'd suggest being cautious to star with and use more if its ok. Just don't over use any protein products.

For adding protein the two best products on the market are Joico Deep penetrating reconstructor (the one Glitterpix recommended) and Aphogee two step. There is nothing you can pick up on the high street that will be anywhere near as effective as these, so worth spending the money and ordering online.
The other thing you could try would be Olaplex if you have access to it.

I have used olaplex twice now once in May when I originally went blonde before pretty much any other salon in the UK had it and I was impressed the condition was perfect, I also bought the number 3 which you use at home and didn't really think much to that, a month or so after the olaplex without adding anything to my hair, never using straighteners and mostly air drying, a lot of my hair fell out, I half wonder if the effects where not avoided but only delayed by using olaplex. The second time that olaplex was used on my hair was during my recent disaster where my hair was fried! So either they didn't actually use it, or it isn't all it's cracked up to be!!

I struggled to find a bad review for Philip Kingsley and it definitely doesn't include any silicones as Scott Cornwall mentioned the fact in a blog post, but to be honest so far (I have probably used it it about 3 times) I haven't been "wowed" however some reviews said it was all about the continued use and to stick with it.
I didn't realise it was a protein though, I read that like you say , you have to be very careful about over doing the protein. Can't afford anything else at the minute as it cost me £60 but I will try and get those mentioned above next month. Thanks c

I just looked up the PK elasticiser, and it is a silicone heavy conditioner, not a reconstructor.
http://www.philipkingsley.co.uk/philip-kingsley-elasticizer.html

Olaplex is not a miracle product, it can only do so much, but the advertising and promotion has hyped it up so much that many stylists believe they can over process hair without any damage, obviously this is not true.

Hmmm it's marketed as the ultimate reconstructor, not a conditioner, it claims to be one of the only products that penetrates the hair core (other than olaplex)

I'm so confused right now.

I also don't get it one bit if it contains silicones? Read a article by Scott Cornwall, saying to clarify your hair, get all the silicone out, blah blah blah and then apply PK elasticizer!!! Why clarify it to remove it then put it straight back in??

On a more positive note, other than some route glow, my hair which is still wet has washed out to what looks like a very very dark blonde or light golden brown. The majority of that yucky pink tone seems to have washed out.

Looking at the ingredients list in that link, it doesn't seem to have anything special in it. The beauty industry is worth millions, products are always heavily marketed, often with highly dubious terms designed to confuse or downright con the consumer out of their cash. Have you ever seen a box dye that tells you it is damaging to hair? They always claim to be 'nourishing' or 'conditioning' but it doesn't mean they aren't damaging.
Start looking at ingredients lists. They are obliged by law to state what is in the product.

ETA i found the full ingredient list for that product:

Aqua (Water), Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Glycerin, Propylene Glycol, Cetearyl Alcohol, Ethylhexyl Dimethyl PABA, Olea Europaea (Olive) Husk Oil, Cetylpyridinium Chloride, Amodimethicone, Diazolidinyl Urea, Hydrolyzed Elastin, Methylparaben, Cetrimonium Chloride, Trideceth-12, Propylparaben, Sodium Benzoate, Butylparaben, Ethylparaben, Isobutylparaben.