Red or purple hair color for black hair w/o bleaching?

I'm thinking about dying my hair either red or purple, using either Special Effects or Manic Panic. However:

1. I have extremely thick hair.

2. I have virgin hair.

3. I have naturally black hair, and I don't want to bleach my hair.

I'm not looking for bright, extreme color, just a highlighted look, enough to where people can tell it's not just black. Does anyone have any suggestions on what I should do? And what colors would give the desired effect? Or would your recommend a semi-permanent hair color that I can buy at drugstores?

Red or purple hair color for black hair w/o bleaching?

Both of the dyes you mentioned work, but even with naturally black hair, they probably won't show up.

Black kind of makes things a murky color, instead of the cool color that the dye promises.

I know you don't want to bleach it, but a little lightening won't hurt much, and it'll make the colors stand out so much more- Plus, you can always dye it back to black later on.

Red or purple hair color for black hair w/o bleaching?

There isn't a way to go lighter if you have dark hair without bleaching it..

Red or purple hair color for black hair w/o bleaching?

Red - they fudge paintbox range is very good

Red or purple hair color for black hair w/o bleaching?

if you want to change your hair color then in my opinion red is better than purple because i saw many people in purple but it looks like holi(festival) color.

Red or purple hair color for black hair w/o bleaching?

I recently dyed my mum's black hair red but it does not turn out too well indoors (you might just be able to see a tint) but when you go outdoors, the colour is amazing.