ES,
I agree witht he other posters, esp. VG who - quiet as it's kept - is the ORGINAL hair color guru. I got my Adore and my Textures and Tones recs. from HER /images/graemlins/grin.gif so she's the real expert....
That said - I agree with her completely that Adore will cetainly give you the best shot at removable color, but majorly darkening hair that has been previously lightened - especially if they are highlights and not just regular permie color - is tricky.
Your highlighted hair is extra porous. Relaxers make the hair porous themsleves so your porosity has survived a double whammy. What this means generally, is that the hair will grab anything that is put onto it more than it would otherwise -conditioners, moisturizers and especially dark colors. This is not a good thing - this is what makes it hard to stabilize the moisture levels in the hait after a color, but it's liveable as you know - and as ever I digress..../images/graemlins/look.gif
My experience using colors that are several (even as little as two - red hair taken to a light brown, light brown taken to a deep brown) levels darker has not been favorable on the rinse out tip. They almost never come out competely. If you don't choose something REALLY dark (and you go with for ex. like a nice red with golden undertones or a color similar to what you have now with your highlights) you MAY be able to tone done brassiness and still retain the color you have with no problem. But going any darker than a very light golden brown right might be impossible to remove in the Spring depending on how porous your hair is. And even that might be a trial.
I would shine it up with a nice clear rinse or a colored rinse that is the same color as the highlights and let it rock until the summer. I have tried to take my color gradually darker all fall and winter long using only reds and very light browns, and now I am pretty sure that the bright blond base I began with is gone forever - which will mean that I will need to do some thinking about my summer look. I know I'm going to want a sunny look - especially when the weather gets warmer and without re-applying my permie color I'm not sure how I'm going to manage that.
But good luck to you... and I hope this helped.
