Semi Permanent hair colour is a class of colour all on it's own that needs to be discussed and explained, even to so called "professional colour technicians".
Since my exposure to the professional world of hairstyling, it absolutely baffles me how so few professionals understand the world of semi permanent hair colour. In the constantly repeated words of my teachers, you don't have to use it, but you have to understand it.
A true semi-permanent hair colour can be characterized by any hair colour that requires no catalyst, peroxide or like chemicals. It colours hair by depositing colour that sits under the cuticle but above the cortex of the hair. No lift can be achieved with any kind of true semi-permanent hair colour. These colours will also wash out of the hair, generally in 4-6 weeks, but may be more or less depending on the hair, application, brand, and care. Popular examples of semi-permanent hair colours include Manic Panic, Raw, Colour Jams, Directions, and Special Effects. If you're not sure if your hair colour is semi-permanent or not, check the directions, if it involves mixing it with any kind of developer, it is not semi permanent.
Semi-permanent hair colour is also not to be confused with demi-permanent or colour rinses. These colours involve mixing the colour with very low concentrations of peroxide to achieve better colour deposit, and longer lasting colour than true semi permanent, but less so than true permanent colour.
Semi permanent hair colour is best applied on clean towel dried hair. Check the directions first, but most brands are made to be applied on towel dried hair. That's not to say that you wont get any results if you use it on dry hair, but I find that if it is applied on dry hair, you end up using more colour than necessary and more bleeding, always, and splotchy colour, usually. Wet or dry, the hair should be clean, in contrast to using permanent colour or bleach. Because this type of colour contains no ammonia and uses no peroxide, the less "barriers" (dirt, oil, styling products) present on the hair, the better colour result you will achieve.
As far as the hair colour, these products are usually used to achieve "fantasy" hair colours (blue, green, pink, purple) so yes, you do have to bleach your hair first. There is no product that exists that will take your naturally dark brown hair to bright blue in one application, or without bleaching. Stop asking, you have to bleach your hair, the end.
That being said, the only exception would be extra pale blonde hair, but I'm talking, "Nordic blonde" hair, or hair that is almost white-blonde. But I would still recommend using a low strength bleach first to increase the porosity of the hair, because using semi-permanent colour on hair that is not lightened (no matter now naturally light) can result in the colour looking muddy.
How long the colour stays on, is up to the manufacturer, I never leave semi-permanent colour on less than half an hour if I have the time. Also, due to the fact that these colours contain no ammonia or lightening agents, you can literally leave them in all day with no adverse effects. The longer you leave it in, the more deposit, and in my experience, the longer it lasts in your hair. So if you find that you're colouring your blue hair for 15 minutes every 2 weeks, try leaving it in longer and the colour may stick to your hair better.
I would also like to clarify that semi permanent colour DOES NOT damage the hair at all. These products are made to basically be conditioner with tons of colour in them. Therefore, colouring your hair with them once a week (ex. me) doesn't damage the hair any more than washing your hair that often. People you encounter with very damaged hair that is bright colours is most likely from them abusing bleach to lighten their hair, and not from the actual colour itself.
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