To get a really bright red, you'd need to start off with lighter-colored hair, unfortunately. I'm the same way... would love flame-red, but would have to bleach (and I'm both too worried about damage, and don't want a two-step process for doing my roots).
However, you might check out the thread about lightening your hair with Sun-In, as I think some consider this less-harsh than one-time bleaching.
Root touch-ups just aren't that bad, though I admit I tend to procrastinate on them until I have several inches to do.
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