Ok, my natural hair color is black.
I want to dye my hair a natural looking red but the problem is that my hair is so dark that when I dye it my hair just looks black with red highlights.

People tell me that I need to bleach my hair in order for the color to show but I don't want to bleach my hair or damage it by stripping it and all that stuff. I've read through some of the other ones... but it's about fixing dyed hair.

I want to know if there is any alternative I could use to bleaching and stripping. Something less harmful to my hair than bleach but works just or almost as well.

You will need to pre-lighten your hair with bleach if you want a natural looking red color. However, some salons have professional hair coloring products that will turn your hair red in one single process without the use of bleach. You may want to check out the salons in your area and see if they can achieve your desired color without stripping your hair. Good luck.