The smokey rose hair color of your dreams is finally available–and it’s beautiful.

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I finally got my hands on the new line of Lime Crime Unicorn Hair Dye. It’s been in the making for 3 years, is vegan, cruelty-free, and won’t damage your hair. Can you see why I’ve been so excited?! Plus all of the colors are to die for. There are a lot of unique shades that I haven’t been able to find anywhere else on the market. Sext is one of those. When I first laid eyes on this gorgeous mauve color I knew I had to have it. And with a hilarious name like Sext, how could anyone pass up the opportunity?

It only took about a week for my order to get here, but I was so eager that it felt like forever. When it finally arrived and I opened the box, it was well worth the wait.

Can we just talk about the packaging? The inside of the mailing box is actually printed like this. And the dye itself comes wrapped in pretty pink tissue paper. Also, I low key can’t stop rolling the bottle from side to side just to watch the iridescent letters change color.

What to Know Before You Begin

First off, let’s cover a few disclaimers. I’m not a pro. But I’ve been bleaching and dyeing my hair at home for years. So I know my way around a good hair dye sesh.

Also, Sext is a hair tint, which according to Lime Crime will give you a pastel result. The Unicorn Hair line has other shades that are full coverage. Those will give you more of a bright and saturated look. For what I’m looking for, a tint seemed perfect. But keep in mind, unless your hair is a pale platinum blonde or white, a tint probably won’t show up at all. If you’ve got darker hair, either reach for the bleach or opt for a full coverage shade that might show up a little better.

Here is my hair in all of it’s fresh-out-of-bed glory. It’s also the color my hair was before using Sext. You can see that my roots are yellow from being bleached recently, and the rest of my hair has a slight peachy undertone from my previous pink. But overall, the color is still super light.

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What You Need:

• Lime Crime Unicorn Hair in Sext: Because obviously.

• Mixing Brush: I only use this to mix up my dye, but you might want to use it for application also.

• Mixing Bowl: The bottle opening isn’t very large, so you’ll need to pour your dye in something.

* Some people like to use gloves when dyeing hair. If that’s you, then get some of those too. But just so you know, I found that totally unnecessary for myself. Everyone has their own way of doing thing though, so do as you please!*

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Dyeing Instructions

1. Pour the dye in your mixing bowl. For my length and thickness of hair, I used about half of the bottle.

2. Mix up the dye. I don’t even know if this is necessary, as the color is premixed and I didn’t add anything to it. But I just wanted to cover all my bases incase the dye settled at all during the shipping process.

*Also, as you can see from the picture, my hair is damp from the shower I took before beginning. The directions say not to do this, so naturally I didn’t listen. According to the “Tips & Tricks” card Lime Crime threw in with the dye, I should “start with clean, unconditioned, dry hair.” Clean hair? Check. I just showered. Unconditioned? Um, no. Unicorn hair and no conditioner don’t go together. My hair is bleached and fried, so I wouldn’t be able to run a comb through it otherwise. But do as you will! Dry hair? Clearly not. I find that dye distributes way more easily when my hair is damp. Distributes easily=using less dye=more bang for your buck. Incase you’re wondering, ignoring half of the instructions didn’t affect my hair color in the end, so take that information and do what’s best for you!*

3. Apply the dye. I didn’t take any pictures of this stage because it’s not pretty and I don’t really have a magical method. I literally take globs of dye on my bare hands and rub it on my head like I’m shampooing my hair. Then I work the strands between my fingers to ensure the color is evenly distributed and not just sitting on top. I know you’re supposed to section your hair off and paint the dye on with your brush. But that’s so time consuming and feels unnecessary to me. Pastels like Sext don’t stain your hands, so if you use my method, clean up is still super easy.

4. Check in the mirror for missed patches. This is my hair after the dye has been fully applied. I didn’t miss any spots this time, but I always check in the mirror just to make sure I’ve covered my whole head.

5. Wait 2 hours. Lime Crime says to leave the dye on for 30 minutes for a pastel shade and 1-2 hours for more intense results. Seeing as how Sext is just a tint to begin with, I opted for the full 2 hours.

6. Wash your hair in cold water. This is my hair after waiting the full 2 hours. You can tell the color looks darker and more saturated than it did at first, which is exactly what I wanted. Right after this I hopped in the shower and rinsed all the dye out under cold water. Like, really cold. It sucks to stand in a freezing shower, but it helps to seal the color in. I didn’t use any shampoo since I had already earlier. But here’s the kicker: I didn’t use conditioner either! The dye is so nourishing that for the first time I actually didn’t need it. Once all the dye was rinsed out, I blowdried without styling and…

The Results

This was the result! The color is absolutely beautiful!

First Impressions

This dye smells AMAZING–sort of like a fresh conditioner scent. I think that speaks volumes for the dye formula itself. You can tell there aren’t harsh chemicals or secret hair killing ingredients. Yay for healthy hair! Also the smell lasts even after rinsing out the dye. I had my nose stuck in my hair the rest of the day. No shame.

It also went a lot further than I thought it would. At $16 I was sad to think I would only get one use out of it. But a little goes a long way, and I’m happy I’ll be able to use it twice. $8 a pop sounds a lot better.

I was surprised how beautiful the color was and how well it stuck to my hair. After reading some of the comments on this dye, I was a little hesitant to try it. Some people said it turned their hair green and others said it didn’t take at all. But for me, that couldn’t be further from the truth. I’ll just chalk that up to it being likely that my hair was lighter to begin with than others who have had trouble. I achieved a true smokey mauve color–and I love it. It’s the first dye I have tried that doesn’t look like a highlighter for the first couple of days before taking on a more tame pastel tone. I finally can stop suffering through that awkward stage.

The color grabbed a little more at my roots, which could be due to them being freshly bleached. Whatever the reason, I actually love the effect. It looks like I have a slight ombre even though it was totally unintentional!

           

The only thing I will say is that the color swatch on the website is definitely brighter than I think anyone would be able to achieve with this dye. I’ve included both the original (first) and my edited version (second) to show what I believe is a more true color swatch. The actual color is just a little lighter and less saturated. But I actually love the desaturated version. It’s even more stunning, in my opinion.

This shade is beautiful, but sadly I don’t think it will last long. It seems like it will wash out after just a couple showers, so I’m going to do everything I can to keep from washing my hair. Dry shampoo, dry shampoo, dry shampoo.

Final Thoughts

This is the color I have sought after for so long. I’m so glad I took the plunge and decided to try this hair dye. I couldn’t be happier! I absolutely love my new smokey mauve hair. And so do others! I just went out in public with it for the first time, picked up a pizza, and got a compliment from the cashier on how unique and pretty my hair color is. And it’s so true. Lime Crime Unicorn Hair in Sext is truly unlike anything else out there.

I would absolutely 100% buy this dye again. If I dye my hair once every week to keep up with this color, that’s only $32 a month–which is way less than you’d pay at any salon. If you have shorter hair, you could probably get 3 or 4 uses out of it. Totally worth it. I’m so in love with the dye formula that I might even branch out and try another shade. Now that I’ve tried one, I’m confident the others will be just as beautiful!

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