Hello there!
Right off the bat, there is a difference in the hair dyes from Lime Crime. The product is available in two versions: Full Coverage and Tint. Today I’ll go through the Tint, which is different from the Full Coverage when it comes to the performance.
The tub I have is in the shade Kawaii, which I would actually call Strawberry Bubblegum.
The tub is very pretty and doesn’t look anything like typical hair dye packages, but it’s very much Lime-Crime-style. The product comes in a transparent plastic tub with a nice pink sticker with overflowing lettering.
Also, there are two silver unicorns depicted on the screw cap.
Under this ‘cover’ you can find the detailed directions for use, which I’m going to discuss a little later.
You can find the full list of ingredients on the left from the name of the product. It is written with white letters on pink paper. It’s only discernible when you have your glasses on.
Water/Eau, Cetyl Alcohol, Glycerin, Stearalkonium Chloride, Glyceryl Stearate, PEG-100 Stearate, Propylene Glycol, Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, Hydrolyzed Adansonia Digitata Seed Extract, Quaternium-52, Cetearyl Alcohol, Ceteareth-20, Tetrasodium EDTA, Citric Acid, Fragrance (Parfum), Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone. May Contain/Puet Contenir [+/-]: Acid Violet 43 CI 60730, Basic Blue 3 CI 51004, Basic Blue 7 CI 42595, Basic Blue 99 CI 56059, Basic Brown 16 CI 12250, Basic Orange 1 CI 11320, Basic Red 2 CI 50240, Basic Red 14 CI 48016, Basic Red 22 CI 11055, Basic Red 51, Basic Violet 2 CI 42520, Basic Violet 13 CI 42536, Basic Yellow 29, Basic Yellow 40. CRUELTY FREE & VEGAN.
From the ingredients we can say that it’s obviously not a permanent hair dye.
Also, the stuff is cruelty-free and vegan, so ‘no unicorns were harmed in the making of this product.’ The claim is written all over the package, incl. the right side of the sticker.
The shade is indicated not only above the barcode, but also on the front of the tub. However, it’s more legible above the barcode.
Made in USA.
The new tub is protected with a paper upper lid under the screw cap.
The hair dye itself even looks yummy!
Thanks for letting me know that it’s a hair tint and not a fruit jam
However, the performance of this product is not far from the hair dyeing performance of a fruit jam. Well, first things first.
The manufacturer provides the following suggested use:
For best results, start with clean, unconditioned, dry hair. Tints work best with pre-bleached platinum to pale blonde hair.
Wear protective gloves and pour desired amount into a bowl.
Section hair into 4 even sections (front to back & side to side) and secure with clips. Work in 1 inch wide strands. Apply color evenly from root to tip with applicator brush. Begin at the root of the hair, applying color evenly through to the ends. Massage each strand with fingers, root to tip, to ensure even distribution of color.
Leave Tints in for 45 minutes. No heat/cap required. For more intense, longer-lasting results, leave color in for 1-2 hours. Don't worry, Unicorn Hair will not damage your hair, as it does not contain any harsh chemicals or bleach!
Rinse hair in cool to lukewarm water until hair feels clean. More intense shades may not rinse clear for the first few washes. Do not shampoo. Conditioner optional.
Style to your liking & enjoy your new Unicorn Hair!
Always do a patch & strand test to make sure you feel comfortable using Unicorn Hair, & to determine the color saturation you like.
The warnings and cautions take up even more place on the package than the suggested use. The information is quite typical: take a strand test, do not use on the face or in the immediate eye area, etc. Therefore I won’t be talking much about it.
Thanks to L'oreal Colorista I learnt how to apply such hair dyes with my hands only without using any bowls or applicator brushes. I had the following tools during application this time:
The gloves, a hairdressing cape and a brush to distribute the product better.
This tint is easy to pick up from the tub with my hands in gloves, so there's no need to stain a bowl.
The dark-pink cream spreads out in my hair perfectly and doesn’t flow. It covers each hair really well and behaves amazingly during the application, actually. It took me no more than 15 minutes to apply the tint.
The tub with 200 ml was enough to apply on my long hair generously twice. I left it on 2 hours as required and put on a hair claw for convenience’ sake.
The hair dye washes off easily, without dyeing my white bathtub. The hair conditioner is not really necessary after use, as the amount of glycerine in the ingredients is enough to seal the hair.
By the way, this product smells so yummy! It reminds me of something like fruit sweets and almond. I don’t feel any smell of traditional ammonia hair dyes at all.
Here are the results.
My before hair:
The picture is taken by artificial lighting
Basically, I wanted to color the middle part of my hair that has faded after the Loreal Colorista hair dye. Also, I was really curious how Lime Crime would behave on my tips where there was still a hint of green left.
I hoped to get a more or less smooth and even color.
My after hair:
The unfiltered picture by daylight
Spot the 10 differences, as the saying goes
This tint has smoothed out the hint of yellow in my hair and gave it a little bit of strawberry pink. The green tips became just a little bit more pinkish and more pastel-like. All in all, I loved the result, but I expected something more than this.
The bleached part of my hair had a nice shade only till I washed my hair for the second time. The result on my green tips lasted longer, for about 3 weeks.
Oh, right...The bright blue hair claw I used during the hair dyeing process didn’t get any color after use, although it has a rubberized cover that absorbs the pigment quite easily.
Although my tips didn’t get any hint of yellow after a while, I wouldn’t recommend you try this hair tint. I guess the before and after difference would be obvious for you, if I hadn’t explained everything
The result is not what I expected to see after two hours of leaving it on my hair. Yes, I know that it’s just a tint, but…
The product retails for $16 on the official website, but some shades are on sale for the time being, so you can purchase them for only $8. The Kawaii shade retails for full price at the moment. By the way, keep in mind that there are Full Coverage and Tint versions when purchasing.
