Beauty

hot streak

hair mascara, a ’90s party staple, is back.

by faran krentcil

The rainbow-drenched trend known (by us, anyway) as Unicorn Hair is still going strong. (See the latest campaign for Wildfox Couture starring Charlotte Free and her cotton candy tresses, above.) And we've breathlessly chronicled the endless ways to get it, including dip dyes, hair extensions, pastel powder, fancier salon-only pastel powder, and wigs. Now, here's one more to add to our extensive list: Hair Mascara. You might remember is from the '90s as a must-have accessory for sleepover parties. (We got ours from the cosmetics company Sweet Georgia Brown; L'Oreal also had one back in the day.)

The drawback with old-school hair mascara was that it could leave the treated strands stringy and crunchy, and sometimes even goopy if you were putting it on with an unsteady (read: secretly drunk on your parents' vodka) hand. This new hair mascara from Sultra is a bit more manageable, thanks to advancing beauty technologies and the fact that it's been formulated by salon professionals.

The tubes come in hot pink, coral, bright blue, or purple, and cost $24 each. If you're looking for a few key streaks, or to test-drive a potential dye job, this is a great way to go. If you've got straight hair, streak the wand straight down sections of dry hair from root-to end. If you've got curly hair, do the same, but while your tresses are still damp to avoid frizz. And although it's tempting, avoid matching eye makeup or lipstick to "complete" the punky look - unless, of course, you want a total flashback to those sleepover "makeover" sessions where you discovered the power of hair mascara for the first time...

Sultra Hair Mascara, $24, exclusively at Sephora.