diff --git a/ACKategories-iOS/UIColorExtensions.swift b/ACKategories-iOS/UIColorExtensions.swift
index 376da899..b5962b96 100644
--- a/ACKategories-iOS/UIColorExtensions.swift
+++ b/ACKategories-iOS/UIColorExtensions.swift
@@ -16,17 +16,38 @@ public extension UIColor {
     }
 
     /**
-     Initialize color from hex string (eg. "#ff00ff"). Leading '#' is mandatory.
+     Initialize color from hex string (eg. "#ff00ff"). Leading '#' is not mandatory.
 
      - parameter hexString: Hex string to create color from
      */
-    convenience init(hexString: String) {
-        var rgbValue: UInt32 = 0
-        let scanner = Scanner(string: hexString)
-        scanner.scanLocation = 1 // bypass '#' character
-        scanner.scanHexInt32(&rgbValue)
-        self.init(hex: rgbValue)
-    }
+	convenience init(hexString: String) {
+		var hexSanitized = hexString.trimmingCharacters(in: .whitespacesAndNewlines)
+		hexSanitized = hexSanitized.replacingOccurrences(of: "#", with: "")
+
+		var rgb: UInt64 = 0
+
+		var r: CGFloat = 0.0
+		var g: CGFloat = 0.0
+		var b: CGFloat = 0.0
+		let a: CGFloat = 1.0
+
+		let length = hexSanitized.count
+
+		guard Scanner(string: hexSanitized).scanHexInt64(&rgb) else {
+			self.init()
+			return
+		}
+
+		if length == 6 {
+			r = CGFloat((rgb & 0xFF0000) >> 16) / 255.0
+			g = CGFloat((rgb & 0x00FF00) >> 8) / 255.0
+			b = CGFloat(rgb & 0x0000FF) / 255.0
+		} else {
+			self.init()
+		}
+
+		self.init(red: r, green: g, blue: b, alpha: a)
+	}
 
     /**
      Returns color as hex string (eg. '#ff00ff') or nil if RGBA components couldn't be loaded.