Font color animated purely with CSS transitions - html

Question

I was playing around with some CSS transitions, and trying to figure this out. I would like the text color to change (from left to right) INSTEAD of the background.
Here is the code: (codepen here: http://codepen.io/xkurohatox/pen/zGboMz)
HTML:
View Cart
CSS:
a.added_to_cart.wc-forward {
font-size:100px;
color:black;
}
a.added_to_cart.wc-forward {
display: inline-block;
vertical-align: middle;
-webkit-transform: translateZ(0);
transform: translateZ(0);
box-shadow: 0 0 1px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);
-webkit-backface-visibility: hidden;
backface-visibility: hidden;
-moz-osx-font-smoothing: grayscale;
position: relative;
-webkit-transition-property: color;
transition-property: color;
-webkit-transition-duration: 0.5s;
transition-duration: 0.5s;
}
a.added_to_cart.wc-forward:before {
content: "";
position: absolute;
z-index: -1;
top: 0;
left: 0;
right: 0;
bottom: 0;
background: red;
-webkit-transform: scaleX(0);
transform: scaleX(0);
-webkit-transform-origin: 0 50%;
transform-origin: 0 50%;
-webkit-transition-property: transform;
transition-property: transform;
-webkit-transition-duration: 0.5s;
transition-duration: 0.5s;
-webkit-transition-timing-function: ease-out;
transition-timing-function: ease-out;
}
a.added_to_cart.wc-forward:hover, a.added_to_cart.wc-forward:focus, a.added_to_cart.wc-forward:active {
color: white;
}
a.added_to_cart.wc-forward:hover:before, a.added_to_cart.wc-forward:focus:before, a.added_to_cart.wc-forward:active:before {
-webkit-transform: scaleX(1);
transform: scaleX(1);
-webkit-transition-timing-function: cubic-bezier(0.52, 1.64, 0.37, 0.66);
transition-timing-function: cubic-bezier(0.52, 1.64, 0.37, 0.66);
}
I already tried the obvious, such as changing background-color to color and playing around with translateZ. I don't think I've ever seen a css font color transition before so I would LOVE to see if anyone here is talented enough to come up with one.
Got the base code from here: https://github.com/IanLunn/Hover
Thank you in advance xx :)

Answer 1

It absolutely can be done using a little bit of trickery. Here's a working example that uses a mask to reveal the colored text.
Codepen: http://codepen.io/maxlaumeister/pen/eNXBaW
Live Demo:
a.added_to_cart.wc-forward {
font-size:100px;
color:black;
}
a.added_to_cart.wc-forward {
display: inline-block;
vertical-align: middle;
-webkit-transform: translateZ(0);
transform: translateZ(0);
box-shadow: 0 0 1px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);
-webkit-backface-visibility: hidden;
backface-visibility: hidden;
-moz-osx-font-smoothing: grayscale;
position: relative;
-webkit-transition-property: color;
transition-property: color;
-webkit-transition-duration: 0.5s;
transition-duration: 0.5s;
}
.mask {
display: inline-block;
position: absolute;
top: 0;
left: 0;
width: 0px;
overflow: hidden;
-webkit-transform-origin: 0 50%;
transform-origin: 0 50%;
-webkit-transition-property: width;
transition-property: width;
-webkit-transition-duration: 0.5s;
transition-duration: 0.5s;
-webkit-transition-timing-function: ease-out;
transition-timing-function: ease-out;
text-shadow:
-1px -1px 0 red,
1px -1px 0 red,
-1px 1px 0 red,
1px 1px 0 red;
}
.mask a.added_to_cart.wc-forward {
color: red;
}
#container:hover .mask {
width: 500px;
-webkit-transition-timing-function: cubic-bezier(0.52, 1.64, 0.37, 0.66);
transition-timing-function: cubic-bezier(0.52, 1.64, 0.37, 0.66);
}
body {
margin: 0;
}
a.added_to_cart.wc-forward.under {
position: absolute;
left: 0;
top: 0;
}
#inner {
width: 500px;
}
<div id="container">
View Cart
<div class="mask">
<div id="inner">
View Cart
</div>
</div>
</div>

Answer 2

I removed background color from a.added_to_cart.wc-forward:before
CSS
a.added_to_cart.wc-forward {
font-size:100px;
color:black;
}
a.added_to_cart.wc-forward {
display: inline-block;
vertical-align: middle;
-webkit-transform: translateZ(0);
transform: translateZ(0);
box-shadow: 0 0 1px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);
-webkit-backface-visibility: hidden;
backface-visibility: hidden;
-moz-osx-font-smoothing: grayscale;
position: relative;
-webkit-transition-property: color;
transition-property: color;
-webkit-transition-duration: 0.5s;
transition-duration: 0.5s;
}
a.added_to_cart.wc-forward:before {
content: "";
position: absolute;
z-index: -1;
top: 0;
left: 0;
right: 0;
bottom: 0;
-webkit-transform: scaleX(0);
transform: scaleX(0);
-webkit-transform-origin: 0 50%;
transform-origin: 0 50%;
-webkit-transition-property: transform;
transition-property: transform;
-webkit-transition-duration: 0.5s;
transition-duration: 0.5s;
-webkit-transition-timing-function: ease-out;
transition-timing-function: ease-out;
}
a.added_to_cart.wc-forward:hover, a.added_to_cart.wc-forward:focus, a.added_to_cart.wc-forward:active {
color: red;
}
a.added_to_cart.wc-forward:hover:before, a.added_to_cart.wc-forward:focus:before, a.added_to_cart.wc-forward:active:before {
-webkit-transform: scaleX(1);
transform: scaleX(1);
-webkit-transition-timing-function: cubic-bezier(0.52, 1.64, 0.37, 0.66);
transition-timing-function: cubic-bezier(0.52, 1.64, 0.37, 0.66);
}
HTML
View Cart
Demo here