I was never on board with the big wave of airbrush makeup that was everywhere a few years back. In theory, it sounded amazing; in reality, it just deposited big foundation marks on the wall of my bathroom (yes, that’s a thing) and left my skin looking “muddy.” I had a professional makeup artist spray me up once and the experience wasn’t much better. While my foundation looked good in pictures, real life told a much different tale: About 10 people commented that it looked like I was “wearing a lot of makeup,” and my skin tone was about five shades darker than usual with borderline not-so-subtle hints of orange.
Fast-forward to a few months ago and I was in a pickle—only it had everything to do with my hair and nothing to do with my skin or makeup. Backstory: My fast-growing roots need a regular four-week rotation of color or else I have almost a full inch of gray hair sprouting. But, between lack of time, travel and waiting too long to schedule an appointment, making a quick visit to the salon wasn’t on the schedule.
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Yes, I’ve tried all the DIY, at-home versions to hide it. There’s some awesome sprays, makeups and temporary colors out there that work like magic and really do a great job at prolonging that time between appointments. I blame myself (both a less-than-skilled application hand and a bad hair-touching habit) that they just don’t work well—at least not in a very convincing manner or for a full day—for me.
Then Temptu came calling. I had the airbrush device for many years, but, because of all the above, never felt confident I could actually use it without experiencing a very negative situation. The brand is known for its airbrushed makeup; last year, it introduced the genius Airpod Airbrush Root Touch-Up & Hair Color ($35), a hair-color cartridge that attaches to the original handheld tool.
Full disclosure: The new pod also sat in my closet for a few months until the gray desperation finally got me spraying, and my only regret is that I didn’t start sooner because it’s so, so simple. The hardest step is finding your color (there are currently 11 shades), then you need the slightest spritz and a bit of an agile wrist movement going to cover the strands you want to cover.
It definitely took some practice—don’t stay on one area too long or else you’ll get a spot!—but the device-and-pod combo delivers the most believable color ever. It’s not sticky, it’s not stiff, it doesn’t transfer until you wash it out and it only takes about 30 seconds to do a job that’s as convincing as sitting in the salon chair.
