Mist Over

The Color Misting Trend Is Like Airbrushing for Your Hair

The airbrush T-shirt that you got at your cousin's bar mitzvah just inspired a gorgeous new Instagram hair trend. The hair dyeing technique know as "color misting" takes cues from airbrushing and applies it to hair. Trust and believe, the result is much more chic than your tee that says "Baby Girl" that you've relegated to sleep shirt status. (It's only a matter of time before airbrushed shirts make a comeback, though, right?) Instead of jarringly bright hues, color misting gives hair a soft watercolor-like effect. Because of this, it's often referred to as watercolor hair. But the colorful dyes used aren't just diluted with water like the previous watercolor hair trend that went viral last year. The hues are literally misted onto hair using spray bottles — just as the technique's name suggests.

Stephanie Lawrence, a New Hampshire-based hairstylist, is the mastermind behind color misting. "My friend Stephanie Hodges did a color with an airbrush machine a while back, and it was beautiful," she explains to Allure. "So I've been thinking, 'What can I do to mimic it without the hassle of the machine?'" That's where the spray bottles come in. First, Lawrence adds a "one good squeeze" of a Pulp Riot dye to the bottle. "It's made with premium pigments, so it doesn't lose too much vibrancy when diluted, thus making your outcome vibrant but soft," she says of her dye choice. Then, Lawrence fills the bottle halfway up with water. From there, she sprays the dye randomly onto a section of pre-lightened hair. To hold the color in place and keep it from dripping onto other sections, she uses Framar's Maniac Mesh, which are thin mesh strips you've probably seen other hairstylists on Instagram use. You can see the whole process in the videos below.

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Once the colors are done processing and have been washed out, color misted hair looks like the photos below. Because the dyes are diluted, Lawrence says their longevity is weakened. Consider this a plus, though. "This enables you to switch your style but is still a good value because it doesn't wash right out," she adds.

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This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.

Instagram content

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See, airbrushing has never looked so good.


More rainbow hair trends you'll love:

  1. "Salmon Sushi Hair" Is the Tastiest New Color Trend on Instagram
  2. Someone Fused Every Instagram Hair Color Trend Into One ICONIC Look
  3. "Highlighter Highlights" Is the Latest Summer Hair Color Trend

Now, see a unicorn hair transformation in action:

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