Hack the TEMPTU

OK, this post is pretty specific.

I have been working on how to refill the TEMPTU pods with more dramatic makeup and wanted to share my results. This post probably won’t be interesting if you don’t use airbrush makeup and aren’t a goth with time on their hands. I will, however, show you how to airbrush a spider on your face. Also, please don’t look into the infinity of the mirrored hallways. You may travel backwards or forwards in time, but I really have no way of knowing which.

Update:  As per commenter Jon, hooking up the pro SP-35 to the pod system is easy- The hose that comes with the pod system has a large flange at the end that plugs into the wand. Just cut off that flange and press the hose right onto the barbed connector that comes with the SP-35. Works great.  Thanks to Jon!

Updated Updates: I ordered the new SE-50 lightweight gravity-fed gun for $75, and it has options for attaching to either the Temptu compressor or the Pro- Free yourself from the Pod and let go!

Updated Updates Updates: Now that Temptu is no longer at Sephora, if you buy the Pod system on Ebay and cut off the hose, you can use any airbrush gun and have a pretty cheap makeup airbrush system! 

Take a bit of time to experiment, so far no liquid makeup has worked as well as the Temptu makeup, but I’m sure you’ll find some!  The best consistency for base, highlighter, and color is  the consistency of half and half or whole milk- a little thicker than milk and not as thick as cream…

  I have owned two of the Temptu-sponsored airbrushes and can advise that  SE 50 is smaller and more lightweight, the smaller size means it’s a little more fussy/needs to be really DETAIL CLEANED over the big old SP35, which is better for body art and large areas-

Also, my new favorite thing to do with my airbrush is to paint my eyebrows on- find a nice brown color two shades darker than your hair and spray paint them on!  It looks so graphic!

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19 thoughts on “Hack the TEMPTU”

  1. I was wondering if you ever considered just attaching a seperate airbrush tool such as temptos sp-35 on the hose instead of the temptu pod wand?!

  2. Awesome question! I am now in possession of the Temptu Pro, and the airbrush attachments are not compatible- the Temptu Airpod hose pushes onto a flange, and the SP-35 has a threaded end- I’m sure that a converter could be built to make them compatible, but it won’t be by me- and even though I have the more expensive professional version, the AirPod is nice for switching between colors quickly and without cleaning the gun!

  4. Okay, there’s a compatible attachment to use the pro gun on the pod system? please say it’s so!

  5. Pretty cool. My wife used the pod system and loves it, but I despise the pods for their cost and waste. I discovered a way to refill them with the more affordable Temptu makeup they sell in bottles, but the pods would eventually clog up. And being the marketing geniuses that they are, they made the pods to that you can’t really clean them (alcohol/water didn’t work for unclogging the clogged ones we had). You can’t disassemble them or get a brush in there to clean the valve.

    I’m going to get the sp-35 and figure out a way to hook it up. Gloria- there must be a way, I’ll post back here when I figure it out.

  6. To answer Gloria’s question, hooking up the pro SP-35 to the pod system is easy. The hose that comes with the pod system has a large flange at the end that plugs into the wand. Just cut off that flange and press the hose right onto the barbed connector that comes with the SP-35. Works great.

  9. Hi there,

    Brilliant idea and I used it. However when you buy the bottled foundation to do a refill, the shade numbers are not the same as on the pods. I am 001 Porcelain so bought 001 but it looks like white, not the same at all. I have seen no chart anywhere for these or any posts on what bottled shade is equal to a pod shade. Can you help please? Thank you for your time, Vicki.

  10. Dear Vicki;

    I did notice the same thing, that the home consumer products are not consistent with the pro line- if you’re really not sure what the best color is, buy the foundation sampler kit and experiment- and please note that Temptu will take back a color that’s not a match, see their website FAQ for details!
    Please note, that in airbrush makeup, you are trying for a very fine coverage- so something that might look too light in the bottle might apply and blend nicely to your skin. If you are a very pale, pink-toned person, try Porcelain 001 and return if it’s too light, or buy Ivory 002 and try to blend them. I made up a friend with a tone between Golden Honey and Sand and had good luck blending the two shades in my gun.
    Since you are using the pods, if you are blending you will need to really work to determine proportion before filling the pod- try applying foundations with a sponge until you have a blend or color you are happy with!

  11. Hi, I have the airpod compressor as well, I purchased it a couple years ago so it’s the older model. I too have the same problem with wanting to use different colors that the pods just don’t offer. So, i found a SE50 gun and was told that i need this: https://shop.temptupro.com/p-445-quick-connect-adapter.aspx to connect it…Does anyone know if this is all I need? or if I might need something else maybe?

    Also, does anyone know what the difference between the SE50 and the SP35 is? I know that one is .5mm and the other is .35mm, but which is better or used for a specific purpose? I was told that the SP35 wouldn’t work with the first model airpod compressor that I have (not sure why!)

    Any help would be great. Thanks in advance!

  12. SE 50 is smaller and more lightweight, the smaller size means it’s a little more fussy/needs to be really DETAIL CLEANED over the big old SP35, which has a bigger cup and optional lid, so it’s better for bodyart or large areas- they have the same hose hookup, so I’m not sure why either of them wouldn’t work with the adapter- other options listed here are to just cut off the metal screw-on adapter and stick the hose on the Airpod compressor 🙂 At any rate, since the adapter is six bucks, why not give it a try?

  13. Can anyone tell me if I can hack the 2.0 compressor to work with the 35 gun??? I hate the gun that the 2.0 came with. Temptu says no…. But… Anyway, thanks!

  15. How did you clean the air pods? I tried 99% rubbing alcohol and water alternating and the pods started cracking. Any tips?

  17. So if i buy the sp35 i can disconnect the pod wand and connect the regular one?i did t realise how exoendive the pods are i need to somehow switch the guns out

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