I Tried Kristin Ess' Rose Gold Temporary Tint & It Gave Me Dreamy Pink Hair In Minutes

While I'm definitely one to ooh and ahh over every passing hair color trend, there's only been one I loved enough to try out on my own strands: rose gold. As a naturally brunette gal with a blonde balayage light enough to pick up some color, it seemed like the perfect hue for me; the only problem, though, was that I couldn't commit to a long-term color change. Fortunately, I found a solution to give me that pop of pink hair I was craving without any of the commitment, and this Kristin Ess Rose Gold Temporary Tint review will explain it all featuring numerous photos of my face, I'm sorry in advance.

Truth telling time: I did dye my hair rose gold once for real. And while I really loved the color and felt like a total badass that weekend, I admit to feeling kind of awkward when it came time to debut my new hair at the office. Of course, I'm a strong believer that you can look however you want and should be able to experiment with beauty trends sans-judgement, but my own insecurity got the best of me, and I couldn't wait for my semi-permanent color to fade, which it eventually did.

Here's my hair on a normal day, to preface:

So when I got the itch to do this all over again a few weeks ago, I was hesitant. Was it really worth it?

The deeper I scrolled on Instagram, the more people I saw rocking the rose gold look, and my desire to get the look grew more intense. However, it wasn't until I started reading the captions to all these pink-haired pics that I noticed something: Almost none of the looks I loved were created using permanent, or even semi-permanent, hair color. They'd all been the result of a few quick spritzes of the Kristin Ess Rose Gold Temporary Tint ($12, target.com), a product which was not only inexpensive, but available just steps away at my local Target. Needless to say, I picked it up ASAP.

Using the product couldn't be easier: simply spritz the formula onto wet hair in the shower (the dryer strands are, the more vibrant a pink you'll get), leave it in for a few minutes, follow up with a conditioner, and let hair dry to reveal your perfect pink. Full disclosure, I didn't fully read the directions, and after spritzing the product on only slightly-damp hair — that part was intentional, as I wanted really bright payoff — and brushing the product through, I proceeded to blow my hair dry and my pink was revealed.

I love, love loved how the pink clung to my blonde balayage and was accented by my darker brown roots:

BTW, my Instagram research revealed to me that along with how wet your hair is, your starting blonde color will definitely determine the way this color takes.

Super platinum, white-blonde hair will more likely get a baby pink look, like so:

Whereas a darker, more yellow-toned blonde (like mine!) will get that peachy, rose-gold look I craved. Peep Lucy Hale for proof:

I couldn't believe how easy this product was to use. And because I rarely wash my hair (in a good-for-me way, not a please-shower way!) I knew I'd have tons of time to be pink. The best thing I noticed was that I couldn't feel the product; I was expecting my hair to feel sticky or coated, but it was as if it was my normal hair, sans pink topcoat. My ends felt a little dry, but I'm chalking that up to my own error for skipping the conditioner, and a little hair oil fixed it in seconds. I also noticed that the color didn't transfer onto my white bed sheets, which was a major 'Hallelujah' moment in my book.

When I posted a sneak peak of my hair on Instagram, I received around 30 DMs in ten minutes asking me what I used to get that perfect color:

Thank goodness I had my pink boots on standby for this extra AF New York City photoshoot:

As the pictures clearly illustrate, I was just feeling my look! And according to the 4-star rating on the Target site (which, in my opinion, should be a full five stars), I'm not alone. I can't even count the number of blonde and bronde friends who have picked up this spray since I tried it out, and they've all been equally satisfied. As far as the washing-out process, I knew that would be the true test of whether or not the product was worth the hype, and it delivered. It's meant to wash out in one to three shampoos, and after one shower consisting of a lather-rinse-repeat followed by the UNITE Hair Blonda Fix ($32, unitehair.com) to tone, my hair was back to bronde. Had I wanted to, I could've stuck to a basic shampoo-rinse and been left with a strawberry blonde look, but for the sake of research I wanted to see if it could be removed in one day, and it certainly can. I definitely do recommend some sort of purple toning product for after if you're a true blonde, though, as my Blonda Fix really eliminated any leftover pink.

TBH, I already kinda miss it, and now that I know how easy the application and removal processes are, I'll be going pink again very, very soon:

That was the last picture of me, I promise! But the selfie spam is proof of how much I loved these results. If you're looking to try out a fun color without committing to a permanent pink, this Kristin Ess tint is an absolute must. In fact, I foresee myself rocking a very festive head of pink hair this Valentine's Day — is there a more appropriate holiday on which to do so? I think not.