The liquid is then pushed through a very small hole to become a jet or a spray. An effect like a low pressure aerosol can. It is still used in gardening for spraying products on plants. Compression pressures can be 40+ psi.

The Airbrushes used for airbrush makeup relies on the “venturi principle” to pull liquid into a flowing airstream. The speed of the airstream atomizes the liquid that is being drawn into it. The airbrush appears not to have been used for makeup until the early 1980s. The main reason for this timing or apparent delay was the introduction of new cosmetic ingredients that could be adapted into formulations that could be airbrushed. The big breakthrough came in the early 90′s when the Dinair company introduced a copolymer formula that could be sprayed at a very low pressure ranging from 3psi to 6 psi.