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For professionals, anyone in front of a camera, and the woman in the know who wants to look great, Air Brushed makeup is the most exciting and technically newest innovative system to come out. Tiny pixels of either water, alcohol, polymer, or silicone based foundation is sprayed through an airbrush onto the skin at a low and tolerable airflow, giving a beautiful soft even look. You can layer for more coverage - soften blush boo-boos - all with the whisper of miniscule dots of foundation. Years ago you paid for your photos to be airbrushed to minimize little imperfections. Today you can airbrush a face in much less time then it takes to apply foundation. There is an investment to be made on the system. Most of the companies including Iwata sell compressors and airbrushes. You have to learn to maintain your equipment or the airbrush won't work. Once you've mastered the procedures by taking some classes, reading up, or watching repair and maintenance videos you'll be ready to go. Most of the companies listed below have free or low fee training and can sell foundations and equipment as a package. A makeup artist must learn this technique as brides, photographers and videographers are demanding the technique now. I've tried several and here's some of the newest systems out. There will be a review on more Airbrush Systems, as I test them. |
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Temptu Air Brush System . Temptu's newest airbrush foundation, SB is a silicone base in 12 shades from light to dark both in red and olive tones. I like the 03 for concealing under the eyes, and 05-08 shades (medium to medium dark) for women and men with slight tan tones. The SB foundation doesn't look dry or oily, but gives a beautiful moist look - it can also be applied with fingers, or sponges. I just used the SB for a new film "Last of the Romantics". The foundation lasted all day - didn't need much powder, and was easy to work over their new concealer wheel. It's a beautiful finish and those of you who are into air brush should definitely take notice of the new SB foundations. For it's dewy finish, it is my choice for bridal work. For makeup professionals or Halloween fun, check out Temptu SB Colors, Aqua (water based) and Dura (alcohol based) Foundations and temporary tattoos. Temptu is a leader in the temporary and custom temporary tattoo industry with a accomplished client and credit list. Temptu.com
Finally a DVD that gives us information on airbrushing faces instead of helmets and cars. Temptu's Makeup 101 the new DVD gives you plenty of information on the product line, maintenance, troubleshooting and makeup design including brows with their new wonderful brow paints. Applied with stencils or hand painted.
The Dura Foundations are alcohol based and come in a multitude of shades for body work and when you need foundation to stay put. It's also great for tattoos.
My newest favorite is the Temptu Black/Silver compressor . With a regulator and brush holder on the unit, this lightweight, 5 lb, very Retro compressor is my choice for daywork. Its at a great price of $175. From Temptu. This compressor comes with a Sparmax Small Cup $65, or you can purchase an Iwata Eclipse airbrush for $65 +. For true beauty makeup, get the SB foundations either in single colors or a set of 10 sample foundation shades. Packages are offered for the compressor, makeup and airbrush. So ask. For larger jobs and a workhorse, stay with the Iwata Smart Jet.
Temptu has come out with a mini compressor called V-One that can be worn in a fanny pack and work on battery power if needed. This is great for on-set work or a personal unit. This puppy weighs only 1lb. Includes case, adjustable air regulator, air hose and rechargeable battery with charger. $288.00 at Temptu.com
I've been using the V-One these days on a regular basis. The battery seems to never lose it's charge, but purchase the optional charge adopter anyway just in case. I was able to speek with Sylvia Pilcher the fabulous makeup artist who helps with product developement and learned a few tricks about the products. Bring the Cleaning Station with you when using the V-one because there is no place to rest the airbrush when the bowl is full of makeup. Or place a small plastic cup in the faux leather case and lay the airbrush in that. Another gem of advice is to have one airbrush for the SB only and one for water or alcohol based foundations.
Be sure to puchase the new brow stencils and colors. It's a great "finish" to your makeup. For those who need to do a little extra on a job, the brow shades can be used to darken mustaches, and beards too.
Makeup for HD: CARGO Cosmetics has come out with Blu_Ray and it's looking good on the TV monitor! Pressed Power has photo chromatic pigments that help color stay consistent under all types of lighting, and the Blush/Highlighter creates an optical blurring that makes skin look softer. The mascara has a nice comb applicator that keeps the lashes from clumping. There is also a mattifier that applies before makeup. IYou can buy each piece individually or get the blu_ray Collection for $59 at Sephora. Get it soon, though, this might be a limited product promotion.
Also on it's way to the our counters is HD Makeup from Makeup Forever. I'll be getting samples and reviewing soon.
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Kett hydro Airbrush Makeup out of New York has been hitting it BIG on the Makeup Trade Show circuit. The foundation is odorless waterbased, moveable and blendable.  It's made to apply with the airbrush, however quick touch-ups can be performed with fingers, sponge or brush. The foundations are in both warm and cool shades (5 each). Two additional shades are used for darkening existing colors and neutralizing beard shadow or a natural blush. Kett Sett Powder is a translucent powder to set the foundation. What I like about this line is the color selection. It reminds me of the very popular Visiora line of makeup from France. The warm shades are great and the cool, aren't too yellow. The kit comes with 2 extra empty bottles to custom blend if needed. The compressor is a light weight, sleek, modern black box. It's easily  transportable from job to job and has a handle and a receptacle to hold your airbrush. The PSI control though is on the plug which gives you 3 or 4 variations in strength of air flow. A new product Kett has come out with is Transfix. Here's what happened on the job a while back. I was working in HD and for whatever reason, no matter how good the airbrushed makeup looked to the eye, once it was on a particular monitor (which of course was being looked at by the producer) it was not enough coverage. I then used Transfix and it looked GREAT! That's why I say, give all the brands a chance. Purchase the sample packs, until you know for sure what suits you best, but don't buy without trying them all. Transfix is Kett's answer to a non-airbrush creme HD makeup. I'm currently working with the CBS newsteams here in Colorado to help them transition to better cameras and lighting before they go HD. The news director doesn't have to worry yet about hiring an airbrush artist and the anchors and reporters can work with the product easily. The matte finish looks like skin and wears well through the day. Transfix foundations match the airbrush foundations, and can be interchanged for more coverage if needed. Besides the 5 red and olive tones, they added 5 neutral shades. Check it out. Hydro Proof Makeup is waterproof technology created for active wear, water scenes and weddings. Provides sheer to maximum coverage.Their exclusive formula is WATERPROOF, SMUDGEPROOF and NON- TRANSFERABLE on clothes. Stays on until you take it off with their cleanser Congratulations, Kett, nice products! Products can be found at http://www.kettcosmetics.com
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Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics is on the rise with excellent airbrush foundation "OCC Skin" and a multitude of Airbrush Body Paint "Inks" If you really want to hide scars check out the skin toned "Skin Tone Inks". They are alcohol based and stay on up to five days until you take it off with alcohol. Mine stayed on for two days and one shower, until I removed it to demonstrate the surgery scars I was hiding. There are enough skin tone inks, with some help from white, Henna and Black  to mix the correct shade for the skin. For Body Painting check out the original Inks, SF, and metallic Inks. You'll enjoy the ease of use. There's a bunch of new blush shades in the water based "skin" collection. Check them out.
The airbrush foundations are very nice and I'm hoping they will come out with a few more skin tone shades or some mixers. Another nice new feature is the mini sets both in Skin and Ink formulations. You can try out products (most of the airbrush makeup companies have these) and then figure out what you need in larger bottle sizes. By the way, OCC comes in 4 oz. bottles for you body painters and FX.
The Skin Foundations go on smooth and are nicely thin without losing pigment. Finally I don't have to forfeit pigment to thin out a foundation. The OCC loose powder Pigments will go through the airbrush with OCC Clear Ink and are beautiful. I used them for a fashion show and they perform well. As does the "Blacklight" Inks.
OCC has also come out with pressed eye shadows both in full packaging and in drop in pans to fill a palette. There is a choice of 20 shadow textures in Matte, Satin and Frost.
For airbrush equipment, OCC is teaming up with Iwata, so you make all your purchases from one site. Check out http://www.occmakeup.com/
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Graftobian Theatrical Makeup has been around for quite some time enhancing your choice in product. From airbrush Foundation, to cheerleader and fantasy makeup there is something for all makeup artists and facepainters. Graftobian Hi-Def Glamour "GlamAir" Airbrush Makeup as well as the matching Creams are another answer for Hi-Def makeup. The foundations come in many shades and for those professional makeup artists making the switch to Hi-Def makeup, Graftobian has matched up many of their shades to RCMA, Blasco, Visiora and Tuttle favorites. The liquid textures are excellent with great pigment that has good wearability. The confusion I've found is purchasing online with only photo swatches and names like Broadway Star, and Diva, instead of which shades are in the Red or Olive or Neutral tones. I really hope they fix this and give us 10-12 shade starter kits of the best foundation shades for our particular needs. I do like the palettes of cream foundations for hi-def. I keep these and the lipstick palettes in my set kit for touch ups. They are creamy and wear well. Graftobian can be found online at Graftobian.com or at the Paint and Powder Store
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Repa ir and Maintenace of your airbrush. Whether you are using your airbrush to paint a face or a t-shirt, you still have to maintain your airbrush and that can be frustrating. Here's a DVD I like and refer to often. Airbrush Repair & Maintenance by David Monnig. You can purchase it online at Coast Airbrush as well as other stores. It's about $29.99. The information is actually for a normal airbrush artist, however, the repair and maintenance sections are great in my opinion.
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The Iwata Smart Jet Compressor I call it the "Workhorse" The ultimate machine air supply for a face and body painter. The Smart Jet Pro is quieter and more professional looking than any compressor in its class. It runs only when in use due to its special auto shut-off feature. The Smart Jet Pro has a pressure range from 1 to 35 psi and functions very well at the low psi for use with our makeup. Since the Smart Jet Pro turns off automatically, it is a real workhorse that is likely to last for many, many years. A smaller version is the Silver Jet, however I think it's louder than the Smart Jet. I have the smart jet without the case and keep it in my studio. Available at airbrush and art stores, and most of the makeup airbrush companies.
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