In Memoriam - George Lampman, Co-founder and CEO of Dinair Airbrush Makeup

Shortly before Easter, 2025, George Lampman passed away. I have been privileged to get to know George during several lengthy visits to the Dinair headquarters in Los Angeles, California, and through many video conferences in the last few years, also shared with his wife Dina. 

George's sudden and unexpected passing was a shock to all who knew him, and an enormous loss for the airbrush makeup industry and community world wide, which he and Dina basically created starting over 40 years ago, and which they continued to advance through their innovations right up to George's passing. 

A couple of weeks ago, Dina honored me with the request to write a eulogy to be read at George's Celebration of Life, taking place in Los Angeles on July 5th. As I couldn't be there in person, I recorded a video of the text I wrote, which follows below. The video was played during the second part of the ceremony, and I truly hope to have been effective in conveying what many of us around the world felt about this amazing man, how close we feel to his wife and partner Dina, and what a gift it was to know him. 

 

George and Dina in 2015

A EULOGY FOR GEORGE LAMPMAN,

By Daniel Pacini, friend and International Airbrush Makeup Educator.

 

"Today we celebrate the joyous life and remarkable achievements of a very unique man.

I have been fortunate to know George since his amazing inventions changed my life back in 2011. When I first approached Dinair as a customer, I of course immediately fell in love with the infectious energy and endlessly fascinating image of Dina. To the world, she was and is the soul of the company that bears her name.

What took me just a little bit longer to understand, is that Dinair was the products of two souls, coming together in the name of love for each other and love for an innovation that changed the history of makeup forever.

Many here will know how George and Dina met while dancing. Dina was already fully invested in the potential of airbrushing as a means to deliver extraordinary results in the beauty industry, but was frustrated by the lack of products that could work with this technique. When she told him that nobody was able to formulate the right makeup for an airbrush, George's prompt reply was a very confident "I can fix it!”, to which Dina simply answered: “Would you like to get married?”

So this is how the legend began. When two souls collide, endless creation inevitably results, and this was never truer than in Dina and George's case.

To anyone who knew him, it is clear that George had a different way of thinking. He was literally able to dream things up and manifest them into our reality. This ability to think out of the box was what caused him to drop out of engineering school, because a genius mind needs to run unbridled, and be free to pursue its endlessly curious nature. With Dina and through Dinair, George set the standard for a new way of doing makeup.

Up to then, airbrushing had been associated with heavy and noisy machinery, and strange awkward looking tools. When a suitable compressor couldn’t be found, George created a new design that would work perfectly with the makeup he and Dina had formulated. His search for the perfect airbrush was a lifelong commitment that made this niche industry leap forward with every new model he designed.

His imagination was constantly fired up, and whenever a problem arose or an issue was discovered, he would design and invest in the perfect tool to resolve it. His solutions ranged from a distance guide that would teach newbies the importance of keeping the airbrush at the right distance, to “soaking caps” that would simplify the airbrush cleaning enormously and cut down the required time to mere seconds.

George's achievements were even more remarkable when it came to makeup formulation. His intuition of makeup being like a stream of pixels that can correct one’s complexion, erasing blemishes and leaving the natural healthy skin shine through it, was an industry changer. His original formula was the first embodiment of truly invisible, natural and most importantly High Definition proof coverage. It set a standard that the traditional makeup industry would take thirty years to match –and a lot of us would say they haven't matched it even now.

If creating is not competing, the reception given to true innovators is often less than welcoming. Innovation is inevitably perceived as threatening, especially when it works. Those who refuse to acknowledge an accomplishment, whether it be out of fear or out of self-interest, will often try to discredit it. Others will try to copy it and claim it as their own, especially in a field as competitive as the beauty industry. In spite of this, George's passion never waned. I saw George and Dina many times throughout the last 11 years, and always left their presence both stunned and endlessly inspired by their enthusiasm and their energy. While 40 years had passed since the beginning of Dinair, they always talked about it as if they had just invented it the day before. I never hesitated to use the word genius when talking about George and I proudly stand by this definition as much as, in true genius nature, he would never take it seriously. Like every genius in history, his different way of thinking and his indomitable passion and perfectionism meant that communicating with him wasn't always easy. Everything could always be made better, and new ideas were coming to him with a passion that could easily overwhelm the unprepared. His creative energy, however, was only matched by his generosity and kindness, and surpassed only by her love for Dina. On one of our last visits, Dina and George walked me and my partner all the way back to our car, parked in front of the Dinair Building. As they turned to cross the empty street, I was moved by the tenderness with which George reached out and held Dina's hand. It is an image I will never forget, a simple gesture epitomizing all enduring love.

While he may not be with us anymore in body, George continues to hold Dina’s hand, and through hers, all of our own. If his love for Dina was embedded in his D-N-A, as he sweetly wrote in a post it note placed on his computer monitor, the fruit of his love expressed in his work will live with us forever, and in everything beautiful that we create."

 

One of my favorite photos of all times:
Dina testing a new foundation line on me,
under George's loving gaze.

 

Is Airbrush Makeup Outdated in 2025? Debunking lies and stating facts.

Airbrush Makeup in 2025

A flurry of social media reels claiming that "airbrush makeup is outdated" were released in the last year or so and  have garnered a growing number of reactions. As I publish the latest update of the world's most extensive LINKS DIRECTORY of airbrush makeup brands and services, I am going to address the claims these videos make, and try to examine what motivates their creators. 

I am going to get right to the point, and I ask you to consider what I am about to write before deciding for yourself. Imagine having an instrument that automates a process and makes it considerably faster, healthier, more cost effective and infinitely more hygienic than its manual counterpart. What could happen that would make you call that process "outdated" all of a sudden? Applied to communications, a similar mentality would have you declare that smart phones are suddenly old and unnecessary, and that going back to snail mail is a desirable option for all. Would that make any sense? Yet here we are... 

In the most recent of these videos, a hitherto scarcely known makeup artist comes out not only blasting airbrush makeup as an "outdated" technique, but also declaring it to be an old fashion marketing ploy used by some makeup artists solely to "up charge their customers". She claims to have been using airbrushing herself "back then", but that now the traditional beauty industry has advanced so much with its products as to render the effort completely useless. There are so many fallacies in her reasoning that I could write an essay, so I will limit myself to the most blatant. 

Talking about "airbrushing" as if the technique was a single method, using a single product and allowing a single result is as ill advised and as ignorant as saying that "MAKEUP", without any further specification, achieves this or that result. As you probably know if you reached these pages, there is a small universe of products that are made for airbrushing with very different ingredients and very different results. Some of them (mainly water based) are completely imperceptible on the skin, so they offer the most natural looking and the healthiest correction available, and yes, there is still hardly any traditional product that can achieve the same coverage with as little texture. Others, broadly speaking silicone or alcohol based, create a more perceptible finish that is more similar to the best traditional products out there, but they are 100% water proof, and allow you to achieve what many now call "armoured skin" in one fast step, while delivering a stunning finish. 

Stating that airbrushing is just an excuse to "upcharge" customers because traditional products have improved so much, is honestly a ridiculous statement. Most makeup artists I know don't charge anything extra for airbrush makeup, and let's not forget that with so fewer products needed, airbrush actually helps a makeup artist save considerably both in materials, application time, hygiene and sanitization: a single airbrush does the job of many different brushes on different people, and without any need for cleaning, as there is no contact with the skin. I could go on... but I won't. 

One is left to wonder why these videos are gathering so much attention. The explanation is twofold. On one hand, social media algorithm loves controversy, so it will "serve" the video to more people the more indignant reactions and comments it receives. On the other hand, this content certainly appeals to people who, having scarce or no education about the subject, feel justified and reassured in their ignorance or their prejudice. There might be a final reason, and that could be the feeling of vindication in hearing that something that was hailed for years as a superior standard is finally getting bashed. That is understandable to a certain degree, but my sympathy ends with the callousness of a fellow MUA who, for no other reason than a few "likes" and a few more followers, is ready to dismiss a whole sector of the beauty industry that is being held up with the personal lifetime efforts (if not sacrifices) of a few courageous independent entrepreneurs and of family operated business that have made airbrushing what it is today, not only in the US, but across the world. 

It is these very people that these pages honor and celebrate. Long may they live in prosperity, with our eternal gratitude. 

Daniel Pacini 

a.k.a. The Airbrush Makeup Guru, International airbrush educator and teacher to more than 800 professional makeup artists.

The writer dedicates this post to Dina Ousley and George Lampman, with endless gratitude and love.