Airbrush Makeup Hall of Fame: Interview with MHB creator Marc Harvey

When I first became interested in airbrush makeup, back in 2011, Marc Harvey was one of the first artists I found in my research. Marc was then spokesperson and lead educator for Luminess, a consumer oriented airbrush makeup brand that relied heavily, as it still does now, on televised infomercials for its promotion in the USA. While I didn’t purchase the product, I found Marc’s enthusiasm contagious and his lively presentations highly informational and entertaining. After his long stint with Luminess, Marc left to create and devise the makeup line for Elementwo, a brand created by airbrush manufacturers Sparmax which is popular in many Eastern  countries and available in the US and Europe as well. After this experience, Marc decided to create his own product line called Marc Harvey Beauty Ultra HD Airbrush Makeup. This achievement alone is credit enough to inscribe his name in our Airbrush Makeup Hall of Fame, a space that celebrates the creators and the most influential artists in this medium.  I was very happy to review his product line, and I am honoured and delighted to ask him a few questions on our favourite subject.

-What inspired you to become a makeup artist, and when did you decide that makeup was going to be your career? 

I have been an artist all my life. I paint, sketch and do graphic design. I decided to make makeup a career when I was 23.

-You started in airbrush makeup when the public at large was just beginning to become aware of it. How did you first become involved in airbrushing?

From my background in painting, I was very familiar with airbrushing. I started using airbrush with my brides and model agency clients. I would have to do 30 looks in one day, so the airbrush came in very handy.

-What made you choose airbrush makeup as the focus of the bulk of your career?

It really chose me. Luminess Air was looking for a Global Artist that had worked with all skintones and had a background in marketing as well. The goal was to help everyday women see that they could airbrush themselves and look like the celebrities and models I was working on at the time. 

-You’ve been instrumental in the promotion and/or creation of three major airbrush makeup brands: Luminess, Elementwo and now your very own MHB Cosmetics. What is the most memorable thing you learned from each of these experiences?

All three of them helped me to realize to always do what you love. At my core, I am a creator. Each brand I worked with or created helped me to hone my ability to understand what clients want and need from a product. My brand is ever evolving and is still a work in progress.

-What makes the MHB Airbrush formula different from all the others?

Versatility. My product is the only product that you can actually use a concealer under or over. You can use any powder over. You can build without it looking cakey. I also believe it gives the most natural coverage. You can also sheer it out with your favorite water based toner or my rosewater for a more light, zero makeup look.

-The MHB airbrush range at the moment offers an extensive foundation line plus more colors for blush and highlighters. Do you see an expansion of the line in the future to include more colors, perhaps a dedicated eyeshadow selection?

I will be adding more highlight/shimmer pigments spring of 2021. AND I’m doing a line specifically for POC launching for Holiday time. I will also do a pigment line that can be used for whatever the artist wants to use them for.

-MHB also includes several innovative skin care products. Would you tell us more about those, and the philosophy behind them?

I wanted to create products that I loved using and that over the years I would use to prep my clients skin before makeup application. I used every organic skincare product I could get my hands on in Sephora. I would try them on myself, then use them on my clients. I learned ingredients really well over the 13 years of me doing makeup, so I knew that when and if I ever created a skincare line, I would know what ingredients worked great. 3 years ago I pulled the trigger and created MySkincAir Organics. I launched 2 years ago and it is currently in Hilton Hotels and BodyBrite Spas around the country. The name MySkincAir (pronounced My Skincare) is exactly the feeling and philosophy behind the brand. I wanted everyone to feel a connection to the brand as I really took the time to make sure I educate clients on each product and its ingredients when you go online looking for a product for your particular skin issue. It is fragrance free, sulfate free, vegan, phthalate free and cruelty free, organic, skin loving ingredients that give your real results. Also, the “AIR” in skincare has a dual meaning. AIR , because the core product is the Oxygen Cleanser. Oxygen=Air. And, A.I.R is an acronym for Anti Inflammatory Response technology. Every product in the line targets inflammation by having a proprietary blend of natural anti inflammatory ingredients in them. Inflammation is the root of all ailments and issues in our body, including the skin.

-As an airbrush makeup ambassador and educator you have extensive experience in promoting the technique to the world at large. What is the best aspect of airbrushing in your opinion?

It will always be the ability to cover skin imperfections flawlessly and effortlessly. When you have a color science like the Marc Harvey Beauty EXCLUSIVE AIR line has, you literally feel like you are not even wearing makeup. It leaves your skin feeling light and looking perfect.

-What do you think is the greatest misconception that keeps more makeup artists and consumers from trying out airbrushing?

It’s hard to do. This is just a hurdle that will unfortunately always be there. Also, that it is the only product you have to use if you use it. Many don’t realize that it can actually just be another product in your beauty arsenal for you to use alone or in tandem with other complexion products.

-Having achieved so much in your career, what is the professional goal you look forward to? On a personal level, what is your ultimate dream?

My dream is to keep on going in the direction I'm going in with my brands. I’m not that great on social media because of debilitating anxiety that has gotten worse over the years. BUT, I am a warrior. I have fought through it my whole life since I was a child. My goal is to create more of a beauty education platform, free of drama, fake personas and “look at me I’m so rich and fabulous” BS. Just being myself and answering questions like I do for my clients when they book me. I want to become everyone’s favorite beauty guru for makeup and skincare on social media.

I wish to thank Marc for this opportunity to get to know him and his product better, and I look forward to meeting him in person one day in the not too distant future. 
In the meantime you can find Marc and his product line on Facebook and Instagram.

Airbrush Makeup by Marc Harvey

Airbrush Makeup Hall of Fame: an interview with Temptu CEO Michael Benjamin

Temptu CEO Michael Benjamin

Simply put, Temptu is the world’s most popular silicone based airbrush makeup brand. While I have visited their showrooms several times in the past, I have never had a chance to interview the forces behind this amazing company, who seem keen on maintaining a lower profile than most, perhaps in deference to their vision of Temptu as a team based business. Michael Benjamin is Temptu’s CEO, and has been with the company practically from its inception. This very affable, fast talking gentleman is possessed by an infectious enthusiasm for his company, almost as if he wasn’t aware of the legendary status it has gained among the niche of makeup artists who have fallen in love with the brand.

I was lucky enough to spend some time with Michael at Cosmoprof 2019, in my own city of Bologna, Italy. I had been waiting for Temptu to take part to this show for years, and almost couldn’t believe when I finally saw their booth on the floor of the massive trade fair. I am especially proud to welcome Michael to our Airbrush Makeup Hall of Fame, where this medium is celebrated for its own culture, and where I like to introduce the creators and the artists that move this culture forward.

How did the Temptu brand get started, and who created it?

Sam Zuckerman was the creator of the brand, which has been around since 1980. He did camouflage for the Army in WW2 and he was in cosmetics forever, working for Revlon and all the big companies. He was the very gifted chemist who put the stripes in stripe toothpaste, and for Saint Patrick ’s Day he made the Chicago river green. He was always an independent, then a couple of movie artists approached him for a movie called Tattoo (now a hard to find cult favorite) and that’s how Temptu was born. For the first ten years Temptu was doing temporary tattoos [hence the name of the company], and they were doing it for the movies. At first we would literally screen right onto the body, then we found a way to get the designs onto newsprint, and finally we found a better print paper that was not newsprint paper but a cosmetic paper. We had an amazing process of making temporary tattoos that nobody had, and it became a big Hollywood hit as well as in fairs and theme parks. That’s when we started a business.

What about your own background? How did you start in this business?

I was in the restaurant business, and one time I had to figure out a way to put tattoos on my waiter-actors for a 1950’s themed diner. There were basically no temporary tattoos on the market except for these first Temptu products. I found them as they were being used in another restaurant in the Theater District called Trixie’s, and through them I got to meet Roy Zuckerman (Sam’s son) at Temptu. I was young and I did not want to be in the restaurant business forever. Roy gave me a summer job at the same time the movie Cape Fear was being filmed, and all of a sudden I am new to New York and I’m alone in a room with Robert De Niro and a makeup artist. I loved this new, weird and eclectic business and that is what got me in. Within a few years we started airbrushing tattoos. Temptu partnered with leading airbrush maker Iwata. We were the first to do airbrush tattoos and that’s how we started learning the airbrush technology.

L to R: Stephanie Koutikas, Greg Mandor, Regina Azizova, me, Michael Benjamin

So the first few makeup lines were created mainly for tattoos…

Yes at the beginning in the 90’s Dura was the first line, that is what we used in the movie Tattoo, and we kept improving it. Unfortunately Sam Zuckerman passed away in the 90’s, but until then he used to grind the paint and the pigment himself. It was a crazy little basement lab, we were making paint in our office too… it was crazy, we have grown a lot from those days…

How did beauty makeup come into play then?

I took a break from the business in ‘94 to ‘96. I went to Russia and I was back in the restaurant business and when I came back we looked at where we were… We had a business that was very busy in the summer and very slow at other times. We knew that airbrushing had started spreading in the beauty makeup sector with Dinair. God Bless Dina [Ousley], she is the godmother of airbrushing and we give her a lot of credit for starting it. This was before the internet, and a bit later we came out with our own formula that was water based and we launched it at the first ever IMATS as Temptu Pro. It was not just airbrush at the time, it was also special effects products. We produced alcohol based palettes and started competing on that level as well. We were a NY based company and it was hard to break into the Hollywood scene at that time. We were mainly doing NY productions and people in the West Coast were mainly doing West Coast productions, and we thought it was easier that way as we were not stepping on anyone’s toes. That’s what really launched Temptu in ’97.

So you actually launched Temptu with a water based formula…

Yes, it was our original Aqua formula. A makeup artist named Syliva Pichler said we need to make this formula better so she and our chemist Roy started working on it and it was on the bench for two years. If Dina is the godmother of airbrushing, Sylvia is the Godmother of Temptu, so to speak. She is still working with us and I will always have her on my staff as long as she wants to be. She is our master educator and she does great classes in our NY showroom she also helps us on R&D and we love her opinion and people see her as a visionary.

We enjoy her so much on her live videos…

She has such a great personality, she was a jazz singer although I am not supposed to tell anyone, she might get mad. She has one of those characters, she can take the stage over, and she is an amazing artist who knows what it takes down to the ingredients, she has always studied everything…

Was it her idea to start with silicone based line?

I’m not sure where it came from. I think it came from Hollywood, but at the end of the day I do not really like focussing on one ingredient so much. Water is an important part of our formula too. I see a lot of water based companies that have silicone and in the end it’s about emulsions and blending ingredients. We have more water than most in some of our formulas. For me it’s more about pro performance, and that is the inspiration rather than the ingredients. That is was Sylvia and Roy ultimately achieved for the company, and that’s when we became famous. When SB came out in 2002 we became known for creating a superior product.

S/B was a game changer…

Yes it put Temptu on the map of airbrush makeup and ultimately beauty makeup became our main focus, while special effects and tattoos remained in the line.

You have been sharing the work with your wife and partner, Samantha Mandor...

Yes she is my wife and business partner and her brother Greg is my business partner as well.

So how are your roles divided, I know she was behind the design of latest Temptu Air hand held applicator…

She is the boss lady; she raised my kids and runs the business with me. She is book smart and she keeps things tight and organized and so does Greg who is our CFO and COO. We consider Sam our chief marketing officer, and they call me CEO but I am like that wacky guy… I am like Roy Zuckerman who comes up with a 100 ideas. But in truth we all collaborate well together. And not just Sam and Greg and myself, but all the employees as well, as we see them all as partners in this business. Sam is the one who holds everything together; she is the heart and soul of Temptu.

Is there a turning point or main event the defined the shape of the business?

The movie Stepford Wives. I think SB was never better used in the early days than in that movie. We create makeup that can be used by hand or air and people use it in both ways. In Stepford Wives we used it by hand on the body and by airbrush on the faces, and if you look back at the movie the women’s skin looked perfect, like porcelain. Cape Fear with Robert De Niro was the defining moment for our tattoo Dura line, and Stepford Wives was the turning point for our S/B line. We were very honoured to be part of both of these movies that put us on the map in the airbrush makeup world. I feel proud that we have given makeup artist the ability to work faster, market themselves more easily and charge more. Temptu has established itself for giving great complexion and that is our foundation. We have always had our in-house chemist going back to Sam Zuckerman. Our makeup is beautiful however you put it on, and airbrush gives you options as to layer it, and have the blush underneath the foundation as well as highlighting.

What do you think is keep airbrush makeup from going mainstream?

I think it is an educational problem, people being intimidated by the product and not wanting to a learn a new thing, but on the other hand professionals really get it after they see the finished product. I think that if consumers could only see how easy it is… I watch my wife put in on in 15 seconds in the morning and it speeds thing up for her, as she takes 20 minutes for her hair... We are at the Cosmoprof right now and we were just awarded the Cinderella Effect prize, which is indicative of the fact that people want instant results. I don’t think there is a faster way to better complexion than with Temptu, it takes only 15 or 20 seconds for a light to medium coverage and this is what we need to keep pushing out there the in the marketing world. We need to promote the idea that People need not to be afraid to learn something that is quite simple to use, as well the difference that airbrush makeup looks so natural. We are also happy with the Perfect Canvas line. It is the perfect combination of makeup and skincare. I always say the S/B is the mother, and Perfect Canvas the daughter who went to university to get a skincare degree. After using Perfect Canvas people feel their skin is healthier, and we have clinical studies that show that. I think that is the future. We also have a new product that has skin care properties that is called Core 7, and if you use it consistently it has wrinkle reducing properties.

Tell us more about it.

Core 7, the number stands for the seven signs of aging. It’s a new product that we will come out with in the fall. We want people to take care of their skin, we want people to use less makeup, based on the idea that I think the less is more when it comes to makeup. A lot of people want to see the makeup they apply, but as Sylvia says, if you can see it you’ve put too much on. We want to promote the idea of healthy people with healthy skin who just add a finishing touch. As a brand we want to hear from the artist, the artist has always inspired us and that is why we are the brand we are today. Silvia is an artist and it is just not her but she was probably inspired by artist as well, but we do what the artist want, we took a ten pound compressor and make it into 8 ounces and made it portable because that is what artists want we want them not to have a heavy bag so we are always inspired by the artist and that is really the vision we have for the company.

As a teacher I see how airbrush makeup changes people’s perspective on makeup. When a product is as effective as yours it literally changes peoples working life. Are you aware of the love that surrounds your brand and how does it make you feel?

It is humbling to me and ultimately it is a validation of our effort. We are working really hard and we are not a big corporation that you can find in all the stores. We are a little entrepreneurial company that is working hard to be inspired by artists, trying to do what they want and take it to the next level for them. Our job as a brand is to focus on pros while waiting for the consumer to catch on, and the “prosumers” that have caught on, God bless them… when you hear that affirmation from people using it means a lot me. It means we are on the right path.

How do you see with the future for Temptu?

I feel that with Temptu or every small company, every year is a new year and you hope you do well and you have to keep moving forward, the forces in this world are very competitive, so I am just honoured that we have been in business this long and we keep doing what we’re doing. We are the Little Engine that Can, and we do need to transform ourselves as we move forward. Right now we may be the airbrush beauty authority, but we want to be the complexion authority, and we want to keep working on products to this end. We are open to everything. As ideas come to me, or artists come to me with ideas, I take everyone seriously and I am ready to listen.

It was a pleasure and an honor to meet Michael and his team, and I hope to see him again soon in New York. As we part, I take pride in telling him that Temptu need not “want” to be the complexion authority in makeup. To the growing number who use their game changing products, they already are.

Airbrush Makeup Hall of Fame: an interview with Victor Sodano

The Maestro: Victor Sodano

Two times Academy nominee Victor Sodano is incredibly friendly, approachable and utterly dismissive of his amazing achievements, which include two Davide di Donatello (the “Italian Oscar”) awards, two Chioma di Berenice prizes and star on Hollywood Walk of Fame among many other film industry accolades. I crossed paths digitally with Victor for the first time when I was involved in an online discussion about airbrushing, and he came to my aid in defending this medium against another sceptical makeup artist who was disparaging it saying it wasn’t worth the investment for beauty makeup. (Incredibly, such opinions still exist even among professionals).  I loved how Victor didn’t have to say much. He simply posted a string of head shots of internationally famous actresses and added that all the make-up in the shot had been done by him with an airbrush. I ended my comments adding that now that the twice Oscar nominated artists had spoken, perhaps we could all take a seat. Cut to over a year later, and Victor graciously agrees to answer a few questions about his amazing career, and about how our favourite tool helped him achieve fantastic results.

Let’s start from the beginning, as they say… how did you become inspired to pursue a career in makeup?

When I was 16 I moved to London for a while to study English at a college. While I was there I started working in a special effects lab sculpting small prosthetic applications. I was so fascinated by the process, but I wanted to find out more about it, and l wanted to learn how to do full head casts. Flash forward to Italy, a few years later.  I was studying law at the University in Naples and I was doing well, but I didn’t enjoy the method of study that was required at the time, it was based mostly on mnemonic learning and I found it rather sterile. So one day I told my father that I was going to quit the University and get a job.  My father asked “What kind of job?” to which I just replied “I am going to be a makeup artist! My father looked at me with a perplexed expression and said "What is a make-up artist"? 

Did your family support your ambition from the start? How did they feel about your achievements later on?

As it is typical for their generation, my parents were hoping I would get a long term contract with a steady employer. That said, my father and my late mother (who of course became my first “model”) were proud of me since my very beginning with RAI, let alone later.

How did you get your first break in the business?

I started working in RAI television studios in Naples. My job was to wash the make-up sponges used by their makeup artists daily. While doing make-up for theaters and other events, in 1996 I made my film debut with the film Prima Che Il Tramonto. The director Stefano Incerti turned to me and asked "can you make the special effects of the film"? I felt both confident and uncertain for a moment ... and then I said “YES I can!”  This was the beginning of my film career, for which later  I got the award for Make-up and Special effects at the Locarno Film Festival.

        Apocalypto Makeup by Victor Sodano       

You have become a household name in the industry when you received your first Oscar nomination for your fantastic work in Apocalypto, directed by Mel Gibson. How did you get selected for such an extraordinary job?

Brian De Palma was very impressed by the work I did for him on the movie Black Dalia. He used to say to me that my prosthetic makeup was so realistic that for the first time ever he was able to shoot a close up on a dummy . He wrote a letter of reference for me, and somehow when Mel Gibson started shopping around for Apocalypto he heard the good comments and his office contacted me.

What was the inspiration for the innovative body art you created for the film?

The body art of the film was based on truth. I studied every character in the movie before the make-up started. making the proper designs tattoos etc.  based on their social class and origins. ALL the actors from the main character to a simple extra were wearing full detailed body make-ups, also because  Mel Gibson as a director can and does  focus on any extra which he finds interesting. So every performer must be perfect and a complete.
 

You have worked in many award-winning productions both in Europe and in the United States. What is the main difference from a professional standpoint between Hollywood and CineCittà?

I would say the business aspect of it all. In the United States the movie making industry is still a huge business venture. In Italy, where film making is still relatively big for a much smaller country, the production dynamics are vastly different  and a lot of films are State funded or subsidized. 
 

Your work gave you the opportunity to get to know many amazing performers and creators, and I am sure you could write a book worth of anecdotes. Is there a special memory connected to one of these personalities that you could share with us?

   Mariangela Melato airbrushed by Sodano

I have special and wonderful memories of all the people in each job I have done. From the first to the last person. If I have to pick one,  the late Italian actress Mariangela Melato comes to mind,  also since she is no longer with us. She had an incredible talent both for drama and for comedy, and not only on stage or film, but in life as well. She was a dream to do make-up on, with her huge eyes and the beautiful texture of her skin, which wasn’t free of pigmentation.  She loved being airbrushed. After the makeup was done she used to joke with me that she had just been to the “paint shop” once again, and she loved her evened out complexion.

I know you were among the first to use airbrushing in the Italian film industry, not only for special effects but most remarkably for beauty makeup. How was this innovation perceived by your colleagues?

Many colleagues were and still are rude in calling me “the spray painter of actresses”, especially here in Italy where the awareness of the medium is not as widespread.

In your experience, what are the most noticeable advantage of airbrushing makeup ?

I would say the perfect finish that the airbrush creates. While perfection is not always the goal in cinema make-up, when the script does call for it there is nothing like an airbrush to achieve such evenness while still remaining imperceptible. 

Airbrushing is still seen with a lot of diffidence by those who don't know the technique, and there is a lot of prejudice about this medium. What do you think is the greatest misconception regarding airbrush makeup?

   Laura Morante airbrushed by Vittorio Sodano

Prejudice and misconceptions are mostly based on people not having tried it, watching an unskilled person using it, or second hand opinions. Only by trying it can one understand its beauty and potential. Make-up done by brush or sponge cannot produce this level of perfection, and sometimes perfection is required if only due to the simple vanity of an actress. I use the example of a Ferrari car: If you had a very expensive car and it got scratched, would you ask someone to hand paint the scratch? Wouldn’t you take rather it to an authorized shop which uses a professional paint compressor system?  Most would choose the latter.  To me the airbrush is an extension on my hand. I am using it to work as if i had a brush of sponge. I have learned the technique, and I am controlling the result. The airbrush achieves perfection when used correctly. Airbrush will not guarantee perfection if used incorrectly, so this method challenges and provides great creative potential for an artist.

You have created your own line of makeup, featuring alcohol based palettes for SFX, and for the first time, silicone based palettes that can be diluted and used for beauty makeup. You are also about to launch a selection of ready to airbrush liquid colors. Can you tell us more about these products?

Both the alcohol palettes and the silicone based palette can be activated using my specially formulated activator fluid, which allows for perfect translucency and a very soft finish. I have also developed a set of the same colors in liquid, ready to be airbrushed form. You will find all the products on the SHOP page of my new website www.vittoriosodano.studio , which is being completed as we speak.
 

Special Effects by Victor Sodano

With two Oscar Nominations and two David di Donatello awards among many other important accolades you have achieved more than most at a very young age. What is your dream for the future?

I wish to continue building on my new line of special effect products and I want to continue teaching my courses of special effects.  As we were saying, my products can be found and bought on my site. I want to teach make-up artists that special effects can be made with my products, and that they don't have to spend too much to have great results, and that is why have made an artisan line of products for make-up artist with a reasonable price.  They are niche products.  Make-up made BY a make-up artist for make-up artists!

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Some of Victor Sodano's awards and accolades