Easy Witch Makeup Tutorial with Ben Nye Pro Color Airbrush and Camera Ready Cosmetics

Ben Nye Pro Color Airbrush Death and FX Series

Halloween is approaching fast and what better excuse than this to play around with our new range of airbrush colors from Ben Nye and with many amazing products purchased from Camera Ready Cosmetics, our favorite online store in the world with its ever increasing selection of pro brands at an amazing price, the best customer service you could wish for, and fairly priced world wide shipping out of their Texas, USA head quarters. Please notice that despite of what I just wrote, this post is not sponsored by either company. I just genuinely love these brands and I am happy to spread the word about them in any way I can. So now that we have established that, let's dive in with some more details on how to create the look you see in these photos and video...

Pre made foam latex prosthetics are a fast, easy and inexpensive way to create incredible looks with a super professional finish. You can apply them to great effect even without a lot (or hardly any) experience in SFX makeup. All you have to do is make sure you have the right products and tools, which will not cost that much considering the level of the results you will achieve. Of course I am using a kit with a compressor and several airbrushes here, but please know that you can perform any of these steps with regular brushes, it will just take a little longer. 

Safety disclaimer: please test all of the products you will be using to make sure you or your model are not allergic to the materials. Please be very careful when working with an airbrush without the needle cap. Also remember never to spray directly on open eyes, or on the ear and nose canals. Have the model hold their breath while you spray around the nose.

PREPARATION

Prep the prosthetic by carefully cutting out extra latex pieces that are left in by the manufacturer (such as over the eye and mouth openings). Be mindful to leave as much as the thin edges as possible attached to the mask. Prep the skin with a skin protector such as Kryolan Pro Shield before attaching the prosthetic, and protect the eyebrows with Kryolan Eyebrow Stick smoothing the wax over the brows with a flat spatula.

APPLICATION

Apply Pros-Aide glue to the nose area inside the prosthetic, then apply that to the face first and use as a reference to place the rest of the application. Brush a thin layer of Pros-Aide directly on the area of the face that will be covered by the foam latex, then blow dry it on low heat until the glue is clear. Now you can place the rest of the prosthetic. The Pros-Aide will remain tacky and allow you to move the latex around if need be. Just be careful to lay the thin edges without having them fold under themselves. Correct placement will take some time, so be prepared. Once the prosthetic is in place, use more Pros-Aide along the edges to make sure they are flush against the skin. Once this last layer is dry, fill in any gap or discrepancy with Pros-Aide cream, and smooth everything down using a spatula. When the Pros-Aide cream is dry, you can brush a layer of clear powder along the edges to get rid of any tackiness (Pros-Aide will stay tacky indefinitely unless powder). 

PAINTING THE APPLICATION

Once the prosthetic is on, you will need to seal it with a layer of straight Pros-Aide, or you can use Pax Paint, which is a Pros-Aide based paint, to also lay a base color. This will be necessary of the latex might start to break down from the colors you will apply on top. Either way, the whole prosthetic will need another dusting of clear setting powder to set, and then you will be able to paint. There are several ways to paint the prosthetic to stunning effect. I chose to use a flesh tone base coat of Pax, then several layers of spattering and then some mottling, lowlights, highlights, veining and yet more mottling to break up the final effect. Like I was saying, applying these layers with an airbrush is definitely faster and easier for me, especially with the special Spatter Cap by Harder and Steenbeck which makes spattering super fast, clean and easy, but you can also use traditional brushes to achieve the same results. As far as colors are concerned, I have often used PPI's alcohol based palettes for these kind of jobs before, but this time I decide to try out Ben Nye's new range of water / hybrid based colors created especially for airbrushing, called Pro Color. There is an especially large selection of colors for special effects. The lines are eloquently called "Death", "FX" and "Classic", and within them you can find pretty much any color you might need for a great SFX paint job. Because of the water based composition, these colors are also more pleasant for the model, and can be sprayed on the eye area without any fear of irritation. The color tonality and pigmentation is fantastic, as you can expect from a legendary brand such as Ben Nye. 

SEALING THE PAINT JOB

The order in which you lay the colors is pretty much up to you and to the final effect you wish to achieve. You will inevitably find yourself going back and forth and adding a further layer with a technique (such as spattering, for example), long after you thought you were finished. Every artist has its own technique, but the rules are far and few in between. At the end of the day, what really matters is what works. Once you are finished painting, you will need to seal your paint job. Ben Nye is also the maker of Final Seal, an industry staple and one of the best makeup sealers around. Of course this is also ready to be applied with an airbrush, so that is just what we did. If we had used alcohol based paints we would have probably chosen PPI Green Marble sealer, which can be used after each layer of alcohol paint in order to protect it from the subsequent layer, as it basically prevents the new alcohol being applied from breaking up the alcohol in the layer previously applied.

REMOVING THE PROSTHETIC
To remove the prosthetic, loosen a hidden edge with a bit of PPI's Telesis Super Solve, then gently pull the latex off the face dusting the skin underneath with clear powder with a fan brush as you pull away. Use Super Solve to remove the residue of glue, then a good makeup remover for the rest, and proceed to restorative skin care. 

I hope this video and text might be of use to some of you makeup artists who are taking your first steps in the amazing SFX world. Whichever style of project you will embark on this Halloween, I wish you a fun experience and a wonderfully creative time.

Airbrush for Special Effects: Easy Succubus Halloween Tutorial with 3rd Degree Silicone

Halloween is many a makeup artist's dream festivity. Creativity runs amok and everybody is trying to outdo each other in coming up with the most whimsical and surprising look for the occasion. Some newbies might even feel intimidated at times, but the industry nowadays is supplying us with so many amazing products that literally anyone can create a frightfully good makeup without too much effort. Like every year we turned to our favorite online store in the world, Camera Ready Cosmetics, to put together the look you see in these photos and video tutorial. If you follow these pages you might have read our previous Camera Ready rave review of a couple of years ago. Since we wrote it the business moved to a new location in Dallas, Texas, and grew exponentially under the guidance of their amazingly talented founder and owner, makeup artist Mary Erickson. They now stock about twice as many brands, have lowered their shipping costs and continue with their policy of unrivaled customer service. Much to our delight, they stock an extensive catalogue of airbrush products and special effect supplies, and they ship all over the world at fair prices when many of their competitors still hesitate to do so. 

Let's talk about some of the products we used in our demo, hoping that what you see and read here will inspire you to get creative for Halloween 2017!

3d Degree Silicone Modeling Compound

This amazingly versatile product is made of two components that must be mixed in equal parts. It is extremely easy to blend on the skin and can be cleaned up and smoothed out while still curing with 99% alcohol. It will cure in about 5 minutes, so be sure to work fast. Also be very careful not to cross contaminate the jars when extracting the product, or you may render it unusable. This product is available in various colors. We had the clear version which can also be easily colored intrinsically by mixing pigment in powder form. Once cured the application will look very shiny, but it can be painted easily and blended perfectly.

Skin Illustrator On Set Palettes

These alcohol activated pigments are the most famous and most widely used in the professional SFX industry. The On Set Palettes are smaller, more portable (and less expensive) versions of the full size product, and the colors apply so sheer on the skin that they will look like they are coming through from underneath, with a startlingly realistic effect. They can be reduced with their special Activator, which is less irritating to the eye than straight alcohol 99. To use these colors in your airbrush, as we did in the video, simply pour

a small amount of alcohol or activator in your airbrush cup and then "tint" it by dipping a brush into the palette's well and then "rinsing it" in the airbrush reservoir. It is a simple process that is quicker to do than to describe, and require minimal experimentation in order to achieve the right color intensity. If you don't want to do this, you can also order the same colors you find in the palettes in a liquid format that is ready to be airbrushed. 

European Body Art Colors

EBA is another brand that is becoming an industry standard in the SFX world, with outstanding lines  for airbrushing and solid palettes. We used Endura Airbrush Liquid (alcohol based) in white to prime the face and get rid of the silicone compound's shine, then some flesh tone and some straight black to finish the makeup. EBA also offers Endura Vibe, a line of water based colors of extraordinary pigmentation and water and rub resistance.

Bdellium Tools Brushes

So you finally saw me using a brush or two, and these could only be coming from the amazing SFX collection by Bdellium Tools, a vegan product created especially to achieve amazing pictorial textures. These brushes are another industry favorite, and if you look hard enough in related videos, you will see them being used by the very best artists in both the beauty and the special effects fields. 

Graftobian Walk-Around System

We fully reviewed this beauty in a previous post that you can read in our Kits Reviews page, and we are happy that CRC is still stocking this beauty!

Camera Ready Cosmetics Airbrush Foundation: Review and Video Tutorial

100% Unretouched CRC Airbrush Foundation

Camera Ready Cosmetics is in our honest and unsponsored opinion one of the best pro makeup stores in the world. Originally founded in California by makeup artist Mary Erickson, the operation recently moved its base to Dallas, Texas, where it has expanded its product catalogue significantly and from where its success has continued to grow. Crc's secret is a very simple, time tested yet too often forgotten formula: they offer only the best brands at the best prices with the very best customer service imaginable. On top of that CRC offers very convenient worldwide shipping for most of its products, which is a vital feature often missing from other online distributors. 

Camera Ready isn't just a distributor of other brands, however, but has developed a very interesting line of products that it distributes under its own name. The philosophy behind CRC's own line is very simple, and reflects the generous, no bull attitude of its very founder: to provide new and established professionals with tools and products that perform effectively while remaining free of the costly burden of mainstream marketing. 

100% Unretouched CRC Airbrush Foundation

CRC Airbrush Foundation is one of the most prominent products resulting from this commercial strategy. Many perspective buyers may be hesitant to try out a product that has not been as widely advertised as an equivalent from better known brands, so we decided to put it to the test hoping that what we found out may help you decide whether to try this or not.

The line consists of ten water based shades of foundation presented in a generous, no frills 1 fl. oz (30ml) size and sold at a very convenient price. Most importantly, big sample sizes of 1/4 oz (7.5 ml) can be purchased for each color for just 3.99 dollars.  While the range is not very extensive, the shades included in it have a very neutral slant which will allow them to match most complexions from any ethnicity, and of course as with any airbrush formula the colors can be mixed together to refine the tonality to perfection. 

100% Unretouched CRC Airbrush Foundation

The enclosed photo of the airbrushed swatches, shot in natural sunlight, will give you a better idea of the undertone for each shade. Foundation N.10 is the fairest beige hue, while N.15 will match the lightest yellow undertone. The colors that follow are more neutral with a slight leaning towards either group. The foundation's formula has a medium viscosity which allows the colors to be used with practically any airbrush. For our tests and our video tutorial we used Kett's .40 airbrush, which has a slightly wider nozzle, but in other tests with any 3.5 nozzle we did not experience any clogging whatsoever, and cleaning the airbrush was a breeze with our Nurturing Force universal cleaner. The products provides very good coverage and good resistance to transfer and water. Tears will not cause the base to streak, and the finish will not be altered if allowed to simply air dry after exposure to moisture. Finally, the foundations have a very light, pleasant scent that is barely perceptible and will not linger after application. 

We decided to put the products to the test in a video tutorial where we used 5 shades of CRC Airbrush Foundations to accomplish a whole look. The goal of the video was to show how natural and versatile these products could be, and we believe the result and the unretouched photos we included here speak for themselves (pls click on each photo for full screen mode).

Whether you are a consummate makeup artist, a beginner or a personal user, CRC Foundations and their samples represent a fantastic opportunity to own a whole airbrush makeup foundation range at the most reasonable price imaginable. 

Camera Ready Cosmetics Airbrush Foundation Swatches

CRC Airbrush Foundation Ingredients:
Aqua (Water), Propylene Glycol, Acrylates/ Octylacrylamide Copolymer, Magnesium Aluminum Silicate, Triethanolamine, Tocopherol, Xanthan Gum, Phenoxyethanol, Disodium EDTA, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Butyparaben, Ethylparaben, Isobutylparaben. +/- May Contain: Mica,
CI 77891 (Titanium Dioxide), CI 77491 CI 77491 CI 77492 CI 77499 (Iron Oxides), CI 77007 (Ultramarines), CI 77288 (Chromium Oxide Greens).

Airbrush makeup primer review: Nurturing Force Blot Out Offensive &Twinkle Not Wrinkle Eye Cream

A while ago we introduced Nurturing Force on our pages with our review or their Airbrush and Brush Cleaner. Today we'd like to tell you about two more products from this fantastic brand specialized in airbrush makeup friendly, HD compatible products. 

Nurturing Force Face Primer

Blot Out Offensive has been Nurturing Force's flagship product for several years now. We found out about it while browsing the Camera Ready Cosmetics website, then read enthusiastic reviews on Kett's website and saw YouTube raves by Koren Zander. All we had to do was try this out for ourselves and see if it would live up to the high expectations the reviews created. The product has a very pleasant frothy consistency that makes it similar to whipped marshmallow filling, with no hint of fragrance, which I personally appreciate. It dries very fast on the skin, so it needs to be applied quickly and in small quantities. As its name suggests, this Aloe Vera, silicone free formula is an instant mattifier whose primary goal is to keep oil production under control, improving the duration of foundation. I have tried it both on myself and on several others, and I am happy to report that the primer does what it promises, significantly reducing oil production in the most oil prone areas like the T zone. I would not venture on specific duration times for its mattifying effect as this is subject to individual pre dispositions, as it would be for any other product. My own T zone tends to be quite oily, especially in the summer, and I found that Blot Out Offensive held up very well throughout the day. Despite the absence of silicone the cream also has a noticeable filling power, smoothing enlarged pores without blocking them. I especially appreciate the absence of silicone as this allows the primer to be used on those who have an intolerance to it and it makes it ideal for water based makeup. Its very matte finish means it may not be the best choice for the under eye area, but this is where Nurturing Force's next brilliant product comes into play.

Nurturing Force Eye Primer

Twinkle Not Wrinkle eye cream and base is an HD primer for eyes, also based on Aloe Vera and enriched with Hyaluronic Acid and Cherry Kernel Oil. This product does contain silicone (Dimethicone), which makes its texture very smooth and more similar to a traditional cream. Unlike Blot Out Offensive you can take your time applying this, but just like the face primer it has no fragrance at all. The feel and final finish is very soft, hydrated and luxurious, but, unlike many other primers, never too slick. It provides an excellent base for eye makeup, improving durability and helping against creasing. When used with traditional powder eye shadow it will also dramatically improve the color payoff.

We simply love Nurturing Force. This family run business has a strong commitment to natural ingredients, excellent quality and a special attention to the needs of airbrush makeup. They are a regular presence at most of the major trade shows, where they often offer their products in special money saving kits. The brand includes several other products that we hope to review in the future. We also hope they will heed our suggestion and finally come out with the only thing that seems to be missing from their line: a natural ingredients based airbrush makeup fixing spray!

For those of you reading this in Europe, Nurturing Force products can also be ordered from Guru Makeup Emporium in London. 

Nurturing Force Primers

Video tutorial: fast Sugar Skull airbrush makeup with Graftobian GlamAire F/X Neon colors for black light

Airbrush Sugar Skull Makeup with Graftobian

Summer holidays are over, school is in and Halloween is approaching fast! And talking of speed, I was recently chatting with a makeup artist friend about a Halloween gig where she had to paint Sugar Skull makeups on a bunch of people in a very short time. I said to her that airbrushing would probably have been a good idea, and that with a few stencils and a couple of extra airbrushes to avoid time consuming color changes the whole endeavour could have turned into a whole lot of fun. 

A year later I am challenging myself to "walk my talk", and the results are in this video. The process is not exactly super fast as I chose to experiment with detail and decorations, but I hope it gives you a fair idea of how fun the process can be. In this video I am using stencils that I made by myself, and I decided to make the templates available to you our new FREE STENCILS page. Graftobian of course distributes the great BadAss Stencil line, and I would have used some of those too, but they were scheduled to arrive after the shooting deadline for the video. 

El dia de los Muertos Aribrush Makeup

In this look I also wanted to try out my new Graftobian GlamAire F/X Neon colors, and of course to use my new Graftobian Walk-Around System that I purchased early this summer at CRCmakeup.com. The colors are fantastic. They have an amazing payoff, they are super resistant and have a very low viscosity, which in layman terms means that they clear out of your airbrush beautifully, with hardly any residue. I did not have a hint of a clogging problem while using them. The bottles are a large 2 oz. size, which of course you need if you are going to do body painting. The formula is an alcohol and water base hybrid, and dries fast to a matte finish. I found it to be very gentle on the skin and odor free. 

Another great thing about these products is that the pigment does separate when they lay idle, but unlike the other GlamAire beauty formulas a quick shake is all it takes to get it perfectly mixed again. Oh, and did I mention that the Neon colors are made to glow in back light? Unfortunately we weren't equipped to show you that in the video, but it sure is a great plus. We will write more about Graftobian, its amazing color range and the Walk-Around airbrush system in our next post. Stay tuned...

Halloween Sugar Skull Airbrush Makeup with Graftobian F/X Aire

Review: Nurturing Force, The Best Airbrush Cleaner Ever!

Let's face it, cleaning your airbrush is never going to be much fun, but does it also have to be hazardous for your health? I am so glad to have found an answer to this question in this product.

Nurturing force is an American company with a very simple, no frills philosophy of developing products with natural ingredients without compromising the high performance standard expected by professionals. If this wasn't enough of a good reason to perk our interest, they also focus on airbrushing at the core of their product line, which in my immodest and very biased opinion, is exactly where it should be. I originally picked up a small 1 oz bottle of their NF (Non-Flammable) airbrush cleaner on my first visit to CRC Makeup. I was attracted by the claim that it works on Water Based, Silicone based and Alcohol based makeup. So one product instead of three already sounded like a very good deal. I went on to read the label description: "no artificial fragrance, no colorants, no preservatives, no volatile chemicals, no Dangerous poisons, no animal products and no animal testing. Ingredients are food-grade quality".

The product is also a concentrate, so you only have to use a few drops at a time and dilute it with water, making the 1oz size much more sensible than it looked at first (2 and 4 oz sizes are also available). In short this product seemed cheaper, healthier, and more versatile than anything on the market.

Only one question remained. Does it actually work? I am pleased that the answer is a resounding YES!  Nurturing Force cleaned water based makeup as efficiently and as fast as my trusted Dinair cleaner. Unlike Dinair, which is also made of natural based ingredients but which is irritant and makes you cough if inhaled, Nurturing Force has a very pleasant peppermint scent and has no adverse effect whatsoever. It proved just as efficient in cleaning my airbrush from alcohol based makeup, and it even did very well on silicone, which is the toughest of them all. Where silicone is concerned, it may act a little slower than 244, but it does the job just as well in the end, and I personally value my health (and that of my customers) above a few seconds spared.

Nurturing force produces several different airbrushing complements, like the very popular Blot Out Offensive primer, which I will review in future posts, a priming/moisturizing mist specifically formulated for airbrush, and a very interesting series of "airbrush makeup safe" blotting papers which I cannot wait to try. In Europe, you can find Nurturing Force also available at Gruru Makeup Emporium.

PRO TIP: For your safety and comfort, please remember to avoid spraying any kind of cleaner into the air. Cleaner should always be discharged in an airbrush cleaning pot or in a tissue.

In Depth Review: Temptu Pro SB 37 set starter pack

A must have product for anyone approaching the art of Airbrush Makeup

We are beginning the new year with the first in a series of  detailed reviews that will focus on the leading products from the most significant brands of Airbrush Makeup today. 

Temptu is without a doubt the leading brand in Silicone based airbrush makeup for professional use. The company started producing its airbrush line in the 90's, and in 2009 became a household name with the marketing of its Airpod system, created for consumers and distributed for a while across the whole United States by Sephora.

Today Temptu Pro offers three separate lines of products: S/B (silicone based) , AQUA (water based), DURA for body painting, tattoos and special effects, all the while keeping the AIRpod system as a further option.

The range of colours offered by this brand is simply staggering, however the information available on these colors themselves is decidedly less than overwhelming, and there are precious few blog posts and videos demonstrating and explaining the range to the uninitiated. This is why the option of a starter sets made up of thirty seven 1/4 oz size bottles becomes essential. 

The SB 37-set starter pack is the biggest of the many sets offered on the Temptu.com/pro website, where it often sells out. I got mine from the wonderful Camera Ready Cosmetics online store, where it is available for $195, that is 30 dollars less than its retail price of $ 225. Factor in free shipping and CRC's low price guarantee, and you can't go wrong buying it there.

Here is what the set contains, in detail:

-12 Foundation colours: Porcelain 001, Blush Ivory 002, Ivory 003, Sand 004, Pure Beige 005, Toffee 006, Golden Honey 007, Clay 008, Natural Mocha 009, Cappuccino 010, Dark Chocolate 011 and Espresso 012, which make up the complete range of S/B foundation.

-8 Highlighters: Pink Pearl 050, Gold Shimmer 051, Copper Bronze 052, Champagne Shimmer 053, Peachy Pink 054, Red Bronze 055, Silver Shimmer 056 and White Shimmer 057. This used to represent the complete range of S/B shimmer highlighters. This year Temptu introduced two more highlighters (Platinum 080, Pearl 081) as part of of a new series called Multicolors, and those are not included in this pack. 

-4 Blushers: these represent the most popular blusher colours: Blush 040, Plum 041, Peach 042, Coral 043. 

-7 Adjusters: the complete range of adjuster colors: Black 029, White 030, Yellow 031, Red 032, Green 033, Blue 034 and Violet 03. These can be mixed with any other S/B color produced by Temptu or used on their own. 

-6 Hi-Def colors: Red 021, Yellow 024, Green 025, Blue 026, Purple 027, Pink 028. These are highly pigmented, vibrant shades that can be used for a great variety of applications. The whole range is actually made up of 8 colors, but Black 029 and White 030, are counted in with the Adjusters set mentioned above. 

Now for some personal considerations. I was actually a silicone skeptic before trying out this line. The few encounters with silicone based products from other brands, and to be honest an early dab with the AIRpod product itself (which is a different formulation from the Pro line) had left me underwhelmed. This set allowed me to experiment a lot, and to actually become a Temtpu Pro enthusiast. The texture of the makeup is very smooth, and the application as fine and soft as silicone can be. The colors are actually beautiful, and their possibilities almost endless, given the fact that you can mix everything with everything else. They appear quite glossy on application, and they remain movable for a good few minutes before drying completely to a natural looking, waterproof finish with the perfect amount of dewiness.  I particularly love the Hi-Def set: you can create almost any eye shadow colour, which can then be turned into a shimmer by just adding a drop from the Highlighter set.  The slower drying time (when compared to water based lines) means extra care when applying eyeshadow, but you can speed the process by blowing some air on the area with your airbrush, or if you are working with matte colours, by dabbing a thin veil of setting powder. Another thing I definitely like about the whole range is the scent, which is lovely, very delicate, and which disappears quickly after application leaving no lingering after taste. 

When it comes to silicone, the quantities needed for a full application mean that the 1/4 ounces sizes will not go particularly far, especially when it comes to foundations, however this set represents the perfect way to test each shade without having to buy every color in its obviously more expensive regular size. Professional MUAs can of course also refill the smaller bottles from the regular size they will buy later and save a significant amount of space in their kit. 

All in all this is a fantastic purchase. The only thing I wasn't crazy about was the fact that all the colours came together in one single clear pouch that is almost too small to contain them all, and which makes identifying the individual shades a bit of a challenge, as the colour name and number are printed on very small stickers placed under the bottom of each little bottle. 

Please check our next post for color swatches and eyeshadow demos. I will also publish an individual review on the foundation range later on. 

Review: Camera Ready Cosmetics, the ultimate pro makeup store.

Camera Ready Cosmetics, founded by makeup artist Mary Erickson, is becoming more and more appreciated by makeup artists worldwide due to a simple strategy: they offer only the best makeup brands at the lowest guaranteed price, the most efficient customer service, and they ship worldwide at the most convenient rates. In other words: straight forward top quality, top service, no bull and above all (and most remarkably) no greed. I stopped at the CRC showroom in La Mesa (San Diego) a couple of months ago, on my way from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. Not the most efficient route, I realize, but I had a sizable order to collect so I thought I would see what the place looks like, and if it would hold true to its website description of a "playground" where you can test products without obligation and with the help of  knowledgeable staff. Well, what can I say? I left two hours later wishing I could have bought the entire place, and feeling like I had made some new friends. The strategy obviously works!

The Showroom at CRC

 The showroom space is not huge, but it is big enough to display the whole collection of products in a very user friendly layout. There they were: RCMA, Face Atelier, Cinema Secrets and all those other brands I had read so much about but had been hesitant to order finally at my fingertips (literally). No amount advertisement and  no guru's opinion can be a substitute for hands on testing of a a product's colour, texture and wearability, and although the CRC website offers a sampling service, which is rare among online stores, here you can see the whole range taking the guess work and the expense out of the equation. 

The perfect testing post.

The same applies to their very extensive stock of airbrush makeup of course. They even had a Graftobian kit plugged in and ready for use, so I could actually test some colours with an airbrush, rather than just out of the bottle. They have all the major professional brands except for one of the most famous ones, that shall remain nameless here. For some reason this brand hasn't been able to include CRC among their distributors, which is a terrible shame because not only do they lose credibility with the professionals (many think that if CRC doesn't carry it, it is not worth having) but they also lose a major International outlet, as CRC will ship to countries they will not. Oh well, I hope they can take a hint. 

During my visit I was helped by the very knowledgeable and super helpful Ashlie, and later I had a chance to also chat with the stunning Ashley (similar name, different person) and with Nicole, who leads the marketing department with unsurpassed efficiency, elegance and grace. What I didn't expect was to be able to meet Mary Erickson herself, and boy am I glad I had a chance. Mary gave me a whole tour of the operation, from the offices to the extensive mail room which is the heart and soul of CRC, taking two thirds of the space. At the time of my visit the staff was processing an average of over 250 orders a day, yet everyone would smile and say hi, leaving me with the impression of a very happy crew. Mary explained to me that every single batch of makeup that comes in is personally checked by a dedicated employee for flaws of any kind, and immediately sent back if found in any way imperfect. To further guarantee the freshness of  the makeup there is also an unwritten "two weeks rule" applied on the merchandise: CRC does not stock anything that doesn't sell out within that period. Well, I couldn't have been more impressed. Mary herself is exactly as I thought she would be by checking her WEBSITE. Most makeup artists only store their portfolio and their CV there. She went out of her way to incorporate a Q&A page with a lot of information on all aspects of the profession, something I had not seen before and that can be of great use to aspiring MUAs. In other words when so many in her position and with her level of artistry are often standoffish, aloof and a little full of themselves,  she remains enthusiastic, generous and gifted with a biting sense of humour in spite of her strong business savvy. 

You don't have to be an insider to know that the cosmetic industry, at any stage from creation to distribution, is one of the most dynamic and competitive business environments in the world. Add an international economic downturn such as the one of the last few years, and you are left with a question: is it possible for an independent business to thrive, and most importantly to do so ethically? Is it possible to generate high customer satisfaction, create a happy working environment and still adhere to a strict commitment to excellence in the product that you offer? The answer is a resounding YES, and the proof is an Enterprise called Camera Ready Cosmetics. 

PRO TIP & UPDATE: Since we wrote this article Camera Ready has been going from strength to strength: after a major website redesign, a free App was launched bringing the latest update to your phones and tablet (available on Itunes). The Pro discount program was redesigned to include discounts of up to 40%, and the Aspiring MUA discount was increased to 10%. A reward points program was also put in place, allowing any customer to get back 10% on each purchase.

 

Some of the lovely CRC Staff. Fourth from the left is Mary Erickson

Airbrush Makeup cities: Los Angeles

The Center of the Airbrush Makeup Universe! 

Los Angeles could easily be named the capital of Airbrush Makeup. Hollywood and the film and TV industry as a whole provide an irresistible lure for the greatest MUAs, who find the most fertile grounds to experiment with innovative ideas. Airbrush makeup was invented right here, in 1925, when it was used on the hundreds of extras in Fred Niblo's Ben Hur.

Nowadays the demands of High Definition make airbrushing the most sought after technique in creating makeup that is undetectable to the unforgiving HD camera lenses, and also for its applications in advanced special effects. Airbrushing is of course the most used painting technique in FACE OFF, the very popular FX reality show where professional MUAs compete in extreme makeup challenges, which is filmed right here in LA.

The most interesting aspect for a visiting makeup fan is the unprecedented range of products that are readily available in the amazing stores of the area. Stores so big and well stocked the likes of which are almost unthinkable in Europe. Not to mention the prices, which are very convenient and for once free of shipping charges and import duties. We will be publishing extensive reviews of some of these stores, and we also look forward to reviewing the many products and brands that we were able to take with us, so that you can make the most informed choice as you advance in the wonderful universe of airbrushing. So please stay tuned, so much more info is heading your way...