Airbrush Makeup at Comsoprof 2014

Cosmoprof is back in Bologna, Italy, and once again I was first in line and searching this massive, 4 day event for anything new concerning airbrushing in makeup and beauty. 

Of course the focus of my wandering had to be once again Halls 29 and 30, dubbed for the occasion the "International Pavillions", where I had the pleasure of meeting up once again with our friends from leading professional UK brand Mistair. The company's reputation is growing fast on the British scene, where promotional liasons with popular TV programmes are making its quality silicone based line more and more well known in the industry. This year I also had a chance to try out their amazing MistFX line, which I can honestly say is the best, most pigmented body painting product I have ever seen. Given its reach texture and its resistance to water I could hardly believe that this product was in fact water based and seeing these amazingly brilliant colours in person was enough to make me want to go back to body painting very soon. 

Not very far in the USA section of Hall 30 I was very happy to meet the brilliant international team of Make-up Designory, who very recently opened a Studio in Milan. MUD enjoys a reputation for being one of the very best makeup schools in the world, and also produces an equally acclaimed makeup range that includes a line of high quality silicone based products. The MUD stand was one of the most happening and interesting places in the whole exhibition. I shall say no more about them for now, because I will have the pleasure of visiting their New York branch very soon, and I will follow up with an in-depth review. 

A similar relationship between education and product creation is reflected in the history of Cazcarra Image Group, a big company from Spain that started as a professional school and is now producing an extensive range of makeup catering to anyone from teenage girls to the most skilled FX professionals. Cazcarra produces a very interesting aibrush makeup line which we will be happy to review very soon. One of their leading makeup artists, Jordi Justribó, was there once again demonstrating amazing looks to an awestruck audience. We will soon interview Jordi for a new series on international airbrush makeup artists profiles. 

This year I was surprised to see airbrushes also involved in unusual application, from pure oxygen skin therapy to hair reconstruction treatments. While some of these disciplines might leave one slightly perplexed at times, one thing is certain: airbrushing in the cosmetic industry is here to stay.

 

Eulenspiegel: quality Airbrush Body Painting from Germany at the rightprice!

Eulenspiegel is a German makeup brand with a straight forward philosophy: to offer a quality line of body painting and fantasy makeup products at an accessible price. We are not using the word "quality" lightly here: the products are certified according to all the current European standards, they are hypo allergenic, and gluten, paraben and animal cruelty free. We have had the pleasure of meeting the Eulenspiegel Team at Cosmoprof 2013 in Italy, and we will see them again this year during the 2014 edition of the trade show, where as usual their stand will be crowded with customers attracted by the wide product range and by the decidedly affordable prices that they offer. 

Courtesy of Eulenspiegel Website

For the discipline of airbrush body painting, Eulenspiegel produced "Airbrush Star", a series of 30 highly pigmented airbrushable colours in 30 ml bottles for the great price of 6,95 Euros per colour. The products are water based, and according to the literature they are suitable for airbrushes with a 2.0 nozzle and up. After trying them I can confirm that this is correct, however given the viscosity of the liquids, at least in their undiluted form, I would definitely recommend using them with an airbrush with a 0.35 nozzle and up.

The colour payoff is actually excellent: all you need is a few drops and a few passes to cover a wide area effectively. For a whole adult face, for example, 12 drops will be more than enough to achieve a complete, solid coverage. The colours will need a few minutes to dry completely, and you may want to set them with a colour free powder to speed drying. Once dry, they will have a very good stability and they will be resistant to water, sweat and transfer.

The only downside that I have found with this product is the difficulty in removing the pigment from the airbrush once application is over. Because of its high pigmentation, the product will leave a persistent residue that will require very thorough cleaning at the end of session. This however does not represent a problem during the session itself, because the residue will not clog the nozzle, and there will be no particular need for cleaning in between colours.

If you are on a budget, you may chose to buy just the primary colours and mix them to achieve almost any shade, but you will find it hard to resist the beautiful pre mixed shades that are readily available on the online store.

Shipping from Germany is fast and cost effective, so you can try this line by ordering directly from the original website to your own Country.

PRO TIP: be sure to cut off the tip of the nozzle on the bottle as little as possible: if you cut it too low, a gap between the nozzle and the bottle cap will form and the colour will spill everywhere the next time you open the bottle.

Coverage with just three drops of colour White.

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.

TEMPTU PRO S/B 37 STARTER PACK: SWATCHES AND AIRBRUSH MAKEUP DEMO

Please scroll down for swatches photos

Last month we published an in-depth review on Temptu Pro's best introductotry package, the 37 S/B starter set, and now it's high time for some demos! The swatches were airbrushed on my own skin (fair, NC 20 in the Mac scale or 04 in the Tempty SB range), and photographed in natural light. 2-3 drops were used for each swatch, in order to give a better idea of the pigment. Of course they wouldn't normally be applied in such high concentration on such a small area All color groups in the 37 Starter Pack were swatched except for the base color Group.  As for the two sample eye makeups in the next photos, they were made using exclusively colors taken from the starter set, in order to show you how versatile these colors can be. Again the photos are 100% unretouched and taken in natural light. While I am waiting to shoot a proper video with a model, I used a Mehron practice head for practical reasons for the sample eyeshadow combination, and there is no pretense of anatomical precision or tonal subtlety here, but like I said, my first priority was to demonstrate the potential of the shades. .

EYESHADOW HOW TO: The equipment used to achieve these designs is esclusively Temptu, namely the 2.0 compressor (Starter System) with the SP-35 Temptu airbrush. I airbrushed the eyebrows first using a stencil and two base colors (n. 6 and n.12) to achieve a slight ombre effect, then I worked my way through the eyeshadow starting with the lightest colour and ending with the darkest. The colors blend instantly and beautifully. After I applied the eyeshadow I retouched the eyebrows somewhat to get rid of any overspray. I sprayed very lightly and I  let each color dry before applying the next. Setting powder can be used with care to speed the process, but I find it takes away from the beautiful glossy effect that is typical of silicone, so I prefer to dry by just spraying air with the airbrush. For the eyeshadow I kept the dial of the compressor at 12 o'clock (low setting), then moved it to 3 o'clock to apply the base and blush. I did not clean the airbrush at each color change, I just sprayed out each color and let the next color flush out the residue, spraying on a tissue until the new colour appeared pure. This wastes a bit of product but saves a lot of time.  With a little practice the process can be very fast. The second eyeshadow took less than 10 minutes to apply, drying time included. The makeup is beautifully waterproof, and if applied respecting the proper drying times, will last all day unchanged. Newbies to Temptu airbrush makeup maybe surprised at how different the colours look when actually sprayed. That is why I have used base colors for eyebrows, and adjusters, shimmers and colours from the HI DEF series for eyeshadows indifferently. Like we said in the review, everything mixes with everything else and the possiblilities are endless.

Well, this is just the tip of the iceberg of course. Please let us know if you would like to see more swatches, and have fun with your S/B colors!

 

Pls click on any picture to enlarge it.

Please refer to our in-depth review to identify each colour referenced here

 

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. 

How to save on Airbrush Makeup: discounts, coupons and seasonal specials.

In this post I would like to share some practical advice on how to save money on airbrush makeup. Whether you are a consumed professional or just a professional consumer, I hope you will find some of these tips useful as you prepare to invest in this wonderful, still relatively new makeup media.

Tip one: Brand Mailing lists

Subscribing to mailing lists can pay big!

It is always a good and inexpensive idea to subscribe to a brand's mailing list, and to their Facebook pages and Twitter accounts. Airbrush makeup companies are still struggling to establish themselves in the mainstream of makeup marketing, so they still use their mailing lists a lot to promote special deals for their subscribers. If there was a competition for who offers the best deals on their list, Luminess Air would certainly win the prize, with constant sales going on for their subscriber that will allow them to get truly remarkable discounts and often free shipping on top. They used to send $25 coupons to subscribers who had not bought with them for a while, but now they seem to have settled on general mega sales that will include  everything from equipment to full kits and from foundation to skincare. Runner up for deal frequency would have to be Dinair, although their special are more often than not geared at new customers who will get extra products for buying a full kit. Range wide sales are extremely rare (Black Friday being the exception), and equipment and skincare sales are practically non existent. On the more professional oriented sites, Temptu Pro has a newly restyled website, and a good few specials have been popping up of late, so this is certainly a list you will not want to miss, while Kett's specials are extremely rare.  

Tip Two (Pro Tip): Makeup Stores

This may seem counterintuitive, but some makeup stores do offer the best deals around, even beating the manufacturer's own prices. Take Camera Ready Cosmetics for example: they offer a low price guarantee on most of their products, they have a remarkable Pro Discount of 20%, their shipping charges are lower and their processing time faster than most of the manufacturers out there. They also have periodical specials that will allow you to save even more.  So once again, joining the mailing list of several online makeup stores could save you quite a bit of cash.

A recent special from CRCMakeup.com

Tip Three: Bloggers

Following bloggers on Youtube and other social media may still be very worthwhile, although blogger power has been waning more and more in the last year. New companies used to flood the most influential bloggers with free product in exchange for reviews, and the bloggers themselves would then turn these goodies into giveaway prizes, but this strategy seems to have been more or less abandoned right now. A notable exception is Belletto Studio: with special discount codes and coupons associated with popular bloggers, their followers could get remarkable saving on their steep list prices. For example just a few weeks ago fans of Xparkage could get one of their "Ultimate Skin Secrets Starter Kit" for a laughable $99 instead of the "regular" $430 price. 

Tip Four: Ebay

Of course there is always Ebay. Most of the times sellers are reliable and honest, however you should always keep in mind that even airbrush makeup has an expiry date, and that overstock sold by Ebay seller at discounted prices is often old batches that went into clearance. So be careful what you purchase, and don't hesitate to ask the seller for expiration dates or production dates. One way to see how old the product may be is to look at the pictures: do they show the latest graphics or packaging for the product, or are they showing old merchandise? All the major brands, from Temptu to OCC, to Dinair and Kett have updated their graphics and packaging in the last two years, and you can check their websites to see if what's being sold on ebay matches.

Tip Five (Pro Tip): Equipment Manifacturers

If you wish to save considerably on airbrush equipment, please consider this: most makeup brands do not manufacture their own equipment, but order it from a third party (a professional airbrush maker, regularly distributed by most traditional airbrush suppliers) who will impress the makeup brand logo on their equipment. I am not going to go into details here as I do not wish to make any enemies, but have a look around at the Sparmax SP-35 gun for example. Now do a quick search among makeup brands, and find out how much more it is going to cost you to have the exact same gun with their logo stamped on it where Sparmax's own would be. The same applies to a lot of compressors, although the main three or four makeup brands produce their own exclusively...

Sparmax SP-35 airbrush... where have I seen you before...

Video: Airbrush Makeup How to Eyeshadow with Luminess Air

Demonstrating 3 classic Luminess Air Eyeshadow Sets: Ore, Evening Sari and Smokey Eyes

Luminess "Ore" Duo- 100% unretouched Picture

Luminess Air is one of the most popular airbrush makeup brands aimed specifically at consumers. The brand offers a wide range of eyeshadow colors that are sometimes paired in sets of two or three. Luminess eye shadows have a very low viscosity which makes them easy to clean as they leave very little residue in your airgun, and which renders them very blendable and very sheer on application. Professional MUAs may find these very characteristics a bit limiting, but then again these products are directed at the average consumer, who will find them very easy to use.

Don't forget to check the special sales at www.luminessair.com. The company keeps renewing their specials and you can find some really good deals if you subscribe to their newsletter. If you are looking into buying a kit, definitely go for the 3 speed model, which will allow more versatility for jobs like eyeshadow.

Luminess "Evening Sari" Trio, 100% unrethouched picture

Luminess "Smokey Eyes" Duo, 100% unretouched picture