Airbrush Makeup

[Ginny Jones]

Oops - been bad again! Middle of the night, last week, for some obscure reason I ended up watching an extended advert for an airbrush make-up system. They gave a number of demonstrations and I sat there thinking - "I just have to have that!". Of course by the time I went to bed I had talked myself out of it because of the cost. But then I had a little look on ebay ... cheaper, but still too expensive.

So today I found the perfect solution - get on the net the second you wake up and buy it before your rationale brain has time to kick in!

Bad Ginny!

Oh well - just need to find a decent place to buy body filler now!

I'll let you know how I get on when it arrives.

Hugs Ginny x

[KimberlyS]

Sounds like you are going to have some fun playing with makeup. Enjoy.

[Darla H]

Let us know ow it works out....maybe you can do your own info-mercial. Good luck with it!

[Davita]

yeppers to having fun with it Darla. Personally I don't think you're going to use it in the long run for your face anyway.

As long as airbrushes have been around and I'll lay odds it's no different than ones you use for crafts, how come they don't use them at cosmetic counters? How come none of your girlfriends use them? Watching Ru Paul's Drag U show, those girls don't use them. Who uses them??!!! Oh... maybe the fashion show?

With all that said, I hope you prove me wrong; that would be so kewl. Good luck. call me party pooper...

[Ginny Jones]

Davita - You party Pooper! Juss you wait til I look like Kiera Knightly! (Flounce, flounce!) - Well a girls gotta dream!

Hugs Ginny x

[Mikaela]

Interesting....and oh my..Ms. Knightly...thats a lofty goal!

[Ginny Jones]

Mikaela - well from a distance obviously! Ok, Ok, - I'll say it before someone else does - What 3 miles?

Hugs Ginny xx

[Kimberly Kael]

As long as airbrushes have been around and I'll lay odds it's no different than ones you use for crafts, how come they don't use them at cosmetic counters? How come none of your girlfriends use them?

I haven't looked into the option enough to know why they aren't in wider use, but the technique is used in film and fashion photography. I've had it done once by a professional myself for a photo shoot, and the results were amazing – but then she was incredibly meticulous and obviously had a lot of experience. She did a lot of wedding parties and was very highly thought of by her clientele.

New techniques and technologies fail to catch on for all kinds of reasons that have nothing to do with their effectiveness. Cosmetics counters in particular exist to sell cosmetics, and it's a lot easier to sell a product that doesn't require your customer to learn radically different skills. It's also challenging to try to sell a whole new idea that's incompatible with the majority of cosmetics people already own and are familiar with.

[Davita]

aaahhhh... I might be on my way to be proven wrong. Seems promising after all.

Thanks

[Ginny Jones]

Ok - it arrived this morning and so as you can imagine I was trying to plug it in whilst the postman was getting me to sign for it! Actually, I should own to having spent two days pouring over you-tube video tutorials so although this was my first try, I have some idea of the principles.

Out of the box, the first thing to do was to work out which shade of foundation to use. This was pretty straight forward - stripe test on the cheek. Then crank it up and off you go. From the outset it was clear that learning to get the distance of the gun from your face, get the right pressure on the trigger and keeping the gun moving is going to take some practice. I managed a reasonable imitation of this, making sure that I didn't apply the foundation too thick.

By the time I had finished and the makeup had dried, I was left feeling more excited than when I bought it! It's still early days, but I can really see the potential. You apply so little foundation to your skin that once it is dry - you don't feel like you are wearing makeup! I have been using ben nye orange beard cover and clarins nude cream foundation over the top of that previously. Sometimes I might use derma blend. I would then set it with powder. The result, whilst satisfactory tended to leave my skin feeling somewhat greasy. With this my skin feels dry and pretty much as it does en drab! Big improvement!

So right now it's looking really positive! I'll keep practising and let you know how things pan out.

Hugs Ginny x

[KimberlyS]

I hope it works good for you. So good you talk all of us into one because it is so great.

[Ginny Jones]

Ok, so day two and I've been having fun with it.

Here's what I'm discovering so far!

The instructions are talking about using about 6 drops of foundation to complete the job. I'm using more like 10 - 12. That said, I don't think they had polishing a pig in mind when they wrote them!

Included with the set was a Brightener. I have found that mixing the foundaton with this takes the edge off of it a little and I end up with more satisfactory results (I have the medium foundation set and I'm beginning to suspect that the top end of the light set might be more suitable for me - I am English after all!). Mixing foundations is easy - by putting your finger over the nozzle and gently pulling the trigger, air flow is redirected into the makeup reservoir and mixes whatever you have in there.

The brightener is great for lifting the darkness from eye sockets though. I think that with practice I should be able to get a pretty good impression of "no makeup" I tend to work on the basis of trying to get my skin looking as fresh as possible and keep everything else simple. This seems to suit that approach.

I tried using the blusher this morning. Perhaps I didn't use enough, but it had minimal effect. I'll keep practising on that front.

Davita made a good point about whether this is any different from using model spray guns. The one I have doesn't allow you to change the spray pressure - only the flow. From looking at it - I could imagine a model gun producing the same results (as long as you are using liquid water based foundatons, etc). That said, I bought an ex-demo model so got it pretty cheap. It worked out at about £80 with postage - and that included an introductory DVD, a foundation set (x 4) and four other bottles - A brightener, a bronzer, a Primer and a blusher.

I have intentionally not mentioned the company that produced it because my impression is that there are two factors here - a good quality gun (and there are ones more flexible than this one) and good quality makeup. Once you have a good gun, you can shop round to see which particular makeup suits you. That said, even a basic gun like the one I have, seems to be really useful!

The other thing about this process is that it is hygienic - nothing touches your skin other than the makeup. Ten of you could use a gun in a row and not communicate any bacteria. No more cleaning brushes! Yay! Good hygiene is still necessary though. For example, mixing involves touching the nozzle - so clean hands are essential.

You still need to use a setting powder after applying the foundation. My experience is that once applied, the foundation leaves your skin feeling a little too dry. Finishing powder seems to sort this out, not to mention stopping the foundation from coming off.

I watched a video on you tube of some guy applying makeup using a gun. He applied blusher and concealer and did his eyes, prior to applying the foundation. This is because the gun leaves the job finished - you don't have to use brushes. Therefore, you apply the foundation in such a way that you control how much concealer and blush grin through the top coat. He also did his eyes prior to applying the foundation (so that any mess can be cleaned up without removing foundation.)

I'm going out on Saturday night so I'll get more of a sense of how it all behaves under hazardous conditions - wearing it for a long time / dancing!

This is clearly no miracle cure and it does take a lot of practice but I'm still feeling quite positive about the whole experience!

Hugs Ginny xxx

[Belinda]

Davita - You party Pooper! Juss you wait til I look like Kiera Knightly! (Flounce, flounce!) - Well a girls gotta dream!

Hugs Ginny x

Oh My God Kiera Knightly, I would love to look like her. Admire your taste in role models Ginny.

[Ginny Jones]

Ok - final post on the matter! Went out on Saturday night at 5 pm and got home the following morning at 5 am having danced like a fool all night! Despite being very hot - the foundation didn't smear or run, and looked as good when I got home as when I went out! I was really pleased with it!

I think I am going to incorporate it into my makeup routine, and as things stand have no problems recommending it to you. Perhaps trying it out in a store might be an idea if you are unsure.

Hugs Ginny xxx