Dinair Beauty Basic Airbrush System Review

Oh my gosh, the holidays get the the way of everything! I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday and got everything they wanted! (and not what they deserved, wink wink)

I wanted to tell you all about my Dinair Beauty Basic Airbrush System that I bought. I wanted to use it for a while to make sure I got a good feel for it before I gave my review. 

First let me say that I did not intend to purchase a Dinair system. I was very interested in trying airbrush makeup and a makeup artist friend who's opinion I respect suggested I try a company who is very well known for their airbrush makeup in a can. I decided to try them first before investing in anything else. After a few days of the product I wanted to try being out of stock, I emailed them to inquire how long it would be before the product was restocked. I received no response so I called them and left a voice message again asking when they would be restocked. They responded by leaving me a voice message with a bit of attitude, explaining that I should email them as they have no idea what product I am asking about. I guess the initial detailed email and the phone message were not enough. So I re-emailed them as well as leaving another detailed voice message asking about the products. Still no response. 

So guess what I did? 

I ditched them and purchased the Dinair system. 

Moral of the story? 

Customer service is very important, especially when you are not the only trick in town. 

Ok, so on with it! There are many pros and cons to this product. First, it is relatively inexpensive for an airbrush system. It cost $99 which is a steal compared to the $299 for their pro system. You do receive a lot more in the pro system but for a starter kit, it is a great price (Temptu's basic system is $149 in comparison).

For $99, you will receive the air compressor, the airbrush gun, an air hose, a power pack, 3 bottles of airbrush foundation, 3 bottles of color makeup, 1 bottle of moisturizing mist, 1 bottle of airbrush cleaner, a travel case for the gun, travel caps and a rubber band to hold the needle back. 

There are many pros and cons to this system and airbrush makeup in general. 

First, the biggest pro of all: The finish is unlike anything you will ever achieve with a traditional foundation.

 It looks very smooth and natural. It honestly looks like your skin, just better. There is no heavy foundation look and it is very sanitary as there are no sponges or brushes to worry about cleaning. Also, you can perfectly match your skin by mixing multiple shades together. The foundations cost around $12 to purchase separately. Dinair's formulation is water resistant, silicone free, paraben free, and not tested on animals.

Now some cons. It does take a little getting used to and you do have to retrain yourself on how to apply this foundation. This is not a huge con but will take some getting used to. Instead of placing the makeup on your skin and blending, you are spraying and the formulation is so thin, all you are going to see is your skin change. You are not going to see makeup so you do have to train your eye a bit. 

There are 2 big cons for me: first, I sometimes feel like I am not getting enough coverage. I really like the finish but sometimes, I cannot get it to cover redness I occasionally have. I am afraid of going too heavy and ruining that beautiful airbrushed look but if I can't get full coverage, what's the point? Maybe I have it on the wrong setting, like I said there is a learning curve so I'm not sure. 

Second and more importantly, I have noticed that lately I have been feeling a bit asthmatic. I have felt like an asthma attack is on the verge of happening but then doesn't. The last time I felt this way, I realized I had applied my airbrush makeup earlier that night. I may be breathing it in and it is irritating me. This is a big concern for me. It is probably best to apply it in a well ventilated area or next to an open window. I am not sure if it is the makeup or the cleaner. Honeybuns (who has been airbrushing for the past 25 years) thinks it's both and he always wears a mask when he is airbrushing his paintings.  

Also, the whole process can be a bit of a pain in the butt. Although you no longer have to worry about cleaning a makeup brush, you do have to clean this machine. Every. Single. Time.  or you will ruin it. So after every use you have to make sure you spray all of the makeup out, you then have to run some cleaner through it (which they recommend you do not spray in the air, this may be the cause of my irritation even though I am spraying it into a tissue), you have to take the needle cover off, wipe down the needle and the inside of the cover (as well as the foundation well). Then I fill the makeup well with water, cover with the travel caps and hold the needle back with the rubber band. 

 I would like to keep at it but I am not sure this will be my main foundation choice. I am not sure the purrty finish is worth feeling like I am asphyxiating myself. 

I would suggest this to anyone who has a little money to invest and  would like to try something new. Just make sure you do not do it in an enclosed space.

Any airbrush ladies (or gentlemen) out there who have any tips for me or any of their own experiences, I do appreciate hearing from you!

Until next time!

~Jessica~

 

Airbrush Foundation

I am a foundation whore!

And a restaurant whore but that is another post. 

The one product that I am constantly searching for my holy grail is foundation. I switch and sample different foundations constantly! I have tried, in the past few months alone:

• Eve Pearl-very heavy coverage, texture bordering on oily and clung to any dryness which is not good while you are using Retin-A. 
• Paula's Choice-very good product, full of good skin stuff but I never got around to ordering online. 
• Kevyn Aucoin- I love this line but I really disliked this product. The Skin Enhancing Foundation is definitely not for me and the main ingredient is mineral oil, which will break you out in a blink. 
• RCMA-Fabulous product and in my opinion, the best professional foundation there is. RCMA is made using vegetable oils and waxes with nearly 50 percent pigment, which means high coverage while using less product. RCMA foundations contain no perfumes, animal extracts, mineral oils or lanolin.  
• Makeup Forever- My go to foundation but still not Holy Grail status, still, highly recommended. I also love their Face and Body Foundation, however it is so heavily perfumed, I refuse to wear it on my face. 
• L'Oreal-another really good product, especially for a drugstore brand. It is very reasonable so you can purchase a few different shades to mix and match. This is also a fall back foundation for me. 

I am constantly searching online and then going to Sephora to get samples to try before I buy. It is the one product that if I find and love it, I will stick with it for years. But I have to love it. 

Foundation, unlike color products, have 1 main function: to make your skin look the absolute best it can possibly look by evening it out and covering imperfections. With color cosmetics, you tend to switch colors according to your mood and the occasion. You can purchase a bunch of different color lipsticks, eye shadows, blush etc and they can all look fabulous on you but with foundation, you have to match it perfectly to your skin tone so usually, you are choosing only one-maybe two if you are adventurous with your contouring and blending. Plus, it is the foundation of your look, so it has to be the right texture with the right amount of coverage.

*Quick Tip* You should have a foundation that you use in the spring/summer months and one you use in the fall/winter months, due to changes in skin and weather. 

So after seeing a few makeup artist use airbrush makeup without an airbrush machine, I decided to try it for myself. Now I know that some of you airbrush aficionados are probably freaking out but I am a rebel like that and there are no makeup police here. At least not today.

Airbrush makeup has a completely different texture than regular foundations. It is really thin with a very watery consistency. The way airbrush makeup works is instead of applying foundation with a brush or a sponge and blending it into your skin, the makeup passes through a machine creating a very fine mist, hence the watery consistency, and evenly sits on your skin creating that flawless, airbrushed look that everyone is always chasing. You can control the pressure of the mist with the airbrush dial. 

So applying airbrush makeup without a machine took a few tries for me to figure out what worked best. Two different techniques worked well for me so I combined them together. First is with my very clean fingers. I apply 1 drop to the back of my hand and apply to the skin. This stuff dries pretty much on contact so you have to work fast. I work in sections and use 1 drop per section. 1 drop for cheeks, 1 drop for chin, nose and forehead. It should take around 2-3drops to cover the whole face. The second is putting a drop on a flat foundation brush and again working in sections, patting it onto the skin. I do both, first applying with my fingers and then taking a drop on the brush and patting wherever needs more blending or more coverage. I wouldn't even attempt using a sponge, the foundation would just be sucked up into the sponge and wasted. 

The makeup that I used is Dinair and I must say, Dinair's customer service is fantastic! You can send them a photo of yourself and they will match your skin to the proper foundation color. They then keep you informed every step of the way so you know exactly where your product is from packaging to delivery. This product works well for me because of the formulation. It is not heavy at all, therefore it does not settle into fine lines or pores. It just looks like skin. I know all foundation should just look like skin but I feel like this gives you a better version of your own skin. Foundations in general, should even out your skin tone, cover imperfections and create a smooth texture to your skin, however sometimes it can make your skin look older by magnifying wrinkles and pores. This just does not do that at all. If it looks this good with applying it in an unconventional way, I could just imagine what it would look like if I applied it properly. So this has made me really consider investing in an airbrush machine or at the very least one of those spray foundations in a can.

I give Dinair and applying airbrush makeup without a machine 2 thumbs up! 

Try it out and tell me what you think! 

Until next time kitty cats!