Graftobian
is one of three major American companies that have made theatrical, FX
and professional beauty makeup available to the public at large. As far
as airbrush makeup is concerned, what makes Graftobian unique among its
competition is mainly one thing: their Glam Aire line has the widest range of foundation shades of any other makeup company, period.
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| GlamAire 1 oz sizes and matching cremes |
We are talking 58 colours divided in Warm, Neutral and Cool tones, plus six blushes (also divided by undertone) and 6 adjuster colours, totalling a staggering 70 shades. This color system was conceived in collaboration with Hollywood makeup artist Brad Look to be perfectly matched with Graftobian's celebrated High Definition Glamour Cremes,
an excellent series of creme foundations that has become an industry
standard. This means that not only you are going to find your perfectly
matching tone, but you will also be able to integrate a cream product for that same colour,
which is something you may want a need to do for a number of reason.
For example, the less experienced airbrush user will be able to use the
cream colors in areas where airbrushing can be problematic (such and
the sensitive under eye area), or for effective spot concealing prior
to airbrushing. The color range is so wide that it was used by Mary Erickson and Suzanne Patterson as the base for a multi brand foundation comparison chart in Gretchen Davis' seminal book The Makeup Artist Handbook.
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| Foundation: GlamAire in Prima Donna |
The GlamAire range is water based.
The formula is very smooth and finely pigmented, with a light texture
that is buildable in sheer layers to achieve the desired coverage with a
very natural effect. The finish is matte but not overly so, and does
not feel nor look at all dry like some water based formulas tend to do,
although of course it is always better to moisturize prior to
application on naturally drier skin. GlamAire's durability is very good, it does not settle in creases and has a great resistance to transfer.
The foundation shades come in 1 oz bottles, but an extensive range of
.25 ounce samples can also be purchased if you wish to try it before you
commit to larger sizes. Oh, and did I mention it lasts practically forever? A
few months ago I accepted a challenge: Two hours to do a complete
makeup on ten women (ages ranging from early 20's to late 50's) who had
been selected for a historical costume parade. As I was in northern
Italy, the women turned out to be all Caucasian of fair to medium
complexion. There was zero time for colour matching, but they all turned
out beautifully using just three GlamAire shades from the neutral/fair
range. After doing ten different faces I thought I had used a lot of
product, but then I looked at the bottles and they all still looked
totally full!
On a more technical note,
the product does separate quickly and needs quite a bit of shaking
after sitting idle, but I found that if you store the bottles laying
flat, the pigment settles on a larger surface and mixing is much faster.
The only thing I am not crazy about in regards to this product is the
blessed screw caps that tend to make a mess every time you use them, so I
hope they will honour my OCD and change them one day.
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| Graftobian WalkAround System |
As I was saying in my review for the F/X Aire line, I purchased my HD Glamour Walk-Around™ Kit at Crc Makeup.Com, where the whole Graftobian product range is available. Eric Coffman, Graftobian's owner, shot a very exhaustive video on the contents of the kit, so i will just advise you to watch it here as I could not illustrate it better than he does. I personally enjoy the kit a lot.
The design is very compact and it feels even more powerful than its
maximum 26 PSI output. The pressure can be adjusted right from the valve
via a tiny knob. This takes a little practice if you are not used to
it, but some end up preferring this way of controlling the output for
its immediate proximity to the hands. The detachable battery works
beautifully and the unit performs exactly the same when on battery
power. Finally, the airbrush is the very reliable and seemingly ubiquitous S35, an excellent airgun chosen by Graftobian and many a great brand, and that together with the strong pressure output makes the system compatible also with any kind of airbrush makeup available, including silicone based colours. Four different plug adaptors included in the kit will allow you to use it pretty much anywhere in the world.
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| Graftobian WalkAround System package |
As Eric shows in the video, the HD Glamour package does come with a great lot of makeup,
consisting in three sample packs of five shades each with matching
creme colour palette (Cool#1 from the lightest of the pink undertone
range, Warm#2 from the middle of the yellow undertone range, and
Neutral#3 from the darkest of the neutral undertone range). This is a
very generous bundle making up an excellent starter kit catering to all
ethnicities. The Walk-Around Kit is also available in an F/X Aire
package and a Student/Character package with different colour
selections.
