Review: Dinair Airbrush Makeup Kit with acne coverage and summer look video tutorial

Dinair was the first brand to offer airbrush makeup for personal use. 

In over thirty years since its foundation one thing has never changed for this company, and that is its strong commitment to innovation. 

This commitment has never been as strong as in the last two years, when the brand more than doubled its makeup offering and completely re hauled all its equipment. Today Dinair remains one of the best kept secrets in the makeup industry, being used on set in many important TV and film productions, and being loved by many pros and home users alike. We met with the brand earlier in the spring (see our full report here) and I was very happy to upgrade to the latest version of their kit. What follows is my unbiased and unsponsored opinion, hoping that this review will be helpful to both pros and home users who are considering buying for the first time or upgrading. We are also enclosing a video tutorial so you can see this very kit in action, and its results.

Options, options...

Dinair Colair airbrush makeup

There are currently several different options on offer. On the Dinair Website you will find a budget version of the kit called Personal Basic for just 99 dollars, and two pro versions called Personal Pro and Studio Pro with the same type of compressor but a different quantity of makeup included. So what is the best choice? Unless you are on a very tight budget, I would definitely opt for one of the pro version. The Personal Basic kit has incredible value for money, offering a variable speed compressor at only 99 dollars, and gives everybody a chance to try the airbrush experience. The Pro options however offer a significantly better compressor (much quieter and more powerful) and a much bigger makeup bundle, , namely 8 shades for the Personal Pro and a whopping 16 shades for the Studio Pro. Amazingly you can choose all these makeup colors yourself and from any Dinair line, even the most expensive ones,  so if you can afford it at all you will be rewarded in the long run for your investment. I opted for a Pro version myself, so let's look at the equipment in detail.

The Compressor

Dinair Colair airbrush makeup

Dinair's Digital + Pro Compressor is the latest version of what was already the most portable option on the market. In this new incarnation, it has also become the quietest. It is so quiet infact that it becomes almost inaudible on the its lowest setting. To put it in terms that anyone could understand, you could use this in your bathroom without fear of waking up anybody sleeping nearby. A custom compressor foam mat makes it even quieter by absorbing vibrations on any kind of surface. The design is super sleek and the size is tiny, barely bigger than a single packet of cigarettes. For such a small size, its power remains unchanged from the previous models. With a 15+ PSI output this little devil will be more than capable of spraying any water based airbrush formula, and most silicone based ones. (Please read the relevant disclaimers: using any of Dinair equipment with any product other than Dinair's will void the warranty). I have had the previous model of compressor for almost four years, and it has been used very intensively at times. It is still in perfect working order, so I can only assume that this will follow suit. It certainly feels very reliable, and you can do pretty much any kind of application with it, though for extensive body painting, special FX and park work I would obviously choose a different model. If looks are important to you, there are 16 color choices available, some included and some at an extra charge. We love our own in Champagne color, wich is one of the standard options that we find very elegant. 

The Airbrush

Dinair Colair airbrush makeup

The new CX series airbrush recently replaced the previous JX model, and it is a remarkable improvement from its predecessor. This new version has a "floating nozzle", which means that its nozzle is not attached to the main body of the airbrush but rather fits snugly within the nozzle cap, and no wrench is needed to detach it. Cleaning is therefore made a lot easier, and it becomes a breeze with the new proprietary Cleaning System. Overall it performs very smoothly, and atomizes all of Dinair's products very efficiently. It is still a proprietary design, which means that if you are used to other types of airbrush it will take a little getting used to. I would definitely advise you to stick to guidelines and only use it with Dinair products, as recommended.  Pros who are fond of their standard airbrushes should not be discouraged though, because they can still attach them to the Dinair compressor via a simple plug in connector, and have more options for backup in case of problems (once again, please read the relevant disclaimers).

The Cleaning System

Standard Pro Kit contents except makeup

This simple, yet incredibly smart little piece of equipment is truly a game changer, and Dinair's CEO George Lampan should win some award for designing this. With a few simple moves that you can see at the end of our video tutorial, it takes the boredom out of the most dreaded aspect of airbrushing: the cleaning. All you have to do is pour a few drops of cleaner, squeeze a silicon cap a few times and let the fluid work its magic through your airbrush. A few minutes or hours later you can remove the cap, flush out the cleaner and rinse with water and you're good to go. Actually this is so effective that I wish Dinair made it available for any kind of airbrush anywhere in the world!  The new Airbrush Cleaner solution by Dinair is another thing that has been greatly improved: I found its previous version slightly irritant. This has no smell whatsoever and works very well removing every type of Dinair makeup, even the very tough Colair Extreme products.

The Packaging

Dinair Kit presentation box

Finally, another aspect that has been changed for the better is the packaging: the kit is still shipped in the white mailer box, but this now contain a sleek, nicely designed black presentation box with the compressor and the airbrush, while all the makeup and add ons are packed next to it in a clear plastic makeup bag.

Colair Opalescent Eyeshadows

We have illustrated Dinair's product lines in our previous article, and we will review the Colair Radiance foundation in detail in our next post, but you can already get an idea of how effective it is by watching the speed with which we can cover the blemishes on our model's face. We have used eyeshadows form the Colair Opalescent line in a bundle called Island Getaway Collection to achieve the look in this video. These eyeshadows are incredibly pigmented, yet they allow for a very fine application that will not budge. They don't transfer and most importantly they do not crease, crack, or set in the eyelid folds. Their shimmering texture makes them wonderful on young skin, and they should be the highlight on any look from prom to every day. The key to the best results, as with most airbrushable products, is the famous motto "less is more". The finer the application, the more amazing the results.

Please visit these pages again soon for more reviews on Dinair Airbrush Makeup!