Airbrush paint is EXPENSIVE!!!

I had no idea that airbrush paint cast so much

I bought a airbrush machine with a bazzilion stencils and such and now I am looking into the paint and let me tell you.....

ouch!!!!!

PLuS i am not sure which brand to buy and what colors I NEED.

anyone care to offer some advice as to where I should buy and what?

<3 thanks!

I can’t help much but if you put the word “airbrush” in the search bar there are a bunch of posts about it. 

I would think the most popular would be black, since people want them to look like a real tattoo. I would also guess that darker colors would look best. If you plan on doing lots of body painting, then I guess you’d need more colors.

Best of luck with your new venture.

lol yup, they sure are. But just remember that a little goes a long way with an airbrush.

If you are doing tats, then you want an alcohol base, if you want them to wash off with soap and water use a water base.

Some good brands I like.
Vibe
Mehron
Ben Nye
ProAir

I've had awesome experiences with European Body Art airbrush paints. They have Vibe (waterbased) and Endura (alchohol activated- great for temporary tattoos!) I like the coverage and consistency. My favorite part, though, is the SMELL! IT SMELLS AMAAAAAAAZING!

A 4 oz bottle of Vibe or Endura paint will run about $40, but you have to remember that it only takes about 3 oz of paint to cover an ENTIRE body.

Aside from EBA products, I also like using Cinema Secrets airbrush paint. Its thicker than EBA (more like heavy cream than whole milk) but thins well. I've also had great luck watering down Mehron's Fantasy FX paints (the one that comes in squeeze tubes).

But seriously I've even watered down mehron and tag cakes and used them in my airbrush. It's all about finding the right consistency.

Thats crazy! I didn't even know that was an option! I will totally keep that in mind if I ever pick up body painting again lol

I was wanting to go with alcohol based paint as to offer "water proof" tattoos for bday parties.

I have this wierd system (which I have yet to use) which has a bunch off bottles and tubes connected to it. Then with the same gun I click the nozzle and change colors (bottles)


That kinda thing, so i won't be able to mix colors and such on the go...

So, what colors should I buy?

I think you can still switch colors and mix. You are just layering. I personally love Endura. I love the service & availability of the staff who work the product themselves. Its a US made paint with fda compliant ingredients...

They have a rewards program to build discounts as well.

I would do your basic color range. (Black, white, red, yellow & blue) & then throw in the ones you most use & can't really mix..., like hot pink,etc.

I think the best way to go is with Proaiir / DIPS, they have the hybrid paint that is water resistant and can be washed with liquid soap, it won't last a full pool party anyway, and then they have the tattoo paint that can only be removed with alcohol it cost $17 the bottle, but so far is the best I have tried.

I really like EBA's products, and Endura tatts lasted over a week on my arm. Donna Nowak's Pro-Aiir makes a line of Inks (different than their hybrid) which are alcohol-based and truly waterproof. I don't have personal experience with their inks, yet.

If you're just starting out, get a couple of the really cheap Mehron airbrush paints for practice so you're not blowing through the pricey stuff while you're in your learning curve.

Oh, and one beginner's error that happens a lot to people - either have two separate guns, or make sure they are scrupulously cleaned if you're switching between an alcohol-based product and a water-based or hybrid product. Mixing the two will create a gunky mess that is very frustrating to clean out of your gun. I've never had the misfortune of making that mistake, but I've seen the results - not fun!

I have used it all. And actually compared to cake face paint ...airbrush is not all that much more. It goes farther and you get many more applications...

Do not water down your cake paint to run through your airbrush.  

Airbrush makeup is finely micronized particles made as such to flow smoothly through your brush. Trust me on this I am from the old school before we had airbrush formulations and we had to water down Kryolan (there was no wolfe, paradise or such).

Do not bother with thinning down DIPS, just get it airbrush ready.

Use something like Createx to learn - as practice on paper makes you better on skin. Then just dive in buy a good brand. Since you have a color changing system not all brand will work well in it - use Showoffs ProAiir. There are a couple of others that will work in this system but ProAiir has better colors.

What is popular varies region to region. My friend Neil Roth once stated he never gets calls for the zodiac symbols yet all my artist have two styles of them and our festival book has five plus many was we make a custom design. We have to have them!

Start with basics - a dragon, rose, a dolphin....you know. Then basic colors....black, red, a medium green, orange, a light blue, a medium/dark blue, pink, purple.

Well you totally CAN water down face paint cakes and run them through an airbrush. I've done it before a few times when I was in a pinch. But it's not the best thing you could use, that's for sure. Your risk of a clog in your brush goes WAY up and then you have to take it apart to clean it. Through PERSONALLY I have never had a clog happen this way, and have gotten through hours of airbrushing with watered down TAG and Mehron paints without incident and the result was perfect. You just gotta play around to get that consistency right. I have also taught this little hack to others in the movie industry and they love it.

But this would NOT work with Kryolan because that brand is WAY to thick and creamy.

So yeah while it is better to use actual airbrush paint, more so if you have a touchy or finicky airbrush, you totally can water down your face paint cakes (mehron and Tag at least, haven't tried many other brands this way, and Kryolan i know doesn't work).

The main reasons this shouldn't be your main airbrush paint isn't because it doesn't work - because it does.
The main reasons are:
-You have to mix it yourself and this takes time
-Pre mixing it is fine but it has a short shelf life less then a week really
-This way will be more expensive then buying actual airbrush colors in the end
-Risk of clogs in your brush goes up if you didn't mix it correctly or if your have a touchy airbrush

So yeah, my suggestion wasn't meant as a long term solution. But merely that as a matter of fact, it can be done. Useful tip if you are in a pinch and need a certain color.

If you want a good airbrush paint you can use for temp tats and face paint, then invest in the pro airr brand by show offs, and buy some Dipps colors as well. They are seriously the best I have seen. I even use them for on set use because of their durability, skin safety, and easy removal. But for full body painting for a photo shoot or something that the model doesn't have to 'act' in or such I use Vibe.

Hope this helped clarify!

Of course you can water down cake makeup. That is exactly what we did before airbrush formulations. I used Kryolan Liquid Thinned with distilled water. Why bother now? Airbrush makeup is made to run fine particles through a brush designed to use fine particles. Airbrushes can and will clog with this method. Actually back in the day we used to share formulas, as some additives help with flow.  And given the variance in pigments some colors clog more than others.  Why I also said do not thin DIPS, just buy some ProAiir.

I know too many top SFX and body artists (not airbrush tattoos) thinned Endura and VIBE. Every makeup has a curve, indeed in cool Canada your clog rate may vary from someone in the southwest USA.

So while it is factual these things can be done, I know after teaching airbrush to face and body painters for 13 years someone is going to end up doing this and have a mess. And I get a dozen emails a month from people asking me how to in airbrush.  So I do not bother to talk about what can and can't be, rather I prefer to set people off in the right direction. Hence I tend to make pretty direct statements, no need to clarify, your first post was clear and fine.

Why bother now?

Because some times you need to get creative on the spot. Many times this tick has come in handy when either a bottle of paint got spilled, ran out, went missing, or was accidentally left at home.

I already spelled out that an airbrush can totally clog more easily doing this. Though personally I've never had that happen with this method, i know the risk is greater. Also it's not that cool in Canada, I know it's not as hot as the average California temperature through the year, but the rumors of sled dogs are highly exaggerated lol. In Vancouver snow is super rare, in fact it's 82 degrees Fahrenheit outside where i live right now, and it's a little cloudy today. Out of curiosity I checked the temp in San Francisco... it's only 72. So yeah here in 'cool Canada' we are actually an entire 10 degrees warmer than one of the largest cities in California. Interesting....

I prefer to let people know the full range of capabilities of their tools, and let them know what works best and what doesn't, and have them experiment as it helps one grow as an artist.

My only point is that it's a nifty thing to know how to do if you ever are caught on the spot with not many options.

I agree and I teach and share tips so folks can not get stuck, sometimes we need to work on the fly. It is rare however compared to the number of folks who will seek a cheap fix and alternative methods.

Funny when I am in Canada everyone thinks we California's all live at the beach ...which San Fran is a coastal city and they are a warm and windy 72 today....if I had 72 degree day to work in...it would be a sled dog day in my area.

True enough, which is why i outlined how thining your face paints is not at all cheap lol.

I just choose the most well known city to look up, as well as it being a coastal city, because I also live in a coastal city, I thought that data might be comparable. Further east it's warmer this time of year, but they get harsher winters. I've been to California a few times as my grandparents used to live in San Diago, and I have an aunt in Bakersfield. My husband also spent a good chunk of his childhood in Fresno; he knows it more inanimately then I.

He told me a story once about how he wore shorts to school when he was 6 and everyone freaked out. His mother was called to bring a change of clothes because they were worried the other kids would also start wearing shorts and they would all catch a cold. Needless to say for the Canadian kid, he was sweating his balls off in winter in Cali so he was allowed to wear shorts.