Airbrush makeup is made using a special formula that makes it thicker enough to be released out of the Airbrush machine.

Although Airbrush makeup might have the right consistency, there are times when your makeup products might be too thick. This might give you a hard time spraying the makeup from the gun. On other times, the makeup might dry up faster when sprayed on your face. You might end up dealing with creasy makeup.

To prevent that from happening, you should consider using an Airbrush makeup thinner. If it is the first time you are hearing about Airbrush makeup thinner, you are the right place. Keep reading this guide to learn everything about Airbrush makeup thinner.

What does an Airbrush makeup thinner do?

The reason why you cannot use regular makeup in an Airbrush, is because regular makeup might be too thick. When used in an Airbrush, it will clog the Airbrush blocking any products from coming out through the nozzle.

For this reason, Airbrush makeup is made using a special formula that the product thin enough to come out of the gun and thick enough to stick on your face.

While this is the case, you might find that products don’t have the right consistency you want. You might be forced to buy an Airbrush makeup thinner. But what is it that the thinner does?

1.Dilute the makeup to achieve the desired consistency

From my guide on all about airbrush makeup, you can see Airbrush machine does not use the regular makeup products. The gun uses liquid form of products so that when atomized, they can be sprayed in a mist form.

There are Airbrush makeup brands that produce products that are too pigmented which adds the density of the product. While trying to spray the makeup, it might get stuck in the nozzle. Considering how expensive Airbrush makeup is, you don’t need to throw away the products, you can use an Airbrush makeup thinner.

The thinner will dilute the makeup products without interfering with the natural color of the product as makeup thinner is colorless.

This will make it easy to spray your makeup products without clogging the nozzle.

2.Reduces the drying time of Airbrush makeup products

Some Airbrush makeup products such as foundations are silicone-based. And as we know, silicone has some drying properties.

In some instances, you might find the foundation drying up immediately it reaches your skin. This can be dangerous especially when you might be forced to blend in the makeup. You might end up dealing with creasy makeup of it dries up with harsh lines.

Adding an Airbrush makeup thinner on your foundation will increase the time your foundation takes to dry. You can blend in your makeup without worrying about your makeup drying up.

3.Ensures you get the most flawless makeup

After applying Airbrush makeup, you need to clean your Airbrush. But sometimes this might not be applicable especially if you are a makeup artist.

You cannot clean your brush after every client.

Leaving the products on your Airbrush might cause makeup to clog in the d.

From my guide on makeup problems, you can see that clogging will cause your makeup to be heavy on one side or no makeup will be coming out of the gun.

If you want to enjoy a flawless makeup look every time you use the Airbrush, you can use a thinner in your Airbrush makeup.

The thinner will prevent the makeup from clogging or blocking the nozzle.

4.Transforming your favorite foundation into an Airbrush foundation

There are times where products die on you when you have already started the makeup application process.

If you ever find yourself in such a situation especially when using an Airbrush, you can add a thinner to your regular foundation to make thin enough to be used on an Airbrush.

Do not add the thinner directly to the bottle of the foundation. This might cause the makeup to expire faster than it would have initially.

• Put the amount of foundation you are using in a small mixing bowl.
• Add the mixer depending on the consistency you are going for.
• Once you have achieved the consistency you are going for, pour the foundation in an Airbrush.
• Pull the trigger and see if any product will come out of the nozzle.
• If no makeup is being released, it means you did not add the right amount of thinner in the foundation.
• You should dilute the foundation further to make the consistency right.

Can I add Airbrush makeup thinner to water based foundation?

Most manufactured thinners are made using oils.

Since water and oil do not mix, it would be pointless to add a thinner to water-based foundation. However, that is not to mean if you have water-based foundation you cannot thin it. You can add your normal moisturizer to your foundation.

Although most thinners are made of oils, you will find quite a number of thinners that are water-based.

So, when choosing a thinner for your foundation, check if they are compatible with your foundation.

• If you are using water-based foundation, you should get a water-based thinner.
• On the other hand, if you have a silicone-based foundation or mineral-based foundation, you can use a normal thinner.

Know that we know what something about Airbrush makeup thinners, we will look into some of the best Airbrush makeup thinners available in the market.

5 best Airbrush makeup thinners in the market

1.Temptu silicone-based thinner

Temptu has existed for over 35 years in the makeup world. They therefore produce some of the most high quality products.

One of their most unique and versatile products is the multi use silicone-based thinner.

The thinner can be mixed with powdered makeup products transforming it into liquid form. An example is adding the thinner to brow powder making it easy to be used in an Airbrush.

When mixing the thinner and your makeup products, use a brush and ensure that the product mixes entirely.

One good thing about Temptu multi use thinner is that it is oil free, Hypoallergenic, Non-comedogenic and long lasting.

2.Mehron mixing liquid

If you have a hard time trusting just any thinner, I can assure you that this thinning liquid from Mehron will work for whatever reason you are using it.

Mehron has been existence for over 90 years. Meaning their products are made using high quality ingredients.

This mixing liquid from Mehron is Paraben-free, Cruelty-free, Vegan, and Gluten-free.

Aside from the quality of the thinner, it has multiple uses.

You can use Mehron mixing liquid with a powdered makeup products to make them last longer, apply the mixer on a brush and tap it on glitters, add the thinner to your Airbrush foundation creating a waterproof and smudge proof liquid that had the right consistency.

You can also be assured that once you use Mehron mixing liquid with your other makeup, it will last longer.

3.Pro Aiir professional makeup thinner

After storing airbrush makeup for some time, there are high chances that your products will dry up or thicken more.

As a professional makeup artists, you don’t want the struggle of makeup products refusing to come out of the Airbrush when you have a client waiting. This is where Pro Aiir comes in.

Pro Aiir thinner is formulated with ingredients such as alcohol that will dilute your airbrush foundation to achieve the right consistency and also makes your Airbrush makeup last longer.

4.GlamAire makeup thinner

Most of the other thinners in the list are silicone-based or mineral based thinners. This thinners cannot be used with water-based foundations.

Luckily, Glaftobian identified a need to create a thinner for water based foundations and created GlamAire.

Once you mix this thinner with your water-based foundation, you will get a lightweight foundation that has a sheer texture and the right consistency to be used in an Airbrush.

You should not mix the thinner directly to the bottle of the foundation. Otherwise, you might end up destroying a whole bottle of foundation.

5.FACEetelier Ultra Air makeup thinner

Not many products double up as a thinner, cleaner, and a mixing medium. Until FACEetelier produced this genius makeup thinner.

When mixed with a foundation, the thinner will produce one of the most flawless makeup look. This depends with the amount of foundation you use.

Another cool thing, about Ultra Air is that it won’t sacrifice the original color of your foundation.

The thinner is also silicone-based which means your makeup will last longer than it would have.

Can you make your own Makeup thinner at home?

Depending on the foundation you are using, you can thin your foundation at home using some ingredients found in your home.

For starters, most foundations are oil free. This means if you want your makeup to last longer, you should not use any oil based products to thin your foundation.

• If you are using water-based foundation, you can pour the foundation in a mixing bowl, add some water to the bowl, stir the mixture then transfer to the Airbrush.

You can also use your normal moisturizer to dilute your foundation.

• Choose oil free moisturizer.
• Pour the amount of foundation you want to use in a mixing bowl.
• Add a few drops of the moisturizer and stir the mixture.
• Continue adding drops of moisturizer while stirring until you achieve the consistency you are looking for.

When thinning makeup to be used in an Airbrush, do not mix the thinner directly to the bottle of your products.

Some ingredients found in thinners can cause bacteria buildup causing your products to go bad faster.

There is some TikTok hacks that people add foundation to a glass of water as a thinning process.

Conclusions

There are times when your Airbrush foundation thicken if not used for a long time. In such a case, you will need to have a thinner at hand to dilute the foundation.

Your airbrush foundation can get finished when you gave already started applying makeup. That does not have to worry you, you can add a thinner on your regular foundation to create an Airbrush foundation.

Most brands that produce makeup thinners, concentrate on silicone-based foundation. However, you will not lack a brand or two that make thinners for water-based airbrush makeup.

Alternatively, if you cannot access a thinner in time of need, you can thin your own foundation at home using water or a moisturizer.

You can also learn more uses of airbrush makeup thinner from the guide above. Later, subscribe to this page for more beauty related information.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOkU-E6PkYU&ab_channel=SwitchCosmetics

References

1. Crellin, F. (2013). Airbrushing: The Essential Guide. Crowood.
2. Wessely, M., Sethapakdi, T., Castillo, C., Snowden, J. C., Hanton, O., Qamar, I. P., … & Mueller, S. (2020, April). Sprayable user interfaces: Prototyping large-scale interactive surfaces with sensors and displays. In Proceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-12).
3. Suardi, E. (2021). THE CUSTOMER’S PERCEPTION ON THE USE OF AIRBRUSH MAKEUP (Doctoral dissertation, Universitas Katholik Soegijapranata Semarang).