AIRBRUSHING YOUR OWN NAILS USING GINA'S SECRET

A super simple method I've used for 8 years. Here's how I airbrush my OWN nails: **Brace yourself, this is an awesome trick!**

(1) Get one of those stovetop covers or a flat cake pan and then turn it over-- flat surface up. (2) Get two small, one-inch, FLAT magnets. (3) Place the magnets on TOP of the stencil--about 1 inch from the EDGE of the pan, and on BOTH sides, near the image you want to spray. (4) Then push the stencil edges TOGETHER to form a small "dome". (5) Next, simply insert your finger UNDER that dome and lift UP until the stencil is FLUSH with your nail surface...then spray! (6) Press your finger DOWN, then out of the dome to reveal the results. WALLA! This is how I've been doing MY OWN NAILS for over 8 years!

Suzanne Lee's Airbrush Tips By Suzanne Lees (posted with permission from Suzanne Lees)

I know there are a few newbies out there who have been e-mailing me privately and publicly to the list regarding very basic questions and methods in order to airbrush your client's nails. (Since many of you purchased the Iwata gun sight unseen---now you are looking at this thing saying, "OK, now what the heck do I do????) I understood this dilemma because prior to immersing myself in videos, books, asking questions and opinions from other techs on this list (plk---you know how much I learned from you in ONE day????) I was where you guys were, at ground zero not knowing where to go or turn...

so now it's time to pass the batton of airbrush knowledge and share what I've learned with others so you don't express the same level of frustration that I had when I began.. ....sooooo, I've decided to start an on line column called "Airbrush Tip 'O The Week" or "I've got multi-colored fingers, what do I do now?" -----------------------------------------------------------------------Lesson #1- "Neutralizing Your Pallet!" Whenever your airbrush your client's nails, you have to "neutralize your pallet" which is also known as painting the entire nail white with nail polish or using an opal/white frost as your basecoat. If you don't do this, you colors won't be a vivid or intense as they could be. When using this method on nails that are painted with a colored polish, (say, red) what I do is spray the entire outline of the airbrush pattern white, and then spray my color(s) on top of the outline and this has the same effect and kicks the intensity of the colors up a few notches. (I sound like Emeril LIVE!) Next week: Transparent vs. Opaque Colors, or..."Crimeney! These colors look naked! How come I can see through the *()&^% airbrush paint!" TTFN! Suzanne Lees -----------------------------------------------------------------------"Airbrush Tip O' The Week-Lesson #2 - Airbrushing Your Own Nails" or more commonly known as.... "Gee mom, how come I don't have three arms?" Here's my story.... I like to airbrush my own nails. I'm extremely picky and precise and want my airbrushing to look just like that. (Gee, what a surprise!)I was always stuck with the dilemma on how to do this since you need three hands/arms to hold the stencil and your airbrush gun(unless your mom lived near a nuclear power plant and you were born with that extra arm). In the September, 1997 issue of NailPro magazine, a nail tech wrote in on what is the best way to airbrush your own nails. Two suggestions were given: use frisket (sticky) paper, the other suggestion was to rig a contraption where the theory is that you somehow get two clothespins to hold a plastic stencil and paint away. I had no clue what this was supposed to looked like, as their description was rather vague and there was no picture of it. The clothespin device was supposed to act like a third hand, which is what you need to airbrush your own nails. This got me to thinking...hmmmm, how do I tackle this obstacle? I posed this question to the very guys I work with (Industrial 3D and Graphic Designers- these guys are designed to create and brainstorm at a moment's notice, it's truly amazing to see them work) and within let's say....10 seconds, had my dilemma solved. It seems that they have the same problem too when building scale models of buildings and displays, in that they need a third hand to hold their models when they paint and finish them. They use a device that is called "X-Tra Hands". It is made by the same company that makes X-Acto knives (they look like surgical knives)and you can buy them at any model shop. What this doohickey looks like is it has a very heavy square black base (so it doesn't move) with two articulating arms (which means that they have joints on each arm and bends at the "elbow" so it's a very flexible/adjustable hold). At the end of each arm is alligator clips that holds whatever it is that needs holding. So how you would use this device to airbrush your nails? Just clip your stencil on both sides with your "X-Tra Hands", pinch the arms together slightly so the stencil has a concave shape and

conforms to the arch of you nail, slide your finger in underneath, and wa-la! paint away to your heart's content. You will never have to bug anyone else to airbrush your nails for you! (or, you can just put your thumb on your nose and go...pppfffffttttt I don't need you anymore na na na na na!) Hope this helps everyone! Happy Airbrushing on your own nails! Sincerely, Suzanne Lees -----------------------------------------------------------------------Airbrush Tip O' The Week-Lesson #3 (The hardest one to find I'll tell ya :) - Suzanne did NOT call this Tip O' the Week!) As promised, I would e-mail all of my on line tekkies about the ongoing saga of the wonderful world of airbrushing....this week, let's talk about two important characters you need to know about...Mr. Opaque and Ms. Translucent..... You are at your shop doin' a lovely set o' nails on your fave client (who just so happens to be an avid Harley Davidson fan) and says: (she's chewin' a wad o' gum) "Hey, my boyfriend and I like Harleys, can you paint these babies black when you are done and airbrush a neon pink motorcycle on them with the Harley logo in neon green?" You look at her and say "oooooohhhhh kayyyyyyyy, no problem, whatever you want....." You're hummin' along, the nails are all a glossy black and you are ready to put your pink motorcycle on....your gun doesn't clog, the color coverage looks great, the paints not wet, you're thinking, "This is gonna be a flawless motorcycle!" You take the stencil off and <gasp> you can still see the black paint through your pink motorcycle!!!! Arrrrgggghhhh! What did I do wrong? I HATE these paints!!! It's all the paint's fault! I got a bad batch!!!! Your client says, "Ew! That is one UGLY motorcycle!" What do you do?? Well, the prob is not the paint, it's (shall I say....?) the NAIL TECH!!! What the nail tech didn't realize or understand is that when you use translucent airbrush colors, this means that they are just like the name says, "translucent" or see through. Opaque airbrush paint covers over other colors and you cannot see through them no matter what you have underneath. How do you solve this dilemma? The rule of thumb is: "Whenever you use translucent, neon or metallic based airbrush paints, always spray white airbrush paint first. Then apply your translucent color on top of that for your design to really come through without seeing the color that is on the nail. If you don't, you will get muted colors that are vague in appearance and generally will look like poo." Oh, one more thing....translucent colors flush out of your gun in a flash...opaque colors require flushing your paint well many more times to get rid of the color you just used....so bear that extra time in mind when you are designing nails... Hope this helps! Toodles! Suzanne Lees -----------------------------------------------------------------------Airbrush Tip 'O The Week #4 -"Changin Colors like a Chameleon", or "How Do I Flush Out My Colors Without Inhaling Them?" You may or may not have seen these little doohickeys that are advertised in the back of Nails or

Nailpro magazine.. it's a white plastic jar with a black lid on it with a slot in which you rest your airbrush gun. The method behind using this is to spray your excess airbrush paint into the container, rather than you or your client breathing in the paint. When changing colors or cleaning your gun with airbrush cleaner, you do not want to expel paint or airbrush cleaner into the air. (Try blowing your nose after you do this a couple of times, you'll know what I mean!) The price tag on this doohickey is between $20 and $30....... Well, I came up with a much less cost effective way of capturing airbound airbrush paints and cleaner....a cottage cheese container!!!! Yeppers, all you do is take a cottage cheese container and take the lid off (uh, don't forget to eat all of the cottage cheese and clean out your container first, otherwise it won't smell too good!) and cut a 5" round hole in the top. Then, cut slits into the circle, cutting toward the outer edge of the cottage cheese top. Inside the container, place two paper towels (kinda crumple them up first) and put the lid on. Viola! You just saved yourself the cost of not buying a little airbrush flusher-outer! Airbrush On! Hope this helps! Sincerely, Suzanne Lees -----------------------------------------------------------------------"Airbrush Tip O' The Week #5: What's a moisture trap and an air pressure regulator?" OK, OK, I know we all hate unknown gadgets and things, but there is a little thingy out there that you gotta have with your airbrush setup. We will refer to this thingy as "Mr. Sanity" If you don't have Mr. Sanity with your airbrush setup, I guarantee you that without it, your airbrush gun will "spit" on your design and you will want to hurl the compressor right out the window, your blood pressure will shoot up 50 points and you will start to sweat. And feel really pi**ed off. (Better than pi**ed on, I guess!) Or, worse yet, when your compressor gets really geeked up and decides to burp extra air (bad manners!) and *poof* you got a burst of paint all over your Van Gogh where there is supposed to be a delicate flower. Soooo....let's proceed on the how's and why's of why we need Mr. Sanity with our airbrush setup to do nails...... 1) Mr. Sanity attaches directly to your compressor. So, the setup is this: compressor, Mr. Sanity, hose, airbrush gun. Get it? Good! Let's march on... 2) What does Mr. Sanity do? Air compressors heat up, and when this heating up occurs, the air that is outside being sucked into the compressor is cooler. When you combine cool air with hot, guess what happens? C-o-n-d-e-n-s-a-t-i-o-n! Yeppers! And that condensation is what gets trapped in your air hose. From the airhose, its gotta go somewhere....and I guarantee you, this always happens when you are just about finished with that perfect design and the dang thing decides to spit all over your beautiful artwork and it just dribbles all over the nail! Talk about inopportune moments!!!! Also, Mr. Sanity helps keep airflow at an even keel. There is nothing worse than humming along on your fave design and all of a sudden, it decides to burp on your artwork. Ewwwwwww! This really happens alot on on/off compressors as opposed to continuously running compressors. 3) Why do we need Mr. Sanity? So our airbrush and compressors will not misbehave at the time we need them most! 4) Where can we buy Mr. Sanity? Nailco sells them, or you can go to an art supply store and

pound your fist on the counter and say, "Give me a Mr. Sanity attachment for my airbrush gun -NOW!" Yeahhhh, right! The guy will REALLY think you are nuts!!!! Uh, no, actually, don't do that....just ask for an airbrush regulator/moisture trap. They run about $50.00.....(snicker!) End of Story... ****************************************************************** Q: I did a simple design yesterday that came out really nice:2-color fade, diagonal, with blue at cuticles and red at tips. Then white stars with stencil on several fingers. 4th of July..... A: Cool! I did the same thing! Saw it in my July issue of Nails and did it on Ruth (angelicnails) Wednesday nite. She's my art pallet, let's me do ANYTHING on her nails. Ya gotta love her patience with me while I airbrush the most exotic designs on her nails that I can think of. Got the pix back of her nails today. I'm going to try and scan them to show everyone on the board if I can figure out how to do it? (Deb, can you help me? Do I do an attachment as a .tif/jpeg file or scan it in directly to my e-mail? Should I send them to you and let you do it?) They turned out soooo kool! I added red white and blue rhinestones in the middle of white burst that look like a firework(s)!EXCELLENT DESIGN! Sorry everyone for being so lame on the "Airbrush Tip 'O The Week". I promise I'll do better from now on..... Toodles! Suzanne Lees Airbrush Tip O' The Week #6Clogs O' Paint and keeping that airbrush gun spit shiny clean - SIR! Or.... I wanna see your reflection in that gun, Private! Ok- Ok- I know I've slacked off AGAIN with weekly postings of "Airbrush Tip O' The Week" but, I promise that until I run out of subject matter, I'll be good and TRY to post something to the message board every Monday for all of the budding airbrush nail artists....so without further adieu, let's move on..... One of the most important points to stress in the ongoing saga of a maintenance regimen for your airbrush gun is cleanliness. I don't mean clean in the sense of the word that the outside has no paint or water stains on it and you wiped it down with a Kleenex, I mean radically clean on the inside too. When it comes to cleanliness of your gun, be a firm believer in Murphy's Law...'cause if your gun has a finite chance in he** to clog up, it will. And there is nothing more frustrating than being in the middle of a design hummin' along and pffftt....nothing comes out! Let's look at the reasons why cleanliness of our airbrush gun is next to Godliness.... If you disassemble your gun in the front and look at the nozzle that the paint has to go through, it is minuscule in size. The smaller the hole, the greater the chance that an eensie, weensie bit 'o paint will wedge itself in there. So, you know how the saying goes: "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" or something like that....so, how do I prevent a clog in the first place? 1) When putting any airbrush paint in your gun, make sure that there are no dried flecks 'o paint around the opening of your paint bottle. Wipe your paint bottle down before AND after you put the paint in your gun with a piece of paper towel. One of the biggest reasons for clogged guns is

dried paint from the paint bottle accidentally falls into the well of the airbrush gun without you even knowing it. 2) Using metallics and neon colors. Unfortunately, most airbrush guns don't have the warmies for these types of paints because metallics contain flecks of shiny stuff in them (that gives them their metallic appearance) Neons: well, let's just say the pigmentation in the paint is on the larger side. I'm not saying that you can't use these paints, it's just that they are not "user friendly" with most types of airbrush guns so, try and use them sparingly. 3) Paints that are too thick. Use paints that are specifically designed to airbrush nails only. You shouldn't use airbrush paints that are for crafts and T-shirts (Createx paints are a no-no)because they are thicker in viscosity. How do I get that fleck 'o paint outa my airbrush gun? First and foremost, flush any remaining paint that you have in the paint well out of your gun with water. I stress this point because if you don't, (when using this procedure) paint will work its way back into the inner workings of your airbrush gun and you will have to disassemble it to clean it. Screw off the protective cover on the back of the gun- set aside. Next, loosen the chuck nut that holds your needle in place, grasp your needle and very carefully, plunge the needle very gently back and forth. Do not pull the needle past the paint well. This "plunging" action should force the clog through. Put the needle back into the normal position, (don't jam it into place) tighten the chuck nut, screw the back cover on and put water in your paint well to flush the gun clean. (Remember to use your airbrush paint flusher outer I told you about!) Or, more simply, you can place your finger over the end of your gun that the paint comes out of and pull the trigger. This will force the paint back up into the paint well and dislodge the fleck 'o paint. Hopefully, before you are done, this fleck 'o paint will not find it's way back to the nozzle and wedge itself to clog on you again. NEXT WEEK: Airbrush Tip 'O The Week #7: When do I know if I need to completely disassemble my airbrush gun, and how do I do it? Or: YOU expect me to do WHAT?!?! Airbrush On! Toodles! Suzanne Lees -----------------------------------------------------------------------Airbrush Tip 'O The Week #7: When do I know if I need to completely disassemble my airbrush gun, and how do I do it? Or: YOU expect me to do WHAT?!?! Ok, let's get into the area of airbrushing we all love to hate...cleaning your gun and disassembly. How do you know if you need to disassemble you gun? The basic rule of thumb is if paint wedges its way back to the inner workings of your gun, and your trigger sticks and does not

move forward on its own. So, let's explore the why's of how's paint can work it's way to the inner workings of your airbrush gun.... Oh...one more thing... another reason to keep your airbrush gun spit shiny clean is prevention; a squeaky clean gun will be much less prone to clog on you in the middle of doing your client's nails, which can be pretty embarrassing if it does happen. 1) Remember last week, I explained how to dislodge a fleck 'o paint from your gun by plunging the needle back and forth? Well, if you don't flush the paint out of the paint well BEFORE you plunge and pull the needle back past the paint well, the paint that is on the needle will work it's way into the back of your gun and cause the trigger to stick. So, you must flush the paint well first before you do this. 2) You accidentally drip paint from your paint bottle directly into the trigger area. As a general rule of thumb, you will not need to completely disassemble your airbrush gun. But, if you are proficient at airbrushing nails, you need to be: (ok, let's all say it together now!) 'Proficient at disassembling and reassembling your airbrush gun". I know, I know, I was absolutely terrified, mortified, petrified and any other "ied" you can think of and did not want to even attempt at taking apart this intimidating looking piece of foreign equipment. It's kinda like taking your state board exam, you know you dread doing it, but you know you need to do it. So, I'm here to tell ya, it can be done and once you do it, you will not believe how simple it can be! Unfortunately, I don't have the ability to "show" you how to do it because all guns are different in assembly and parts. What I highly, highly recommend is that you purchase a video that I was able to order through Beauty Tech Main and is one of our list sponsors at the time that I ordered it. The video is called "Nails In The Real World" by Terri Terrico. It tells you everything and anything you need to know about disassembly, types of guns, compressors, cleaning instructions on virtually every type of airbrush gun out there. It contains a ton of helpful hints and information and consider it the best video yet. Hope this bit of info takes the intimidation out of airbrush gun disassembly! Airbrush On! Toodles! Suzanne Lees -----------------------------------------------------------------------Airbrush Tip O The Week #8- How Do You Shadow? Ok, tekkies, I know I deserve a smack on the hand for being so lame lately. But, I'm trying to keep all of you airbrushin' fools interested in one way or another...anyhoo, let's move on.....

Have you ever seen anyone's nails that have been airbrushed and appears to be "shadows" done in white airbrush paint? It kinda looks like a crisp line on one side, but muted on the other. How in the heck did they DO that, you wonder? Well, I'm here to tell ya, it is a no-brainer and quickas-a-bunny to do! (Sounds "fuzzy" don't it?) Let's airbrush on....here's the instructions: 1) Base coat your nail in any frenchy manicure color you want. Let polish completely dry. Or, you can choose to airbrush the nail instead. 2) Using your stencil that is cut into the shape of a "V" (or any free form shape for that matter) place the stencil against the right corner about 1/2" up from the free edge and spray the corner of the nail white. 3) Move the stencil up another 1/8" and spray the edge of your stencil (not the nail) and allow the paint to "bounce" off the stencil and accumulate on the nail. 3) Move the stencil up another 1/8" and repeat step #2 4) Lift stencil up and be totally amazed at what you just did! Seal your airbrushing with airbrush top coat. This design should take you 10 minutes to do. Airbrush On! Suzanne Lees -----------------------------------------------------------------------Airbrush Tip O The Week #9- How To Choose Your Compressor Wisely There are 2 main components when you choose to airbrush nails, your airbrush gun and your compressor. Well, in this week's Airbrush Tip 'O The Week lesson, we're going to explore the wonderful world of compressors and how they fit into the grand scheme of airbrushing in a salon environment.....so, without further adieu, let's airbrush, er, I mean, move on.... When choosing compressors, you need to take into account two main factors: the type of salon environment that you work in, and the amount of money you want to invest into your compressor. Why should we consider environment when choosing compressors? Well, let's just say that if you are in a salon where there is alot of nail tables busily humming along and talking going on with clients, we don't have to consider noise levels here, ok? In that case, it would be safe to say that you can buy the least expensive compressor there is-a continuous running compressor. When you flick the switch on one of these babies, believe me, everyone in the salon is going to know you are an airbrushing' fool in no time! However, I do want to throw caution to the wind when purchasing continuous running compressors because they have a tendency to overheat when in use for too long. In an ideal situation, I would only use a continuous running compressor if I was doing 1 color designs that

took me 5 minutes to do vs. a multicolored designs that took 20 minutes, or if my airbrushed clients were not booked back to back so the compressor has time to cool down. However, if you need to consider the least expensive way of getting started in airbrushing, then a continuous running compressor is the way to go, you just won't be able to use it for long stretches of time. Continuous running compressors usually run between $90.00 to $120.00. Then there are compressors that are also known as "on/off" compressors. To get into a compressor, start airbrushing, and not put a major financial drain on your pocketbook, the on/off is the way to go. How these compressors work is when you depress your trigger on your airbrush gun, the compressor will automatically turn itself on. When you take your finger off the trigger of your airbrush gun, the compressor will turn itself off. This way, with the continuous on/off action going here, overheating of the compressor is eliminated. Not only that, clients who want to listen to their favorite Yanni CD while getting their digits done won't be annoyed by the sound of an airbrush compressor running all the time. On/off compressors usually run between $200.00 - $275.00. (ouch!) For those who are spend thrifts like me, you can get on/off Badger compressors at your local Michael's craft store (They are $199.00) and when they have a 40% off coupon, well, let's just say, you can buy one at a substantial savings. (Ok- let's not get into the Michael's/Nailco debate on buying equipment, been there- done that! This is my opinion only!) Then there is the Cadillac of compressors...silent running. These little babies are encased in a square box or some type of protective acoustical casing, and you can hear a pin drop while they are running. In otherwords, you can't hear a thing. This is the type of compressor I would recommend for a high end salon that demands quiet and or/overhead classical music as a part of their working environment. I don't think that while Mrs. Smythe III is getting her nails manicured, you are sonically cleaning her 8 carat diamond ring, and Fifi is next door getting his doggy toe nails painted a bright red, that she would appreciate hearing the clacking noise of a compressor running, would she? Well, along with the uppity look of this compressor, comes the price tag too.. anywhere between $375.00 to $500.00 (YEEEOWWW!) Hope this helps everyone when you are shopping for your compressors! Airbrush On! Sincerely, Suzanne Lees -----------------------------------------------------------------------Airbrush Tip O' The Week #10-(or shall I say, Tip 'O The Month?) How to do Burst-y Thingys, Doin' that 11th Nail Jive, and Stress Out design! Wanna quicky airbrush design that looks incredibly cool and takes just minutes to do? (Why of course you do, who wouldn't?) It's called the "burst" and you can do it in some incredible color combos like, a polished red nail with white and blue bursts (you gotta show your patriotism and pride, now more than ever!) and you can place clear rhinestones in the middle of your bursts. Or, airbrush your nails white and do neon colors if you really want to get bold! The possibilities are endless!

So how do you do a burst-y thingy? Here goes: place the front of your airbrush gun anywhere on the surface of the nail (I'd start at the free edge and work my way up to the cuticle) Then, angle the front of your gun in the direction you want the burst-y thingy to go in. Push your trigger down, but don't let any paint out of your gun at this point. Next, s-l-o-w-l-y pull back the trigger to release paint. You should be able to see your burst-y thingy starting to take shape. When you feel that your burst is large enough, quit adding paint and blow air only to dry your design. I'd recommend that before you try it on a live nail, you practice it on paper until you have the "feel" of the design and gun down pat. Kewl, huh? When you do a new airbrush design on a client, make up an 11th or "dummy" nail at the same time--this way, you have the paints and stencils already out, and this little trick will ensure that when you are doing that awesome new design of Bill Clinton's (*ahem*) portrait on your nails, you won't have to go back and set aside time to do a "dummy" nail-- with Bill's portrait on it! (Get it? ;-) (Sorry, had to throw some political humor in there!) Also, I would recommend that you put out designs on display that you are absolutely comfortable doing. It NEVER seems to fail, that the most difficult design is the one your client will zero in on. This already happened to me....I had a design of some angelfish swimming in the ocean complete with air bubbles, seaweed, different colors of blue for water depth, etc. Next to that I had a 1 color airbrush french manicure design...... and guess what she picked? Arrrrggghhh! I will NEVER do that again! So, I'd recommend that you perfect a couple of designs that you feel comfortable doing until you can do it in your sleep, otherwise your client will develop a sixth sense and pick out the most difficult design you have! Hope these hints help! Airbrush On! Suzanne Lees Airbrush Tip 'O The Week # 11Suzanne, Can You Rate Them Paints? And....I got the White Sidewall Blues (Questions and requests taken from the Nailtech Mailing List- and reprinted for your reading pleasure and reference!) Hi all, Question? What air brush paint do you use, what do you like about the brand you use, and the way you get off the over flow on the skin. I would also love to her from you Suzanne Lees , I bet you have tried them all. Thanks ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ahhhh yes...I have! Now, I'm going to give you guys MY personal favorites list, and no flames please! Cuz what doesn't work for me, might work fine for others, and visa versa, and this is based on my experiences with these lines of paints, not anyone else's. Rating System: 1 * = Don't bother 2 ** = Buy it if you want, but be careful and road test your colors and designs first!

3 *** = A definite fave! Love the stuff! Green light to spend your money! Now here it is, in their order.....my airbrush paint "fave" list..... Too Much Fun- Too Pricey! Too Watery! Too Sheer! Bought some at the Midwest Beauty Show last year, and was the last time I bought it. BUT I love their multi hued selections! Got every color known to man! Worked with their stencils too...didn't like them, some real intricate designs (such as the Harley Davidson stencil) did not get "stamped" all the way through, and the design was a bust because of it. Stencils are on the pricey side too. Rate: * Aztek- again, on the watery side and pricey, but LOVE their color selections! Stencil line is good. Rate: * San Francisco Nail Art- Love their white! Just the EXACT consistency that you need, so that when you airbrush with this white, it goes on the nail perfectly dry, just like velvet. However, their metallic line is much to be desired...very watery, does not cover at all, and you need to base it with white first. Same thing with their primary colors, very transparent, not opaque at all. Reasonably priced tho. Rate: ** (cuz of the white) Aeroflash- reasonably priced, right consistency...but when it says it should be an opaque color....it's not. Very frustrating when you are designing with it, and expect the dang paint to cover whatever you are trying to paint on top of. And your design comes out looking like poo cuz you can see the previous color underneath. Blech! Rate: * Dr. Ph. Martins- I like 'em. Right price, consistency, when they say opaque, it means opaque. Definitely recommend this line! Rate: *** Now...the drum roll please......my "fave" line of airbrush paint? Createx! Yeppers! That's right...and I use the ones that everyone warned me about....crafts, tshirts and the like, not made for nails, they said! Will never work! Too thick! Nope! Wrong-O! Remember, rule of thumb is, all airbrush paint should be the consistency of milk. Too thick? Add a little water...it does not compromise the credibility of it's properties to cover adequately. Does not clog my gun, (even the metallics and my neons don't clog. And my Iwata A gun is hypersensitive and clogs in a nano-second if the pigment or metallic flecks are too big) very reasonably priced (got mine at Michael's crafts for about $3.50 a bottle) I also use Createx's Nail Ease, which is Createx's line of paint that is supposed to be formulated for nails only. I personally do not experience any difference in the performance of either type of paint. Rate: *** Oh..one more thing... "How do you get the overflow off the skin?" Well, there are a couple of ways.... You can buy the airbrush french manicure stencil that is in the shape of a wheel. And in that wheel, it looks like there are two "horseshoe" shapes cut out. What I do is I place the "U" of the

horseshoe at the base of the cuticle/nail and hold it there while I'm spraying away to avoid any paint getting on the skin. Or you can also use a sculpting form with the same principal in mind. Now, another reason why you get overspray, is that the actual spraying radius of your gun is way too wide. In otherwords, your nozzle has a rather large opening at the end, and no matter how careful you are, you will get overspray on your nails. How did I figure this one out? Well, I had a Vega Nailaire, and the opening and spray radius of this gun is pretty big and wide. Heck, I could use acrylic paint in it and it wouldn't clog! (Just joking! Please don't put acrylic paint in your ab guns, folks!) For the longest time, I thought the overspray was my fault and not the gun, and I was ready to give up on airbrushing altogether. (Can you believe THAT?) Now, I realize that there are some nailtechs who will take the Vega Nailaire to their grave and really like it, but in my experience, the Iwata A gun beats them all (No flames, please...this is only my opinion!) What I like best about this gun, is that you have virtually no or very little overspray, and the opening of the nozzle is much smaller than the Vega Nailaire, which allows you to do real up close, detailed work, with little or no overspray. And, you can get the Iwata A at a company called Wimex out of Philadelphia for $109.00 AND you get $10.00 of that price with free shipping thrown in too boot, for those of you who want to buy one. Hope this helps! Airbrush On! Suzanne Lees ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Airbrush Tip 'O The Week #12Why Did My Airbrush Paint Disintegrate and/or Crackle? And Remember, Don't Drag That Brush! (Questions and requests taken from the Nailtech Mailing List- reprinted for your reading pleasure and reference!) Q: I have an Aztec airbrush and love it, however I do not get the chance to use it often. Yesterday someone wanted an ab french...so I proceed....she has natural nails I finish mani and apply nail intensity base coat ( is this 1st mistake?) spray french mocha on all 10 spray white tips on all 10 using biz card to create smile line.... A: So far, so good........however, because Nail Intensity is so new, I have never road tested it with a/b paint to see if there is any adverse effect here..... Q: now here I should add....french mocha has not been used in ....a very long time...perhaps 2 years...do these paints spoil? (Aztec) A: Not that I'm aware of? But to be on the safe side, you can call the fine folks and Aztec to get their viewpoint on it to see if time is a factor in their product's reliability. Q: I shook it like crazy but could not get the mixing ball to make a noise, as it did in the white paint...which is used much more often, and had only a little left in bottle.

A: Was the viscosity of the paint like milk or was it real thick? If it was thick, then evaporation or breakdown of some sort could have occurred. Q: finished job ...looked great...applied bonder coat and as I was finishing the 10th nail, client says" Look it is separating" paint looked as if it was disappearing!! ok no panic...(slow day anyway) clean nails off, shake bottle more...alot more...still no ball sound...apply Aztek base coat and do everything for 2nd time....apply bonder coat and still all nails look great...wait the 3 minutes...apply glaze coat...wait 3 minutes...everything looks great she leaves, we laugh...(I am sweating ,inside) 3 hours later she calls and says, "You'll never believe it...as it dried it separated again!" A: Now, the only thing that I can detect in your analogy, is your bonder coat. What is "bonder coat"? Is this a topcoat that Aztec makes specifically for airbrushing? Sorry if I'm in the dark about bonder coat, but I don't use the Aztec line of a/b paints or top coats. Remember, that whenever you are topcoating your airbrushing, that you MUST use a topcoat that is recommended for airbrushing ONLY. If you do not, and you use UV top coat, fast drying topcoat or any topcoat for that matter that is not formulated for airbrushing, you will get all kinds of mysterious reactions. The reason being is that fast dry/UV topcoats that are formulated to dry regular polishes, contains more drying/evaporating solvents to fast dry POLISH, not a/b paint, hence the disintegration of your a/b paint. And when you use anything other than an a/b topcoat, you will get crackling and radical changes in airbrush paint colors. Another nailtech friend of mine recently had the same reaction with a client and she applied I believe red polish, black a/b on the tips, gold striping tape, etc. Took her 1 hr to do stunning Rembrant's on all 10 of her client's nails, applied a top coat not formulated for airbrush paint, and the black paint turned navy blue! Aaaaccckkkk! Another annoying thing that can happen when using topcoat on your airbrush nail art, sometimes the brush will leave "drag" marks! Please use very little pressure when applying your topcoat. Try to let your brush "float" on top of the nail and pull toward the free edge when sealing in your work. Very important! Crackling....well, that's another problem alot of airbrush artists are experiencing. Why does this happen, do you ask? The reason why you get crackling of your airbrush paint after you apply your topcoat is because you are applying your airbrush paint too wet. Remember, when your airbrush paint hits the nail, it should go on dry and have the appearance of velvet. (You should be able to touch it immediately after it goes on the nail without smudging) Therefore, make sure you are using the right ratio of air to paint! So, if I can pass on a little jewel of knowledge to all of you budding airbrush artists out there, please, please, please always use a topcoat formulated only for airbrush paint and make sure your paint goes on dry. Airbrush paint on nails is a very sensitive artform and you must use the proper topcoat and air to paint ratio. (Tammy Taylor makes an EXCELLENT topcoat with UV inhibitors to keep your frenches really white!

If not, you stand the chance of disastrous results and an ulcer from the stress! Airbrush On! Suzanne Lees back to Articles Page