Saturday, June 5, 2010

Review of Dual Finish Powder Palettes - Graftobian

Hi Hi

I have another review today and it will be on my recently purchased Powder/Foundation Palettes from Graftobian.

Let me back up a bit and give a little background as to how I discovered the brand.  When I first started out officially as a makeup artist in 2006, I spent a lot of $$$ as I went with over the counter brands & others that you know, that could be quickly found in Trinidad pharmacies and cosmetic stores.  I had to compile this case quickly as I wanted to be ready to advertise for work and be on hand for potential clients.

However, as jobs slowly (and I mean slowly) came round, I noticed that the brands were not performing at the premium levels I expected. In fact, some were causing problems - I'm sure you can identify/have seen some of these - skin irritations, discolorations due to incorrect undertone coloring, and I had to constantly switch out products for my clients' benefits. 

Enter the Internet....Like a internet makeup junkie, I was searching and reading about products that were for professional makeup artists of different categories such as stage, film, television, bridal...you know the drill.  What I found was that there are hundreds out there but particular brands stuck out at me...Graftobian, Ben Nye, Mehron.  These are considered some, if not, the best in stage makeup and in the other areas that I mentioned before.  What also sealed the deal for me was the price....people, most of the products are cheap.  Very easy on the pocket!.

So, I decided to try out a couple items and depending on their performance I would either keep or dump.  I was pleasantly suprised at how well they applied, in fact, you may not even tell the difference.  I should note that these brands are internationally known especially in the arena of body art.  In terms of beauty, have no fear as Kryolan, for example, is the official sponsor of the Ms USA 2010 Pageant, so they are very relevant.

On to my discoveries....After many trials and errors, I have discovered some fav products that fill up my kit making it quite ecelectic.  At another time, I will show them off but for today I speak on my Palettes.  The Graftobian Brand I thought was quite thoughtful in creating not 1, or 2 palettes but actually 3 pro palettes.  They are called Dual Finish which means that they have 2 purposes of application.  It can be applied as a powder and as a foundation as well.  They are very pigmented, giving great coverage and blend on the skin easily.  Its also great for ppl who don't want a lot of product as it applies like a powder and doesn't have this heavy feel.

I only have pics for two of the palettes below though...if you want to see other pics go to http://www.graftobian.com/:
 - Dual Finish Warm
 - Dual Finish Cool
 - Dual Finish Neutral

I love them....They provide all the colors so far that I have seen and needed.  Before, some palettes had too much yellow undertone or too much red undertone and never 'met in the middle'.  Our societies are filled with people of varying colors and I was tired of carrying around so many individual shades and still not matching them and yes, making my case heavier.  I was especially glad to see our women of Indian descent skin tones welll represented here.  

They are pricey at  US$80 a pop but are so worth it....The contouring colors are a dream and the in-between shades for women which are sometimes difficult to match without making them look pasty and if you feel that you have made a mistake, don't worry, these can cover them easily.

These are one of my favs, until something else comes out! lol!


DAJ Signing Out!

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Review of Dual Finish Powder Palettes - Graftobian

Hi Hi

I have another review today and it will be on my recently purchased Powder/Foundation Palettes from Graftobian.

Let me back up a bit and give a little background as to how I discovered the brand.  When I first started out officially as a makeup artist in 2006, I spent a lot of $$$ as I went with over the counter brands & others that you know, that could be quickly found in Trinidad pharmacies and cosmetic stores.  I had to compile this case quickly as I wanted to be ready to advertise for work and be on hand for potential clients.

However, as jobs slowly (and I mean slowly) came round, I noticed that the brands were not performing at the premium levels I expected. In fact, some were causing problems - I'm sure you can identify/have seen some of these - skin irritations, discolorations due to incorrect undertone coloring, and I had to constantly switch out products for my clients' benefits. 

Enter the Internet....Like a internet makeup junkie, I was searching and reading about products that were for professional makeup artists of different categories such as stage, film, television, bridal...you know the drill.  What I found was that there are hundreds out there but particular brands stuck out at me...Graftobian, Ben Nye, Mehron.  These are considered some, if not, the best in stage makeup and in the other areas that I mentioned before.  What also sealed the deal for me was the price....people, most of the products are cheap.  Very easy on the pocket!.

So, I decided to try out a couple items and depending on their performance I would either keep or dump.  I was pleasantly suprised at how well they applied, in fact, you may not even tell the difference.  I should note that these brands are internationally known especially in the arena of body art.  In terms of beauty, have no fear as Kryolan, for example, is the official sponsor of the Ms USA 2010 Pageant, so they are very relevant.

On to my discoveries....After many trials and errors, I have discovered some fav products that fill up my kit making it quite ecelectic.  At another time, I will show them off but for today I speak on my Palettes.  The Graftobian Brand I thought was quite thoughtful in creating not 1, or 2 palettes but actually 3 pro palettes.  They are called Dual Finish which means that they have 2 purposes of application.  It can be applied as a powder and as a foundation as well.  They are very pigmented, giving great coverage and blend on the skin easily.  Its also great for ppl who don't want a lot of product as it applies like a powder and doesn't have this heavy feel.

I only have pics for two of the palettes below though...if you want to see other pics go to http://www.graftobian.com/:
 - Dual Finish Warm
 - Dual Finish Cool
 - Dual Finish Neutral

I love them....They provide all the colors so far that I have seen and needed.  Before, some palettes had too much yellow undertone or too much red undertone and never 'met in the middle'.  Our societies are filled with people of varying colors and I was tired of carrying around so many individual shades and still not matching them and yes, making my case heavier.  I was especially glad to see our women of Indian descent skin tones welll represented here.  

They are pricey at  US$80 a pop but are so worth it....The contouring colors are a dream and the in-between shades for women which are sometimes difficult to match without making them look pasty and if you feel that you have made a mistake, don't worry, these can cover them easily.

These are one of my favs, until something else comes out! lol!


DAJ Signing Out!