Face Painting Newbie

[Axe]

I put the cart before the horse so to speak and bought my paints before I started face-painting. I'm still intimidated by facepainting despite having an artistic background. I'm wondering what type and how many brushes/sponges/powder applicators you folks bring to a typical facepainting event?

[Fitzwilly]

4, 216,


Well not quite, but when I am cleaning up after the event it always seems like I've got that many.

[Markie]

I take a few dozen sponges. I have Snazaroo, Paradise, and Silly Farm sponges. I like the Paradise sponges best for most things, I use Snaz sponges since they're smaller for my rainbow cakes since the edge fits them perfectly.

Brushes I take a bunch and I usually manage one color per brush unless it's a huge event.

I tell people who ask that I usually carry about $500 (replacement cost) in makeup and supplies with me to events. That number is very real and it quickly puts any thoughts of DIY face painting out of their minds

[pixcoco]

So which paints did you buy? The better paints will make your job easier and prettier. Good quality brushes will also make getting a nice outcome easier for you. I guess I have about 12-15 brushes and half a dozen sponges. Eight colors of glitter. 24 colors and shades of makeup to choose from. that is for parties. If I am painting all day at an event I might take more.

[Markie]

Agreed with Coco, I'll add since she just said "better" that I strongly recommend Mehron Paradise and Kryolan Aquacolor as being the best makeup for face painting out there.

[Wowza]

Bubbles and I live in Almost Oklahoma, Texas. Otherwise known as Anna. Basically about 50 or so miles north of Dallas.

[Sir Toony Van Dukes]

I hear that there are two schools of thought. One sponge per child and one per color. The one per child would definitely need more sponges. The face painters I have met said they use sponges for the base layers nad brushes for the details and lines. Most seem to have their favorite brands for colors and a different for black and white. I would love to learn under a pro, but I am not ready to make the investment in the paints and brushes just yet.

[pixcoco]

I think of my sponges as having two surfaces, one on each end. And some colors just are not sponged very much. One per shild would be a little silly. Skin is a great barrier against ...well, almost anything. If the skin is broken I will not paint it. I would concider all of my supplies cleaner than 99 percent of childrens hand (which are in contact with their face all the time)
I didn't state a brand because I recognise personal prefances. Mine is Paradise but as long as you are not using poster paint or arylic...whatever.

[Markie]

That's true about brand preferences. Like I know you don't like Kryolan Aquacolor. I don't like Snazaroo. Lots of people don't like Paradise. Etc.

It's still good to give general ideas to people, esp if we can add details:

Paradise is creamy and smells like tropical fruit. Color consistency is an issue - there are batch to batch variations. Paradise metallics are crumbley and most MUST be sponged to be effective. Due to it's creamy texture you go through it quickly. Color selection is somewhat limited and there are no UV colors.

Kryolan Aquacolor is available in every color under the rainbow. It smells like fried baby powder and has a soft but not "creamy" texture. Interfrenze colors look like METAL - Interfrenze Bronze is an especially great color. UV-DayGlo colors work great and look amazing in normal and blacklight. Silly Farm has a dayglow rainbow that looks amazing. VERY water and sweat resistant - does much better than Paradise and much much better than Snazaroo.

Snazaroo - similar texture to Kryolan Aquacolor, smells almost like nothing except the black which has a really bad chemicaly smell to it. White is not very strong and the colors don't seem as water and sweat resistant.

Honestly, all three products (and others, these are the ones I have experience with) can do very good, but I like Paradise and Kryolan much more than Snazaroo personally. If I could only pick Paradise *or* Kryolan it'd be a tough choice. In most colors, I prefer Paradise; BUT I couldn't imagine not having some of my favorite Kryolan colors but there's nothing Paradise has that Kryolan couldn't give me something to sub for it. So if I was a one brand painter, I think I'd have to go with Kryolan...

[Fitzwilly]

I have some left over Snazaroo that I use, mostly for background work. I don't mind the paint but I hate the containers. The majority of my paint right now is Paradise and Wolfe Brothers. I particularly love the metallic Wolfe Brothers paints.