So you are new to facepainting? The amount of products and tools can be very overwhelming. You might just want to paint kids at your childs birthday party or you got roped in to paint at a school gala.
Here we will explain and suggest what products you need to get started.
Facepaint
We have 2 different kinds of paints, wax based and glycerine based.
They can be used together, no problem.
All our paints are water activated, vegan and hypo-allergenic.
Safe for skin, however some colours may stain a little.
We suggest to remove facepaint with lots of water, a little soap and for more intense colours use anything oily that’s ok for the skin.
Wax based face paints are paints with paraffin wax. They are especially good for line work, very pigmented, vibrant and come in regular, pearl and neon colours.
The main wax based brands are - TAG, FUSION, Face Art, Global, Graftobian, Wolfe, and Diamond FX. Many believe that these paints may all come from the same factory, but others prefer certain brands. Most of these paints come in the same packaging.
Our brands are Face Art, TAG and FUSION.
Glycerin based face paints are easier for blending since they are more flexible and take a bit longer to dry on the skin.
Our brands are Superstar whic has the largest colour range with regular and pearl colours. We also sell Mehron Paradise, a beautiful range that smells like a tropical island!
What colours do you need?
Of course depending on what you are painting for, you can adjust your colours choices.
White: for highlights and accents and little flowers
Black: for line work, think tigers and spiderman
Red: for super heroes mostly
Orange: for tigers, cheetahs, etc
Yellow: for tigers, lions, etc
Blue: for water, sky and snow inspired designs
Green: for leaves, monsters, lizards
Brown: for bears, zombies, etc
Pink: for princess designs, butterflies, flowers
Purple: for princess designs, butterflies, flowers
All these colours are in our Face-art Palette and is for most the easiest place to start.
One-strokes are the small ones and are designed to use with a large #12 Flat brush.
You can create endless designs with these and there are so many to choose from.
But just starting you will want to have a proper rainbow like the Rainbow 4 or Leannes rainbow. As rainbows never go out of fashion and are super easy to do.
Check out this video to see how to create a rainbow using a one stroke!
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Splitcakes are the larger sizes and you use these with a sponge.
A very fast way to create a multi colour design. We love using these with a petal sponge, for fantastic looking butterflies.
Sponges and brushes
Professional facepainters may have a very large collection of brushes, however this is really not needed when you get started. 3-5 brushes would be more than plenty.
Our Face-Art palette comes with 2 brushes, a round and a small flat.
You will need a round brush to begin with for outlining your designs and to create super easy flowers. A small flat brush is also handy for outlining as well as thin whiskers and antennae.
If you want to work with a one stroke you definitely need a #12 flat brush.
Sponges come in 2 versions, round and petal. The round ones are best cut in half, so you have a round and a flat side to work with. Great for full face designs and larger faces.
Petal sponges are smaller and are already shaped perfectly for creating butterfly wings, Spiderman eyes and animal ears.
Daubers
handy little tools for when you want to create perfect little circles, gems and bubbles or want to work with stencils in a very tidy and clean manner.
Stencils
If you know you're not that confident in any drawing or you need to work really fast you can use a stencil. Our stencils are designed for face painting specifically and have all the popular designs available. You can use a sponge or a dauber through the the stencil with either a single colour or a rainbow for extra awesome effects.
Glitter
We only stock our very favourite biodegradable glitter. You can use the fine glitter easily on top of face paint. Just gently press it into the paint while it's still a little soft. If you would like to use the more chunky colours, we recommend using a little Vasoline, petroleum jelly first.
There are so many colour choices, but you can never go wrong with a mix of gold or silver.
As with anything practice makes perfect. We highly recommend practising lots, our practice boards are really handy for this as they come with some practice sheets and faces. Also our little booklet with very basic beginner designs can be awesome to start off with too.