I hope you’ve been enjoying our recent tips on building your face painting clientele. This week, we’re diving deeper into this topic—expanding your range. While children’s parties are a fantastic way to get started, there’s a whole world of opportunities waiting for you in the adult event space.

Starting with children’s parties

If you’re just beginning your face painting journey and feel ready to take the next step professionally, local children’s parties are a great starting point. They allow you to promote yourself within your community while working with real, live models. While wiggly kids in the chair can be a challenge, working with them will sharpen your skills.

Children’s parties are often high-energy and full-on, but in many ways, they can be less daunting than jumping straight into large public events. They offer a manageable way to gain confidence and experience before expanding into other opportunities.

But what about adults

Once you feel confident in your face painting skills, it might be time to explore adult events. Adults provide a completely different—and much less wiggly—canvas for showcasing your creativity. If you’ve ever thought about expanding beyond kids’ face painting, reaching out to adult event organizers and event management companies is a great way to add variety to your work and open up new revenue streams.

You can diversify your services by incorporating festival glitter looks, neon or UV-reactive face paints, and even body painting. These styles are especially popular for events such as hen parties, festivals, weddings, and corporate functions.

How to get bookings for adult events

Here are some key strategies to help you break into the adult event space.

1. Show your work online

Make sure potential clients can see examples of your different face painting styles. Create display boards for different types of events, such as birthdays, hen parties, weddings, and Halloween. You might also want a separate portfolio for pride events, festival glitter, and UV/neon designs.

Pinterest is a great platform for organizing and displaying your work. When reaching out to potential clients, you can send them a direct link to a Pinterest board that relates to their specific inquiry.

2. Collect client reviews

Positive reviews help build credibility. Ask satisfied clients to leave feedback and proudly display those reviews on your website and social media. This will build trust with future customers.

3. Build relationships

Expand your reach by connecting with event planners, wedding coordinators, and venues that host adult parties or festivals. Offer to do a demonstration at their events or collaborate to showcase your talents. If they like your work, they’re sure to book you again.

4. Create tailored service packages

Offer packages specifically designed for adult events. Include options such as face painting, glitter tattoos, body painting, and balloon art. You could also get creative and add fun extras, like karaoke, if you’re willing to invest in a microphone and speaker.

5. Use social media to target clients

Actively promote your services for all types of events on social media. Regular posts, engaging stories, and targeted ads will help you reach the right audience.

Use event-specific hashtags to attract new clients. Post pictures and testimonials from past events. Create Instagram highlight folders to showcase different themes. Example categories: Halloween, weddings, kids’ parties, glitter, UV/neon.

6. Reward loyal clients

Encourage repeat business by offering discounts for multiple bookings or creating a loyalty program for returning clients.

Final thoughts

Breaking into the adult face painting market takes time, but by building a strong portfolio and applying these strategies, you should start seeing results.

We’d love to hear about your experiences—both the wins and the challenges—when it comes to face painting. Let’s keep the conversation going.

Also, be sure to check out our YouTube channel for great tips and tricks: