This week I was thinking back to the early days of my face painting business, when I was still learning how to paint myself.

More than 13 years ago, while attending a festival in Scotland with my husband, I observed a group of women and a photographer in a small 2 by 2 marquee. They were face painting! There were 4 face painters in the marquee painting beautiful, quick designs such as flowers and side designs. The photographer was then taking pictures when they finished and we learned they were posting the images on their Facebook page.

Getting Started

I returned home to Ireland, bought some face paints and sent applications to different event organisers. I practiced with my 15 year old daughter and her friend for a day and we were good to go!!

Arriving at our first family festival was quite daunting but for some reason, we found it relatively easy to create semi-good designs and needless to say the queue did not stop all day!

And so here I am, running a modest but successful business with teams in Dublin and Cork, but also operating in other locations throughout Ireland and abroad. My main objective which still stands today is paint quality over quantity no matter how busy we are and ensuring the standard of the face paint is always at the top end of good

It has been quite an amazing journey for myself and the team and naturally, with years of experience and hosting workshops, we have learned how to master the basics and bring our face paints to the next level. 

Tips and Tricks

Today, I want to share with you just a few  tips and tricks that I have found to be the most useful in helping us to master beautiful and intricate designs.

1. Use Professional Brands

Firstly, I want to emphasise how important it is to have a few different professional FDA approved brands in your kit. Don’t worry this doesn’t mean you have to shell out hundreds of Euros for paints, brushes, and other supplies.. It’s just many different brands of face paint will have different consistencies and some are good for sponging and others better for line work

  For example, Snazaroo paint works incredibly well for producing a soft sponge base.

Using a pink Snazaroo paint to lightly sponge on delicate pink cheeks and bases elevates the face paint and brings it up to the next level. Other pinks from Diamond FX, such as neon and dark pinks, are also included in our kit but they would be used more for line work and flowers.

2. Blending your Sponging

The next tip is to always make sure you blend your sponging, leaving no rough edges and staying well away from the hairline. There is nothing worse than seeing sponging in the hairline. It overwhelms the face and the client most likely does not want paint in their hair. Also try not use dark colours on the eyes as this can be too intense, stick to lighter colours espeically if you are using a split cake.

3. Make your Design stand out 

To make the face paint stand out try adding something else and surprise your client! We like to add a simple double-dip flower or a bow to animal face paints like kittens, foxes and puppies! You may also use stencils to add stars and dots and adding a rainbow stroke to your unicorn can really make a difference. 

4. Achieving Symmetery 

I would like to mention symmetry.  It is key to use your focal points as this will help you achieve a symmetrical design, this was mentioned in our previous email/post so go back to get all the tips and tricks on focal points.

5. Brushes

A good set of brushes is essential. Again you don’t have to spend a fortune to start but you need good-quality synthetic brushes that snap back into shape when you test the bristles. We are currently working with a brush maker in New York designing our own brush set so keep an eye on our socials for updates. This kit will include all the brushes you need to get started.

6. Glitter

My final advice for today is glitter! Sometimes glitter is all that is needed to complete your design—just a little extra sparkle!

There are two forms of glitter: Dust and Gel. 

We love the Snazaroo dust glitter in gold and silver, which has a gentle shine and looks lovely on the eyes. However, it can have a lot of fallout, so start with a small amount on the tip of your finger.

Then there’s gel glitter.  It has a wet base, so it can smudge face paint, but it looks amazing around your design, across the cheekbones, around the eyes, and so on. Chucky gel glitter can also be used as a gemstone!

If you’re not careful when applying it, it may sometimes ruin your design. In my opinion, less is more.

We have a YouTube video dedicated to glitter if you would like to check it out.

Looking forward to hearing your face painting journeys and experiences! Let us know on our facebook or Thinkific communities or on social media!

Stay creative,

Selena, Amber and the team