tulip vs. generic brand paint

I'v been looking for some paint pans to replace my old crusty ones from a generic Party city pack (which I've been faithful to forever) and am looking for something to last longer and of better quality. (on a tight budget though) i saw the tulip ones at marshall's and have seen good reviews about black and white, but what about the other colors? i work a carnival for elementary school kids and don't want them to stain! :0 would love any suggestions!

there is already a thread about how badly tulip stains:
http://www.facepaintforum.com/t5275-glitter-tatoo

There are a couple of pictures showing the paints and the stains.

I have Tulip in silver and it doesn't stain.

How many children do you paint at the carnival?

i normally paint around 50-80 (plus touch ups when little ones accidentally scratch or wipe it off )

I have tulip in black, white, and silver.

I use them exclusively for line work....I use snaz and mehron/paradise for bases...the tulip is so cheap, and I love that they come with a screw on cap, so I can keep it outside of my kit....sometimes after I'm almost finished packing up, a kid will run to me frantically about fixing their face..i just grab one, and quickly touch up their face (or cover the messed up spot with sparkles and dots.lol...)

definitely a money saver, and time saver...the cap screws on tight so you don't have to worry about wet paint spilling everywhere either.


I wouldn't get it for any reason other than line work, however...I notice that it tends to crack and harden on my kids faces after a few hours...

I paint my kids first thing in the morning, and they wear it all day if I let them....but these 3 colors do not stain, but by 8pm, they do start to crack.
So for me, it's good for a party-usually my parties are between 1-5pm, so they aren't going to crack in that time period.


I would not recommend the other colors...just for the fact that it dries pretty hard and shiny...very good for line work though.

what's your budget? surely you have room for snazaroo...with one of the party city coupons, you can get the jumbo rainbow for $55...and it will last you for foreverrrrrrrrrr~! I've painted at least 300 kids with mine so far and the only color that has a dent is white.

thanks for all the help! i could maybe get the jumbo rainbow if i save for a while (i work for free and babysitting doesn't pay much lol) it sounds pretty awesome if you've done that many!! ill try the tulip black and white for lining though

Yeah when I started, I never worked for free, but what I DID do was charge the cost to pay for my insurance...

use your parties to pay for your business matters when you start out-let people know you are not charging for your time or skills, just for your business necessities supplies....

When I started out, it took me 3 hours to paint all the kids at my first party....looking back, I can't understand why, since those same faces only take me the first 15 minutes of a party now....but I'm ever-so-glad I didn't begin by charging people by the hour because that would've been a rip-off and I would've felt awful about it.

It's illegal to "Work under the table"-pay those taxes on every dollar you make!

I completely agree that you should charge something to cover the costs of your supplies. Even when doing charity work or volunteering, the paints still cost you so I think it is completely reasonable for you to charge them at least a nominal fee for supplies. After all, they didn't get the bounce house for free either.

thank you all for the advice. it was extremely helpful. i agree, it is very reasonable to charge a small bit for supplies sake. paint/sponges/brushes are definitely not free