What kind do you have??

I finally sucked up my courage and decided to buy new paint, but I was wondering what kind you all use and in what colors. There are so many colors available!
Also, I'd like to keep my budget around $80.00, is this possible?
Thanks in advance!

what are you using currently?
Also, what colors do you like in your kit?
How often do you paint, and what types of events?
It will be easier to recommend brands if we know more about what your needs are.

Hi, when i first started I found the mehron face paint in a local store and used it for several years, but the color selection, at the time, was limited, and mixing my own color combinations was a lot of fun, but I ended up with shades of "mud". I discovered Snazeroo on line, tryed them and really loved them, unless your working them in the hot sunlight, then they kinda 'melt' on you. I've used some krylan, paradise and dfx. I love the rainbow arty cakes that are available, some times they are mixed from different manufactures colors, and that may cause me some application problems in the future, but for now I love them. I'm currently in the process of getting a full range of paradise, because i like the 'flow' from the brush to skin. I use Wolfe white to cover over other colors when i need that effect. I suggest that you start with a small palate of basic colors plus white and black, and see what will work for you. Most face painters tend to stay in love with the manufacture they learned to face paint with, they become like an old friend, comfortable to be arround.

like len reccomended I would get an small pallet to start.

I started with the basic Wolf pallet and various snaz colors, then upgraded to 45 jars of wolf. Since I have added DFX and kryolan.

As you try different brands you will find you have favorites colors and textures.
For instance, I HATE wolfe yellow - in my oppinion, the DFX yellow is a better consistancy and color. I don't like DFX orange - it's too close to the red for my taste. Things I would have only learned through trying different brands.

modernmagik:
I currently have the Wolfe FX Essentials.
I basically use whatever colors that I need, nothing I really "like".
And, I'm not currently working events, just trying to get some designs and things ready.

Len and Sparkling:
thanks so much!!

I started with the Snazaroo (and still use that mainly on kids) and Paradise. I am now getting into Wolfe and Kryolan.

What kind of paint do you use currently?

I would probably get some Wolfe and some rainbow cakes but there are so many possibilities! I will be following this thread though as I want to get my sister a kit for her bday in March! (she wants to start face painting but lacks good supplies) I am not sure what to get her!

Is there any know problems/issues with mixing brands?

I mostly have TAG stuff with a few Snazaroo colors.
The TAG being like a dry watercolor, and the Snazaroo more waxy (summer here so it is melting a lot)

What are the other brands like?

OK, so you have some options, even with a limited budget.

I would recommend either just restocking your wolfe with larger sizes of the colors you use most in your designs, or getting a pallet of some kind from another brand since pallets are more budget friendly.....so....some others would be....

Diamond FX is very similar to the Wolfe you are using (made in the same factory with only slightly differing recipes), so you could just buy a few colors to try in that brand or a small $15 pallet to see if you like it, then get larger sizes of the colors you use most as your budget allows.

Paradise has a 30 color sampler pallet that runs around $80-100.
This will let you try all of their colors if you wanted to try Paradise. But, as with the pallets from Wolfe and DFX, the small sizes would get used up more quickly and are harder to use for sponging on bases because of the small diameter of each individual pot of color. Or, if you wanted fewer colors in a larger size, you could get a 12 color pro sized pallet. It comes in the same laptop styled case, only it has only 12 colors, but in professional sizes. And of course you can always just purchase individual colors.

Snazaroo has a 28 color sampler pallet as well that usually sells for about $40-50....again, smallish sizes, but nice range of colors to try.

Honestly, if you are really wanting to start face painting as a business or even plan to do a lot of it as a hobby or volunteer, I would recommend what I usually recommend to beginner painters.....a Snazaroo Jumbo Pallet. It contains larger sizes of the 6 most popular basic colors plus a black and a white....so 8 colors in a professional size that is easy to use for sponging as well as line work......they usually sell for $50-75 each....so within your budget, and you could still have money for sponges and a few brushes......there is also a second Jumbo Pallet of the next 8 colors for when you are ready to expand, and they have a Jumbo Pallet of Sparkle colors also.
As for Sponges, the Snaz high density sponges are perfect,....just cut them in half and go to work.
I would NOT buy your first brushes from a face painting site, as they are more expensive.....you can get a multi-pack of decent quality golden taklon brushes from Wal Mart that will get you going and last you quite a while. When you have been painting for a little while, have the basics down, and want to start improving your technique....then upgrade to nicer brushes from your nearest art store or online.....your old wal mart brushes will probably start losing the paint from their handles at this point.....so for your nicer, more expensive brushes, you want to be sure to look for brushes with synthetic handles....not wood..... as I said, they will cost more, but they will be worth it and will last a LONG time if you take care of them.

Excellent info Lisa. I started with the snazaroo jumbo pallette and it was great. It washes off the best as well. I like the wolfe white and black to do better line work, but the black is more challenging to wash off. I only started into this 6 months ago and I've lost count of how many paints I have now...so having a budget is a good idea. I hope you stick to it better than I did.

I use dfx for almost anything. There are a few other colours from other brand, but that is some I have been given or so. Especially the metallic colours I love. Often I use them instead of the normal ones. Like yellow and orange.

If you can get to a jam and actually see/ try the paints, do. Everyone has their own faves and the only people with a kit of a single brand are either sponsored by that brand or don't paint/ know much and just 'got that'.

Same with colours -I swapped away many of my matt plain colours and never replaced grey and brown, as I prefer the ones with a sheen or sparkle and blend my own on the sponge/ face. Other painters have 3 of every colour in the rainbow. I just can't be bothered keeping that much kit to lug around!

I like Grimas, DFX (same as Wolfe just the EU distributor), Kryolan (just the aquacolour Interfernzes etc), some Fardel liquids, some snaz (love the sprkles but too melty), Paradise......

Cat x

I started off with a little Snaz kit that I picked up from a costume shop. Once I figured out the gist of using professional paints I added a Wolfe mini to my kit. After that I got one or 2 of Kryolan (Aquacolor), Paradise and DFX to see how I liked particular colors that other fp-ers raved about. By doing that I'd allowed myself to test several brands and figure out how each brand worked.

Then I started looking into colors to assemble my working kit. I'm a hoarder so I wanted to be careful to not purchase every manufacturer's full line of colors, so I started slow. I knew from experience that I didn't like Wolfe's black because of staining, so I went with Paradise and Snaz for my primary black (though I love DFX black and still use that for adults). Then I went on a search for the perfect red, pink, purple, lavender, ect.... until I'd managed to cover the spectrum without much duplication. The only colors I didn't give much thought to were yellow, orange, grey and brown, but I've since included those, well, I'm still waiting for my yellow to arrive, but in essencene, I've rounded out my kit.

Buying metalics were hard for me. I love shiny stuff, so I did a lot of researching and read a lot of reviews before buying. I also played around in the kit of the lady I sometimes paint with. When I finally decided what I wanted, I made a list and started checking things off, starting with the color I'd most likely use the most. So now I have what I like to consider a complete kit (actually, 2 kits if you count the fact that most of my snaz and Paradise are in splits to save space). One day I may just throw some of that 2nd kit on the swap board because unless I go into body painting, I'll never use it all, but for now, I know that I have a back up and that's good for me.

I think what it comes down to is what you want in a paint, what you plan to do with that paint, how much room you want to give up for you kit and how big your budget is. Piecemeal is always the best way for me, lest I wind up with a bunch of stuff I don't like, so I didn't go for the big pro kits, but that might not be the way for you...

What I've noticed is everyone has what they like for bases, (usually something like snaz or paradise cause they are easy to blend) and something different for line work (usually wolfe or dfx cause they don't blend in with the background as easily). The Elite have it all broken down by what brand of what color they like the best.

I learned the basics on Snaz with my painting partner. Then my husband bought me sampler pallates of DFX and I fell in love. So now, for my personal working pallate I basically had big cakes of ROYGBIV of DFX, and have recently did the same with snaz, and I'm realliy liking having both to work with. I have a sampler of metallics in DFX, but I don't use it very often. I don't paint a whole lot, so it's really all I need. My next expansion purchase will be some interferenze, but I'm in no hurry.

P.S. For US posters - Michael's is having a clearance on some of their artist brushes right now so if there are any left it's a great time to get some Loew - Cornell and other decent brushes for half or more off.

Honestly if my budget was $80 to $100, I would buy the brand(s) of the colors I love or needed the most in full size. Probably Snaz/Sparkle or Metallic/Electrics (Orange, Hot Pink, Purple, Blue, Red) for some of my favorite bases and blending and a few Diamond FX/Wolfe FX (Black and White, Metallic White, Yellow, Gold definitely!!!)

I am still on the fence on the best greens, brown, and in the process of removing/replacing my Paradise as I use it. These were my first two full size pallettes! (The first colors to disappear were black, white, pink and purple as I took on more work.) There are just a few colors of Paradise I truly love - (Wild Orchid! is beautiful!) - has more to do with the quality of it turning chalky and losing its' color intensity or muddying after the painting.

Still experimenting with the Ben Nye as I think it will help me out by holding up to our extreme Summer heat and humidity. Love the Kryolan too for the UV series and the Interferenz Blues and Greens and Copper!!

I don't "throw away" paint so I go more by what I love and replace as I need to. I also made multiple kits to improve mobility and packing. (1 facepainting gig kit, 1 portable mini practice/convention/paint a quick face before hitting the gig kit, 1 bodypainting/nightclub kit) Also, don't be afraid to make your own splits. Even if you "hate" some of your colors/brands there are good to swap or use for practicing your swirls, curls and teardrops!!

I pretty much use all Wolfe and Paradise... $80 won't get you much paint, but if you're not painting more than once a week, than that little bit will carry you a long way!

I use Paradise for my bases and DFX for my line work. Just starting to experiment with split cakes more.

My very first face paint was Snazaroo, then I moved to Mehron Paradise, and that's what I mainly use since it's affordable and goes on nicely. I purchase other colors in Kryolan, they have some nice "interfreeze" colors and UV/dayglo colors, but I usually just buy their orange since Mehron's orange sucks- it's like more yellow, and who wants a yellow tiger? madhattermagicshop.com has Mehron paradise really cheap.

I use all Kryolan for bases, and DFX white and black for linework. I really like Kryolan - got all my primary and some secondary colours in that, and have one Interferenz - the bronze. I want to get some of the others as well, and then I want some pearly type colours.

I want to get more DFX and try an experiment, doing some linework in dark blue or purple, as it seems a softer, less stark effect than black all the time.

Tag is the same as DFX, only cheaper, and I'll be getting that from Australia. I've been told they are both the same as Wolfe as well, but some on this thread have said they like one and not the other. Go figure.

I got one cake of Snaz at a body art festival I was at recently, and I don't think I'll be getting any more. Didn't like it at all.

Kat

BTW TAG is the same as DFX or WOlfe. Almost exactly.

Cat x

Starting out on a limited budget, I recommend purchasing a few colors at a time, and adding to this as your budget permits. Start with Black and White (WOLFE for sure!), and procede to the colors of the rainbow (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple). The move on to pink, brown, grey, and any additional shades (lighter/darker) of the rainbow colors. For easy sparkle, you cannot go wrong with Wolfe metallic paints. I tried them out in the pallet size, and find myself using them on almost every design. I'll be buying them in the larger cakes very soon!

I would get the best brushes I can afford and start with a #4 round (my favorite) and add as you go. The same with the paint. When I moved from snazz to Paradise/DFX and synthetic to sable - my painting skilz increased tremendously. You need the right tools to do the job. Don't waste time or money on the fringe items until you have the budget - I still work with 1 color poofer bottle - I just want sparkle don't need a million options. Also Metina has a great brush bath with 3 compartments -saves me time changing water - I can go a whiole hour and dump when I leave. Get your basics down that will get you jobs when you get jobs you will have money to invest back into your business.

Oh yes if not already siad re mixing brands - as far as I know all is OK. The painters with purely 1 brand are usually kept that way as they are sponsored by that brand so HAVE to use just it in public (have seen them buy others!).

Obv things are like most brands won't go over DFX/ Wolfe as they are not as strong coloured as the 1st layer.

AND never put Snaz paints in anything but Snaz paint boxes, it eats Grimas and DFX pots at the very least.

cat x

My favorites? DFX White and all of their metallics, snazaroo sparkle yellow and orange.. Wolfe metallic blue and gold are great, and most of the paradise line works really well, and lasts a very long time. Although, stay away from their yellow. It is a nightmare to do anything but cheek art with.

In fact, of all the paints I use, paradise seem to dry the quickest and so I use them for all my cheek art.

I don't use wolfe black at all; perhaps it's my skin, but I find it horribly frustrating to try to get off. I use paradise black for all my black linework, plus their wild orchid is great for lines too; especially if working with pinks and blues.