Keeping your hands clean?

I have my first event on sat and I guess beyond reading and practicing there are kinks that just get worked out with experience when it comes to set up. I've got heaps of sponges to have one per kid, prob not enough brushes but will work on that with time, and I've got q-tips for lips and hand sanitiser. Now when I do henna I don't sanitise my hands between each person especially when really busy, only if I do feet or sweaty person, otherwise just every few people. It seems when I'm painting though my hands get filthy. I read on here that some people have black hand towels and am going to get one tomorrow but any other tips? I guess maybe when I get better I won't be as messy? I mean its important to me to have a clean stall as that is something I would notice as a parent. Does everyone get messy hands and its just a matter of wiping them or is it something I'm doing wrong?

Denser sponges. Honestly, the denser the sponge (tack sponges are the best for me) the less "bleed through" there is. I can paint all day with tack sponges and hardly have any paint on my hands. I still wipe between people but not because my hands are "dirty".

Other than that, yes, a damp washcloth or wipes after each face.

my hands look like paintings themselves after painting for a while! ...will have to get better sponges then...

Yep, the sponge makes a big difference. Also where you hold the sponge, and how wet the paint on the sponge is. I wash my hands periodically, but I wipe off my pinkie finger a LOT since it seems I'm always sticking it into the design somewhere. LOL.

AngieAnders wrote: I wipe off my pinkie finger a LOT since it seems I'm always sticking it into the design somewhere. LOL.

haha i do that too!

I use baby wipes a lot to get the fresh paint off my hands. I hate when I accidentally put a pinky mark in a design from the previous persons paint. I hand sanitize regularly(if I rub my nose, cough, shake a hand or do high 5, etc.).

my hands aren't dirty from the actual painting but because I dunk my sponges.... Yes, I dunk them completely and squeeze them out hard... it works for me. But it does mean that the "coffee water" that is inevitable when you are rinsing your sponges makes all my fingers a funny shade of grayish purple rather quickly. Baby wipes are always handy and I go through a lot of them. If I do designs that don't require any sponging, I almost never need to wipe my hands (except maybe my pinky occasionally )

I have been finding that my thumb and forefinger of my left hand get the most painty because I pick up the paint and hold it while I swipe the sponge across. Never fails that I either swipe paint across my own fingers, or there is some paint residue on the sides of the paint container. Either way, those fingers get particularly dirty. Wondering if anyone else has this problem?

I wet a dark facecloth right when I first start painting, and I wipe my hands on it between each kid. If I get black paint on my hands, I use a baby wipe. But I'd much rather just not get as dirty! And how does it get under my nails like that?!?

my hands get filthy and i mostly only use brushes! i hardly sponge (not because i don't like it, but because i get requests for designs that don't need it)! i still have messy hands and nails and can hardly keep them clean with baby wipes.

I can't stand paint on my hands. It just feels yucky to me.

I keep a hand towel of sorts damp on the back on the chair. I should have black, but haven't found any yet. I got a pack from the dollar store. They are suppossed to be the super absorbant towels. It works great and then I don't waste loads of baby wipes or have the trash to deal with(like I used to).

-Metina

During Halloween I was so exhausted I went for a mani pedi so I could get massaged and pampered you should have seen the horrified look on the manicurists face when they saw my paint stained cuticles!