FP Books - my review

Soooo I've finally decided that I need books to practise and keep me away from the computer (there are so many great things on the internet, it just never ends and I end up only watching photos and tutorials and not actually practising them)

I ordered a few books, and have received the last one today.
Here is a review :

- B. & N. Wolfe, (French Title for Extreme Face Painting I think) 50 Maquillages pour petits et grands.
It's a large paperback book (A4-ish) with nice big pictures.
127 pages, 50 designs, cost less than 13 euros (17 dollars - great value for the price really !).
The designs are great, the explanations are clear (except that they are in French and I had gotten used to English terms for face-painting, and they seem to be using classical painting terms which are sometimes a bit technical - next time I'll buy the English version lol).
I think I can use some of them, many will probably take too much time for the situations in which I face paint (mainly birthday parties where face painting is only the first part of the gig, so I'm given 30 mins to 1hr to paint at least 10 kids, sometimes 20). But I'll be happy to try them on my friends at least, who knows, maybe one day I'll do "real" face painting ;-). I guess these designs are precisely those most face painters will be using.
The introduction is very instructive for people with a beginner level like me, I really enjoyed that part too.

- Margi Kanter, Pick Your Nose
It's a small leaflet, a small A5, 35 stapled pages, 12 designs, cost me about 10 pounds (15 dollars).
The designs are cute, they are quite easy to do and remember.
I don't know how long they take (forgot to watch the time when I tried them ), but I guess with some practise it should be reasonably fast for several of them.
I bet a book about drawing cartoon animals or cartoon anything would be a nice complement to that book to extend the panel of designs and the knowledge about cartoonesque techniques.

- Illusion and Friends, step-by-step guide to face Painting, Book 1
It's an A5 format book (I don't know how you call that : with a spiralled wire to hold the pages together - very very convenient to keep the book opened on the page you need while painting)
63 pages, 30 designs, it cost 10 pounds (15 dollars)
I loooove that book. There are many designs that would be simple and fast enough for me, and so beautiful, very efficient designs. On Illusion's website, there was an offer for those who buy 1 & 2 together, well, I should have taken both, because I bet I'll get the second one day !

- Carmel Bloxsom, René Reiche, Funky Faces (the frog one and the one with the "butterfliger")
A4-ish hardback books, 144/150 pages, 52/56 designs with instructions (plus many other designs' pictures), each cost me 13 euros (about 17/18 dollars - with free shipping worldwide on bookdepository.com)
Those two books are awesome ! A lot may be too complicated for me to use, but very inspirational. There are many designs which look reasonably simple and quick.
They are not exactly written instructions, but photos with icons, the photos are clear enough, even for me.
They are German books, I think I read somewhere than an English translation for the introductions was available online. If someone knows where, I'd be glad to have a look at it, because the pictures make me believe it would be really interesting !

Now, the only one that I am missing is Shannon's .
The shops I ordered from, in order to be cost effective as far as shipping is concerned, did not retail it . But I keep it in my list, whenever I find it in a shop where they have the face paint I need.
(I asked Metina, but I finally can't buy from the face paint shop because shipping is too high for my country).

So to sum up, all these books are awesome, the quality is really high, the quantity too (except maybe "Pick your Nose" with a smaller number of designs).
Now, I've had them for a very short time, I'll let you know in a few months if I managed to make good use of them .

Wait... I though that the forum shop was $6 flat rate shipping?

BekahCat wrote:Wait... I though that the forum shop was $6 flat rate shipping?

That would be a dream !
For my country (currently France), the basket ended with $50 shipping cost for a $70 order .
So I gave up...
I was sad because I had spent hours dreaming on the site and choosing what I needed, and there were many things in the brands I'd like to try.
And Shannon's book !

Aww... That'd probably be the same for me (UK)... I haven't ordered from Metina yet...

I have the same problem with Silly Farm shipping!

You can always check by adding things in your basket on the face paint forum shop, and write you address, you'll see the fees directly.

It may be easier for you to order from the UK than the US.
Shipping fees will be quite low (lower than me, because I still need to have things cross the Channel - haven't found a single shop in France where I can find for instance TAG), and you will not incur additional taxes (well...they are already added !).

Hi Pepita

Have you tried ordering from tagbodyart.com it's the australian site. You can just go to the site add one thing to your cart and then it will allow you to get a shipping quote?

Have you guys also considered the exchange rates? The aussie dollar is good (against the US dollar) at the moment so its actually cheaper for me to order say $150 worth of product and pay the $50 shipping, it often works out cheaper especially when silly farm have their 10% off deals. So with 10% off your $250 its really only $25 postage, and then all the US stuff is usually lots cheaper per cake than here too.

What about ordering with fellow face painter too and sharing the shipping costs?

Hi Beeja,

Thanks for the advice.


When I looked at their site in the past, the exchange rate made it more expensive than US sites.

But I've found British shops and received my first order recently !