Tag vs Snazaroo

Most of you already know this from experience but I wanted to share my experince from last night with these paints.

I was recently gifted 7 rectangle split tag face paints.

The pros: THe colors are vivid, and beautiful. I have found the TAG wonderful for one stroke, and for sponging rainbows, tigers and such. They use much less water. It has made a wonderful difference in my snake and rose faces, although I really am not a huge one stroke fan, I may be trying more.

The Cons: I do not like the stiff feeling on a full face, and blending was a nightmare. I realize there is going to be a learning curve from the different brands but I had a horrible time trying to build a base.

I have used Snaz and Paradise for bases for years. The blending capabilities of Snaz and Paradise are wonderful and they dry soft on the face. Also Snaz 18ml seems to stretch so far, they seem to go on forever. There are uses for both, but now I know which brands I need to order for which purpose. I love to be able to blend my paints on my bases.

The reason for the severe differences in the paints is the differences in the compositional make up of the paints. TAG is beeswax based and Paradise and Snaz are Glycerin based. TAG is similar to Wolfe and DFX in that it is generally great for linework, but a little much for bases if the face has sensitive skin. I have very sensitive skin and can have DFX or Wolfe on my face (as a base) for very long. TAG is not as drying as the other two, but it will eventually annoy my skin . Snaz, Paradise, FAB and Kryolan are considered blending paints.

Thank you for letting me know! I've been using nothing but Snaz and considering the switch to mostly TAG because of what I've heard about the One strokes, Cakes, and Pearls

I've never tried any of the creamier paints, only Snaz, TAG, Wolfe and DFX. I do agree about the 'tight' feeling you get on your face when the paint dries... which is why I don't usually enjoy painting my own face LOL.

I'm thinking about trying out a few blending brands, maybe FAB or Paradise when my budget allows.

I do really love TAG though, especially the pearls. Most of my kit is TAG. The colours are amazing, they dry quickly (which is awesome for working fast, not so awesome for blending), and they're great for sponges and brushes.

Hi All,

I have been reading this thread and i am glad to share my experience in this.

After buying a hefty price of many colourful Tag Split Cakes , i felt it too expensive to play around for practice. I sought out Snaz , and bought 7 basic colours
Light Blue,Dark Blue
Purple
Red,Pink
White
Black
Yellow,Orange.

I create my own one stroke cakes out of these.
Then when i did some practice session on some kiddies,
After a while, i saw a little horror .. like melting paint.

I am very new to Facepainting, thinking and saying to my self....."oh obviously paint will melt cause of the hot and humid weather right here in Singapore!".

Now i understand, Snaz..is a Big No No for Summer Weather. Luckily those are practice session i did in the park and got hold of some volunteers who don't mind having their face paint. (but it be Ok purely for my practice session)

For future actual gig, i would want to have my work to stay longer on those sweaty kiddies and makes them smile a bit longer .. I would want to know more .. or is there any avail thread that i missed that review painting in hot summer weather?

Please share the link if you know.

http://www.facepaintforum.com/t13908-paints-for-warm-weather?highlight=hot+weather+paints
personally, I have found snaz black to be a nightmare in hot socal, and tag to be just fine, i will try out my paradise this summer

Dear iamnorahashary:
Last summer, I painted for 18 days, six hours a day in the heat, in a tent outdoors. While I did not notice the heat while I was painting... my Wolfe White turned into the consistency of sour cream, with about that much coverage as painting with sour cream.
I learned a deep appreciation of StarBlends. When the child sweats, the StarBlends become a deeper, richer color.
I kept my Wolfe Black and Wolfe White in my cooler with freezer packs. I learned to leave the lids off, to stop the creation of condensation in the cooler. I like Snaz for bases. TAG Neon Carnival was our favorite base blender for the summer. We went through three a day, every day.
I would purchase the TAG Neon colors separately, and make you own: TAG Neon Magenta, TAG Neon Yellow, and TAG Neon Blue.

Happy Painting!

ninaschau wrote:http://www.facepaintforum.com/t13908-paints-for-warm-weather?highlight=hot+weather+paints
personally, I have found snaz black to be a nightmare in hot socal, and tag to be just fine, i will try out my paradise this summer

Thanks for sharing the link nina!

fesspenter wrote:
I learned a deep appreciation of StarBlends. When the child sweats, the StarBlends become a deeper, richer color.
I kept my Wolfe Black and Wolfe White in my cooler with freezer packs. I learned to leave the lids off, to stop the creation of condensation in the cooler. I like Snaz for bases.

Hi lisa,
I am looking at mehron starblend. I see the color are very basic .
What colors can u recommend that it be mostly and oftenly use?
I was thinking of getting one of each..but not for now ..... cause but i just spend a whole lot of TAG.

Thanks..

I only have StarBlend White, Red, and Black. I use them in that order. Denise Cold has a whole StarBlend appreciation FaceBook group. So, I am not the best person to ask about all the colors.
I use the StarBlend white in the eye area for Spidey-Guys. I use the StarBlend red for Spidey in the summer. The powder does not smear in the heat. I think that when a child sweats from the heat, it makes the StarBlend red gets a deeper, richer red.

Happy Painting!

The company I work for ONLY uses Snaz. Some of the colors *do* soften in heat (black, white and the sky blue, primarily) but I keep them in my fridge between gigs, and keep a second set of pallets on hand in a small cooler if I know I am going to be painting for more than two or three hours, then switch them out.

I love how Snaz blends and washes off. I've only ever had one color 'stain' after being washed off (a dark teal) but with a second wash, it comes off completely.

I have a rainbow cake that *I think* is Paradise and it stained my skin terribly - I do NOT use it outside of my house.

My black Snaz turns to pudding in the summer. I've not used Wolfe yet, but how does DiamondFX black & white hold up in the heat? I'm in Eastern PA, and the weather here is absolutely random. Not sure what it's going to be like next month when I work a carnival for 4 days...

Hey Lisa, which orange base did you use for the tiger in your face paint gallery on your web site? It looks wonderful! Do you generally use the same brand for your bases? The yellow base you used for the one eye butterfly next to the tiger looks very nice, too.

Dear Hauntedhouse62:
The orange base is a homemade split of TAG Neon Orange and Wolfe Essential Orange. The Neon Orange is too sheer by itself, and the Wolfe Essential Orange is too dull. I learned this in a class with Nick and Brian Wolfe.

As far as bases are concerned, I use all different brands, depending upon skin color, humidity, a whim. They each have their own moisture points for liquidity and opacity (oooooh! I love how scientific-y I sound!) Hot summer, Mehron Starblends are an excellent base. I use a lot of TAG, Wolfe, Diamond F/X, FAB, MAC Kryolan, Snaz, & Ben Nye. I try everything out on myself, as I am very sensitive to makeup, face paint and perfume.

The one eye butterfly has a base of FAB Glitter Gold in the eye area. Wolfe Essential Red and Mac Ultramarine Blue.

Generally, the metallic finishes do not photograph as well if used in a large area. They are just fine for face painting. For a metallic silver helmet for a boy, I will lay down a base of Wolfe Monster Gray, and pat FAB Silver over the base to give the shiny silver an opacity that photographs well.

fesspenter wrote:Dear Hauntedhouse62:
The orange base is a homemade split of TAG Neon Orange and Wolfe Essential Orange. The Neon Orange is too sheer by itself, and the Wolfe Essential Orange is too dull. I learned this in a class with Nick and Brian Wolfe.

Great info, thank you! So, how did you go about blending them? Would you have to activate each one, scoop them out of their respective pots and then mix them in a third container?

By the way; I love how scientific-y you sound, too!

All my face paint has been repotted into jewelry trays. I cut out some TAG Neon Orange, and plopped it into half the square of the jewelry tray. I carved out some Wolfe Essential Orange and plopped it into the other half of the container. Now, I can choose one color, or the other, or mostly, I rub the color with a circular motion over the surface of both colors at the same time, loading and distributing the intermixed color. Then, tap the color onto the face or body.
I used to have two separate containers of each color, as well. I am trying to cut down on the amount of stuff I carry to jobs, and I found I did not use the colors separately, as much. I can choose one or the other from my homemade split cake.
The only drawback occurs when I cut into the pristine surface of a brand new cake. Oh! The screaming. I got over it.

Going back into my unscientific-y box now.

fesspenter wrote:The only drawback occurs when I cut into the pristine surface of a brand new cake. Oh! The screaming. I got over it.