Letter to the editor

After having to compete with free face painters from an area church this weekend, I decided to write a letter to the editor that will appear in several surrounding towns. Please read and tell me if you think this is out of line or if there is something I could say better.

"This is a letter to our area churches and civic groups. I would like to ask you to consider NOT having a free face painting booth at area festivals. There are professional face painters who do this work for a living. We count on this income to feed our families and pay our many bills. Free face painters take money out of our pockets, and literally food out of our mouths. I doubt that free face painters think of this when having a festival booth. If you want to face paint at your own church or event, that is wonderful, but please consider leaving the area festivals to the professionals."

I would also include information about how professional face painters use cosmetic grade paints, utilize good hygiene practices, and are usually insured. Maybe also drop a bit about if a church group/ business would still like to offer face painting, HIRING a professional face painter is a great way to attract people to their booth.

Yes, good idea, thank you. I was also thnking of including how our kits can run into the hundreds of dollars, because of the things you mentioned.

Here's the final draft...I think
This is a letter to our area churches and civic groups. Please consider NOT having a free face painting booth at area festivals. There are professional face paint artists like myself, who do this work for a living. We count on this income to feed our families and pay our many bills. Professional face paint artists use cosmetic grade FDA approved non toxic paints, utilize good hygiene practices, and are usually insured. We pay for classes and spend a great deal of time practicing and perfecting our art. Our kits cost hundreds of dollars, because we use appropriate materials to insure the safety of our customers. Free face painters take money out of our pockets, and literally food out of our families mouths. If you want to face paint at your own church or event, that is wonderful, but please consider leaving the area festivals to the professionals.

Sounds good. I know my kit is worth close to $5000

I would leave out the non-toxic part.... the argument being that even acrylic craft paint is non-toxic, so it doesn't sound like anything better that what the free booths offer.

Plus, the paints we use are not actually FDA approved. The ingredients in the most widely used brands on this forum are FDA compliant. Probably might sound better if you word it with that verbiage... FDA compliant, water activated face paint make-up, and cosmetic grade glitters.

Thanks for the help everyone! I don't think most folks realize that people do this for a living....This will be in 5 or 6 different papers in several counties. I didn't think of it at first, but my name and town will be on it....free advertising for my biz.

I have had a few times I have set up at a festival or event and there was another person there offering free or really cheap face painting. In my experience it was not so bad as most people could see the quality difference. I have had a lot of people wash off their face and then come to me after.

I am not sure there is really anything you can or should do about the church face painting.... except maybe talking to the church organizers personally.

If they are not willing to work with you on this and the festival is not profitable or good for advertising then I would not do it again.

I got in touch with the program director for my city and have been hired to paint at a few city wide festivals each year... maybe there is a way for you to work something out like this and then you can also offer your services for free because you are being paid to be there?

Thanks Rose. I happen to live in the poorest county in KS. When there is free anything people here don't care about quality. I painted at the same one last year and was the only painter and did pretty well. In most people's opinion here, you can't beat free.

That is too bad!
Good luck with your letter... I hope it helps open some people's eyes.

You might consider making this a touch more personal in beginning so the readers "care" about you and what you are saying. Not sure if you sent it already or not. Something like. "hello.. my name is ____ and I am a professional face painter. Recently, I participated in a festival that I spent time and money preparing for.. ect ect... only to find that some well intended people were offering free face painting. Unfortunately.. I don't think people realize how this affects those of us that have spent time and money perfecting our art and investing into quality, FDA approved paints. (then finish with the rest of your request). JMHO, for what it's worth. Might come off a little better?

..technically, I don't think they "literally" take food out of your families mouths. Maybe just leave out the word literally. Also, "Professional face paint artists use cosmetic grade FDA approved non toxic paints" you might change to "Professional face paint artists use cosmetic grade paints that are FDA compliant for use on skin."

Yep, Thanks