I want to try new products, any suggestions?

I have only been using snazaroo which comes off so easy but would love to try something new. I want to order maybe just a small palette to get a feel for the colors without spending too much. What brands is best for white and black lines? I have read also that some brands dont recommend using certain colors near eyes and lips because of staining, is this normal for most of them? Snazaroo is good but I find that I cant layer colors without them bleeding together even when the base is dry do other brands also do this? I am looking into getting maybe a wolfe and a DFX palette to get the feel of them before buying larger supplies.

Dear ChristmasMarie:
It doesn't say on your Profile where you are from. If you would like to save money, connect with face painters in your area and split cakes of paint with them, or jam with them and see what works best for you.
Everybody has different preferences. Your idea of getting a palette and checking out the paint is a sound one.
I love Wolfe white and Wolfe black for my line work. I have been ordering TAG from the FacePaintForumShop and I am quite pleased with it.
I also have Diamond F/X, MAC, Kryolan, Ben Nye, FAB (hate the smell of FAB).

Happy Painting!

Palettes are a great way to try out colors! I have the most Kryolan since that's what I use the most, and you can even I only used Kryolan for 16+ years but this year my eyes were opened to the wonder that is Wolfe for black & white! I now use Kryolan for main colors and only Wolfe for black and white. Someday I'll try their regular colors, but I do like the Wolfe neon and metallics. I have larger cakes of the basic colors, and use palettes of Kryolan UV, interferenz, metallic, and Wolfe neon and metallics. I don't carry the Wolfe refills yet but I do buy the Kryolan refills myself too when I don't want a ton of paint. Haven't really had the issues you write about as far as bleeding/layering. But I've never used Snazaroo. You'll have a tiny bit of a learning curve with each new product. Kryolan metallics are sortof flaky. Too much water in Wolfe paints will make them bleed, not enough water in Kryolan and it will not be opaque, etc. Good luck! It's so fun trying out new stuff!

Snazaroo reactivates as soon as you put wet paint on it, so layering is impossible... but it's a dream for blending colours. Many of the other brands, particularly Wolfe/DFX/Tag are more waxy when dry and you can layer the colours without reactivating the paint below. As someone who only uses Snaz due to allergies to the others, I can say that you will find the washing off of the aforementioned blacks to be a nightmare by comparison.... but yeah, they look very nice.

I started with Snaz, then added in a fair amount of Superstar (the same as FAB, but the European branding). They're very different paints but I love to use them together. I also have some TAG, Wolfe, DFX, a little Paradise etc. I haven't tried Kryolan yet!

I love to use Snaz for bases, then (as said above) a waxier brand like Wolfe or DFX for line work and details. Each brand has its own strengths and weaknesses, I think.

BTW, FAB is phasing out the scent. Most of my Superstar/FAB is now unscented, and much better.

I started with only snaz also, I think lots of painters do. Now, I have added, dfx, tag, paradise, wolfe, and have found that none blend as well as snaz, but like you said, it blends when you dont want to. Paradise cakes are a dream in my opinion, and wolfe black is beautifully smooth and shiny, sticky enough to make beautiful lines, but so is dfz and tag. I like basing with snaz and layering with other colors, unless I want the base color to be really solid, but most of my bases are blended, and for that Ill keep a few shades of snaz around. the more brands I try, I like different things about each.

Because the winter is coming a good choice in a small palette would be Wolfe Metallix. Wolfe makes some of the best metallic colors on the market. They blend easy and make great line work. Lovely for winter designs.