Wolfe vs. Snaz vs. Paradise?

Right now i have a regular kit of Paradise, but which ones are the best? I have also heard that Wolf is very similar to FX Diamond. Is this true?

Yes, Wolfe and Diamond FX are very similar. I like the Paradise colours, but find the perfume smell to much. But some people love it.

Would you recomend Snaz instead? or is it just as perfumed?

Its not that easy. Snaz and many brands have different 'types' of paint in their range - for Snaz there is regular (matt), sparkle (colours that shimmer/ shine a bit- often weak) and electric(generally stronger sparkly colours) to begin with. I love sparkle orange & yellow for tigers etc and a lot of their pinks.

Generally Snaz is the 1st brand to go gloppy & useless in heat. Its black is about the hardest to get good lines with and its white is about the worst for going over other colours with - won't stay white.

Paradise I & some others had so many duff cakes of the metallics I gave up on them, shame as they were nice colours. I like the scent but some don't. Paradise black is my fave all round black.

Wolfe, DFX TAG, VIPMUA are all more or less the same, with some slightly different shades/ ingredients, but all from the same factory in same containers with almost the same colours. They do the best neon paints, came out brightest in all the UV club gigs I did. Where you live depends on which is cheapest due to local distribution rights usually. Generally all are very strong colours which is great but sometimes not so good if you use their black near kids eyes as it takes a little more effort to wash off than others. It is used a little differently from many other brands and is the 1 brand I don't spray with water as I use it. Its often a little harder to blend with until you get the hang of it.

i like Grimas and Kryolan (aquacoluors) too.

Best is if you can get to see a working painters kit and get an idea of what you like - too many faves for too many reasons and we all like different things to get the same effect!

Cat x

Thankyou very much for the reply! I think im going to stick with paradis, using Wolfe probubly for neons. thanks for sending mw such an indepth reply!

I don't use Snaz normally, since it has paraben in it, and people is really concerned about it here. It is also to soft for my taste.

Anybody use TAG paints?
What do you think of them?

In Australia prices for 30gram jars are:
TAG ($7),
Sanz ($9),
Diamond FX ($12),
Paradise ($15)

I have not seen any Wolfe for sale. Considering the prices I got my start kit from TAG.

I'm not sure, but aren't Tag, DFX, and Wolfe very similar... Tag is just the Aussie version?

TAG is made in China and is very much like a dry watercolor. Unlike the soft waxy snaz. I have not tried any others to compare them against.
It gives a good cover, if you paint one color over another you will get some blending.
It can last well on dry skin but runs if you have sweaty little kids.

Asked my local supplier "Amy Grigg" about the brands and this is the reply I got.

Snazaroo is a great brand- has HEAPs of colours and a great sparkle range which I personally use a lot of- they are really great for bases but I dont really like them for line work and yes in the extreme heat they do tend to get a bit soft. I find that if you keep them out of direct sunlight then they are usually fine.

TAG and Diamond FX work in the same way- they are from the same manufacturer- same packaging etc- TAG is a bit cheaper as it is an Australian owned company so it cuts out a few middle men while DFX is European. They are the best for layering over each other so colours dont come through so much.

TAG and Diamond FX are great for line work and bases- they dry really quickly so can be harder for beginers to blend but other wise they are awesome

Paradise is a great brand too- it is a more creamy product so really really is excellent for really beautifully blended bases and is also great for line work.

I personally have all 4 brands in my kit which I use together depending on what I am painting and I have never had any problems with using them together.

You just need to use a little more water, then you can blend Diamond again, even after it has dried. Must be the sage with TAG =)

I love my Diamond FX. They also have split cakes - see
Large Cakes: http://www.facepaintforumshop.com/servlet/the-50-gm-Blending-Cakes/Categories

Mini Cakes: http://www.facepaintforumshop.com/servlet/the-10-gm-Blending-Cakes/Categories

I ended up throwing every bit of my Snazarro away for the reasons everyone already gave you.

Pashur used Paradise for shading, and either Wolfe or Diamond FX for the darker/opaque coverage.

Heather of Silly Farm says it is all about COLOR. She uses all different brands, just lets color be her guide.

- Lilly Walters, 909-398-1228
Henna Tattoo Artist, Face and Pregnant Belly Painter, http://www.funfacepainting.com

Books and Face Painting Classes http://www.funfacepainting.com/book.html

Yes - TAG, Wolfe, DFX, VIPMUA, Lucky Art are all the SAME with a few tiny differences in available colours/ contents in a few cases.
Its all made by the same factory, in the same containers. Which is cheapest depends which distributor is closest to you. No point in all the rubbish about not buying stuff made in China - just about everything (not just facepaint) IS nowadays. (OK apart from Snaz!). And if it has passed all the FDA/ EU rules it should be fine.

Good strong colours, best white for linework of all brands, black good too but can be a problem near kids eyes as takes a little more work to wash off. Slightly different technique to using it than some other brands especially compared to runny snazaroo.

i know this as they contacted me to see if I wanted to market my own brand in Hong Kong.

All good paints should run if they are on sweaty kids - if they don't you have a problem as it won't come off!

Cat x

does anyone think if your doing a butterfly on a little girl, that black seems just a bit harsh surronding the ilghter color, liek pink? I just noticed, and i dont know if its just me

I did 3 daycares in three days a while back. I started doing my butterflies with white outline and only small black accents like a few black teardrops. Seemed to work out better when runny noses started smearing from side to side. Also did not get any complaints from the workers or parents. I used Wolfe White. Also have used a brown outline for Tigers, Bears, etc. Just have to play with it. I love the effect of black but it can be messy.

Back to the original question, I'm a Wolfe Baby all the way, with the exception that I LOVE the paradise light blue. And I use Snaz white for bases and muzzles.

purple, dark green or dark blue can also be nice for outlining =)

sunrae wrote:does anyone think if your doing a butterfly on a little girl, that black seems just a bit harsh surronding the ilghter color, liek pink? I just noticed, and i dont know if its just me

well it depends on the design. when i am painting a butterfly i usually ask the paintee what color they want their butterfly's body to be

I totally agree that the black can be way too harsh & I often ask what color they want the body to be. When my line is long though, and it's a bright colored butterfly for a girl, my go to is always dark purple. Even with my favorite white, that's more reloading and making sure there's no color blending, than is worth the time.

On to the brand questions, I started out trying lots of different brands, and still have some hardly touched Paradise pallettes. I find them to be too powdery / crumbly, but again this all goes back to personal preference.

I've had both Wolfe and DFX paints in my neutrals. I find the DFX black to be just as good, but don't think you can top the Wolfe White for BOLDNESS!!! I also have cheap Snaz black and white in my kit though for sponging. The Wolfe and DFX black can stain so I only use them for details not sponging large areas. And it's cheaper to use my Snaz when I'm covering large areas so I continue hoarding my Wolfe White! I just love it!

Hope that helps, although, as I think we can all learn from the varied responses, that personal preference trumps brand loyalty. =)

Though my kit is mostly Diamond (with some Kryolan Interferenze and a few Paradise cakes thrown into the mix), I find that if you're looking for colors that are not only highly pigmented but blend well together, go with the Paradise. The Diamond, I find, tends to dry quickly but that can either be a good thing or a bad thing--it can be good if you want to do lines on top of it but if you're going to add glitter, make sure you put it on while the paint is still wet, because if you wait until the paint has already dried, it will fall and fly all over the place. I started out with Snazaroo, and personally, I found myself dripping all over the place because it would take a lot of water to activate...plus, the colors seem to be a bit more muted than some other brands.

This has been so helpful - I have been practicing with wolfe and snaz and really struggled using snaz white and thought it was me! - now I understand that they are very different paints!

Yep Wolfe/ DFX white is the ONLy 1 for linework over other colours - it won't let them bleed thru, stays bold & white!
Maybe they should market it like they market Daz Ultra washing powder or something

Great input everyone! I didn't ask the question, but got tons out of it. Now what do ya'll say bout this? My main target is children(yes many of you are, but not doing body painting or theater work at all) so are there staining issues with the other colors like the blacks. I know that to some degree there is in many colors but I really want the parents to be ok with what I do to their children. Have you had complaints? From the admittably small amount of research it seems as tho snaz is the safest for small children. Again, I got alot of my info off the snaz site, so of course they are one sided! I do LOVE the fact that it (snaz)can get in your eyes and not burn AT ALL! That is really big for me! My children go off the deep end with anything in their eyes, lol! I would be livid if someone put something on my child knowing that when it was washed off it would burn. So there is NO way I would do that to someone else's child! And are all the paints safe on children as far as alergy and sinsitiviy goes? Another question is heat! I'm in the deep south, so does one brand do better in the heat than another? Again, I know it's all water based and will not hold in extream conditions but is there one that does tend to work better? Sorry if any of these questions have been addressed already. There is just so much info on here it is gonna take me a while to get thru it all. On that note, thanks for all the great info!!!
MeLisa

I have not have problems with any products burning or being more than just normal irritated - like even water does when you get it in the eyes.

Snazaroo have paraben in them, that people are worried about causes hormone changes, and is therefore not recommended here in Denmark (but it is still better than the cheap stuff sold in toy stores!)

I use lots of Snaz in my working kit, along with lots of Kryolan. Those are my two MAIN brands. It has been more Snaz than Kryolan so far, but they are interchangable for me for the most part - it doesn't matter to me which white. For black line work I use Snaz as Kryolan black is not good for line work, but is a good base.

I also have, in my working kit, Wolfe white, red, and the UV colours; Grimas, Funky Foxes (made by Kryolan), and some Fardel liquids.

I do not have DFX in my working kit, nor do I carry Wolfe black in the kit. I have them, but save them for adults or studio work. The Wolfe black is just to hard for the general public to remove, and I, personally, do not like the feel of the DFX on my skin so I decided not to use it in my working kit. I love the colours but it is way too drying.

Working night clubs I use Fardel creams in the pumps - all the UV colours , liquid Fardel in the metallics, and Wolfe black, white, gold.

I do not use Paradise due to allergies.