Glitter Tattoos with Heat and Sweat!

Hi there! I have been doing Glitter Tattoos for a while now very successfully, but mostly when it's been cool or indoors. I'm in Florida (hot, humid and sticky) and have been doing an outdoor market and have been booked to do some summer parties coming up.

My question is, how do you stop the glitter from just sticking all over the skin? I use Glimmer products, I apply alcohol swab to the entire area, put the stencil on, then glue, remove stencil then put on glitter. I can't even do nice designs on myself.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to prevent the glitter from just sticking everywhere on the skin?

I don't do glitter tattoos, but I've heard people putting the glitter on before they remove the stencil. And putting it on with a fluffy brush instead of a poofer helps too.

I was getting onto my daughter for using up stencils too quickly because she wasn't removing them before the glitter. She told me the same thing, that she couldn't get the tattoos to work. I thought she was doing something wrong & I'd show her the "right way" to do it... of course I'm indoors.... I guess I owe her an apology

So, try leaving the stencil on till your done w/ the glitter. You're stencils won't last as long, but your tattoos will look better.

I tried it today both ways. Putting the glue on and removing the stencil like I normally do, that was a mess, then I did it the other way, leaving the stencil on and adding the glitter, that didn't come out as good either. I use a soft brush not poofer bottle to apply the glitter.

Does anyone have any other suggestions? If not, I'll keep playing with it.

Did you powder? The powder brush with mica powders work great

jenny

My daughter said it works better if you apply w/ a brush & not the puffer bottle. I don't do the tattoos anymore, I just paint & let her do the tats.

Big fluffy brush and some baby powder. Just brush it off. Like the barbers do...

I was having a problem with the stencils sticking at all.... It was so hot that it was peeling up and being a pain in the naughty word. GRR!!

I'd say maybe you're not being heavy handed enough. You can brush it off with a big brush if you are a bit rough with it.... still won't hurt the tat.
It gets pretty hot here in summer too, I just tell them to wait 10-15 mins and rinse it off/ wipe around it with water. Quite often the tats look better after a shower, cleaner and crisper.
If you leave the stencils on when you glitter, be careful removing the stencil, as it can rip or lift off the glue with it, specially on the edges.
Sometimes I wet a chux ( not very professional looking) and just wipe around it - it gets the majority off.

I had a glitter tattoo party outside last week with 99 degree temperatures and 100% humidity- not fun! The stencils would not stick to the skin at all... we had to hold them down to apply the glue. Then, because the skin never dries in 100% humidity, the glitter went absolutely everywhere, and that was using a smoothie to apply. Since they had a water slide, I just told the kids to go get in the water to get the extra glitter off- nothing else we could do! We tried blowing a fan directly on the skin to dry and dry it, powder, everything we could think of and nothing worked

Anyone tried just going freehand glitter tats when the stencils won't stick?
I'm thinking designs like stars might turn out a bodgy, but I think I could do simple designs like hearts and cherries, peace signs, maybe a butterfly freehand. Just wondering if anyone has tried it, I know Cat does awesome free hand body glitter tats for photo shoots, but has anyone tried freehand in a party environment?

I work in humidity all year round on Maui.

My tips:
-Leave the stencil on so that you don't end up applying unnecessary glitter.
-Use VERY small brushes to apply the glitter in SMALL amounts.
-Use a sponge wand applicator to apply the glue. If you are using the brush-on glue the edges of the glue become too thick and when your remove the stencil your edges will "stretch" causing your tattoo to look deformed. Less is more when applying glue.
-Keep a water spray bottle handy. You can spray the areas where there is extra glitter with water and then use a paper towel or hand towel to dab and "pick up" the extra glitter.
-I use all brands of stencils in the field and sometimes do have issues with some sticking in the heat. That is why I worked with a supplier earlier this year to print up some special stencils for me. They are bigger and stick better in my opinion. If any of you would like I can send you one stencil to try. Just send me a PM.


For free hand tattoos I'm pretty sure that Cat applies the glitter with a container similar to the glitter gel applicators that Mark Reid's glitter gel comes in. I read somewhere that she colors the glue with small chunks of paint so that she can see what she is doing as she works. She uses a thicker formula of glue too so it doesn't just pour out of the container like the standard glue most companies sell.
Pros-Aide--is the standard glue sold by most companies.
Pro Adhesive--is the thicker glue Cat uses. I just bought some of this to test, but haven't used it for an event yet. In the bulk, it is less expensive than Pros-Aide so if it works well in the field I might start carrying it in my store as well with a lower price point than the standard Pros-Aide.

Just thinking out loud here.

When medical types work, they sheild the area they are working on by laying down a sterile sheet of (paper towel type thing?) with a hole cut in the center to work. Would something like that work? Or be too much effort?

So, you would alcohol the area. Place the stencil, lay down the shield, glue, then glitter. When you remove the stencil and shield, all the excess comes up with it??? May not be worth the hassle.

Excess glitter was in one instance the bain of my existance, but I am determined to conquer it!

I sprayed alchy all over the arm where i though the glitter might fly off too and that worked

Hmm, I've not had this problem. We might not get quite the heat you get, but we get really, really humid weather frequently. I think if you use paper towels to ensure the skin is completely dry before applying the stencil it helps. Leave the stencil on for the glitter part. I use Amerikan body art's applicators to apply glue. It's really clean. Then I use their poofer bottles to apply the glitter, which I find is easier to control where the glitter goes and not have too much access all over the skin. I actually bought my favorite glitter from a store that sells supplies for soaps and candles, it's really, really fine cosmetic glitter for use in the soap and candles and it works better in the poofer bottles than other glitter I've tried (for the tattoos)