painting around the mouth area... not a fan here!

Am I in the minority? I love how it looks, especially for cats/tigers, but the design gets messed up so quick! I know we are not responsible for what happens to the design after they leave our chair, but I feel so bad letting someone go who I just *know* is going to mess it up very soon - just by speaking or drooling or eating or drinking or licking their lips. I almost feel like it might be my duty to find designs that are awe-inspiring and do NOT involve the mouth. But I still have not found a kitty or tiger that I love that is without a mouth, sigh

Hey Barbie...that is a concern of mine too. I honestly feel that so long as you have informed the client (or parents) that this will happen then you have nothing to worry about. Still it's not the greatest advertising for us eh? (Yes I'm Canadian, lol)
I have seen some people just barely cover the top of the top lip in cat designs and left the chin open on full faces or it works even better on mask styles.

I practiced a kitty on my 4 year old without a mouth (it did have a nose and the line coming down and a little black triangle just over the lips, if you know what I mean) and it just did not have the same WOW impact. I will post a picture later but am not at home at the moment...

I agree!! I have more than once wanted to cry after I saw them running around later. But I feel that they are beautiful designs when they leave me and so I don't worry too much.

I was at Knott's Berry Farm last week and saw kids who had cute faces painted, went on the water rides and then walk around the rest of the day with a blurry mess on their faces, so at least it's not that bad!!
Hugs Helen

On little ones that will probably smear it in two minutes, I just make sure to suggest that they take a picture right away before the child smears it. They know their child, they know it probably won't last long. If the kid smears it before they get out of my chair, I'll try to fix it... if the kid won't let me fix it and it's really bad, I probably won't charge them for it and give them some wipes to clean it off.

I don't know that there is all too much you can do about this short of compromising the design. I too inform parents and older kids about potential smearing...and just suggest rather than drinking straight from the can or bottle..perhaps use a straw.........eating however??? well the jury is still out on that one. Any suggestions?

I do the same, inform that the mouth will smear, so get a pic right away. There's no permanent solution. I do have some eye only designs, but they never look as good. It's especially difficult when you get a child w/ ticklish lips. I hate when the child wants the design their friend has & it looks so good on the friend, but because they're so fidgety, it just doesn't turn out as nice. They always have that look like, "Why'd you not give me as good a painting?"

Sometimes, when I have a fidgety little one I hand them my handheld mirror and the watch me paint them.... it tends to help them hold still for the 2-3 minutes to paint them.

Doesn't matter to me. Once they are out of the chair I am painting the next one. I'm too busy to worry about it.

I have seen some horrible messes within SECONDS of them hopping down, but, also I've seen kids HOURS later that look just the same.

It all depends on the child. People KNOW it will get smeared so don't sweat it, it is only face paint... not a permanent mess!

I'm not such a fan of painting around the mouth either. I know it makes some designs look more dramatic, but I think maybe the satisfaction of having that dramatic look is to solve our (the artist) own personal desire, not necessarily the client. I've seen a LOT of kids who actually HATE having their lips painted. I avoid it if possible. (just my opinion!)

I have a lot of little girls who request... no let me rephrase that, insist that they have 'lipstick'. That seems to be the big thing that they are concerned about is if they have their lips painted! lol

Because I know it tickles so much with a brush, I use dollar store foam eye shadow applicator to paint their lips.

I actually think a lot of parents get a kick out of seeing how long their child's 'face' will last. They just kind of shake their head and roll their eyes if/when it gets messed up.

[quote="Judy"]I have a lot of little girls who request... no let me rephrase that, insist that they have 'lipstick'. That seems to be the big thing that they are concerned about is if they have their lips painted! lol

Because I know it tickles so much with a brush, I use dollar store foam eye shadow applicator to paint their lips.

I actually think a lot of parents get a kick out of seeing how long their child's 'face' will last. They just kind of shake their head and roll their eyes if/when it gets messed up. [/quote

LOL, I use Q-tips. I got sick of hearing "do you sanitize the brush between each use" So, that solves that. Now, if I'm doing something new, and I want to get a picture, I'll just break out a clean brush.

I rarely have any pictures on the board with lips (aside from animal designs) that keeps them from asking for it.

I understand what you mean but I'm with Shannon on this one. :p I don't really care, once the kids out of the chair, I'm on to the next! ^-^

Most parents have cameras and videos theses days, so they usually think about taking a picture/video once the kid is out of the chair. If not, I sometimes remind them (especially if I did a really good job! Eheh!)
If they don't have a camera with them, I might take a picture of the kid with my own camera and send it to them via email.

As for the painting of the lips... I tend not to include them in most of my designs because of sanitary reasons. If I paint the lips, it will be with a different liptsick brush (Q-tip is a good idea, also!) and I got some "real" liptsick since the water-soluble facepainting just doesn't stay on the lips.

And yes,liptstick seems to be a big deal with some little ladies. :p

I hate the lipstick designs I have in my book, and want to take them out. It only takes a couple minutes before it looks really awful and gets all over the face, especially if there's food!

When a girl asks for those designs, I ask if she wants the lipstick. Usually she insists yes, and I tell her that face paint does not make very good lipstick and that it won't last and will get all blurry. They still usually say yes, but at least they know and don't ask me to fix it! I give them a wet wipe later if I see them with messy lips.

I wish I had colored REAL lipstick instead, but wouldn't know where to find it, and it's probably not worth buying a lot of colors.

To avoid painting around the mouth, none of my own designs or the company designs I have in my book are truly full face. The biggest ones could be described as large masks. I think this is to avoid painting around the mouth, and also painting down on the lower cheeks and jowls, which i think is really unflattering and more likely to get bumped by an arm or get on clothes.

The only design we have that does even the upper lip and all over the nose is the tiger/kitty/leopard design. I just paint the muzzle and line down and the top lip as black, and leave the bottom lip and chin alone.

Lately most kids are declining the lip colour.

Have to say i paint approx 100 faces daily and less than 10 have below-the-mouth stuff - I and the parents all know its the messy bit!
Fairly pointless.

Only lower mouth stuff I do is the wolfe style dinos/ crocs etc....


Cat x