Glitter Tattoos - Poof Bottle or Brush Technique

Hi There
I am looking to get into glitter tattoos so my daughter can start her own little business next to my facepainting. I have watched a few tutorials on you tube. There seems to be two main techniques - using a poof bottle or a glitter jar and brush. I am wondering which one would be the best to use or which one you prefer? Being in Australia most of our events are outside so I thought of wind issues using the jar and brush. Any help you can provide would be great!

Poof is fastest. My son taught me how he holds his finger over the tip, gently turns the bottle upside down and uses the slightest squeeze to put out just what is needed for the design. Most economical use of the big bottles of glitter!
Wind issues are nil because if blown over, the big bottles just loose a bit of glitter.

Cheers,
Susan

Hi Susan
Thanks for your info and the pic of your kit. The glitter tattoos don't seem to be that big over here. I liked the look of the brush and jar technique but couldn't help wondering what would happen in a strong wind. I love how kids always take to new things so easily!

The bottles are tough to use on windy days. I prefer to use the brushes because of the accuracy. The wind can also blow the glitter right out of the pots. I use very cheap craft brushes because the glue often gets on the bristles. I'm not the best glitter tattooist, but can get by. I usually use it as an add on to face painting & have my 17 yr old daughter do the glitter tattoos.

I cannot express to you how much I hate the poofer bottles...
kinda goes like this.... poof.. nothing..poof..nothing.... poof nothing... wth?..poof Glitter everywhere!!! Damn things... when they work they poof it beautifully... when they fail it's epic.
I have the poofers but I use a brush and open glitter pots to fill the glitter tatoos... it's so much faster, more acurate and you can catch the falling glitter back into your pot.
I do love to poof irridesent white glitter on my rainbows, but only when it's on their arm.... if the poofer is pointing down it usually works.... if it's pointed horizonatly at the face nothing comes out... grrrrrrrrr

[quote/="Tash"]I cannot express to you how much I hate the poofer bottles...
kinda goes like this.... poof.. nothing..poof..nothing.... poof nothing... wth?..poof Glitter everywhere!!! Damn things... when they work they poof it beautifully... when they fail it's epic.
I have the poofers but I use a brush and open glitter pots to fill the glitter tatoos... it's so much faster, more acurate and you can catch the falling glitter back into your pot.
I do love to poof irridesent white glitter on my rainbows, but only when it's on their arm.... if the poofer is pointing down it usually works.... if it's pointed horizonatly at the face nothing comes out... grrrrrrrrr[/quote]

Lol Tash, I think I get how much you hate the poofer bottles Funnily enough I use the iridescent white on my face painting and its hopeless but as I am new to all this I keep using it thinking I'll get better at it! So I'm kind of glad you mentioned it. I have ordered a small kit with poofer bottles to try out but I think I will order a small kit of the pots as well, I'm sure it won't go to waste. I love the kits I have seen from Glimmer Body Art online. Where do you get yours from?

It is really windy here and most every party I do is at a beach park. I actually combine methods. I originally bought the pots just to see my glitter fly away in the wind. I now only put my glitter in poufer bottles b/c the design of the bottle keeps the wind from blowing my glitter away. I take the lid off and use a brush to place all of the colors in the small detailed areas and then use the poufer to "tap" on the last color. If it is just one color I just pouf away. I put the poufer tip very close to the area of the tattoo where I want the glitter and just tap the bottom of the bottle (not squeeze.)

I get my glitter from Phoenix and Mehron... I love Mehron Glitter dust.
Phoenix sells 8 glitter colours in pots with little black lids so they match my paradise pallets which is nice... they sell it for nail art but I contacted them and checked it was cosmetic glitter, so it's cheap... then again getting anything straight from a Chinese factory is cheap...lol
I started with the Glimmer art kits and I loved them... it's a great place to start.

Right now, I only use the glitter pots. I have never had a problem with the wind because I keep them all closed unless i'm using them. I have all the colors that come with the kit which is like 32 or something like that. I have thought about the poofer bottles for b-day parties or hourly paid events because they seem faster and would offer less color choices.

As far as the brushes go, I take an alcohol swab and clean the end, but use the brushes that come with the kits and work just fine.

I've done both.. for speed, the poofer bottles are the way to go.. but I really like the detail that you can get when using the pots of glitter and a brush. I do both, but mostly the pots of glitter.

Thank you all so much for sharing As usual you are all a wealth of fantastic information! I love how you give all your advice so freely and generously. I am so glad I found this forum, you are all amazing. Thanks again, Kim.

Tash, Im glad to hear its not just me who has that problem with the poof bottles.

I agree, I like the poofer bottles as containers, but usually remove the lid & stick the brush in it. For face painting I still use poofer bottles.

Hi All
An update on my glitter tattoos. I ordered a starter kit from TAG three days before Christmas and thanks to their fantastic service I received them on Friday! So I spent Christmas Day covering my daughters and nieces with the ones I had. After quite a few tries at different methods I like the brush method out of the poofer bottles as it seems to give a much clearer result. While they look like they are literally saturated in glitter its amazing how little glitter and glue you need to use. I think they are amazing and definitely have the WOW factor. Also being in a hot climate ( we are roasting in 42 degrees at the moment ) I think the fact that you can go in water with them is a huge plus. I have already ordered new supplies so I can add these to my face painting.Thanks again for all your tips!

I keep switching between the 2 - I don't do glitter tatt stencils, I do entire bodies freehand, but a lot is outdoors!

Must say I prefer the BIG glitter bottles i got from Amerikan Body Art a lot of the time as its fairly controlled, faster flow and if I drop/ knock it I don't lose the whole pot! Which has happened:( I won a bunch of those 'strip pots' where they are all joined and each colour has a flip-up lid, but TBH they are a pain and if you drop/ knock it, ALL likely to pop open!

So the giant bottles win for me, much easier on the wrist and no matter how I try to fiddle with the nozzle hole on small bottles, it never seems as good..

Cat x

I can't use the poofer bottles - it aggravates my wrist and fingers. I do have a lot of my glitter tat glitters IN the bottles but I actually screw off the lids and use a palette knife to scoop out the glitter and put it where I want it, then brush it around and onto the glue.

What about the technique recommended on the faketoos site about trimming the poorer bottles to create a slightly bigger hole and then "pouring" it on?

Dangerous! Hot needle is best, I ruined wayyyyy to many bottle tips before i worked that one out. No matter how careful you are with knife/ scissors, the internal tip hole of the bottles aren't equal so some are miles away and others just have a skin. So suddeny you have a flood of glitter.

Cat x