Best make-up for Clowns?

I have a dear friend that has a clown ministry. She wears a wonderful costume and goes to hospitals, nursing homes, events, you name it ,she'll be there. The other day, I asked her what kind of make-up she used. She said acrylic craft paint from Wallyworld! I shuttered at the thought of having my entire face painted in white acrylic paint. She has done this for about 20 years I think. So, I would like to purchase her a starter set of some REAL paint so she can feel the difference. Any clowns out there have a preference to what kind they wear all day on their own faces? Thank you so much ahead of time. I feel the need to save my friends face,LOL.

I know i have seen a few things and there is this one paint called clown white. now i have never used it but always wanted to give it a try. Wish i could help more, we want to make sure noone has to use acrylic paint now dont we. lol. good luck Dear!

What she needs is called cream makup or grease paint. There are several companies that make it, but the most popular ones are Mehron, Ben Nye and Graftobian. They are applied with fingers or brushes (I like using brushes because it gives me more control). Once applied, you can set it using cornstarch free baby powder or their special setting powder. The easiest way to apply the powder is by putting it into a sock and shaking the sock over your face, then brushing it off with a big, soft makeup brush. Once set, it is water resistant (I won't say waterproof, but it takes a lot to mess it up) and to remove it you apply cold cream, mineral oil or I like to use a creamy eye makeup remover, then wash your face as usual.

It has a bit of a learning curve to apply it, but it is comfortable, long lasting and gives the best look possible for wear.

Oh Perry, first I have to say, your name just hit me,LOL "Perry Noia" Too funny. I have seen your posts around the forum but it just hit me, guess I'm a little slow! Thanks for all of the info, I had wondered about the grease paint. Since she does this so much , I think this would be such valuable info to pass on. Thank you so much and my friends skin thanks you too! Thank you too Ashley.

Yeah, definitely grease paint if she is going to be doing her entire face. If she is just painting her nose, mouth, and eyes, though, she might be able to get away with a water base paint like we use.

Yeah, if she won't be sweating at all, she could use regular face paints, but the grease paint lasts a lot longer under normal clown circumstances. We are often jumping around and work up quite a sweat most of the time and regular face paints wouldn't last me ten minutes.

At the costume shops where you can normally find it, they'll usually call it cream makeup. The guy at my local shop looked at me like I was crazy when I asked for grease paint.

Mehron has the make-up in pencil form - fat jumbo one and regular. Makes it easier to apply - you outline the area and then blend it around with your fingers.

Here is one supplier that targets clowns http://www.proknows.com/proface/mehron_makeup.html

I've also used Ben Nye's Lite Auguste which is a nice peachy pink base.

And the rest is regular eye and lip liners.

I just can't fathom using acrylics for clown make-up... Didn't they do any research? Clowns have been using REAL make-up for centuries!!!

Personally, I use Ben Nye, and I'm very picky and detailed about my clown makeup. Make sure she wipes her face with a baby wipe first if she has oily skin (I do). There's such a technique to putting on clown makeup, I'm shocked that she's done this for 20 years without having problems. wow. I also use mehron's makeup remover because I have really sensitive skin and it just slides off with that stuff. I don't care for the crayons because I can't get the lining I like when I use brushes to line my mouth and eyes. Sillyfarm has great stuff as well. Good luck!

yeah, I don't like the pencils... not as precise as a brush for me.... like face painting with crayons if you know what I mean? I apply all my grease with brushes, powder, then use a waterproof eyeliner and mascara because the white makeup gets all over my eyelashes and my eyes disappear entirely.

One more item that you may find interesting. My favorite way of removing my makeup is to shampoo with Johnson's Baby Shampoo. It cuts the grease paint wonderfully and it is naturally mild since it is for babies. I can wipe most faces off in around 5 minutes clean.
There are tons of tricks for makeup that come with practice and conferencing with other clowns. Check to see if there is a local clown alley (club) in the area.

This is me - Used the Mehron pencils for the white and red, Ben Nye Lite Auguste for my base, black MAC liner pencil, and Mehron Cake blush (can't remember the shade!)

I applied the white with the pencils, then smoothed and spread it with my fingers, cleaned up the edges with a q-tip, then applied the Auguste with cosmetic wedges to get the even edges and used my fingers to spread and even it out, the blush was applied with a small eyeshadow applicator, the black was just drawn on with the pencil, so was the red. The nose was eyelash glue and red glitter.

Wow, thank you all so much! This is all good to know. And Shannon, what a lovely clown you make, thank you for sharing the step by step.

Hi,
I use Mehron clown white lite and paint on my details with dfx. I apply it with a sponge and remove it with a baby wipe or just tissue in a pinch. I have very sensitive and acne prone skin and it actually seems to calm it. I can wear it all day in heat and it stays lovely. Before I found out about real face paints ( I started using expensive artist's water colour crayons about 15 years ago when the only paints I could find specifically for faces were awful) I would use the clown white for muzzles and ears on children and it would hold from smearing even through cake and ice cream. You can see my clown on my website.

Shannon, I didn't know you were a clown--You're adorable!!!
As for cleaning it off, I've heard that baby shampoo is the best, but I have extemely sensitive skin, and can't use anything but ProFace remover. I used coldcream too, and that worked well, but again, my skin was horrible looking for aweek afterwards.