Has anybody seen or tried this - mont marte body art paint?

I went into my local discount store today, I love wandering around in there as you never know what you'll find! I was surprised to find a fairly big selection of MONT MARTE art supplies. I already use a few of their brushes for lettering and fine lines. while browsing through I found a shelf full of Body Art Paint, see pic below. Curiosity got the better of me so I thought I would buy one and check it out for a few reasons. Firstly there is only one supplier in our state, secondly the pot is 21 grams and cost $3.99! and finally the colours although not a huge selection look amazingly vibrant in the pack. I bought silver as I don't have one at the moment. I took it out of the pack and used it to post the third pic. The colour is very vivid, coverage is very good and it dries very quickly. The blurb on the pack says it " is ideal for makeup artists, children's parties, school fetes & festivals, sports fanatics and much more. All good so far, until you read the smaller print at the bottom! This is word for word from the pack - "CAUTION: Avoid eyes, mouth and nasal passages. May cause irritation to sensitive skin or people susceptible to skin allergies. Test a small area of skin before use - discontinue if a rash or redness developes".
As I am still fairly new to the world of face painting I wasn't sure what to make of it so I thought I would put it out there for you to check it out!

Sounds a bit suss.. I'd prefer a brand that focuses on real face paint, especially when you can get 32g of TAG for 7bucks.
I've found some gr8 stuff in the monte martre section of the 2 dollar shop like collapseable water buckets brush stands and occasionally good brushes plus gems etc but for working with the public I prefer quality paints. Looks like a nice silver though, I'll be interested to see responses to this question.

I was looking into this the other day as I have an 'Art Shed' store near me and occasioanlly I check it out for thier brushes. If you go: http://www.montmarte.net/index.php?page=mont-marte-tv
thier website has MSDS for the product. It is very new and it seems to be an art cosmetic? buuuutttt im not too sure about it....

I dabbled in cosmetic *formulation* for a bit, and recognize the MSDS listed ingredients. They all seem relatively safe and similar to other formulations. Of course those items in lesser amounts (parabens, color agents, etc.) are not listed, but I will assume that they are generally the same as other brands... not good for you, but "okay" in very moderate amounts. I would use these on my children, in small amounts and infrequently (I assume everything is made in Chinea these days, and do NOT trust anything from there - I know most things are just fine, but I always try to limit exposures when I can - I also eat organically when possible!).

So, if used in moderation, I would not hesitate to try. The question is whether you like this formulation, with around 30% wax and 20% Vaseline (by the way, Vaseline is GOOD for skin in small amounts - it is a recognized "protectant" - and it generally is NOT highly comedogenic, ie: does not usually cause pimples!), and whether the rheology is good for you. Ie: is application nice, does it dry at the rate you like, how does it feel to customer? Also, whether the color was what you desired and how it lasted and how easy to wash off.

If I had access to it, I would certainly give it a test drive myself!
Barbie

I'm sure it's fine - looks very nice. As far as the CAUTION on the package...that goes for any and all products....so don't worry about that...give it a fair chance and shot and keep us posted!

Exactly what Spectrum said. ALL facepaints have a similar label on them. Basically is a CYA (cover your A**) clause for those 1 in 1000 people who has a reaction to keep the company from getting sued. Yes, anyone can have a reaction to any of the paints that we use, it's just the way things are, we all have different allergies. It would be virtually impossible to create a paint that abolutely NO ONE would have a reaction to.

On the flip side, I too prefer to stick with better known brands of paint. You generally get a better quality product with better known paints. The old saying "you get what you pay for" usually rings true, I wouldn't choose one brand over another simply because of price, I want a quality product, and will pay the extra amount to get it.

That silver looks great BTW.

Many cosmetics have warning labels. MAC has some pretty scary ones on some of their products. So do Kryolan and DFX.

Other than ensuring it IS approved for cosmetic use (check to see if it has ever been on a recall list or had warnings too if you can) there really isn't anything else you need to do, other than try it out on yourself first - see how it feels and washes off.

I tend to be a bit concerned of anything that is made in China though, particularly if it is from an unknown source. I TRIED to view the linked website but it doesn't let me see many of the pages - do they import the products? Looks a bit like Matisse Derivan in that they are mainly art supplies with a product line of body paint.

I thought Vaseline is a petroleum distillate...

earthorange wrote:I thought Vaseline is a petroleum distillate...

It is... personally, I don't like using it very much. It has uses but...

It is. But what is petroleum? Plants. Okay, that is an extreme, but just to show you, it is not all bad. Like Shannon said "it has its uses, but"... it is not my favorite, but not as bad as many peop0le incorrectly assume

It's funny they call themselves "Mont Marte International" but only seem to sell it in Australia.

Mont Marte is an Australian brand (budget art supplies), and the body art paint is a relatively new product. I would say that if your familiar with Matisse Derivan they might be on a par with one another as far as quality goes. I find Derivan face paint difficult to use but I will try out the MM Body art perhaps it might suit for practising rather than using my 'good stuff'. I have a friend who is a willing 'guinea pig' who is likely to react to anything within 24 hours and another who actually writes MSDS for a living. I'll see what I can do...
BTW that silver is rather sexy!

OK its taken a while but this is what I've come to the table with:
1. I bought the MM red, black and white ( for practise and testing purposes)
2. Had an expert look at the MSDS and given the all clear - it has an excellent safety rating meaning it is non hazardous and all ingredients are well below any concerns - even the carbon level in the black (its still carbon I know but its your choice whether you use it or not)!
However there is no indication of allergy testing. The MSDS states that the product is "low irritant - no skin irritations are anticipated" - after further discussion we decided that test patches on anyone you know with skin sensitivities would be a good start to using the product. I left the paint on o/night with no problems under my clothing and it was still there the next morning - but it was worn out.
I have yet to test my friend who will tell all about allergies!!
I have a policy that requests anyone prone to skin sensitvities to seek a 20min patch test which I do on the inside of the wrist.
3. Product washes off too easily with mild soap and water - not baby wipes!! they smudge the colour (i thought the red was staining my skin wherever I wiped!) .
4. I could use the black on top of the red (for spidey) but white blends too easily on the red and you get - (yes you guessed it) PINK!
5. I LOVE LUV LOVE! the consistency of the product but I have to look more into the preservative - there is no rec. for shelf life??

Finally, the package recommends avoiding eyes, nasal passage and mouth possibly due to the fragrance (very nice slight baby powder scent) but the MSDS specifically states that the product is for use on the face and body.

I like it and will use it - I'll keep you posted on more revelations!

I heard a rumour that the ingredients are the same as TAG. Don't suppose you have both and could compare??

I think you might be refering to DFX/WOLFE/ TAG coming form the same factory??
I have both MM and TAG (as requested) and they have perhaps the same basic ingredients but are not identical.
I have no qualms using the Mont Marte on anyone BUT given that I'm still learning and feeling the product I think that the TAG is a more superior product at this point. TAG colours will sit (better) on top of one another, whereas the MM blends too easily.
One thing I have noticed is that the Mont Marte cleans from my brushes MUCH easier than other brands (based on the red paint/white taklon test)
I will be collecting the range to have as my practise kit for the moment. I contacted the company with regards to thier safety cautions and they were really cool, absolutely suitable for face painting (also stated on the MSDS). They also told me to keep an eye out on the range expanding.
I really like this product. I'm suprised at how good it actually is.

Hello All. Firstly, thanks to all for the great help on this topic. As I am new to this art I came here looking for answers to the Mont Marte range also. After all the reading I went out and purchased one white and one red cake, just to try. Well soon afterwards I was back and have purchased the entire colour range. I have found them extreamly easy to apply, blend and most importantly wash off. Had a sample of every colour on my arm for 24 hours and only the dark blue required a lillte extra soap and water to remove.

Further web hunting and I decided to make my own rainbow cake. Mont Marte cut like soft clay straight out of the container. Just slice and peel them out, place into your empty container (mine was a SD card box - starting small) and cover with plastic wrap and push down to level with a ruler. SO SIMPLE!!

Sunday saw me paint about 70 full faces at the RSPCA Million Paws Walk here in Perth Western Australia and my paints hardy looked used. Hope to get many more faces out of my paints.

So if your hesitant about the Mont Marte brand, I would recomend them to anyone.

Happy faces to all.

Thats really great news! My business has been a little slow lately so any new purchases are on hold. Sad isn't it knowing how cheap they are!! I won't hesitate now thanks for the update!!

LOVE THE PURPLE! Really hope they bring that out in a metallic it would ROCK!

Have you tried mixing the colours with the silver to give them a bit of a shine?
Layer the colour first and then dab over a thin layer of silver so that the colour still comes through.
Don't think any other colours are being developed, this may be just the range that they will stick with. Pity but I think face paint is just another side line to their products and not they main line. But lets keep our fingers crossed.

Thought about my trip to Melb yesterday. Perth hit 1.4 BRRRRR Just like Melbs welcoming weather and the wind down Collins Street. Hope it's a litttle wamer over there for you.

Only warmer inside with the heater on!! Thanks for the tip! I am just loving the consistency of the product! I have started to use it publicly now as I am confident any reactions to it will be nil or very very rare. I now have silver gold, purple, light blue, black, white and red. The gold seems a little brassy but reminds me of the Kryolan interfernze gold. I still can't get over the price!!

Watched a demo on the Mont Marte site which said they had 22 colours of Body Art Paint. Currrently they sell only 14. Contacted Mont Marte directly the other day to ask where the new 8 colours where and was told they would be brought out over the next 2 months. So keep an eye out. Didn't tell me what the colours would be but the more the merrier.

One of the more established professional face painters I have spoken to, thinks that the Mont Marte is essentially the same as TAG - i.e. comes from the same factory in much the same way that DFX, Wolfe etc do. The price is actually comparable with TAG, in that the $4 - $4.50 is the price for a 21g cake, and the TAG cakes are larger. (I live in a regional area, so the prices are higher here). There are less colors (at present) than TAG (I'm hoping the expanding colors coming out will be pearls), but it is WAY more convenient to be able to buy it locally than having to order it online and wait for it to arrive. I have only recently bought some, so I have yet to compare them with the equivalent TAG colors for color density/vibrancy, ease of removal etc, but they do seem to handle easily like TAG from 1st impressions.

I have the silver, gold and dark blue in the MM range, I have found that the blue blends really well with the TAG paints.I personally feel that while it doesn't get as creamy as the TAG does, it still spreads quite well. I've not used the Gold and Silver of any of the other brands so cant really compare. I have used the MM silver as well to turn my regular colour paints into some really nice looking metallics (probably a no no for most of you but when on a budget...oh well)

I agree with you Jazz. I double load a sponge with a colour and then add in some silver for a metalic tone. Have chopped them up and made a rainbow cake and plan to make a couple one stroke cakes as well. They cut and pull apart just like plastercine.
cdennis- I have the complete range of 14 currently available and have 24hour tested them, all come off easily, green and blue can stain a little but a little soap rubs them straight away.
I also have TAG and find them all very similar.