"new" FAB paints- warning

Hey all. At FABAIC SillyFarm had a huge display of the FAB paints, which really do come in some great colors. However they are a relabeled paint from overseas (Netherlands perhaps) that are HEAVILY perfumed. Our gift bag had a sample of it which we ended up throwing out for the following reasons (in addition to the fact that it smelled like scented toilet paper and grandma.)

My friend that was with me there has been painted in almost every paint...I've used Paradise, Mehron Liquids, Ben Nye, DFX, Wolfe, latex, spirit gum and glitter glue on her (poor girl! lol) and she's never had a reaction to any of it.

She was a model at FABAIC and someone at the jam on Thurs night used the "new" FAB paint on her, and she ended up with minor chemical burns around her eyes from it. She is a nurse and was able to take care of it, which was good. Then later, in a class where the students painted on the models, a student used a different color of that paint on her and she IMMEDIATELY noticed it burning and had to go wash it off. I tried it on my arm, and like my friend I paint myself in everything with no reaction, and could feel it tingling almost immediately.
We were talking with someone else at FABAIC who had the same reaction on the arm.

We did show Heather and she said they will be getting the perfume reduced/removed in future batches.

I just wanted to share and give a bit of a warning. I hope this doesn't happen for you or anyone you paint on.

FYI... I took a class with the Wolfes yesterday where they gave us all samples of that paint. They said they were contact by the company (I believe the original packaging said "Superstar Paints") that has existed in Holland for years. They wanted to sponsor the brothers at a body painting competition to get the name of their paint out there, and they happily agreed to supply all the paint for this workshop I took. They said that the companies name and packaging looked dated so they were in the process of changing it to FAB. I used it for some of the class, but was not impressed so I got out my Paradise and DFX. We were actually allowed to take the paint home, but I let my table neighbor take mine since I didn't like it. I used the white, black, red, orange and grey. I didn't notice any bad staining, but I did put a big patch test on my hand to see how it felt, and it seemed pretty tight. I had small areas painted on and it was fine. I didn't notice any burning or tingling, but I only had it on my forearm and not for long periods of time. I don't think the quality is anywhere near most other brands personally, so I don't think it's worth spending money on it to try.

The Wolfe Bros will actually endorse anyone that pays or sponsors them. I heard Nick telling that to someone at the convention (in a rather unpleasant exchange actually). They have the Disguise Stix advertised on their shirts, yet they have said they can't stand them. I don't trust any endorsement they make because of that.

It's interesting to hear the quality side. I know the girls who painted with it at FABAIC were both new to painting and did not have the breadth of experience with different paints that some of us have. I really appreciate knowing that side of it as well, because once the perfumes are removed I most likely still won't have an interest in it. Thank you!

i accidently stole whitneys FAB sparkle white.. and i have to say i do like it... i used it around my eyes with no problem.. on the back it still says the old brand, theater something lol.. idk about the other colors..only other color i tried was red and it stained my arm pretty bad.. but no reaction.. i have a weak sence of smell so i didnt even notice they were scented

I got a silver one, and it is a really nice colour (one of the best silver I have tried, even though in some pictures it looked purple), but the smell is bad!

Many years ago I had some other of their products - lipstick in different colours - and the same with good colours, but too much perfume. One reason I will not use the colours on jobs, and now hearing with the reactions, I will not try others of their colours.

I use Superstar for bases. I love their metallics, especially silver, but also the gold/rose with glitter. I used it for so many kids at our daycarecenter and never had any reactions.
I agree about the scent though.

FAB is Superstar. Painters overseas have been using it for years without any problems.

I'm just curious & want to play devil's advocate... I have a lot of problems if I paint myself, remove the paint & repaint often. I had some issues last year at FABAIC, but couldn't pinpoint the reaction because it could have been paint, baby shampoo, over scrubbing, baby wipes, etc. You might want to check & see if it's the paint or the nature of the event.

It was the paint, Linda. It was the first time she was painted at the event and the reaction was immediate.

Whitney, Heather said that they changed their formula for US distribution and added extra perfumes which the next batch will have removed. As I said, we talked with her at length. So while the company is the same, it wasn't just the name that was changed.

OIC... I hope they get the reaction problem out because I've heard good things about some of the Superstar colors(I've heard the silver rocks).

actually I told the Wolfebrothers that I really loved the colours from Superstar! Later they visited the plant where they make it..
I have used Superstar all the time on kids, myself and painted a whole bodypaintingbackground with the silver and no problem at all..yes..it smells...

For what I recall, the smell is the same as it always have been...

yes it has always smelled like this..

Is it any smellier than Kryalon?

I LOVE the silver i didnt notice the smell too much maybe b/c it (the paint) wasnt near my head....

Well good to know. So far I've had no problems with mine. I will continue to pay close attention and test it out before using it on kids. The majority of what I'm doing now is bodies anyway so it shouldn't be too big of a problem. Thanks for the heads up.

Just remembered that the silver I have say Superstar, not Fab, so it must be the original one with no extra perfume. I find it very heavy smelling already, so I can imagine someone getting an reaction from one with even more perfume in it :O

maybe I'm wierd, but I LOVE the smell of my kryolan paint.

Are you all talking about Kyrolan Aquacolor, or paradise with regards to the smell? Paradise I cannot stand the smell- But to me Kyrolan Aquacolor just smells like makeup. Maybe with a slight soapy smell.

The superstar silver they gave us at Fabaic didn't have any strong odor that I noticed. And I tend to be VERY affected by smell. That's why I hated the FAB liquid body paints, they smelled sort of like Circus Peanuts (The candy) and artificial Bannanas.... REALLY strong! Therefor, I didn't even play with the FAB cakes while I was there.


The coconutty fragrance of Paradise seems to be something ya either LOVE or hate... I was not in the love category. I prefer to just smell the ingrediants than an added scent.

The smell is we are talking about is the FAB/Superstar paints.

I barely notice my Paradise, Wolfe and DFX ones and was totally overpowered by the FAB/Spstr.

Except for Bec. She's talking Kryolan.

Along the same note I was given some "super awesome henna" to try. It stained super awesome but the smell was pure chemical...like the old fashion permanents my mom used to get. I would never use that on someone else, I'd feel horrible pegging them with that odor! lol

See now I am wondering if I should chuck the 3 silvers I have. I have yet to use them, but thought the silver was very pretty. I didn't notice any scent but then again I didn't have it open that long either

Thank you so much for the warning! I have a Superstar pastel palette that Heather gave me to test out when I was at Sillyfarm a few months ago as they were getting everything ready for FABIAC and she had a bunch of them on her desk that had just been sent to her. Heather and I both painted on ourselves/each other with them, around our eye areas as well as arms and legs, with no reactions.

Except for the coconut in Paradise (which I personally love), I've never noticed fragrances in my paints (including my Kryolan primary palette). But the Superstar I have is very obviously perfurmed. I've been using it on my little girl but avoided her eye area because I could smell the frangrance concentrated so heavily.

I was curious about these paints and unable to find out anything about them online. I love the pretty pastel colors and find the quality to be similar to Kyrolan which to me is a bit on the creamy/soft side. However that is not such a bad thing for the right creation, esp. for the pastels.

LOL I love smelling my new paints when I open them. I know it's peculiar, but I love the smell of the new paints, all brands. What's funnier is my daughter, who's 8 now, does the exact same thing when I show her a new paint I just picked up, she opens it and smells it Maybe its a genetic weirdness?

If anyone wants to "chuck" their FAB/Superstar I'll play catch! I've been very intrigued & would love to try them before buying(especially silver)!