Question about hygiene

Hi! I am pretty new to fp... 3 months. I have a gig coming up next month (terrified, yes). I am confused about the sponge / brush thing. I can totally use a clean sponge for each face. But if I am just rinsing my brush between faces, I'm definitely um "spreading the love" around. I can use one of those fresh water brush cleaning reservoir things which would LOOK more hygienic but still totally germy. What is the common practice here?
THANKS!

Some people use a new sponge per child and some use a sponge per color changing, it the child has a cold or something.

As to the brushes, many have several of the same brush to use for blacks, reds and other colors so they don't have to rinse so much, but this spreads the love.

Some rinse between children and change water as it gets murky. It is all debatable. I have switched to the later as far as sponges, have severall of the same brush, but still rinse and change water two to three times a job.

Metina

No matter what you do, there will always be germ spreading when there are groups of kids around. But, they are more likely to get sick from standing in line with eachother than from your brush touching each of their cheeks.

The many ways of cleaning brushes seems to be an ongoing discussion. It's hard to balance the desire to be completely clean with the need for speed when we have a line up around the block. I keep things as clean as possible while keeping in mind that I feel that most of our world today is too sterile. We keep everything so germ and dirt free that everyone is getting sick constantly from never being exposed to enough to keep our immune systems working. So, while I go throw my kids in the sandbox to chew on some good healthy dirt, think about how many kids wiped their nose with the back of their hand and played with the same toys at school as the other kids and you might not worry so much about the brush touching the next kid without having been boiled in some kind of germicidal goo first. The paints have a lot of anti bacterial stuff in them anyway.

I'm with Perry. We need to be as sanitary as reasonably possible, but it isn't possible or even healthy to remove ALL germs. I am starting to use new sponges per person mainly to keep my area looking cleaner, but I do use the same brushes without washing between children. The exception would be if a child was obviously sick or snotty, or if I need to paint lips, in which case I get out a clean brush and set it aside afterwards.

Agree with Perry and Angie. If it is adults I do use disposable brushes / cotton buds for the lips, since they could have some diseases that is not good to spread. (even though I think most would be rinsed out in the water) But that children normally do not have.

I think the most important thing is to let your paint, brushes and spongers dry totally after a job, since bacteria grow where it is wet. And they come from the air, not so much directly from people.

I am in total agreement about the antibacterial movement. Kids immune systems are actually compromised from lack of exposure. My kids are almost never sick because I let them play on our kitchen floor if they want to.

I am just wondering if there is any law to deal with and what the common practice is. I know with makeup at the Clinique counter they use a disposable mascara wand and when I get my nails done they make me wash my hands before the polish brush touches mine. I guess I fear we will all have to get cosmetology licenses.

If I do lips I use a cotton swab.

There isn't a standard requirement for face painters at this point, but there are a few different groups that will certify you with their group to say you meet their standards. I don't know all of them, but there are one or two people on here that have done this, maybe they can explain more.

Has anyone used, seen or heard of the new stuff Silly Farm has on their website? Something called Brush Bath. Sounds almost too good to be true. But if it works that would be great!

Mini Review of Silly Farm - Brush Bath

I just bought some at the convention. It does smell really good and lavendar-ly. My friend won it in a raffle and I HAD TO HAVE SOME to try.

Tired of the pink soap and the Ivory. I liked the Brush Bath a lot, the brushes seem a little more supple than they do after an Ivory bath and the tips/bristles seem to be shaping nicely.(must be due to the olive oil, glycerine, and hempseed oil among other ingredients.)
I think it is nice that someone is trying to add some organic/botanical - more earth friendly alternatives to our industry...... plus lavendar is nice. Brush Bath is nice in my humble opinion. There are no instructions on the bottle so I guess you wing it as to what seems like a good soapy consistency with water to see what works best for you when using as a brush cleaner.

The label says "clean your brushes while you paint" and under that it says "water sanitizer, brush cleaner, makeup remover all in one".

May have to try it. It would at least make me feel better about doing my best to keep things clean and sanitary.

Thanks for the input WyndyO!

Apparently you should put 2-3 drops in your rinsing water. I wonder if it make an effect at all?

Surely by adding something to your rinse water you could be making your insurance or warranties invalid.

I only say this as Gary from Snaz is really opposed to "additions" to rinse water and has stated on several occasions that "his" face paint does not need it because the paint already contains anti bacterial qualities and is only designed to be used with water. Any additional chemicals would increase the risk of allergic reaction. This must apply to the majority of professional face paints otherwise they would only have a shelf life of 2-3 weeks.

Also as the majority of brush work goes on top of sponged bases, surely any hygiene problems would be with the sponges not the brushes.

It may be a superb brush cleaner - but selling it as anything else is simply creative marketing.

As to the brush bath stuff, I would be concerned what it might do to my paint. Unless you had a fresh water bath that you then cleaned the brush with before, but then it would still have traces of the stuff. Sounds like a lot of work. Plus it says it will keep sponges clean. HUGH? How would that work?

I think that sometimes we are being just a little too anal about the hygiene. Common sense is probably the best practice.

Clean your brushes and sponges well between jobs. Change your water often. Don't paint on anyone who is sick or has sores. Let your paint dry out completely between uses.

Metina

and if it smells so lovely, it's surely filled with perfumes that could cause irritation to people with sensitive skin.

Calgary Face Painting Regulations This is a link to some very strict face painting regulations for FYI

I avoid anything that smells. Is this Brush Bath a make-up brush cleaner? I use Parian Spirit to clean my make-up brushes while working - it is a cleaner/sanitizer made from citrus. But for face painting it doesn't work very well as it is meant for the oil based products and doesn't get out the pigmets from the water based make-ups.

I was wondering if there have been any reactions at this point. Even if it is "100% organic" you can still have a reaction of course. I had one to something that was suppose to be "all natural" or organic. My face got so swollen I look like a basset hound with jowls! I only want my customers to look that way if I paint them to look that way ........not because of a reaction. Jeeze that would be bad.

People can be allergic to anything. A lot are actually to Aloe Vera. Funny when product containing that often claim to be for sensible allergic skin *lol*

I'm allergic to aspirin... you'd be surprised how many "all natural" products contain it (or things like it) and how many anti-aging creams have it too. I only mentioned the perfumes thing because I know a lot of people who can't have any perfumes on their skin.

Perfume should not be included in products in my opinion. Both because it it not healthy and people can develop an allergy after continued exposure and because I'm sensitive to the smell ;-)

I'm with you!! NO PERFUMES!!!! I am allergic to many scents and organic things... I see absolutely no reason to add scents to make-up products.

I bought some brush bath this week to try it out I will let you know what my experience is with it.

I would never have thought that brush cleaner would have anything to do with sanitizing / germ killing. I always assumed brush cleaner would just remove paint and condition the bristles.

I'm with Shannon on the smelly stuff, in general. It makes my eyes water and I'm not going to be adding anything to my water that smells even if it does 'disinfect'. Ouch, think of getting any kind of steriliser fumes near your eyes -even the diluted Miltons for my baby reeks!

the general UK consensus is change sponges between faces as generally they 'rub&scrub' bare skin more, laying down a base AND go round mouth/ eyes/ nose where all the ick tends to be. most paints have an anti-bac of some sort in them so I'm not worried as I don't paint anyone with any visible problem.

Then brushes generally lay a fine line on TOP of the paint and not so often in the icky areas so i'm not bothered about them needing cleaning tho of course I do btw gigs and if theres a mess they get in....

Cat