Severe Acne - do you paint?

At a gig last week I had this poor girl about fourteen with the worst case of acne I've seen in a long time. I admired her guts - I mean, it takes some nerve to sit down in front of someone who's going to have their hands all over your face, when you know better than anyone what it looks like. I felt so badly for her and was determined to make her feel special, but I was concerned about whether the paint might exacerbate the acne. Anybody have any experience on whether this could be a problem?

It worked out fine - she even wound up being one of "those" kids who wash their faces about an hour in and then show up in the chair for a second go - but I just wondered if I should warn (tactfully, somehow) people with this condition if the paint wouldn't be good for them.

I would have pushed for a really cool arm design, but I do dread these moments because I never want the person in my chair to walk away feeling bad. I'd not be as concerned about contaminating the paints as I would about causing more harm to the client.

Well, that's one i'm glad to say i havent had to deal with before. Might not be a bad idea to check with the manufacturer of your paint.

I think my concern would be if there were any open sores. I would be concerned not only for the customer, but for my brushes and paints. My immediate thought would be, to use the brush sanitizer before and after.

She had no open sores; I wouldn't have painted if she had - but it would probably be safer not to paint at all, now that I think about it, since there could be contamination from open lesions too small to see, I guess. Ack. What do you even say in that instance? I mean, we all have the disclaimer that we don't paint people with obvious illness...but I don't put acne in the same category with scabies and conjunctivitis, you know? I don't want some poor teen to feel like a leper.

I was more concerned about the potential for further skin irritation.

You could add to your disclaimer that you don't paint broken or irritated skin.

From the opinion of someone that used to have that sort of acne...paint the poor girl. She probably feels like poop about herself most of the time. Why not make her feel a bit more beautiful for a change.

Just change sponges or brushes or whatever. If you singled her out and didn't let her have it because of her acne, it would've been crushing to her self esteem, make her feel embarrassed, and hate herself even more. Isn't our job all about making people feel better about themselves, not crushing them down.

Painted Dragon wrote:From the opinion of someone that used to have that sort of acne...paint the poor girl. She probably feels like poop about herself most of the time. Why not make her feel a bit more beautiful for a change.

Just change sponges or brushes or whatever. If you singled her out and didn't let her have it because of her acne, it would've been crushing to her self esteem, make her feel embarrassed, and hate herself even more. Isn't our job all about making people feel better about themselves, not crushing them down.

Thank you for sharing. I have never had this experience and think that if I was presented with it I may not have painted that girl . . . HOWEVER, after reading this link I definitely would paint her now!!!! If presented with this in the future I will use a different sponge or 2 making sure not to 'double dip' if there was a chance of contaminating the paint. It is 'make-up' that we are using afterall so that should be fine with a reminder to wash off the make up before going to bed.

it is a lovely thought to think that that girl went away feeling good! How very nice indeed!

Painted Dragon wrote:From the opinion of someone that used to have that sort of acne...paint the poor girl. She probably feels like poop about herself most of the time. Why not make her feel a bit more beautiful for a change.

Just change sponges or brushes or whatever. If you singled her out and didn't let her have it because of her acne, it would've been crushing to her self esteem, make her feel embarrassed, and hate herself even more. Isn't our job all about making people feel better about themselves, not crushing them down.

I agree..I've been there too and you feel horrible about yourself most of the time...

michellesfantasyfaces wrote:

Painted Dragon wrote:From the opinion of someone that used to have that sort of acne...paint the poor girl. She probably feels like poop about herself most of the time. Why not make her feel a bit more beautiful for a change.

Just change sponges or brushes or whatever. If you singled her out and didn't let her have it because of her acne, it would've been crushing to her self esteem, make her feel embarrassed, and hate herself even more. Isn't our job all about making people feel better about themselves, not crushing them down.

I agree..I've been there too and you feel horrible about yourself most of the time...

same here!
I still have acne, that's why I hate to paint my own face so much. I love the feeling of being painted.

I paint kids with acne. I use a clean sponge, making sure not to double dip. I use brush bath in my rinse water to clean the brushes thoroughly and set those ones aside to dry. If I double dipped with one of the brushes I make sure to clean the surface of that paint color when I am finished. I don't think the paint would cause any more irritation than makeup, and most of these kids wear plenty of makeup, trying to cover up the acne. I remember what it was like to have a lot of acne, and my sister still has an acne problem in her mid-30's. She loves to get painted and reminds me that I have to paint her when I go down to visit her or she comes here. It has never caused her any extra irritation.

Not acne but I suffer with psoriasis. I get it mainly along my hairline so when I do get people with it I paint around it with a earbud (Q-tip) and then carry on as usual. I modify the design to best hide it.

If the acen is not open I would paint it. I find most suffers put a foundation, cover stick, base over it anyway so I feel quite happy painting over that as there is a barrier between my paints and the skin.

I ran into this issue at the fair. I didn't say anything, and I still painted them, but I cringed the whole time. As someone who suffers with acne myself, I wouldn't want anything smeared all over my zits.... but like Painted Dragon said, I just couldn't say anything. I thought SO many times to say "Oh you have skin like mine, you want me to do your arm instead?" but I just couldn't do it. I sanitized my brush afterward and all was well with the world.

Thank you for sharing - it's given me a new understanding - I would have pushed for an arm design before reading your insights and comments, thinking I was doing her a favour, never realizing I was making her feel worse... how awful.

I'll definitely take your suggestions about face painting, but keeping things separate (discreetly) to sanitize later

Thanks all.

I think if they already have foundation and such on I would not worry about it but if they have nothing on their face already I might quietly express my concern that it may irritate sensitive skin and offer other locations as an option in case they did not realize you can get face paint other places then the face.

Good input, all.

It seems to me that the best solution is to go ahead and paint, then set aside materials used until they can be sanitized. My biggest concern was that it would be harsh on already irritated skin, but it sounds like that shouldn't be an issue. And I definitely don't want to make someone in that position feel worse than they already do - on the contrary, I really hoped she felt beautiful. She must have liked it, to come back for another one!

I used to paint a kid with allergies to the paint, he just loved so much to be painted, so the routine was : get the face painted, look himself at the mirror for 20 minutes and then clean the face before start aching,(never had a reaction to my paint) you couldn't believe the joy of that kid, I was concern, but I tought if I was his mom I would do exactly the same, I learned that people with special needs, or notorious problem in their faces love to feel beautiful and for a short period of time pretend to be someone else.

I think painting a beautiful butterfly is mostly on the eyes...beautiful but away from anything that anyone could be concerned about. and she goes away feeling beautful.

I have a question, and I'm a little embarrassed to ask cause I should probably know by now.... How do you sanitize your brushes and sponges? At a gig or otherwise? I wash all my stuff at home with antibacterial liquid soap for sponges and usually masters brush soap for brushes. Is there something else I should be doing? How can I sanitize at a gig? I thought spritzing with alcohol wasn't effective?

Amanda wrote:I have a question, and I'm a little embarrassed to ask cause I should probably know by now.... How do you sanitize your brushes and sponges? At a gig or otherwise? I wash all my stuff at home with antibacterial liquid soap for sponges and usually masters brush soap for brushes. Is there something else I should be doing? How can I sanitize at a gig? I thought spritzing with alcohol wasn't effective?

I dip my brushes in alcohol. I dont sanitize sponges at a gig, i just use a new one for each person and throw them in that washer when I get home.

Yep. I have painted children with psoriasis and acne. I check with the parents first to verify if it is ok with them. There was one girl at a party who wanted to be a butterfly. Her one eye was unusual, it didn't look quite right and it might have been a tiny bit "gooey?"

I checked with the mother first. Turns out this girl was born with only one eye. The one that looked different was not real. She was sooo happy afterward. Glad I asked first.

This summer I saw a girl with severe strawberry marking on her face. About half of her face was covered in deep magenta. I kept thinking, "I wish I had my paints so I can make you so colorful and artistic, that everyone would look at you for the right reasons!

I ran into a similar problem with eczema/psoriasis, on residential care patients... But I had a major save with the intern that managed my line & when he saw what I was doing (avoiding sores, etc.), he really encourged each one that they looked outstanding! Bless him, I felt it was probably the worst work I have ever done, but he certainly made them feel great about it! (And the feedback from the event was good!)

I never paint on broken skin and sores. i have a disclaimer saying so. I also always use a clean sponge and clean my brushes all the time on the job.

When I have been faced with this. I suggest a cool eye design. I will say something like "hey how would you like a cool funky eye design, think Lady Gaga, or maybe something pretty and flowery?"

It works every time, and I avoid ANY broken skin.

I would NEVER want to make someone who probably already feels bad about themselves, feel worse. At the same time , I don't want to contaminate my kit , or aggravate any sores.