How to make Your Face Painting Really Bright

by Heather Green

Grand Open House

Have you ever scrolled down your timeline and wondered “how the heck did they get those colors to pop like that?”  With the advancement of cameras, camera phones, and editing apps like Pic Stitch its had to know what is what any more.

In the past, in order to take a really great picture you almost needed to hire a professional photographer to capture the perfect lighting, angles and overall look. As IPhones and Samsung cameras continue to improve, so does the quality of the pictures displayed on our social media pages and websites. For many of us, we forget or simply don’t have time to take a bunch of pictures while at events, let alone plan a full on photo shoot every month. So, its important to use your time wisely, and spend less time editing pictures and more time painting.

The great news is there are a few tips I can share to help your face paint shine, and look its brightest and best on the model and in photos.

Here are my tips to help your face painting look its brightest:

Step by step fairy face painting design

When people call Silly Farm, we frequently are asked what are the best colors for dark skin tones. The answer is the same colors that look good on lighter skin tones. Metallic colors are a prime example of colors that pop and add shine appeal. Several brands make metallic and shimmer colors, which mean they have a nice shine to them. When we make rainbow cakes, several combinations include Metallic colors because the shine layers nicely and makes the colors pop.

using rainbow cakes for face painting

At first sight neon/ UV / Day Glow colors seem to appear the brightest, but that is not always the case on the skin. Neon pigments tend to be thinner, thus requiring two layers to get the desired consistency and coverage. Once you  achieve your desired coverage you will be blown away. Neon colors are by far the brightest and most vibrant of all the pigments. They look amazing on all skin tones and photograph great in normal light, and glow under a black light.

rainbow cakes for face painting

At Silly Farm we take a lot of pride in creating the most amazing Rainbow and Arty cakes. We had make each of and test them on the job for one month before we launch them to ensure the colors blend and layer correctly. When we design the cakes we mix and match a variety of bold colors including neon and metallic colors to give you the best colors that POP all your designs. If you are looking for Rainbow cakes that make your designs pop off the face here’s a few we recommend that feature MAJOR bold color:

neon rainbow cake

Silly Farm Neon Rainbow Cake is our best seller and super vibrant

Tropical Paradise Rainbow Cake is always a hit!

tropical paradise

Leanne Courtney created a line of Fun Strokes that are amazingly bright and vibrant. They are a best seller and painters around the world love them because of their bold color combinations

leanne courtney

One of our favorite instructors Vanessa Mendoza just released a line of amazingly bright and vibrant Rainbow and Arty cakes. We highly recommend trying them

vanessa mendoza

Vanessa’s Rainbow and Arty Cakes rock!

 

adding glitter to face paint

BLING it on! Bling is fairly new in the face painting world. For many years face painters relied on glitter to cover up oopsie mistakes, and to add that touch of WOW to their designs. Just as split cakes and face painting tools evolved, so did the world of bling. In true artistic fashion, face painters fell in love with making custom bling pieces as you see in the above picture. The bling, is a jewel centerpiece or accent to your design. I chose a fabulous neon one created by Acacia Tanner of Fanciful bling and it took this design to a new level. The coolest part about bling is that it can be made in any colors, and millions of ways. You can use tulip dimensional paint to make the shapes and then use color rhinestones to bedazzle and build. The results are taking face painting to a new level. Make sure you check out Acacia’s Etsy shop for so much eye candy!

Custom bling pieces are definitely a treat and a special addition to your face painting, but Glitter is always a good idea. There are several styles of glitter on the face painting market, there is fine, chunky, glitter gelsglitter cremes. As of lately I am in love with the glitter cremes because they glide over face paint and don’t smudge the paint. They stay put all day and really add a POP to your face painting.

fairy face paint

Last but not least one way to make your face painting POP is to add lipstick. If the eyes are the window to the soul, lipstick is icing on the face painting cupcake. When you add beautiful bold lipstick with a touch of glitter you will be amazed at how much it brightens your face painting designs.

mark reid

even though Mark Reid used primary colors, once he added glitter and lipstick he took this design to a new level. Do not under estimate the power of a beautiful bright lip!

 

One last quickie tip: Summer is here and that means it hot hot hot. One tip to help you speed up the line with maximum color and speed is to use Elisa Powders 

powder palette for face painters

Powders are awesome because you can apply them dry to the skin and use your face paint to paint over them. Elisa Griffith created this palette especially for face painters to help them achieve amazing color in little time. Powders can also be applied on top of face paint to also enhance the color and “set” the paint by creating a layer on top of face paint. Powders are also amazing to use with stencils to avoid bleeding or smudging. Check out the beautiful Mia, Elisa’s daughter below rocking her mom’s fabulous powder design. Beautiful WOW color.

powders face painting

I hope this email shined a little light on all the ways you can make your face painting pop in real life and in pictures. I would rather see you spending time on SEO and marketing then editing your pictures to achieve  the brighten pictures. Working smarter and not harder is a good tip to help you be your most productive.

Have a beautiful week friends and happy painting!

Heather

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