Month: September 2010

After doing a little research with my fellow professional face painters, I found that most painters who use acrylic gems in their face and body painting work use either eyelash adhesive or spirit gum.  I recently added eyelash adhesive and an assortment of gems to the site, and today am excited to have just added some of Kryolan’s water soluble spirit gum as well!

I have tried both of these methods of adhesion on myself so far.  From what I’ve gathered, here are a couple differences….

Eyelash adhesive is more expensive for a small tube, and it contains latex, so you’ll have to make sure that the person you’re using it on doesn’t have any latex allergies.  However, it really holds very well and sticks quickly…at least in my experimentation, the gems stuck the second I touched them to my skin.  They also are easily removed when you want them off.

Spirit Gum is less expensive per ounce, and it does not have any latex in it.  The drawback is that it takes much longer to dry.  So, you may be spending more time holding the gem in place, or checking it periodically while you paint to make sure it isn’t sliding down.  You can now find the Kryolan spirit gum on my website in two sizes…the .5 ounce bottle with a built in applicator brush ($4), as well as the larger 16 ounce refill jars ($20) .

After trying them both myself, I’d recommend having both on hand, depending on the situation you’re in and who you’re painting. Obviously it would be a good idea to have spirit gum on hand if you have someone with a latex allergy.  If you really need the gem to stay on well and for a long time, or are doing a gig where you don’t have the time to wait and hold each gem while it dries, you’d want the eyelash adhesive.

If any of you fellow painters out there have other tips or advice for acrylic gem adhesion on the skin, please do post your comments…I’d love to hear your thoughts!

I have yet another new group of products just added to the site, in our storage container category.

The first one I am very excited about.  This is a storage box that comes with 28 screw-together jars for just $12.00.  These are the kind of jars that I like to keep my paint in, because they stack together, and you don’t have a lid for every color to screw on and off or lose.  The jars are 1.5″ in diameter, and come in 6 stacks, each of which fit neatly inside 6 compartments in the snap-closed container.  Two of the jars are a little taller, making them perfect for storing a few acrylic gems or even glitter!  I have already purchased one myself, and plan on moving my paints into this container.  I can get all of my bright colors, and now I have space to add some UV-Dayglow paints and metallics all to one conveniently sized kit.  I’ll post photos once the “move” is over!  If there’s space left, you can even store glitter in here. I have 12 colors that I use at any one time so this is a great idea for that as well, especially with the jars being clear.

I also now have available this great box containing 12 screw-top jars for just $7.00!  Each jar comes with it’s own lid and measures about 1.5″ in diameter and 1.75″ in height.  Right now I use little glass jelly sample jars for my glitter, but as they begin to break over time, I plan to move my glitters into this container.  Like I said, I usually have about 12 glitters available at my events, so this would be perfect to hold all of my colors and keep them neatly stored together in my supply bag!

Last but certainly not least is our new 16″ art supply box.  You can get this box as part of the new “Business Starter Kit,” or you can purchase it separately for just $15.00.  This box is large enough to hold your paints, brushes, glitter, gems, you name it!  With it’s clear snap-open storage lid and lift-out tray, organizing your supplies is a breeze!

I’ve just added another new product to the shopping site…empty 24 color palette boxes for $20! I recently started carrying the 12 color and 6 color empty palettes, and they have become a popular addition to my inventory.  So, I decided to add in the 24 color box as well.  These metal boxes are designed to hold the Kryolan palette refills, also available on the site.  Purchasing these boxes empty allows you to create your own custom palette of colors, once you fill them with your desired refills!

It’s super easy to fill these palettes and swap out colors…simply snap the refills into the round depressions in the metal palette.  The option of creating your own palette gives you the opportunity to mix and match the basic colors, UV Dayglow fluorescent colors, Interferenz and metallics.  The possibilities are endless!

I am pleased to announce the addition of two new paint colors to our selection of 2.5 oz Kryolan Aquacolor professional face paints! I have just added a light flesh tone (#01S) as well as a very nice teal (TK2) to the website. Both are available now at $12.00 for a large 2.5 ounce size…check them out!

The flesh tone is perfect for the skin color of many popular characters, such as princesses, etc.  Just a little bit of red added would turn it into a nice pink.  The teal is great for flowers, butterflies, and mermaid tails!  I usually mix most of my own colors, however, teal has always been a tough one for me to get just right.  It usually turns out leaning more toward green or blue.  But, this one is perfect on it’s own!

I am pleased to announce the first of many new product introductions to the website to come this fall…three new glitter colors to choose from!  We now carry gold, silver and Mahogany!

I’ve always felt that my rainbow of glitter selections was not quite complete without a brown, so we now have a nice mahogany available. We also are finally carrying both silver and gold, two colors that I know many face painters have in their supplies as glitter staples!

If you check out the glitter aisle of my store, you will notice that I’ve now cleared a shelf to make way for more new product…gems and jewels!  I will soon be carrying the little acrylic gems that many painters like to use to kick their designs up a notch, especially princess designs.  Stay tuned for this fun new addition, coming soon!!