We’ve just received a new shipment of acrylic rhinestones! New additions to the assortment now include smaller 5mm round gems, tear drop shaped gems, and larger 18mm red hearts. Check them out on our Acrylic Rhinestone page, where you can also browse our many other shapes and sizes, as well as adhesives!
Question: Is it safe to use acrylic paints and other “craft” paints as face paint, as long as the package says it is “non-toxic?” The answer: Absolutely NOT! Non-Toxic does NOT mean FDA approved for cosmetic use, which is what paints must be in order to be considered safe for use on human skin. I’d even go as far as to say that the term “non-toxic” is as meaningless as the term “hypoallergenic,” at least where face paints are concerned. Is the paint labeled “washable?” They are talking about FABRIC. The only language that you must always look for in face paints is “FDA Approved for cosmetic use or made of FDA compliant ingredients.”
Here are just a few images that anyone can find via a simple Google image search for reactions to bad face paints. Does this look non-toxic to you?!
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| Photo by Terra Fender (via) |
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| via YouBecomeArt.com |
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| via Painted Party |
PLEASE read this post in it’s entirety before you decide whether risking a child’s health is worth saving a few bucks…
Professional face painter Susan Judd from Liverpool has done a lot of research into this subject, and was gracious enough to let me share this great information that she summarized to help really explain why acrylic paints should never be used on skin:
“Most ‘non – toxic’ acrylics have formaldehyde as a preservative. This is not bad in its correct application, even in terms of getting a bit on your hands and washing off. The amount that they have in them accounts for this. BUT why are they considered a big ‘no’ as face paint?
Formaldehyde is a probable human carcinogen -cancer causing (it has only been proven in animals, and depending upon the country in Australia it is classified as one) and outright poison that has been researched since the 1940s. It is easily absorbed through the skin, and inhaled.
It has a particular effect on mucus membranes i.e. eyes, throat, nose and gut. 30mls of formaldehyde is a lethal poison to kill a human. And formaldehyde is commonly tested for as an allergen by in an allergy test.
When they approve this as a preservative, they make allowances for, say, it being stuck under fingernails for a few days, but not slapped on a face next to the mucus membranes to be inhaled and seep through and get in eyes. All acrylics are recommended for use in a well-ventilated area as formaldehyde is released into the air as they dry. Again acrylics not so good near the nose and mouth.
Now if the amount of formaldehyde is less than 1% the manufacturer does not have to list that ingredient. As that is a safe amount for its correct application. and it can be labeled Non Toxic.
You will find formaldehyde in shampoo, conditioner etc. but at no more than 0.2% and they have to include releasing agents in them to basically release the toxins as much as possible in the manufacturing process so it is safe for general use. Many things in life contain formaldehyde but are safe due to the way they were manufactured. Unfortunately general paint slips through this as it is not intended to be misused.
Most ‘non-toxic’ paint is a myth, as they just count on people using it safely. And that is why it is approved as paint but not as a cosmetic. Unless labelled formaldehyde free. There are other ingredients we could talk about, but Google formaldehyde to find out more.
Please don’t freak out about you kids having paints in general it is OK just obviously not with prolonged exposure to skin, as face paint. (or ingested in large quantities I suppose) I read up a lot about it but it is just too much to type.
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Formaldehyde (CAS# 50-00-0) is one of the most common chemicals in use today. It is found in many processes and products, being widely used as a preservative, embalming fluid, sterilant and fumigant. Formaldehyde is also used in the production of resins, plastics, dyestuffs, ‘non-iron’ fabrics, paper products, paint, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical products. With such widespread uses and applications, many people come into contact with formaldehyde in one form or another in the workplace.
Formaldehyde is a colorless gas with a strong, pungent odor. It is commonly used in liquid form as a 40% aqueous solution known as formalin and in solid form as a white powder called paraformaldehyde. Because of its volatility, both formalin and paraformaldehyde will readily give off irritating formaldehyde vapour with a strong odour.
Health Effects of Formaldehyde
Formaldehyde can affect you when you breathe its vapour or come into contact with materials containing formaldehyde. It reacts very rapidly with moist body tissue, so particularly vulnerable areas are those that can come into direct contact such as the skin, upper respiratory tract and eyes.
The effects of formaldehyde exposure can vary from person to person. Some may show symptoms of irritation at very low levels, while others can tolerate exposure to higher concentrations with little or no reaction.
Typical exposure symptoms include:
Low 0.1 – 5 parts per million
Eye irritation, tears
Skin irritation
Respiratory tract irritation
Moderate5 – 20 ppm
Burning of eyes and respiratory tract
Tears
Difficulty in breathing / coughing
High 20 – 100 ppm
Chest tightening, pain
Irregular heartbeat
Severe lung irritation
Pulmonary oedema
Death in severe cases
Skin: Contact with formaldehyde solutions or resins can cause eczema (dry, flaking and itching skin) and in extreme cases can lead to dermatitis. This is a skin disease that can appear as a simple rash to severe skin cracking and blistering. These symptoms can also be caused by contact with clothing contaminated with formaldehyde.
Eyes: Exposure to formaldehyde vapour can cause reddening and a burning sensation in the eyes accompanied by tears production. Formaldehyde solutions coming into direct contact with the eye can cause serious damage to the cornea, possibly leading to blindness.
Nose, Throat and Lungs: Low ambient concentrations of formaldehyde can cause irritation of the upper respiratory tract. At higher concentrations, the effects become more severe, with levels above 10 ppm causing coughing and chest tightness. Exposure to very high levels can lead to death from throat swelling and chemical burns to the lungs.
In some people, exposure to formaldehyde vapours, even at very low concentrations, leads to respiratory sensitization resulting in an allergic reaction similar to asthma. This can be triggered at any time, even in individuals who have worked with formaldehyde in the past with no apparent reaction, resulting in shortness of breath, chest tightness, wheezing and coughing.
Cancer: Although there is no conclusive evidence available to prove that formaldehyde is a human carcinogen, it has been shown to cause cancer in animals. Formaldehyde is therefore considered to be a probable human carcinogen, particularly as a cause of nasal and nasopharyngeal cancers as these areas are more likely to come into direct contact with formaldehyde.”
So the bottom line is, after reading all of this, is it really worth the chance of causing any level of harm to your child or anyone else’s with acrylic and other craft paints, when there are already SO many products out there that are FDA approved and specifically designed for use on skin? It seems to be common sense to me, although I know many people see the words “non-toxic” and think you are safe to use it for whatever you want. Not so! So, consider yourself officially educated…next time you take your child to get their face painted, or the next time you hire a face painter, make certain you know exactly what they are putting on your child’s skin. After all, the safety of your child is your job as a parent, and the safety of your little customers is your job as a professional face painter.
Here is another bit of info that I pulled off of the Snazaroo acrylic paint FAQ page from “Hopeful the Clown,” who wrote to Binney Smith Company, maker of Liquitex acrylic paints, requesting their MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) for Liquitex acrylic colors in tubes, jars and artist colors.
Below is some of the information they received:
A-Chronic Health Hazards: Contains soluble cadmium. Avoid using if pregnant or contemplating pregnancy. Exposure may cause harm to developing fetus. Not for use by children. B-Chronic Health Hazards: Contains soluble nickel. May be harmful if swallowed. Exposure may cause damage to the testes. When using do not eat, drink, or smoke. Not for use by children. c-Medical conditions aggravated by exposure: Pre-existing skin, eye and respiratory disorders may by aggravated by exposure to this product. D- Emergency and First Aid:
1- Eyes: Flush with water for 15 minutes. Call Physician if symptoms exist.
2- Skin: Wipe off excess and flush with warm water and soap.
3- Ingestion: consult Physician, hospital, or poison control center.
4- Inhalation: Remove victim to fresh air and treat symptomatically. E- Carcinogenicity: The ingredients of this product are on the toxic substance control act (TSCA) inventory. F- Do not store near extreme heat. G- For Airbrushing” Use NIOSH certified respirator. Do not inhale spray from airbrush. Use adequate ventilation to control fumes vapors and dust/. Do not airbrush colors 162, 168,161, 312,154,157,168, 150,152,and 160.
Links to check out:
Snazaroo’s Acrylic paint FAQ page
Another good blog post on the dangers of non-professional supplies
News Article: New Mexico State Fair shuts down face painter using acrylics
News Article: Kids left “branded” at Family Fun Day
Here are some more useful links found by Susan Judd (Thanks, Susan!!):
http://www.nontoxicprint.com/safepainting.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formaldehyde
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/formaldehyde
I am sooo excited to share my first baby bump painting, done just this afternoon! Well, my first on someone else…I did paint my own belly like a pumpkin on Halloween two years ago. But it was much trickier not being able to see below my belly button. 😉
Pregnant belly painting, also known as “gestational art,” is all the rage these days. Moms-to-be are having their bellies painted and photographed with their dads-to-be for their baby books, and even having them done at baby showers! You may have seen moms on A Baby Story having their bellies painted, or maybe you’ve seen some celebrities in the news having it done, like Mariah Carey.
Having your baby bump painted and photographed is a really fun way to preserve some memories from pregnancy and celebrate your growing belly! I’ve always had so much fun studying all of the photos of baby bump art in my face & body painting magazines, so I put a feeler out on Facebook to see if I could get a model or two to let me paint them. My wonderful second cousin, who is 32 weeks pregnant, graciously volunteered, having never even heard of having your belly painted!
I started by sending her a few photos off of the web of other people’s painted bellies to get the wheels turning. She decided on the fishbowl idea, which is a really fun play on the round pregnant belly! I put together this Photoshopped concept for her using various clipped digital images off the web, and I used this for reference:
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| digital concept “sketch” |
…and here’s the finished piece…pretty close!
I gave her a page of different plants to choose from, and she picked these cute lilly pads which were fun shapes to create!
After reading some suggestions from experienced belly painters on the face paint forum, I decided to have her stand at first while I drew the basic design on her belly with a makeup pencil ($5 each for black or white). This prevents the design from looking distorted when she is done and stands back up.
Above are a few progess shots along the way. I used a round makeup sponge that I had cut in half ($1.20 each) to fill in the white base and some blue shading. Then I used my #28 flat sable brush ($19.50) to feather and blend the blue and white to give the bowl a nice round appearance. From there I used my #5 and #2 contour round brushes ($3.40 & $4.60) to fill in all of the colors and details.
I’m really glad that she brought her mom to share in the experience, because she was a great photographer and captured the whole process!
I’ve never really painted pictures of goldfish and it was really fun. Normally I spend about 30 seconds to a minute on a design, on very adorable yet wiggly children. I was wondering if I could even get myself to spend more than 20 minutes on a design! Turns out the challenge for me was making myself STOP tweaking and adding more detail after over an hour of painting! The time flew by though and I already can’t wait for my next belly painting.
After we were finished we took tons of photos! I didn’t have an actual fish net so I Photoshopped this one into the picture, which turned out pretty cute:
…although I was kindof wishing I had a cat to put next to her!
All in all I think it went well for my first belly painting and I think my wonderful model enjoyed it too! Many thanks to her for driving out more than an hour I’m sure to my house so that I could paint her while my two boys were napping! 😉
If you live in the Twin Cities area (Minneapolis / St Paul Minnesota) and are interested in having your belly painted, or in giving a belly painting as a gift to an expectant mom, check out my website here for more info!
A week or two ago I got a call from Hannah in Pennsylvania, desperately in need of some metallic silver paint asap. She was having trouble finding any retailers who would answer their phones! I was very happy that I had some in stock and was able to ship it out to her right away, just in time for her big event. She used it to act as a living statue (above) while handing out flyers for her friend Jason of Seventh Wave Studio, who was giving a workshop at the 15th annual Millennium Music Conference in Harrisburg, PA.
Thank you for sharing your photo, Hannah, and I’m so happy the paints worked out well for you! Your costume turned out totally AMAZING!!
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!!
My mom just pulled out this great photo of my siblings and I at the Dakota County Fair! Yup, that's me on the left. Here are a few "fun facts" about my own history with the fair!
– I grew up in Dakota County (Eagan, Inver Grove Heights, and Lakeville), and have never missed a single year of the fair in my 31 years, even while living in Ohio for 4 years.
– I have entered artwork in the fair from kindergarten through adulthood and still have a box full of my ribbons!
– One of my favorite things to do was to collect business cards from all the booths in the commercial buildings. Now I'm handing them out!
– The Dakota County Fair remains the one and only fair that I face paint at!
– I shared the booth with my sister 13 years ago…she did airbrush t-shirts!
– My mom, who has face painted with me for the past 7 years, has won many awards for her art in the fair through the years, and she did painting demonstrations several years. My dad and brother also won awards this year for their homemade wine!
– My booth at the fair was where my business, "Paintertainment," was born.
– I've been featured in a few newspaper articles for my fair booth. Check out http://www.paintertainment.com/press.html
– I miss the "Lollies by Lee" booth. My Dad used to let us pick out a home made lollipop there. The booth smelled like sugary heaven!
Thanks for all the fun memories! I can't wait to make new ones with my little boys!
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