Poll on Brands

I think the reason Snaz dries out and falls off in the powder is the fact that is was designed as a face paint for children - they use less of the emoillents and other cosmetic ingredients than, say, Kryolan which is a theatrical water activated make-up (as opposed to being created for face painting specifically) has. That is why Kryolan SMELLS like make-up.... because it is!

A couple of years ago I did a durability test with all the brands I had... since I work painted I used a different brand each time.

I was looking at colour brightness after wearing for up to 6 hours, smearing, comfort and other signs of wear and ease of cleaning.

Snazaroo - faded the most and left a fine powder on my clothing and if I had a hot flash it ran with the sweat. Felt "tight" as it dried on the skin, but loosened up as time passed (because it was falling off!! ) Only had problems with yellow and green for removal... but usually came off in the shower or with glycerin soap.

Kryolan - stayed reasonably bright, but if applied too thickly got a bit "chaulky" looking (particularly on line work.) But it held well when I got hot. I knew I had it on but it wasn't irritating. Some issues with yellows and green, but again, it does come off in the next shower or used glycerin soap.

Grimas - stayed bright and stayed where I put it. It did get a bit "dry" looking particularly in the creases. I knew I was wearing it. Stained a bit more than the Snaz and Kryolan - the yellow particularly, but did come off with the glycerin soap.

Wolfe... YUK. Horrible to wear as a full face base. Got oily looking, and kinda looked like an orange peel in the T-zone... body heat and the wax content don't go well together. And it ran the worst when I had a power surge. Very uncomfortable to wear all day really. Hard to wash - left a waxy film on my skin, the black is impossible to get out of my lash line so I ended up with black eyeliner for couple weeks. It doesn't stain per se, but lingers...

Fantasy Worldwide - lovely to wear. Completely forgot I was wearing it. Stayed a little tacky as it is a water based cream. Never really dried out completely which helps the colours stay bright. Because I forgot I was wearing it I tended to smudge it by touching my forehead... Washes off completely ... did not appear to have any "staining" but have to admit my "test design" wasn't yellow and green!

DFX - I find it very drying to wear as a full face base. It stays very bright but looks dry, which it is. Gets "tight" feeling across the face - Snaz does too, but not as bad - as it dries out. Held pretty well through sweating... better than the Wolfe which surprized me. The blues, greens and yellows did linger quite strongly which surprized me too. I have NOT tried the black (I don't have any.) Definitely less waxy than Wolfe.

Fardel is similar to Fantasy Worldwide - but it is a denser cream so is "thicker"... I use it for body painting, not face painting.

I don't use FWW or Fardel on face painting gigs as it is wet and doesn't work well with my health regs and method of working, but will use them at home or for projects.

Shannon Fennell wrote:


Kryolan - stayed reasonably bright, but if applied too thickly got a bit "chaulky" looking (particularly on line work.) But it held well when I got hot. I knew I had it on but it wasn't irritating. Some issues with yellows and green, but again, it does come off in the next shower or used glycerin soap.

Wolfe... YUK. Horrible to wear as a full face base. Got oily looking, and kinda looked like an orange peel in the T-zone... body heat and the wax content don't go well together. And it ran the worst when I had a power surge. Very uncomfortable to wear all day really. Hard to wash - left a waxy film on my skin, the black is impossible to get out of my lash line so I ended up with black eyeliner for couple weeks. It doesn't stain per se, but lingers...


DFX - I find it very drying to wear as a full face base. It stays very bright but looks dry, which it is. Gets "tight" feeling across the face - Snaz does too, but not as bad - as it dries out. Held pretty well through sweating... better than the Wolfe which surprized me. The blues, greens and yellows did linger quite strongly which surprized me too. I have NOT tried the black (I don't have any.) Definitely less waxy than Wolfe.

Shannon you made great points...!!
In my case everytime I try to use black Kryolan for outlining work , looks like chalk the color is not a vibrant as it looks on the container.
Wolfe White applied as a base on adults tends to look exactly like you said "orange peel" on the T-Zone..Is horrible you can see every single pore, is like the skin absorves the paint.
DFX Black is awesome for outlining work... The color is so vibrant. Try it you might like it.

I stick to Snaz black on gigs... although lately I've "perfected" using Fardel liquid black by squeezing out a drop onto a cleanable palette to do details... then cleaning between people. I have lots to use up and the method meets health regulations.

I prefer to use Snaz black as 1) I can make it work for line work 2) I KNOW it will wash off easily 3) it is safe to injest - when painting kids I prefer not to use hard to remove brands and I'm not that worried about perfect lines everytime.

I use Wolfe white for details though... I'm not quite as keen on the DFX white. I think it is because I have the OLD Wolfe which seems to be more opaque. The DFX I have doesn't seem as opaque and I've had some bleed through...

This has been a very helpful thread!

Currently I've only used DFX, simply because that's what my employer gave me to start out with and I was pretty satisfied. After reading about it's reputation for good line work on the board, and because of the great price, I decided to stick with it when reordering. My employer has let me try out some of her new Paradise, which she bought in some colors that DFX doesn't have, and I liked it well enough. It would be the next brand I go to if I needed a different color.
I liked Kryolan when I used a palette of it on one gig for line work and cheek art. Haven't tried it out again due to the price, but specialty items like some shades of UV are on my wish list. Tried a purple Interferenz lately, and I liked it but it was soooo sheer, so I could only use it for really specific bases, so it's a no go for me.

Thanks twobluestripes & thanks to everyone who responded, there were some really GREAT responses put up. I love to check and see what's up once in a while and see who prefers what - it's always mixed though, so you never seem to have a one brand winner - I don't think that will ever happen! My goal is try some Ben Nye products, I never hear much about them and when I do, it's either love or hate. I'm gonna buy some magicakes at some point as well as some other of their products and give them a whirl. If I don't like them, I'll just give them away as some contest of something here on the forum. We shall see soon.

I practice (aka, still learning lol) on my daughter, so I gravitated toward paradise after snazz didn't really do it for me. When I got it in and tried it, I LOVED it. It covers almost as well as dfx did, but I could use a baby wipe and get almost all of it off without really trying very hard. I like that, and I think in the future when I'm good enough to do gigs the parents will appreciate not having to scrub their faces off to get off the darker paints and lines. lol. I think the black is awesome for line work and the white isn't as bad as snazz for line work, so I think I'm going to stick with paradise.

Hey vampkat, I'd have to say that I agree with you 100% - I always feel guilty using products that I know are going to be a small horror to remove and we all know which ones they are. Then when the parent asks how to remove it and you simply tell them soap and water, that is not always the case at all. Plus the poor kid has to sit there and be scrubbed to death...it ends up making what's supposed to be an enjoyable experience miserable for the child and parent and you better believe it's gonna come and bite you in the end. They are going to remember it the next time they see you painting and chance are they are going to just keep on walking. I know many painters do not take the time to tell them, well if this doesnt work, apply a lotion let it sit and then rewash...or do this and then do that....I assure you the parent or the kid doesnt want to do or have all that done to them. Better to just use easily removable products, that truly do remove with just soap and water from the start.

Also, The place I will most likely be doing my "try out" gig for face painting is at the pagan festivals I henna at. I know for a FACT when the next day they can't get the kid's face clean they will be coming to me with the questions and such. I know I would. So yeah, that's why I dig paradise the most. I have two snazz pallets and I'm going to make split cakes with them. When I get better I am putting all my money into all the full sized paradise colors.

Spectrum wrote:Thanks twobluestripes & thanks to everyone who responded, there were some really GREAT responses put up. I love to check and see what's up once in a while and see who prefers what - it's always mixed though, so you never seem to have a one brand winner - I don't think that will ever happen! My goal is try some Ben Nye products, I never hear much about them and when I do, it's either love or hate. I'm gonna buy some magicakes at some point as well as some other of their products and give them a whirl. If I don't like them, I'll just give them away as some contest of something here on the forum. We shall see soon.

Spectrum there is a store in Chippendale - or no wait maybe camperdown - damn my bad memory - oe I have to go and check my facts - grrrrrr - ANYWAY there is a store that's part of a make-up collage called - Three arts - I'm pretty sure. They sell all the BEN NYE products - just in case you are looking to buy some with out the shipping charges.
That's where I'm headed when I'm all cashed up again.
I have link somewhere ....... hang on I'll have a look .... far out I'm lazy today!
Ahha! I found it - my bookmarks are out of control..... here's the address you can't buy online as far as I know.

http://www.makeupeffectscollege.com/shop01.html

I personally don't use any of the canine brand of paint but I do use a lot of DFX. I do tell parents that everyone's skin i different and that sometimes the pigment will get trapped in the pores (kinda like they do when they eat one of those blue popsicles). Many parents understand this and if the art you produce is excellent, many feel it's a small price to pay. Also, on the back of my business cards I have explicit removal instructions that also address what to do in the instance of skin staining.

I have only ever used Kryolan and am very happy with it. I also sell tons of it on my website, so at least in the years I've been selling it, I also get it at wholesale cost so I don't have much motivation to try anything else. ;-) The interferenz and metallic paints are trickier to get good coverage, but if you get it to the right consistency and use enough water, they can really cover well. It's a matter of playing with it until you get the method down you need to get the coverage you want. I also love their little palettes, with the re-fillable colors. I usually keep mine in screw-together jars that stack and work great. But, if you just want to whip out your paints in a second and put them away in a second, the palettes are great. (like when ONE more kid comes up at the end of your gig who hasn't been painted, and all your paints are put away!)

Shannon, if I'm looking for the more primary looking colors, which snaz electric or sparkles am I looking for? Are the sparkle green, red, orange, blue and purple primary or more pastel looking?

I am a DFX fan all the way. I have been using mainly DFX (essentials, neons, and metallics for around a year. I have not had one complaint from a parent about it being hard to remove or staining...(knock wood) I do put on the back of my card removal instructions & just a little blurb about darker pigments and the possible staining of clothes.

Before I switched over to DFX I used mostly wolfe. I do have and use kryolan aqua colors and interenze as well as the ben nye lumieres. For high heat and humidity situations I use starblends.

I started out with snaz...I think it is great to learn with but just did not give me the results I wanted as my skills progessed. I do however love the snaz sparkle orange or maybe its called electric orange (which ever is the metallic looking one)...beautiful color. I will use snaz black when working on small children 3-5.

I have not tried paradise, TAG, grimas.....perhaps as my supply starts to deplete I may venture to try some of these other brands, but for now I enjoy using DFX.

wmeventservices wrote:Shannon, if I'm looking for the more primary looking colors, which snaz electric or sparkles am I looking for? Are the sparkle green, red, orange, blue and purple primary or more pastel looking?

They are not pastel looking:

Snaz Electric Blue is very blue, dark - I call it the perfect Optimus Prime Colour. Great coverage.
Snaz Sparkle Blue is nice but not a "primary blue" it is more sky like and quite shiny.
Snaz Sparkle Orange is bright orange and I find it to be very solid - I use it for tigers all the time.
Snaz Electric Purple is shiny purple, not a deep purple, and sometimes is a bit sheer, but it is a pretty colour.
Snaz Sparkle Red is a nice solid colour - it is red, but leans to the being more of a rose than a scarlet.
Snaz Electric Green - it isn't my favourite. Has a blueish shine, sort of irridescent but not really solid.
Snaz Sparkle Green is a shiny green that I tend to use to make scales on top of flat colours... not a real bright green, more mossy.

That help?

I am fairly new to face painting (not quite a year) but so far I have tried Snazaroo, DFX, Wolfe and 1 white Mehron Star Blend. At first I only purchased Snazaroo, I really like their sparkle colors especially for eye designs because they look really beautiful (like a rich, creamy shadow), Shannon is right about the gold and silver, I completely stopped using them because they seem way too sheer, plus the yellow and gold look almost identical. My favorites are the sparkle red and pink for lips and the light blue on the eyes and also sparkle yellow and orange for butterflies or tigers. I dont like the sparkle green or purple as much as the others. As far as DFX and Wolfe, they seem interchangeable to me. Are they the same company? Maybe Wolfe is a little more pigmented, it is kind of hard to get off. I love both for line work. They seem to stay on much longer than Snaz and apply so much smoother. I love them! Plus I love that I can stack them together it makes carrying everything in my large craft bag (from Walmart) so much easier. I don't think that I am using the Star Blend correctly because I cannot seem to make it look anywhere near close to opaque. You can hardly see it on fair skin tones. But it is fantastic as a base to use under another color for any design (especially under Snaz) it makes the colors much brighter and they don't sweat off as easily. I find that Snaz MELTS outdoors, even in the early Spring! Lately I have just been replenishing my stash with DFX and just ordered some Paradise to try out. I have been using my Snaz to make my own split and rainbow cakes and I keep them in the black cases from Silly Farm. Hope this helps! :O)