FAQ

faq

What do you bring to the job?

I will bring my professional kit called a Craft-N-Go and a tall chair or step stool for the guest to sit in. My kit which consists of the palette of makeup, water, towel, sponges, spray bottle, glitters, wipes, brushes, hair clips and anything that helps me do my job better. I have laminated menus to choose from depending on the type of party and I bring a camera so that I can have photos for social media. While I don't need a table or chairs, I prefer indoors if possible on a non-staining surface like a kitchen floor.

Why are there no "cheap" parties?

I want to provide the best face painting and services in North Carolina. If you want the quality of face painting that you see here on my website, I need the time to accomplish that so my rates are quoted by expected guests and for two-hour minimums. The fewer guests, the more elaborate the face painting can be. If the birthday is 10 guests or less, I can add-on other services like glitter tattoos or balloons.

I accomplish this by having 4 levels of menus to choose from. This keeps me from wasting time with elaborate requests or the "what can you do?" question. This is how I am also able to be one of the fastest and best face painters. If the birthday child wants a special design (like a particular video game character) then I will need to know before the party so that I can be prepared to paint it for the birthday child. Please give me as much information as you can so that I can prepare for your event.

Non-refundable retainer deposit

Because I am reserving the time and date you requested, the deposit you pay is non-refundable. I will send you a Paypal invoice (for the contract amount + travel time fee if applicable) through your preferred email and you will follow the link and pay online. You may pay the whole amount or just the deposit portion but some type of payment has to be made for you to be considered "booked." If you fail to pay a retainer, I will not be coming to your event. After you've paid, If you have to cancel I keep the deposit. If you've paid the whole amount, I will keep the required deposit portion and return the rest.

I'm having a Corporate Event. How do you handle those?

If you are offering face painting "free to the public" I charge a little more per hour and there is a $25.00 per hour Line Manager requirement. It is a high-stress situation for the painter (me) and the people waiting in line and I am using more supplies and trying to continuously paint without break for two hours or more. If you want to save the $50.00, you must provide a hands-on helper that will organize the guests, help them make a choice from the menu, watch for hair and dirty faces and stand at the end of the line after handing out numbers to the last guests to be painted. It's a hard job but helps me tremendously to get through the maximum amount of guests and not make them angry at the end of the event. "Chopping" off the line without a line manager reflects badly on both of us.

If you need additional painters, it's approximately $250 per painter for the two hours but we can use the same line manager. If you want multiple painters or book longer than two hours, the PPH and travel can be negotiated.

What paints and supplies do you use?

I only use professional face paints which are technically called makeup. I mostly use Global from Australia for my rainbow cakes because I like their color combinations and bright vibrant look and their non-staining qualties. I also use Mehron, Wolfe FX white and black and FAB & TAG shimmers.

I’ve noticed that many so-called “face painters” are using acrylic craft paints. This is a really bad practice but it happens a lot at free or donation type booths. Acrylics are basically house paint. They are non-toxic (won’t kill you if swallowed) but that doesn’t mean they are safe on your child’s face and are known to actually cause allergic reactions. Sometimes they'll claim “I’ve never had one complaint!” but that doesn’t mean it’s right to do (or even truthful…how do they know what happened when the children got home?) They are simply using them to save money and gambling that your child won’t have an allergic reaction. If you do see someone doing this…tell them you expect safe paints for children and hopefully we’ll put a stop to it.

How do you remove face paint!

Basically the lather lift is using a very soft washcloth, strong paper towel or soft sponge with lathered soap (white foam) on it to bond to the paint and lift it from the skin and then wiping it away. Sounds so simple yet some parents and people will scrub their kids or themselves raw with rough cloths and strong chemicals. Lotion, makeup remover or baby oil is great for removing any pigment left behind.

I don't recommend baby wipes for removal because many of them have a reactive ingredient methylisothiazolinone (MI) which can cause a reaction in some people. I've stopped using wipes with that ingredient in them in my kit. Please don't use them unless you are sure. Honestly, I don't find they work that well but you could rinse one out and use it as a washcloth if it doesn't have MI in it.