Face Painting Blog

Product Review – Incendium Glitter Balm Unicorn Palette

https://www.thefacepaintingshop.com/Essential-Glitter-Balm-Unicorn-Palette

I’m often asked what is one of my most frequently used products on-the-job.  Without a doubt, it has to be this amazing little gem of a palette.  I’ve mentioned it before in my blogs but it has fast become my go-to on most designs and is always in my kit – for adult and children’s jobs alike.

This handy little palette is smaller than a mobile phone but contains 12 different colour balms (Platinum, Pink Parade, Fire Flower, Frozen Orange, Pure Sunshine, Glimmer UV, Purple Petals, Winter Berries, Iced Lavender, Pandora Nights, Amazon Mist, and Icicle) and so if like me you are trying to cut down on the sheer amount of kit you lug around it is perfect. 

If you didn’t already know this glitter balm glides over paint! – that’s right, no smudging!  And there is enough choice of colours there to go with every design.  I used mine so much that I’m now starting to top up the little compartments (I bought every colour of the balm when it came out so I’ve lots to use!)

The balm is fantastic in that it’s suitable for age 3 and over – so if like me you don’t like using chunky glitter on the younger ones, this is perfect to add the eye-catching sparkle to designs.

Kate Brown

www.katesfaces.co.uk

REVIEW OF FUSION PARAFFIN WHITE By Jane Harding

Before I wrote my review on this product, I wanted to be in a position to say I’d used it over a prolonged period of time on the job and therefore give an opinion based on experience in real working conditions.

Fusion released this new Paraffin White in May 2019, I initially had a 32g pot just to try out and I instantly loved it! It’s so creamy, works up really quickly and is really opaque and crisp when painted over other colours.

Once I got through the small pot I went straight to buying a 90g. It was now coming up to the beginning of summer and so the weather was warming up. Quite quickly I noticed that my paint was going a bit sticky and gloopy. I was really worried initially because this never happened to me when using my previously preferred white paint (Diamond FX, which I still love BTW) so I took it home and left it on the side with the lid off for a day or two to dry out, and it soon went back to its original form. Before I took it out on another job, I got a dinner knife and cut out a section of paint so I could see the bottom of the pot, effectively creating a well. I stored the piece I cut out in a clean airtight pot and went on my way. Straight away I noticed a huge difference; I used the well to activate a small amount of paint at a time, so I wasn’t over saturating the rest of it. 9 months on I am still using it in this way and I’ve never experienced the sticky and gloopiness again. Some may ask, “Why should I have to cut a chunk out of my paint to use it”?, and my answer to that is, “You don’t”. It could be that I add a bit too much water to my paints, but that’s just how I do it and now I’ve found a solution to the issue I had so I’m sharing it in case it can help anyone else.

To give you an insight into the types of working conditions I have used this paint in, here’s a list, and you can see I’ve given it a good run for its money!

Some of the conditions I’ve used it in:

Indoors Home

Indoors cold church halls

Indoors humid heated hall with bouncy castle and 40 sweaty children!

Indoors hot and sweaty night clubs

Outdoors hot sunny day at festivals

Outdoors damp rainy day at a festival

Outdoors dry but freezing evening on Oct 31^st!

Outdoors rainy cold Christmas lights switch on

Outdoors 7 hours each day over 11 days in Dec – Cold, Freezing, Warm & Rainy Weather!

Another thing I wanted to acknowledge, is that I’ve read a few times on a couple of forums that some people have tried Fusion Paraffin White and although they liked it, they found they got through it faster than their old preferred white paint. If I am 100% honest, I would say that I agree. It does run out a bit quicker than what I used previously, BUT it’s not so much quicker that its put me off continuing to use it. For me, Fusion Paraffin White has two attributes that stand out and by far outweigh the fact that I use it up a bit quicker. They are major pros for painting on the job, I mentioned them above, but I’ll say it again:

PRO ONE: It activates REALLY quickly!

PRO TWO: It paints over other bright colours and stays bright white with ease!

For me, these attributes make my life so much easier and ultimately when I’m painting on the job I have certain priorities. Being fast and producing quality work are in my top 5 of those priorities and Fusion Paraffin White makes that really easy for me, so I would definitely recommend this paint to anyone.

Below are a couple of pics I have taken recently on the job which show how bright and crisp this paint is over other colours.

I hope this review has helped anyone who is on the fence about trying this new amazing paint. If you’ve tried it, please share your experience with us below.

Jane x

FUSION PARAFFIN WHITE

https://www.thefacepaintingshop.com/Face-And-Body-Paint/Fusion-Body-Art/Fusion-Body-Art%20-Prime-Colours-50g-and-100g/Fusion-Body-Art-Paraffin-White-50g

https://www.thefacepaintingshop.com/Face-And-Body-Paint/Fusion-Body-Art/Fusion-Body-Art%20-Prime-Colours-50g-and-100g/Fusion-Body-Art-Paraffin-White-90g

Hi Guys

     Its time to start a fresh new year.

Today I am going to be blogging about preparing for what will hopefully be another busy and profitable year ahead.

So firstly I started to think about what products/services I'll be offering this year. I decided i'll be sticking to last years services which are; face painting,glitter tattoos, glitter & bling bar and henna.

This year im really wanting to up my game and work on improving my artwork and making sure its of the highest standard.

I then wrote myself a list of painty products I need to top up my face painting kit.

This did not just include face paints. Banners, Brushes, new water pots, and business cards were also on my list.

Over the past week I have gutted my kit, deep cleaned my case, deep cleaned my brushes and wiped + pressed all of my paints. I do this regularly anyway as I feel there is nothing worse than a dirty unorganised painty kit!

I then turned my attention to what jobs I'm going to be doing this year.

I have already contacted all of my summer jobs from last year I want to return to, including summer fetes/family fun days and festivals.

I really love doing local work so I keep in touch with all the local organisers which really helps me to bag their jobs.

This year I have decided I would like to attend a couple of larger festivals so I am currently emailing a few discussing their events,

now is the time if you haven't already to be contacting events. If you leave it until the summer I can guarantee all the good jobs will be taken.

My diary for this year is open and bookings are flying in.

Wishing you all a busy start to our exciting painty new year ahead!

Emma

JANUARY ‘TO DO’ LIST By Jane Harding

Hi everyone, Happy New Year!

I hope you all had a fab 2019 year of Face Painting; I certainly did, but now we are here in 2020 and it’s time to get our ‘stuff’ together and be ready to smash 2020!

I’m sure I am not the only one, but in January I like to make myself a list of all the things I want to achieve by the end of the month, so I’m starting off in the way I mean to go on… organised! So, in case this isn’t something you do, or you’re just interested in what I do and maybe you want to adopt some of those tasks, I’ve created you this printable ‘TO DO LIST’ to help you on your way.

They are not in any particular order and some of these may not even be relevant to you, i.e. update your website, isn’t something you’ll be doing if you don’t have one! So just cross anything off that’s not relevant and/or add your own.

Although most are pretty self-explanatory, I’ll just go over each task very quickly and give you a few more details, so give that a read before you scroll down and print away!

1. ACCOUNTS! If you haven’t done this already then this is definitely your priority in January. Mazz has just written a blog about Accounts, so if you want some help with that then go check out her blog!
2. KIT CLEANING! This is obviously an ongoing process, but if like me you had an absolutely CRAZY December, then now is the perfect time to literally strip back your whole kit and give it a good detox.
3. KIT MAINTENANCE! Stick those magnets back on, dome your split cakes, tighten any loose bolts, etc. These are probably the jobs I procrastinate the most about doing, so this is a great opportunity to ‘JUST DO IT’!
4. REMOVE OUT OF DATE PRODUCTS. Hopefully, you are aware of what paints you opened, started using and when because that makes this job much easier! If not, then go back and check your purchase invoices. Any products that have been opened and used longer than the recommended time span (see back of pot) should be removed from your kit. However, if there is still some use in anything, then keep it and use it for practice on your boards… waste not want not!
5. STOCK CHECK. At the same time as discarding the old, make a list of what needs replacing. I personally always have extra stock of my most used products i.e. white & black, favorite one strokes etc., so I never get into a situation where I run out and then have a panic if what I want is out of stock, it just makes good sense!
6. ORDER STOCK. Obviously! Once you have your shopping list… go shopping!
7. RENEW PLI. For me this is a definite January job because my Public Liability Insurance runs out in January, BUT even if your doesn’t run out until June, NOW is a really good time to check your expiry date and make a note of it in your diary so you don’t let it lapse accidentally!
8. CHECK PROMO MATERIALS. What I mean here is very simply checking anything you might use for promotional material i.e. Business Cards, Leaflets, Posters, Signs etc. Firstly I check what stock I have of business cards, if I’m running low, if all the info on them is still correct, do I need to add any new services to them etc. For me that’s pretty much it, but if you have other things, then check those too.
9. UPDATE WEBSITE. This is such a loooooong job for me as I made and update my own website, but if you have a website then this is really a very essential thing to do.
10. PROMOTE. January does tend to be a bit a quieter for events than other months, so your income can take a dip. Therefore if you don’t already have bookings coming in, take advantage of any potential advertising you can and promote yourself, Facebook is a great place to start. Getting those booking fees for all the jobs you book during January can really boost your income if you’re otherwise quiet. Putting on a special January Offer can really boost those bookings too, so that’s something to think about.
11. PLAN. This is really boring, but if you want to grow your business then it’s essential! I like to review my previous year’s goals, look at what I achieved, if I didn’t achieve something… why? Is it still something I want to do, if so then I add it back on my list, if not then I discard it. I write down what else I want to do this year and give myself a target of when I want to do it by. I think about any changes I want to make to my business i.e. services I offer, rates etc. Joni is going to be bringing you a blog soon all about Business Planning so look out for that and of course, there is now a book to help with EVERYTHING in your painty business, ‘MY PAINTY BUSINESS BOOK’, which is available from The Face Painting Shop, Link below.
12. SELF CARE! Last but by no means least, January is an excellent time to think about your SELF CARE. If like me you haven’t had a proper weekend off in 6 months, then give yourself a weekend off! I really struggled towards the end of last year, I felt like I’d worked relentlessly since June and was just exhausted, so I’ve given myself THREE weekends off over January and February… one of those I intend to completely switch off, from social media, from work in general and just spend some much needed time with my lovely man and Fur Baby Ted, I’ve visited far away family and then I’ve got a fun filled girls weekend in Feb… I can’t wait! What’s the point in working so hard if you can’t spend some of that well-earned cash on doing things you would love to do or going away to spend time with family that you never see because you’re always working at weekends. Don’t get me wrong, I love what I do and I feel very lucky that I am able to do this as a full time job, but it does come along with its own set of challenges, we have just got to look after ourselves so we can continue to spread the joy to all of our customers young and old for the year to come.

(https://www.dropbox.com/sh/p6igud4v3sk4r5y/AAC_Qmgyo2PMTh77z_lWCNhka?dl=0)

Jane x

www.facebook.com/daisyjanesfacepainting

www.instagram.com/daisyjanesfacepainting

BUSINESS BOOK LINK

https://www.thefacepaintingshop.com/Business_book

Getting organised in the new year, who else still has to do their accounts?!

Hello again everyone, I hope you have all had a fantastic Christmas and New Year and are ready to go for 2020! If you are anything like me, you have left your accounts to the last minute (again) and are dreading the inevitable time that you are going to have to bury yourself under a pile of receipts. Fear not! You are not alone, and I’m going to talk through a couple of things that might help keep you sane in the run-up to the 31^st of January.

This is only my third year doing a tax return. The first year I just gave everything to an accountant because I was too scared to do it myself and my mum (who is technically a chartered accountant) wouldn’t help me. But this will now be my second year doing it myself, and I just wanted to let those of you who are doing it for the very first time yourself know, it’s not as scary as you’ve built it up in your head! I literally spent every single day after I submitted my self-assessment last year just refreshing my emails in-case I received something that said they were going to do a random investigation, or that there was a problem. But everything was fine!

I know people do things differently. Some people do the sensible thing and pay an accountant, some people use a spreadsheet, and some use accounting software, all are perfectly good ways of doing your accounts. I personally use the software, and it saves me so much time and means that I can see exactly where I am with my finances. It has about a million reports I can look through, and then when it comes to actually submitting my return, all I need to do is copy and paste the numbers into the right box. But it does still require some organisation.

I keep all my receipts in a jar. A very big jar. A jar from Costco that once contained an industrial amount of sourdough pretzels (by the way, as a sole trader you are eligible for a Costco card.) Plus there’s also the receipts I need to download from all that online shopping. It can be really overwhelming thinking about where to start and why you EVER thought of being responsible for your own taxes was a good idea.

Break everything up into small chunks. The first thing I do is divide my receipts by year. This year I’ve also included an envelope for the current tax year. I’ve told myself that once I’ve done my self-assessment I’m going to start on this tax year. But we’ll see how it goes this time next year when I’m burying myself in receipts again. Once I’ve done the physical receipts I do the email receipts.

And then guess what? Divide them by month! And after that, by category. Don’t make yourself do it all at once, and be sure to break it up with regular tea breaks, glasses of wine, or whatever you need to get yourself through it. It’s going to be ok! I’ve just ordered my Painty Business Book and I am so excited, I can’t wait to bring you a review of that when it arrives! But I am led to believe there are a few really handy pages in there to help you keep track of your expenses and invoices etc.

Don’t forget, any employed work you have done, you don’t need to worry about including that. It automatically appears when you fill out your form, and congrats, you’ve already paid the tax for it! What you do need to make sure of, however, is that you know all of your login information. I realised a few weeks ago that all my log in information was spread out across about 3 different email addresses, but because I use it so infrequently, I hadn’t bothered until then to put it all in one handy document. Who would have thought!

I hope you have all had an incredible start to the decade, I can’t wait to see what the year ahead has in store for all of us!

Now get back to sorting those receipts and someone for the love of god magic me up a cup of tea!

Mazz

The Pixie Tribe

Hi, guys, my name is Hazel and I'm a face painter based in Nottingham, and this is my first blog, it might be a tad long but It explains how I've got to where I am today despite all the knockbacks life has thrown at me. Some of it is business-related but mostly personal. I know some people have been through similar things so wanted to share my story as I know some may relate.

My face painting journey started almost 5 years ago in 2015 whilst I was studying Fine Art at university. I had been struggling to find a part-time job that I not only enjoyed but was also flexible around my other commitments. I was then introduced to the idea of face painting when a university friend suggested it to me whilst at a career fair where there was a stand that said face and body painters needed.

My first ever set up (photo below)consisted of a simple Snazaroo starter kit. I managed to get my first Face painting party within 2 weeks of setting up a Facebook page. The first year was slow and consisted of mainly pay per face charity jobs and the odd family party. At the end of my first-year face painting my mojo and passion felt like it had gone with the loss of my Grandma at Christmas. I felt like I'd been focussing too much time on other things and not enough time on my family and friends. The face painting was put to one side, not totally out of the way but not advertised whilst I focused my attention on more important things.

18 months had passed by, I'd done 3 parties and a few charity jobs while also focussing on my family and the loss of a second Grandma(Nana) all whilst attempting to finish and pass my degree.

July 2017, I had graduated from university and that's when it hit me, time is precious. Time shouldn't be wasted doing things you don't enjoy, as tomorrow is never promised. This sudden realization had come after losing 2 of my family members within 18 months of each other.  It's not something that you just push to the back of your mind.

I had something I needed to prove, needed to prove it to myself, could I really set up again, but this time put everything I have into it? I spent a few weeks researching events, companies and anywhere else that I could advertise. I got leaflets printed, business cards handed out and emails sent out to anywhere that was local.

It took a month or 2 but I got a party just before Christmas and was booked for a super busy Christmas fayre. These 2 jobs then rippled into a few more jobs through recommendations. Although this was shortly followed by having to look for a part-time job in the new year to help me along financially. The start of 2018, and a retail job wasn't something I really wanted as it meant working weekends, but it was also the only job offer I got. With this part-time job, I could only take on a few face painting parties and jobs on my free weekends. In the end the retail job wasn't for me and I handed in my notice after 7 months of trying. This meant I was back to the one thing I enjoyed the most, face painting. I not only enjoyed being self-employed but I also really enjoyed the satisfaction when a kid would have a beaming smile after looking in the mirror.

A new logo and slight change of business name were needed as another Face painting business had set up with an almost identical name. The new logo was professional and stood out on my business cards, flyers and banner. This new branding bought in new customers and potential clients, from local businesses to council jobs. I finally felt like I was getting somewhere with several bookings in the diary for the end of the year and into 2019 from paid jobs to private bookings as well as charity jobs. In comparison to some face painters, I felt like I was still lacking in terms of the number of bookings I was getting. But at least I was trying the best I could, I didn't drive so most of my jobs were local. I start getting more and more jobs booked in for the spring months as well as a few outdoor events for the may half term. My best and busiest weekend so far was the May bank holiday (photo of set up below) when the weather was perfect for the local beer garden and their family weekend event.

More recommendations and bookings come in and it looks like I have a summer of jobs to look forward to, or maybe not. The one aspect of my life that has always been there, but I've tried not to let it ruin my plans is my disability. At 3 months old I was diagnosed with a condition called Hydrocephalus (water on the brain) explanation of that and it's treatment here: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/hydrocephalus/

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/hydrocephalus/treatment/

In August this year, I was rushed to hospital with all the signs and symptoms that my VP Shunt(link above)  had failed and I would need immediate brain surgeries. All summer plans and jobs had to be canceled which was upsetting at the time but I knew my health was far more important than a few jobs. Two weeks in hospital and a further month recovering at home and I was straight back into painting at a booking that had been pre-booked months in advance.

So if you’re still reading and I haven’t bored you yet, what I’m trying to say is that even when it feels like nothings going right whether it’s business, family or health-related everyone has the chance to pick themselves back up again and carry on. But if you’re lucky enough to get a second chance at something, don’t waste it.

Happy Painting <3

Christmas Coffee Morning - buy your tickets here > https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-christmas-coffee-morning-tickets-82605747013

What is a contract and why should you have one?

Ok, this is a question I’ve seen crop up quite a lot recently, especially with private Halloween bookings, so I thought I would take the opportunity to talk about it! I know it’s not the most exciting of topics, but it is so important to understand. I know a lot of face painters don’t have them, I don’t think I had one for quite a while. I had a booking form to make sure I had all the information about any given booking, but that was about it. After a couple of incidents however, I decided I needed a contract. I had one for hair and makeup bookings, so why not one for face painting? It’s nowhere near as in-depth, but it is just as important to have!

So what is a contract? In the UK, ‘a contract is a written or spoken agreement, especially one concerning employment, sales, or tenancy, that is intended to be enforceable by law’. And yes, you did read that right, a contract in the UK can be a spoken agreement, but it’s best to have it in writing as well just in case! This does NOT have to be created by a solicitor, but you can have it looked over or even created with a solicitor if you’re not sure. If you are going to be doing a lot of sub-contracting or running your business as an agency, I would highly recommend getting your contract looked over by a solicitor at the very least.

Your terms and conditions should set out your expectations for the client, and what the client should expect from you. My terms and conditions include when payments are due, how I expect payments to be made, and what happens if either party decides to cancel the booking. My terms and conditions also include other expectations of the client, e.g if one of the guests of the event breaks any of my equipment, you as the host/contractee are expected to pay for it (it’s worded much better in my t’s and c’s though!). There is a story behind every clause in my contract, and I do tweak it every now and again, for example, in my bridal hair and makeup contract, I had to introduce a clause saying that I needed to be made aware of any surprises the partner or any other guest of the event may be planning for the bride which may affect the timings of my services. It’s a long story so I won’t bore you, but I’m more than happy to tell you about it if you really want to know!

You need to work out what specific t’s and c’s work for you and how you operate, I’m not a lawyer so I can’t give legal advice! I personally have my t’s and c’s tagged on at the end of my booking form, which contains all the information for that specific booking. They don’t need to print it off and sign it, but they do need to confirm in an email that they agree that the information provided is correct and that they agree to the t’s and c’s. This makes the contract legally binding. You can also include in your contract that payment of the deposit acts as an agreement to the contract.

Contracts protect both you AND the client. I haven’t personally ever been questioned about anything in my contract, and ok, it might take a bit of time to create initially, but once it’s done, you can copy and paste it, and amend it for each client depending on the booking. I know this isn’t potentially the most interesting blog post ever, but it’s really important to protect yourself and your business.

I hope you have all had an incredible Halloween, and are now all busy with Christmas and New Year bookings coming in!

Mazz x

The Pixie Tribe