Newest Kit Alteration

Newest Incarnation : Minimalist Face Painting Kit

I do love my ever evolving face painting kit. This is the latest going back to the basics kit. I really enjoyed the two hour and three hour jobs that I worked on Saturday with this kit.

The Airbrush Face Painter’s Dilemma

Some of our Maryland & D.C. clients have let us know that they were not aware of the awesomeness that is airbrush face painting and tattoos. Let us go ahead and rectify that situation right here.

Maryland Airbrush Face Painter Airbrush Tattoo

Here is the biggest drawback that traditional face painters face – traditional cake face paint is water activated. This means a damp sponge or brush must be swiped across the surface of the makeup to get the makeup onto the brush or sponge. Then the dampened, makeup-laden brush or sponge is applied to the skin and the face paint dries in a few minutes.

But! After the face paint on the guests’ faces has dried, it is still water activated makeup. So if the dry face paint design gets re-wet through rain, sweating, swimming, water balloon fights, runny eyes or noses, or pie eating contests, well then that face paint is going to run for the hills (and sometimes it’ll run straight onto the only clean outfit that kid has had on all week!).

This isn’t usually a problem for indoor events or winter activities but, come on! Most Spring & Summer parties and picnics have some kind of shvitzing, spritzing or swimming involved.

Behold the mighty Airbrush! A tool too cool for school. (Or a too cool for school tool…)

Maryland Airbrush Tattoos Maryland Airbrush Face Painter

Airbrush face painters and temporary tattoo artists used to have only two options – water-based airbrush face paint makeup (essentially liquid cake makeup) or alcohol-based airbrush tattoo ink/makeup.

The water-based option is wonderful because we can use it on the face and still be super fast about face painting. But! It still has the old familiar drawbacks of regular face paint : re-activating with water and therefore running and smearing at the first hint of moisture.

Alcohol-based airbrush temporary tattoo ink’s special formulation is wonderful for longer lasting BODY tattoos but it is irritating to the sensitive skin of the face – and who wants to deal with removal of a stubborn green snake tattoo on a five year old’s face before school picture day? Not this mom. To remove the alcohol-based airbrush temporary tattoo inks from the body you really have to go with rubbing alcohol or baby oil, but boy does it hang on through all those trips to the pool.

Welcome our New Water-Resistant Airbrush Face Painting Makeup.

This stuff is amaaaaazing. It has the longevity of the alcohol based tattoo inks but just like water-based airbrush face painting makeup, it is gentler on the skin and requires only soap and water on a washcloth to remove. It takes the gentle natured outlook on life from the water-based airbrush face paints and combines it with the rugged tenacity of the alcohol based airbrush tattoo inks. It contains the same cosmetic magic ingredient that water-proof mascara does.

Maryland Pool Party Airbrush Face Painter Maryland Airbrush Face Painter Airbrush Tattoos in Maryland

So what does this mean for our customers who are used to our amazing traditional face painters? Well, it means that we have a sweet new option to offer them for summer time Company Picnics, Pool Parties, B’nai Mitzvah, School Dances and other events where perspiration or environmental precipitation might be involved.

And our airbrushed designs are super fast – our artists can blaze through 40-50 kids per artist per hour with the simpler airbrush face painting designs a.k.a. “Cheek Art” or “Tattoos”. And they can still do the cool “Full Face” airbrush face painting style at 20-30 kids per hour as well! With traditional sponge and brush face painting, at 30-50 kids per hour, those guests would be lucky to get a pink teardrop and spritz of glitter. We have encountered SOOOO much less grumbling from guests in line when the service is fast and the line moves quickly.

Now is the time to book your date and ask if Airbrush Face Painting and Tattoos is the perfect fit for your event.
~Michelle.Heffner@gmail.com

Teaching & Reconnecting with Fellow Face Painters

In February I had the pleasure of attending and teaching at the fourth annual 2013 Kapital Kidvention. This was my fourth time attending and my second time teaching my fellow local (and not so local!) professional children’s entertainers all about my tips and tricks.

I really enjoy this convention because I know that the folks I meet are close by and are as serious as I am about making our professional children’s entertainment companies in Maryland, Virginia and DC exceptional and ever-improving.

Maryland Virginia Washington DC Face Painter

Michelle Heffner Teaching New Face Painting Techniques

I had such a great time talking about my “Pretty Little Somethings” – designs for when clients don’t know what they want but they still want to participate in the live creative process of face painting. It was lovely to show off and get “oohs” and “ahhhs” of course, but it was also gratifying to hear the feedback from the class participants :

“…your workshop was great! The rhythm of the step-by-step with the ‘this is how I would normally do it’ was really good, and your explanations were better than the other ones I went to! Excellent job and a good topic too.”

Michelle’s special “One Stroke” rose technique which WOWWED even the most seasoned painters

Friday Face Painting Haiku : freedom

four weeks of freedom:

no swirls, curls, teardrops from me…

time to stretch my wings

Thanks Brady :)

7 Comments February 11, 2011

Fall & Winter Pictures

Here are photos of my Face & Body Art work from the last 3-4 months.
Click the Thumbnails to enlarge – and find out why each photo is dear to my heart.

6 Comments December 10, 2010

Rainbow… Cake?

Tee he he!

I thought this was a funny twist from a non-face painter’s point of view:

Rainbow Cake

2 Comments November 17, 2010

My New 2 Minute Kit

I took a little trip to the Container Store today in Rockville, MD.

It was so awesome!

I needed some new kit organization after Face Painting for 9 weekends at the Maryland Renaissance Festival.

Here are some pictures of my new set up:

Here is what I changed:

1. I bought a rockin’ new Black Case that I love to pieces. It is a lot lighter and less bulky than the ubiquitous metal tool box from Home Depot/Silly Farm. Plus it lays open almost completely flat so I don’t have to transfer stuff from the case to the table or worry about the thing shutting or falling. It has a nice handle and I can also add a shoulder strap.
2. I got a “Professional Face Painter” tote as a Free Gift from Metina’s Face Paint Forum Shop. Weeee! It would be worth the $10 anyway – it has a nice flat bottom and wide shoulder strap. I do wish the bottom was reinforced with a stiffy (that’s what she said!) but it is lovely so far (NOTE: Metina let me know that there is a stiffy included with the bags! I just misplaced mine. I found it and tried it all together and there is no sagging. Wee!!). Into my tote goes everything I can’t fit into my Black Case.
3. I have all my TAG Body Art palettes organized by color on the left side of the Black Case when open. The palettes get closed up when they are in the case so they don’t shift around or fall out.
4. On the right side of the open Black Case I have my few pots of Kryolan, Snaz, and Paradise plus my Black and White and Rainbow cakes and my water containers + wipes.
5. I also changed out my water containers – I need a wide shallow one for my sponges and a tall narrow one for my brush water. I bought the brush one (dark plastic rectangular box) at the Container Store.
6. I bought one of those Lipstick holders to keep my glitter, fan, and Green Marble handy.
7. For my clean sponges, I switched out using a HUUUUUUUUGE mesh bag and now I’m keeping 26 sponges in a mesh collapsible cube. The dirty ones still go into a mesh laundry bag on the side.
8. I decided to try out using my new TAG One Stroke Split Cakes with my regular kit to see how I like them. They are in a 3 drawer acrylic thingy. I tried to take pictures to show how the cakes fit nicely into the drawers.
9. I’m keeping a few of my self sticky rhinestones in the bottom drawer.
10. The rest of my loose jewels are inside/under my Brush Easel.

So there it is.

I timed myself unpacking and then repacking and I finished in under 2 minutes both times.

My next step is to get my picture display easier to carry, then my table, then my chair…. then the WORLD!!! Muahahahahahahahhahahahaaaaaa… ahem.

The Container Store Product Descriptions and Codes:

17″ x 14″ x 4-1/2″ h Commercial-Grade Case Black
Item # 10014001

Acrylic Lipstick & Pencil Cube Clear
Item # 854100

Small 3-Drawer Acrylic Box Clear
Item # 388350

5-1/2″ Folding Mesh Cube Black
Item # 10005355

Amac Box Turquoise: 1-3/16″ sq. x 2-7/16″ h
Item # 10022858

1 Comment October 29, 2010

My Top Five

1. Lucie Brouillard

2. Alison Kenyon

3. Nick Herrera

4. Olivier Zegers

5. Catriona Finlayson-Wilkins

Who are your top 5 Face Painter Crushes?

So Do It.

2 Comments September 3, 2010

Drumroll Please

Alright folks, update your contact lists with our new phone number:

443-878-2654

The pay-as-you-go plan was turning out to be too expensive for us so we signed up for an honest to goodness smartphone.

Now I can check email when I’m upstairs! (Don’t act like that isn’t a big deal – because it is. I promise you.)

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