Facepaint UK Blog

Welcome to our Blog, stuffed with information and some timeless step by steps. This is also where we keep all the articles that once graced the Member pages of The Mirror, our online magazine at the previous Facepaint UK website. They date from 2005 onwards, so some are a little outdated in style or content, but some are not! It would be such a shame to lose this invaluable resource and slice of history, so we have transferred them all as they are, warts and all!

Ding Dong Merrily on High, We Are Closing for a Merry Long Christmas Time! - Facepaint UK Blog

Ding Dong Merrily on High, We Are Closing for a Merry Long Christmas Time!

Dec 7, 2023

Ding Dong Merrily on High, We Are Closing for a Merry Long Christmas Time! We are closing from the 18th of December till the 8th of January! Orders or questions within these dates will be seen to in the New Year, that we wish you all the best for!

Ding dong indeed. let alone I will be using this time to try and enjoy the festive season, but to also sort through a backlog of tasks that inevitably build up...

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In loving memory of the late, and great Bibi Freeman! - Facepaint UK Blog

In loving memory of the late, and great Bibi Freeman!

Jul 7, 2023

As her son, I feel it’s only right to post something about my mother Bibi Freeman (founder of this site) who passed away on the 4th of January 2023. About 10 years ago she really took a step back from the facepainting world, she had made her mark on it, and it had made its marks on her as any passion that is followed would.

In those 10 years she was still a vital part of this site and...

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Multi Colour Week 15% discount!

Nov 27, 2020

Again, we’re not doing Black Friday, let’s be more positive with Multi Colour Week with savings throughout the week, for this week only!

For a 15% discount on any purchases use the discount code: MULTI15 And don’t forget to check out our clearance section for multiplying your savings!

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Multi Colour Week with Multiple Savings! - Facepaint UK Blog

Multi Colour Week with Multiple Savings!

Nov 21, 2017

We’re not doing Black Friday, let’s be more positive with Multi Colour Week and multiple savings throughout the week, for this week only!

For a 10% discount on any purchases giving multiple savings use the discount code: MULTI

And don’t forget to check out our clearance section for multiplying your savings!

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Illusion Magazine

Mar 28, 2017

The premier issue is bound to become a collector's edition, the cover artist was 'The Wizard from Oz' Lynne Jamieson. SOLD OUT AND RE-ISSUED DUE TO POPULAR DEMAND!

Issue 2 with a fiery cover by Nick Wolfe is still in stock, there is an interview with him, Mark Greenawalt, Cathy Corbett, Facepaint-UK's Linzi Foxcroft, Henna artist Riffat, beautiful fairy faces by Suzanne Mykolajenko, an article on pregnant belly painting and more so roll up and buy one...

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Interview with Carolyn Cowan - Facepaint UK Blog

Interview with Carolyn Cowan

Mar 22, 2017

by Kerry September

I had first heard of Carolyn Cowan when I was starting out as a make up artist, and I just knew that one day in the future I would meet her. She is an entirely self taught make up artist, body painter & photographer. Her father was a fashion photographer but left when she was three. It's obviously in the genes.

She has worked with the best Directors, Photographers and music artists in the world! Ridley...

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HOW TO PAINT AN ENGLAND FLAG

Mar 15, 2017

It looks so easy... but the simplest faces can be the most tricky.

The easiest way is to use Grimas Cake White if you have it. You don’t need to be so careful as you can paint another colour over it. If you don’t have Cake White (and at Wembley you won’t) you need to be careful not to cross over the red and the white. Make bold strokes and you will get a straighter line. Look ahead at...

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FACE PAINTERS INVADE WEMBLEY!

Mar 15, 2017

We saw, we came and we conquered. An invitation for 50 painters to adorn the adorers could not be ignored, and must surely be the biggest team ever. The dust is settling, the washing machine has finally finished washing, England won against USA (a bit of a foregone conclusion in truth) and nobody got hurt. Here are some photos, and an article written by a team member, one of our favourite personalities, Gary Yam.

This was a big job...

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The Facepainter's Quiz - Facepaint UK Blog

The Facepainter's Quiz

Mar 15, 2017

Are you a heartless mercenary, or a useless soppy pushover?

Answer this wicked quiz, written by an anonymous member - it's not quite what you might expect!

1. The line closed twenty minutes ago, and you’ve just finished the last face of the day. Tiny Tim complete with crutches hobbles over with his sick grandfather and asks politely if he could be a puppy. Do you:

A) Reply “The line closed an hour ago, and I’m only here because...

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RED NOSE DAY!

Mar 15, 2017

Blimey this took off!

Due to a surge in interest in 'bump painting' after Erica Norman painted a quick but lovely one for BBC Wales, and it went WORLDWIDE, a group of painters decided it would be a great thing to capitalise on all the publicity to support Red Nose Day 2009. So Samantha Gray bravely set up the group on the Red Nose website and before long there were 21 members and bumps being...

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Calendar Girls! - Facepaint UK Blog

Calendar Girls!

Mar 15, 2017

Liz Bylett contacted us to tell us all about her involvement in an exciting charity calendar, with a difference.

“Calendar Girls comeback in Body Paint”

“A vivacious and gregarious group of women, from the sleepy village of Downe in Kent, have joined together with a team of incredibly talented body painters to produce a fantastically visual and exciting 2009 body painting calendar.

“Well preserved”, jam making W.I. ladies have donned nipple tassels and bared all in...

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The Surrey Jam

Mar 15, 2017

I know this sounds like it might have been a table top sale of preserves by the WI, but it wasn’t! So what is a Jam? It’s just a get together of people with a common interest, in this case facepainters of course, and it can be a handful at someone’s house over coffee, or a full blown event in a hall like this one. It takes a lot of organisation and commitment, and I for one...

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UKBPF - UK Body Painting Festival - Facepaint UK Blog

UKBPF - UK Body Painting Festival

Mar 15, 2017

I only heard about the UK Body Paint Festival AFTER their event last year, when someone mentioned it online. As I wasn’t allowed to go to Seeboden this year (travelling with baby bump banned), I emailed them for details, hoping I could still get a painting fix closer to home. Anne sent a very friendly reply, but I decided (from their photos) that it looked as if it was really for a group of beginners, and maybe someone like me...

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​Inside The Reference Library Halloween

Mar 15, 2017

Reference Library

We have shelves and disks groaning with accumulated ideas for facepainting and product information. When you're groaning with frustration, let us know - a groan shared is a groan halved and the shelf gets a break too! Even if we don't know the best product to use, we will be fascinated to find out! Please email your request for an image and we will send a jpeg image to your email address with notes if...

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FACE CONFERENCE 2008 Meet the Family

Mar 15, 2017

THE PARTY - MEET THE FAMILY

The ‘Gala Dinner’ was beckoning all surviving souls, and we were keen to see how people had interpreted the Wild West theme, and whose guns would be pointed at whom ‘under the table’. Here are just a few photos of the Family in disguise.

DER KNEES UN-DER TABLE PRETTY PAULA AND A FLOOZIE

MICHELLE WITHEY (with Jennifer Parker) deservedly won the prize for Best Costume, as well as Best Newcomer.

...

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FACE CONFERENCE 2008

Mar 15, 2017

Boy did we get into trouble for this light hearted article!

The Conference with a Sicilian twist of lemon! by a slightly twisted Caro Childs and other attendees

March the 7th 2008 was a date fixed in the whole family's diary and not just my family, the 'Face Conference' as it is known is the big gathering of all the UK members of the "Face Painting Family" if you know what I mean. It is the place where...

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'FACE' POSTAL COMPETITIONS - DESIGNING

Mar 15, 2017

“Whenever I hear of a theme, I can’t help but think about it, whether I intend to enter a competition or not! I had been asked to demonstrate a Western Princess at the conference and had no idea what was expected. The Wild West theme was a bit of a challenge as I have no positive interest in Cowboys, or the cruel invasion of North America, but anyone who has been to my house will know that I have an...

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'FACE' POSTAL COMPETITIONS

Mar 15, 2017

These are getting more and more interesting, with some very skilled work being submitted. This year there was the annual Face Award, which has no theme, and the Wild West Award to go with the theme of the event. There were so many entries that we have given it a section of its own, with apologies for the quality of the pictures, Face has not made them officially available as yet. But we thought you would like to see the...

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'FACE' LIVE COMPETITIONS

Mar 15, 2017

The Face Conference is a vehicle for competitions as well as an opportunity for a lot of painters to get together, exchange tips and ideas and generally get on bad!

There are a series of 'fun' contests, some semi-serious like the 2 colour challenge and then there are the ones that are not for the faint hearted!

For the 2 colour challenge (below) participants were directed to use the special 'Fools Gold' Snazaroo paint that had been generously included...

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​THREE CHRISTMAS STEP BY STEPS !!!

Mar 15, 2017

FESTIVE POINSETTIA

This is a very adaptable design, Bibi demonstrated it at the Bristol Convention, here it is again for those of you that missed it, or were too tired to take it all in!

STEP 1. Paint a thick dark green line with 2 curves, I used Wolfe dark green, and sponge out on the inside with Grimas pearlised white while still damp. Make sure the line includes the eyebrow or it will look messy. Use...

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