Frequently Asked Questions

Products

All the brands on this site are professional products made to strict cosmetic standards, and adverse reactions are rare. As with all cosmetic products, some people are sensitive to some ingredients. There are no standards for the term "hypo allergenic", it is simply an unsubstantiated marketing tool used by the cosmetics industry. However, Grimas has made available a product called 'Pure' which has no bactericides, and provides an alternative for those sensitive to parabens and chemical preservatives (chlorine, bromine etc.) and is also perfume free. Also, the colours used are from the strictest category - EEC/76/768.

Mehron have stated that all their products including Paradise paints are Vegan and never tested on animals.
Diamond FX also states their paints are Vegan.

Though they both have not been formally approved as such by the Vegan Society.

Grimas uses two ingredients that are animal in origin:
Lanolin (byproduct from wool)
Cera alba (beeswax)

Grimas also states it's never carried out animal testing or given instructions to do so.

Use a pre-wash treatment and soak in cold water before washing normally.

Soap (or better still baby shampoo) and warm water on an old flannel! As the paint is water based, it needs to be removed with water. Oily or cream based removers tend to seal the colour onto the skin. Baby wipes are tempting, but contain oils and are not designed for the face. People have said that olive oil, coconut oil and shaving cream have been effective at removing any staining left behind after thorough washing.

Send us an email detailing the product you are interested in and what you want to know. We can advise on ingredients, application and more!

Send anemail to info@facepaint-uk.com and ask away!

Face paints are really water based make-up. Do buy professional quality paints, we recommend Grimas make-up as a good all-round product, but all the main brands: - Grimas, Kryolan, Paradise, Fardel and DFX are fine to use, and are all sold here. Application techniques do vary according to the product/brand.

Cheap face paints sold in 'blister packs' are quite often a sort of coloured soap, not dangerous, but is unlikely to give the results illustrated. Sometimes they ARE dangerous, there have been product recalls several times. Don't be tempted by crayon sticks which tend to be grease based, drag on the skin, give a disappointing result and can be difficult to remove. Some products produced for annual occasions such as Halloween have been known to contain paint pigments that are difficult to remove or stain the skin. It's best to buy your products from an outlet that regularly sells good quality face paints, not your local garage!

Ordering

This depends on the status of your order. If it has already been processed, you will need to make another order. If not, we will try to intervene and make the change you require. Please let us know the order number you wish to make alterations to. Any difference in cost will either be refunded or requested via PayPal. We do not hold credit on accounts.

If you want an alterative product, contact us first, and return the item to us in its original condition. You will need to provide the order number from when it was purchased. We can exchange for another item and refund any difference if the cost is lesser. You will need to pay for the additional postage costs. It will be quicker for you to make another order for the replacement item (including payment) and await the refund for the returned goods. Some items may be non-returnable for hygiene reasons.

We cannot refund or exchange any product that has been used unless it is faulty.

Yes. We will establish what the postage and packing costs are, with speed and insurance options if available, and give you the choice of which you’d prefer. We will issue a PayPal payment request; the amount will be automatically converted to your local currency. Once payment has been received, the order will be sent by your chosen delivery method. Delivery times vary by destination and delivery method preferred. You may have to pay customs or import charges, these are your responsibility.

No

No. Having all our products on the site means we stay as up to date as possible with stock, special offers and prices. Catalogues cost a lot to print (including environmentally) and post out so have become somewhat obsolete.

We have done our best to design Facepaint UK to be easy and informative to use. As we have so many, the products are divided into colour categories or other specialist areas as well as the ability to ‘shop by brand’. All non-cosmetic products that you might need including brushes, sponges or other equipment and interesting bits and bobs are in their own separate category.

Add items as you need them to your ‘Shopping Cart’ one at a time from the simple view, or open the item to see more detail. You can also adjust the quantity in your order by clicking the trolley icon at top right of whichever page you are on, or just to check what you have ordered. Don't forget to click "Update Basket" if you do adjust the quantity!

When you have finished your selection, view your basket and apply your shipping choice, then click 'Proceed to checkout' and either log in (if you’ve not already) or create a new account. You will be then taken to the address form page to either check or enter your addresses. You will need to agree to our Terms of Service and confirm the order. And then lastly you will be taken to the payment page where you can make payment. If you have a PayPal account you may use that, otherwise just use your debit or credit card in the usual way - PayPal will facilitate this, select 'Debit or Credit Card'.

We aim to deliver to you within 2 days, if it is going to take longer, or we only have part of you order in stock, we will contact you to ask what you prefer us to do - hold the order until all stock is available, or send two deliveries. This could incur extra delivery costs, but usually not.

If you want your stuff in a tearing hurry (next day delivery – UK mainland only) please select Special Delivery Guaranteed Next Day by 1pm in the shipping options, see 'Special Delivery info!' in FAQ's for more info!?

If you don't have a PayPal account you will need your debit or credit card details, including the billing address as held by the card company, and the delivery address which may be different. Your registration address with Facepaint UK should match the address registered for your card or PayPal account or this can create problems.

If there is a problem with payment please contact us so we can get the order under way as quickly as possible.

Generally, if an item is not in stock, you will not be able to purchase it.

If there is a glitch, we will advise you by email and ask you if you want us to hold your order until it is back in stock. If not, we will refund the difference to your PayPal account, and advise you when the item is back in stock, if requested.

It is possible, for example, that only one item is available and someone else completed their order before you, in which case you will be prevented from completing the order.

If you want to know when we expect a product to be back in stock, please send us an email to info@facepaint-uk.com

You will receive an email confirming your order, and another confirming despatch. We will also contact you if there are any issues with your order.

Consumer Contracts Regulations

Under the UK's regulations you have the right to cancel your order for any item and get a full refund for the goods (minus any postage costs). Cancellations must be made within 14 days. Please contact us by email to info@facepaint-uk.com for an Order Cancellation Form. If your order has been despatched you must return the goods to this address in their original unopened condition (the condition they were packed in) within 14 days of receipt. The items are your responsibility until we receive them, so we advise that you pack them carefully and use a service that insures you for loss or damage, and obtain Proof of Posting. We will make a refund within 14 days of receiving the goods.

Registering

Use the Lost password link in the Login area. You will be given a new one by email which you can change after you have logged in using it.
You will need to use the email address that you have registered with us.

You can also use this to check if your email is registered on our system already!

Payment

Yes, you can, but your order will not be despatched until we have received the cheque and it has cleared. Please contact us byemail after making your order to make this arrangement.

If you wish to make orders of over £500 or wish to ask about wholesale prices please contact us for individual arrangements. Our prices are very competitive, if not the best you will find. Most of our customers are professionals; we do not offer any further discount simply due to your occupation.

PayPal accepts all major currencies and will use their own exchange rate for conversion to Pounds Sterling.

If the PayPal process is not completed, we can still see your order and will advise you that payment has not been received. We can send you a PayPal payment request which sometimes works better! Alternatively you can pay by cheque to: Facepaint UK, 188 Brixton Road, London SW9 6AR or bank transfer (please ask for account details). We cannot despatch orders that have not been paid for unless you can send a Purchase Order from an established organisation. We will need to approve this and agree payment terms.

After you submit your order you will be redirected to the PayPal website for payment and the payment process takes place. You do not need a PayPal account to use PayPal. Once authorised, the payment is taken from your account. If you have a PayPal account it will come from there, if you pay by bank card it will be taken via PayPal from that bank account. If payment is authorised but we need to contact you to effect your order, we will send you an email. If, for some reason, we cannot send your order a full refund will be made to your account via PayPal. PayPal also operate an e-cheque system, these can take 10 days to clear and we are advised not to despatch goods until the clearance is notified. We will advise you of this if we have received an e-cheque payment.

We do not despatch orders that have not been paid for. The only exception to this is by confirmed receipt of a Purchase Order from a recognised organisation, usually schools and colleges. Payment must be received within 30 days.

Delivery

Yes, you can collect from our Welsh address BY PRIOR ARRANGEMENT.

We are not a shop and do not keep regular business hours. Our stock is not on display for you to select from, you must make your order online and we will prepare it for you.

Please call 0207 735 5719 or email to make an appointment for collection. You can use the discount code PPPickup for collection to get a £0.00 rate on postage or we will refund any P&P charges made, or you can pay cash on collection if you prefer.

Yes, fill in the alternative address delivery details in the ordering process.

No carrier would guarantee this, and we may require a signature to verify that the goods were delivered. However, we do add notes to addresses when requested, and they often comply. Please be aware that if you request a delivery to be left in an insecure place, we cannot be responsible if it is lost or stolen.

Some parcels are tracked, but not standard 1st class packages though all our parcels have delivery confirmation.

If you require tracking please state you want the parcel tracked but there will be a longer delivery time and postage cost will be subject to change, or Special Delivery is a tracked service and can be selected at the checkout.

We frequently review our costs to ensure they are reasonable. Each item has been given a code depending on its size and weight. These are added together to work out the cost of posting to you.

Generally, most orders fit into the lowest category of £5.00.
Larger or heavier orders will come to £5.50.
Several larger or heavy items may fall into the highest £7.50 bracket.

These charges cover more than the postage costs alone!

We occasionally issue voluntary refunds via PayPal if the charge has proved excessive after posting. Royal Mail does increase their prices, and it would be unrealistic not to reflect this in our pricing. Parking and transport costs rise too, and it's probably still easier and cheaper than going to a physical shop!

Rush items by next day Special Delivery have an additional cost depending on weight. If you want Special Delivery, please select this at the checkout for an estimated price, we will send you an email letting you know if there is an extra cost, and a PayPal request for payment that needs to be completed before 1:00pm.
Saturday Special Delivery now costs the same as weekday delivery!

See 'Special Delivery info!' in FAQ's for more info!?

Orders over £100 are sent free of post & packing charge (unless Special Delivery is requested) except for overseas orders. For these we deduct the cost of sending within the UK and only ask for the extra cost to be paid. Each order needs to be packed and weighed and priced for worldwide regions individually so we cannot automate a charge for this.

We endeavour to use clean recycled packaging where possible; this may mean a pre-used envelope or outer box. This is a cause for celebration, not complaint.

Please contact us straight away and we will do our best to sort it out. We pack everything carefully, and double check contents to avoid this happening. We also keep an accurate weight record of all packages on despatch which can help verify the contents. If your package has been damaged in transit, we will need to make a claim, and require you to provide information about the damage.

Our Special Delivery Guaranteed Next Day by 1pm options are based on an estimated weight of the ordered items and is subject to alteration, if so we will notify you of this if :

- The cost is higher than the estimate given we’ll request the extra via PayPal which will need to be completed before 1:00pm.

- The estimate is above the weight of the order then we will refund you the difference via PayPal after the order has been despatched.

Our price brackets for Special Delivery Guaranteed Next Day by 1pm are:

Small Package under 100g - £9.00
Normal Package under 500g - £9.50
Big Package under 1kg - £11.00
Biggest Package under 2kg - £14.00
Up to but under 10kg - £19.00


Saturday Special Delivery Guaranteed is now the same price!

The cut-off time for any Special Delivery is 1:00pm, your order must be completed before this to ensure next day delivery, be aware that someone will need to be available sign for the delivery.

We can arrange delivery by 9am at a even greater cost but this is by request only, please let us know if you require this and we can give you a quote.

This is a trackable service and we'll let you know the tracking number via a text from Royal Mail and or after we despatch (normally around 3pm that day) that can be used here: https://www.royalmail.com/track-your-item

We do not guarantee to send orders out this way unless you've heard from us with confirmation! Please check your emails to avoid disappointment, product could also be unavailable.

The carrier will leave a card giving you options for obtaining your delivery by making arrangements for re-delivery on a day that suits you, to an alternative address or collection from their depot. Each carrier has different arrangements.

We cannot be held liable if you fail to collect your package and it is returned to us. We can send it again, at the customer’s expense for the additional postage.

Please check that the delivery address supplied is absolutely correct. We print our labels directly from the information that you give on your order.

In the rare instance that a package is lost, we have to allow 15 working days before Royal Mail considers it ‘lost’ within the UK (31 days elsewhere). We will need to make a claim, and may require you to provide verification that it did not arrive. Royal Mail may also make their own enquiries with you directly. After the 15 working day period, we will either send the order again or offer a refund if you no longer want it.

If your package is returned to us as uncollected or undeliverable, we will contact you to let you know. We can send it again but you will need to pay for the repeat postage costs.

Returns

This depends why you are making a return. If the goods are faulty or not what you ordered, please contact us first by email at info@facepaint-uk.com to let us know, and we will advise you how to proceed. If you have ordered the wrong thing, or changed your mind, the return postage costs are your responsibility, and we will deduct ours from a refund, and possibly an administration fee. Please note that any returned items, for whatever reason, are your responsibility until we receive them, so we advise that you use a service that insures for loss or damage.

Returns will not be accepted without a FPUK Return Code which we will give you when you contact us and we have agreed to the return. We will also advise you of the return address which may not be the London address, depending on the goods or problem involved. The goods must be packed carefully so that we receive them in the same condition that you did. Please note that any returned items, for whatever reason, are your responsibility until we receive them, so we advise that you use a service that insures for loss or damage.

We hope that we can sort this out and keep you happy. If we agree to the return of an order that was sent as described and is not faulty we may charge a 10% administration fee and our postage costs, return postage to us (insured if necessary) is at your expense. If you need to, return the goods in their original condition within 14 days and we will give you a full refund of the cost of goods. See 'How do I make a return?'. The item is your responsibility until we receive it, so we advise that you use a service that insures against loss or damage.

We have put as much information on the site as possible so that you order the items you want. Please contact us within 7 days if you have any issues and we hope we can sort it out. If there has been an error at our end, we will arrange another order and despatch the correct goods. On receipt of returned incorrect or faulty goods we will give a full refund including your return delivery costs (you may need to provide a receipt for this) via PayPal. Please note that any returned items, for whatever reason, are your responsibility until we receive them, so we advise that you use a service that insures you for loss or damage for the value of the goods if they are over £46 value, and ask for Proof of Posting in any case. Incorrect goods must be returned in their original condition.

General

If you have a query, send us an email (with your phone number), and if we can't answer by return email we will call you.

Our phone number is 0207 735 5719 but we are essentially an online internet service and do not normally process orders by telephone. We cannot take payment over the phone. We do not keep regular business hours, and sometimes not in a position to answer the phone, but we are available every weekday.

We do not share any information with anyone not connected with your order. 'Cookies' are used to keep track of the contents of your shopping basket once you have selected an item, and your details so do need to be enabled. We never send spam or promotional emails.

Simply send us an email and let us know what you think!

Please let us know by sending an email telling us what's wrong by to info@facepaint-uk.com and we will fix it as soon as we can, or give you advice if needed.

Our secure server software encrypts all your personal information. This process converts the characters into code that are securely transmitted over the internet. PayPal is recognised as having industry-leading fraud protection systems in place and we felt was the most secure internet payment system available so that you can shop with confidence.You do not need a PayPal account to use their facility. We have no control over the PayPal process, and we cannot 'take money' from your account.

We are pleased and proud to offer a personal service as a small business, and being online means that we are not tied to regular business hours. We only send post Monday – Friday (not on UK Bank Holidays). We do not work (publicly) at weekends.