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DELIVERY
We are proud to have established that 99% of orders are despatched the day the order is received (before about 4pm). If it's not being sent same day, we do try and let you know, certainly if the delay is longer. Do check your email account!
Most of our post goes by Royal Mail 1st class, so you can hope to receive it next day. It may be sent by Recorded Delivery, in which case it will need to be signed for, and cannot be left in a 'special place'. We have a tiered pricing structure to accommodate Royal Mail's costings
Large orders MAY go by Parcel Force which takes a little longer.
We can arrange Special Delivery for guaranteed next day by 9am or 1pm - please request this in the comments box and we will let you know the extra cost, so do please check your emails.
Saturday Special Deliveries cost £3 more than weekdays.
2011 VAT INCREASE
We haven't generally increased our prices as yet and are hoping to be able to absorb the extra that our lovely government wants to make out of your spending habits.
However, we’ve been given new prices from 2 of our suppliers.
There’s good news and there's bad news.
Many Grimas prices have actually DECREASED, though the price of the water-based make up has increased ever so slightly, having been held down for a very long time. It's still good value for money.
But quite unbelievably, the price of Paradise (and all Mehron and Graftobian products) have increased considerably for a third time. There is a supplier in common here that imports from USA and must be having some difficulty in understanding the real world. We can only apologise for this, but regrettably have to pass most of these increases on. If price is an issue, can we suggest that you try Grimas as a good working paint if you haven’t already?How to use our shop! Use the menu links on the left to find all the products we stock in a colour or type. We now also have a SHOP BY BRAND section if you want to see the whole range on offer from one supplier, and we have a UV-NEON category for all those bright products that react to UV light. Alternatively, you can enter a word in the 'Product Search' box lower down on the left, click the Search button and you may get lucky, but the spelling must be right! When you want to buy something, just click 'Add to kit'. Once you have made a selection, you can continue shopping from that category, choose another category to shop from, or use the product search box to find what you want. You'll be reminded of what's in your shopping basket every time you 'Add to kit'. If for some reason the system won't work for you, send us a list of what you want in an email, and we'll see what we can do. You can even pay by cheque if you complete your order (without paying), note the amount due including P&P and send a cheque with the order number to:Facepaint UK, 188 Brixton Road, London SW9 6AR. We will send the goods as soon as the cheque has cleared. Put a note in the comments box at the end if you wish to do this.
You can change the number of items shown per page in the little 'Display' drop down box at the top and bottom of the page, and you can just keep scrolling through up to 50 at a time. If you've forgotten your password, you can request another using the Lost Password button under the log in box.
We use PayPal for secure payments, but don't worry if you haven't got an account with them - you can still enter your debit or credit card details. Just follow the instructions at the PayPal site that you will be directed to. If for some reason you don't complete the payment process, we will get your order, and it will be confirmed by email to you, but we won't actually send it until payment is received! PayPal payments are instant, but if you use the echeque facility please be aware that it can take up to 10 days to clear and it will delay your order being despatched.
All our prices include VAT except for books and magazines, which are zero rated. See shopping FAQ for delivery costs and options. We'll ask for your contact details to deliver your purchases, and so that we can contact you if there are any problems. Of course, you'll only have to tell us once. When you return to shop again you can log in and it will remember what you told us last time. This uses 'cookies', so they must be enabled on your computer. You'll also need to log in to get your 10% discount if you are a full member. You can buy membership, or training at the London School of Face Painting from the shop, as well as a huge range of useful equipment, but please, not at the same time as products that we post. The main brands that we stock are listed below, with our summary of their properties. If we have something more to say about a particular colour or product, it will be in the short description for each item.
For more detailed information see our FAQ page
GRIMAS
We have found this to be the best all round face painting product. However, there are some little glitches that we would love to be changed - like 501 being called bright red by Grimas when in fact it's dark orange. In our description we've called it 'bright fire red very close to orange' ! Our descriptions of each product give you a little extra information when you're choosing. We also know that the pearlised colours are the best thing ever for quick and lovely princess bases and more. In general, the consistency of Grimas face paint is good, they don't melt or dry out in the sun (except 508, which does have a tendency to get dry) and have a high pigment content so a little goes a very long way. The colours are bright and the packaging is wonderful. The little pots clip onto trays that can stack onto another tray so that setting up and packing away is a doddle, no lids to match to pots, and 12 colours at a time magically appear (or disappear). They are very robust to suit us seasoned travellers, and the whole range comes in the same format. They are so good that we use Grimas products as the mainstay of our face painting kits.
KRYOLAN
The grand daddy of theatre and face paint products, and what we first bought when we started. Was there anything else? They have a big range of Aquacolours, which they are a bit secretive about. The paints are lovely, easy to use with good coverage when new, but suffer from exposure to lots of hot sunny days out in the field by drying out and can become hard to 'work'. The Interferenz range is spectacular; we have selected the best duochromes and metallics which truly add another dimension to your work. Use sparingly; not only are they super expensive, but this really is a case of 'less is more' as, if applied to thickly, they look clumpy and it can be difficult to apply detail with other aqua colours over the top. Kryolan also have good dayglo colours available in a cake form. These add an extra wow factor, but are a waste under fluorescent (strip) lighting or gloom as they need the uv component of natural light to come into their own. Proper uv or black light reveals their full potential. PARADISE
A relatively new semi-soft product created by 'celebrity face painter' Jinny for Mehron, this is a welcome addition to our palette. We bang on about the way they smell because we think it is gorgeous, though some don't like it. They also come in some very unusual colours; the new tropical range is very exciting, and there is now a new 'Nuance' range. Some of the colours suffer from sun melt, (noticeably dark green) to be remembered if you do a lot of work outdoors in the summer. The ingredients sound good enough to eat - aloe, chamomile, glycerine, avocado oil and cocoa butter, which gives it that wonderful aroma. The palettes are really swish, both the little silver ones which are great for a small kit, and the big pro palette for serious face painters. The brushes are well developed too, as you'd expect from a practicing painter, and the little Detailz pots make perfect dots time after time. Paradise Black is the best all round black we've found, glides on beautifully, stays solidly black (and doesn't melt in the sun) and really is paradise if you're a busy working face painter and into that kind of thing! It also washes off quite easily.
Not recommended for use on children under 3 years old. DA VINCI BRUSHES
daVinci simply make the best brushes we've found. Their sable brushes are a delight to use, and their synthetics well made with true artists in mind. If you were to look closely at the construction you will find that the bristles go much further into the ferrule than cheaper brushes which prolongs their life and provides greater elasticity and springyness. Generations of experience are behind these proud and passionate makers of the most excellent of brushes, seeking out the best sable hair available and researching synthetic fibres for stability, spring and paint retention. Careful consultation with the artists that use their products results in a range of brushes for every application, we have chosen those most suitable for face painting. Their soap is a minor miracle and useful for banishing your laundry stains too! STARGAZER
Stargazer make a huge range of cosmetic products, we have selected those that are most useful to us as face painters! They are good value for money and supply glitter in an effective shaker pot, and very nice glitter it is too! The holes are quite large, so you might like to try it with just one or two revealed before taking the whole sticker off. They also produce UV products that are thin on the ground elsewhere. Their extreme eyelashes have to be seen to be believed, and are a great addition to that special 'showcase face'.
WOLFE BROTHERS FACE ART & FX There has been some concern over the removal of these products. The Metallic Green, Metallic Purple and Black can be difficult to remove, especially around the eyes. Therefore we advise that these are painted over a cake base and dark colours not painted too close to the eyes on young victims! We advise applying baby shampoo then rinsing for effective removal, which is great advice for removing all face paints. They say it doesn't 'stain' as the wax content prevents the product entering the skin, and it is this property than can sometimes interfere with removal. It also means that the paint stays bright and long lasting, and you can't have it both ways! We have suggested that any lingering traces could be regarded as a homoeopathic memory of a great face paint! Please let us know if you feel we should add anything to this advice from your own experience. It’s not often enough that there is good news! This is great news. We are pleased to stock Diamond FX, some will be familiar with a similar product under the label Wolfe FX which we also stock in the small palettes. The best news is that supplies will be more reliable, and considerably CHEAPER! Diamond FX have also taken out any perfume in the products, improving the ingredients and have added some new colours, one is a UV White which is difficult to source elsewhere. It comes as a great surprise to many that ordinary white simply doesn’t work under UV lighting, and just looks light brown. Here is the solution, however don’t expect it to perform well under ordinary light, it is almost transparent. Be aware that the U.V. white may leave a ghost image (only visible under U.V. light) for a few days.
Nick and Brian Wolfe (the Wolfe Brothers) are happy to paint with and support this brand. Both FX face paints are quite different from all other brands, and can take some getting used to. Brushwork is a delight as it glides on beautifully, and is clear and solid looking. Sponge work is a bit more difficult as the paint dries quite quickly, so blending can be tricky. However, it's quite possible to 'layer' to blend colours, or catch it quickly before it dries - helps to speed up your painting! Double loading your sponge with two colours side by side means that both colours are equally damp, and works well. It's better not to wet the paint, but use a brush dipped in water, or a sponge suitably misted with a spray, or dipped in water if you're very clever like the Wolfe twins!
The removal issues for darker colours are the same as for Wolfe FX products.
For those that are concerned about the labelling of the Neon/UV products click here. FUNKY FOXES This relatively new product from Charles Fox has been road tested with differing opinions! We have selected the colours that have impressed us, or are different from those available in other ranges. The Gold is fabulous, and comes in 2 interesting shades. The dark blue is the darkest blue we have found, a lovely colour, but not the easiest to work with. GRAFTOBIAN This company makes a wide range of products for facepainting and the theatre, we have selected what we think you will find useful.
MEHRON Another company that we have cherry picked the best products from. They are the makers of Paradise and have lots of other interesting products too, especially their 4 metallic powders that you can mix with their special Mixing Liquid for a very very shiny finish (not near eyes). It is also possible to mix this with baby oil for an absolute shine, but beware of anything you or your model touches, it will slide off! They have also launched GlitterMark which is superb glitter gel in a bottle with an integral fine nozzle. There were teething troubles as they got the consistency right, we replaced any faulty product, but now it seems to be coming through just fine, which is like the effect! A fantastic addition.
FARDEL
Most Fardel products are available, but not all are listed, we have the best colour illustration you'll fine anywhere! If you require Fardel creams please contact us by email and we can send you a price list and colour chart. Fardel liquid paints are to die for, especially some of the iridescents, and come in handy little 10ml bottles as well as the larger 30ml. Fardel creams are used widely in body painting as they cover fast and well. Our reservation is that they stay tacky, but this gives them a 'just painted' shine that makes the colours very vibrant.
MAJOR
Some people said they liked the brushes from this very low priced range, so we've got them in stock, and a few other useful items too. If you don't need to be precious about quality, or are on a very tight budget, they'll be worth a try.
OUR FPUK PRODUCTS
We are constantly adding brands and a variety of products we think you will find useful to our shop. If you don't see what you like, please tell us and we will try to get it. Let us know if you come across anything really useful - which may not be face paint, it may be a brilliant little togglemagaget that manages queues perfectly (PLEASE tell us!) so that we can stock it if at all possible. Our 'own brand' glitter is cosmetic grade from a very strict European supplier. It is also an incredibly reasonable price for a top quality glitter and is available in 20g bags or our own special adjustable twist top bottles to deposit as much or as little as you want, and travel safely without glittering your whole kit ;)
COLOURS
We work on getting as much information as possible about each product to include a colour swatch and a picture of what the product looks like (the packaging) and sometimes even a picture of it in use so that you know you are choosing what you want. COMING SOON TO THIS WEBSITE! SELECTED SNAZAROO PRODUCTS AND MORE....
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