Do you allow your kids to get their face painted ?

[IvanOpinion]

I was out with a dentist friend last night (keep on the good side of him incase I need any work done) and we got round, somehow to the point that he would never allow his kids to get their faces painted. !His attitude was that there is usually one brush that is 'wiggled' in a common pot of water that is used for all kids and is a breeding ground for germs. !Therefore if one kid has a contagious disease (eg. cold sores, he went through a list of diseases longer than my arm) it could be easily transmitted to others. !I suggested that they put some sort of treatment in the water to kill germs but he said that in the first instance it would not work and in the second any that he has seen put nothing in the water.

What do you think or, like me, have you never thought about this ?

Ivan

[ac]

??? ! !

never thought about it,

have let the kids faces be painted in the past & yes would continue to do so ! ! !:o !

(its not worth the argument, they are much stronger willed than i am !6 & 4 year old boys ! !:o ! ! ! !:( !)

;)

Have no kids (yet) but have nieces & nephews who all loved face painting when younger. ! I would still let them have it done. Surely children will pick all sorts of things up from being with each other in school anyway, & children aren't too fussy with the hand-washing at the best of times.

I think generally, as a society we worry too much about germs these days. I read somewhere that it's our over-zealous cleanliness that's leading to all these super-bugs. All these disinfectants and cleaning products with "antibacterial" stuff in them is causing them to become resistant.

[Tony H]

Forget the "Brushes" what about the "Sponges" eeewww!! ;D

[ac]

ooooooooo, STOP IT :o

;)

[Tony H]

ooooooooo, STOP IT ! ! ! :o

;)

[hr]O.K ;D

[flossie]

Germs are one thing and its a fair point that kids are exposed to them from all angles - maybe one way to build up immunity? The stuff in the face paints themselves would worry me more, I think.

[Papaumau]

Right on "Tark"......


I think generally, as a society we worry too much about germs these days. I read somewhere that it's our over-zealous cleanliness that's leading to all these super-bugs. All these disinfectants and cleaning products with "antibacterial" stuff in them is causing them to become resistant.


Our kids are now more sensitive to disease and allergy because we mollycoddle them too much !

All of those germ-killing anti-bac products are turning our homes into operating-theatres instead of places to live and build up immunities.

My children AND my grandchildren love to get facepainted and my youngest grand-daughter still eats worms....( Mind you, I thought that she might have given it up when she turned twenty two ! ) :o

[ac]

[hr]O.K !;D



silly :o

;)

[Papaumau]

Strewth.....

Communication by emoticons only.....

It makes the mind boggle !

::)

[ac]

YOU are easily surprised papaumau! ! ! ! ! :o !:o !:o


! ! ! ! :D !:D !:D ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !::) ! ! ! ! !:-*

;)

[trafalgar]

You gotta let some paint their faces ::)


some of em are ugly little beggars :o :o :o;D

[IvanOpinion]

I think generally, as a society we worry too much about germs these days. I read somewhere that it's our over-zealous cleanliness that's leading to all these super-bugs. All these disinfectants and cleaning products with "antibacterial" stuff in them is causing them to become resistant.

I agree with you on this Tark but I think my friend was more concerned about more serious things e.g. cold sores ... once you have the virus I believe you pretty much have it for life ... if I understood him correctly (and I usually don't) the virus actually lives in the back of the neck and during times of stress, heat etc. it makes an appearance as a lovely crusty bit on the persons upper lip ... just to remind you that you had your face painted or got kissed by someone else infected with cold sores.

As I kid I used to eat worms and coal .. good protein ;D

Ivan

[rach]

i've been face-painting all afternoon our local fun-day....can't say out of loads of kids i saw any cold-sores! and all the kids loved their faces being sone - there are a lot of england flags walking around right now! :)

[arkonite_babe]

Youngest sprog got her face painted while on holidays, picked up a lovely case of conjunctivitis. Face painting? Never again unless disposable sponges are being used on each child!

[DiggingOut]

Give them chocolate to eat and let them paint their own. ;)

The healthiest kids are the ones that eat dirt when young. :)

[jb84344]

I wish I hadn't read this board! My 3 year old has her face painted all the time but this has really worried me! :o

[trafalgar]

Give them chocolate to eat and let them paint their own. ;)

The healthiest kids are the ones that eat dirt when young. :)
;D ;DMy son was circumcised when he was 8 ths old and could not wear a nappy for 10 days ..............kids eat dirt ;) ;D ;D ;D

[JIMJAM]

when i was small i only ever had my face painted once because when i got home i broke out in a rash
I realised i was allergic to face paint

[Papaumau]

And now the patronising lecture....

Kids MUST have access to bacteria and viruses and pollen spores and fungal-spores if they are to build up a good enough auto-immune system.

Sometimes parents get paranoid about children getting diseases when we read about Meningitis and the E-Coliform germs but in actual fact it is VERY rare for children to aquire or die from such diseases. The innoculations that are available help in this way too by protecting our kids from Measels, Mumps and Rubella, ( don't really want to get into the MMR scandal here BTW ), !and diseases like Polio and Scarlet-Fever and Diptheria and Rhumatic-fever etc' are virtually nonexistent any more.

One of the greatest banes on the life of chldren now is Asthma and modern living is often given as the reason behind this incidence.

I say let them get their faces painted and let them eat worms....look at me...it did ME no harm ! :-X !

[jockettuk]

we had our school summer fair a few weeks ago and yes facepainting was a huge hit.. we buy the paints from reputable companys and we also advise the helpers doing the painting that if any child comes up and appears to have any open wound on there face (eczma cold sores) etc that they were not to proceed with the facepainting .. this has nothing to do with passing on these infections but in this day and age is so that we dont get sued for for makeing the little darlings faces worse.... comman sense tells you if your child has a poorly face whatever is the matter with them that you dont let them get there face painted .. other than that kids will be kids and schools are a breeding ground for all infections and nits arghhh lol

[jockettuk]

ps.... whats stopping the parents that are now paranoid abt this lol taking there own dissposable sponges to school fairs etc that way they know its only there childs face that has touched it..

[ANDYPANDY]

Yes I do let my kids get their faces painted - but I do it myself. I bought a little kit off the internet (Snazaroo) and a cheap book with loads of "how to do" faces. I have saved myself a fortune!

My children are happy to have me do it at home as I do it better than most (now I have had some practice) and they can watch TV at the same time if they want so they don't get bored!! I also do my children's parties and other friends' too. About time I started making some money out of this I think - especially as I wash the brushes and sponges after each child in hot soapy water too!

[Plumpud]

I don't let my daughters' have their faces painted, but that is only because they have a type of excema and it ALWAYS makes it flare up. I hadn't really considered the hygeine aspect.

[Angelolly]

I am a primary teacher and I once did an assembly on the Celts. One of the parents gave me some blue facepaints for the Celtic whorls on the children's cheeks. The day after the assembly, nearly every child came in with a red swirl on each cheek where the facepaint had been. I felt AWFUL! The shame!

[Sarahsaver]

My son has eczema.
He hasnt been able to have his face painted because if he did the paint gets ingrained in his skin. Now the skin on his face is ok he can have it done, but at a friends they decided to paint their whole bodies and he had red feet for nearly 2 weeks - thats not through aggravated skin but merely what got into the cracks in his skin, even with a daily bath.
As for the hygiene thing well, get real. I suppose some of you dont sit on toilet seats either, but instead hover...? ::)

[16011996]

i've hovered for years in public loos, just can't quite touch it, but have tried not to make my kids the same way. :-[ :-[ :-[ :-[ :-[ :-[ all stems from a traumatic incident.

[jellyhead]

i think maybe the hovering in public loos stems from the herpes campaign? i was on holiday in edinburgh and all of the public toilets had notices about herpes, telling you not to sit on the seat!

as for face painting, my boy hates the very idea of it, won't let anyone near his face. sometimes he asks for a spider/etc. to be painted on his had though. would a cold sore from another child cause a problem on his hand?

[Debbie_Hobdell]

I'm not sure I'd want a very young child (say under 2) to have their face painted, but my 5 year old has had her face painted on many occassions over the last couple of years, without any problems whatsoever!

I must admit I hadn't thought about the germ aspect of things, I was more wary the first few times that she would have an allergic reaction to the paint, which is much more likely.

[16011996]

would a cold sore from another child cause a problem on his hand?

not unless he rubs it on his mouth i shouldn''t think.

[Sarahsaver]

Cold sores can be more of a problem to eczema suffefers. My son got one last year (from kissing my daughter who'd kissed one of her friends...) and he was on Aciclovir syrup! (aciclovir is the active ingredient in zovirax). He was really run down for a couple of weeks because of it. Because the skin is broken due to eczema it is much more vulnerable.
moneysaving tip though - if your child gets a cold sore PLEASE go to the docs because they give you a BIG tube of zovirax type stuff which would cost about £15 if you could get them that big!
On the face painting subject again, my son just had the end of his nose done once, as a compromise. ;D

[jellyhead]

aww, i bet the end of his nose look just as good as a face, even cuter, really rather fab :-)

face painters at theme parks, etc. usually have spray paint for hair too, my son loves getting blue hair and it doesn't seem to affect his scalp.

[16011996]

do any of you let your girls get there hair braided with cotton? mine wants it done, but i think it'll damage the hair.

[Sarahsaver]

just makes it wiggly
i do it myself so i can save money by using the 'we can do it at home' tactic
ive got a babyliss crazy braid, im sure they are cheap in Boots or Savers

[16011996]

will have a look for one of those then, our hairdresser charges £5 a time for this.

[Glyn]

All members of FACE adhere to a code of practice which is really only common sense & should be kept by any face painter worth their salt…. whether or not they become a member of FACE.
1) It is not a good idea to paint anyone with an obvious rash or broken skin… if it is on the face, you could offer to paint their arm, hand or leg instead.
2)If a child has a cold sore or eye infection it is most important not to paint their face as these infections are highly contagious and could be passed to another child very easily… again offer to do another part of them instead .
3) Runny noses are not nice! You’d be surprised at how many mums cannot see the problem in presenting a child with two candles dangling! Just explain to either the child or mum that they need to be cleaned up before you can paint them.(same with chocolate etc all over the face )
4) Some children are so super sensitive to things that they come out in a rash with even the most pure products….so it is a good idea to have a disclaimer on your table just in case. If in doubt ask the child or parent if they have had any bad reactions before…. As I said, Kryolan Aquacolour is very safe… I have never heard of a problem in the 15+ years I have been using it… but a simple patch test on the inner wrist is a good idea if at all in doubt.
5) Hygiene is very important. Keep your water as clean as possible, with frequent changes, and brushes, water pots & sponges should be thoroughly cleaned in hot soapy water after each day’s session. (I put my sponges in a mesh laundry bag through a hot wash in the washing machine every week for a really good wash)
6)Obviously your own hands should be clean to start with, & if you wipe them now & then with a baby wipe or wet cloth, it will keep you feeling clean & more comfortable, as well as avoiding accidental marks from your hands spoiling a fantastic face you have just completed.
7) Some Insurance policy guidelines do not encourage painting the face of a child under three years old. You can offer to paint an arm or leg if you wish

There might be many more questions you may wish to ask… please do so, and I will endeavour to answer them.
The most important thing is to have fun…. Both you and the child you are painting should go home smiling! Lots of people who have been on my workshops have had good fun painting their own, & friends children, or able to help at school plays ,fetes & Bazaars… some are now making a living from face painting…but all are having fun putting those smiles on faces!..... Who knows? You may be the next one!
Glyn can be contacted on enquiries@facepaintingbyglyn.co.uk

[Glyn]

sorry... I did not mean to advertise myself as such... but I feel so strongly about people having the right information about face painting and painters....I am happy to give any guideance

[CharleneUK]

I've never thought about this. I don't have my kids faces painted 'cos they have eczema.

The thought of 'one pot of water' wouldn't bother me.

[another_facepainter]

I bought a little kit off the internet (Snazaroo) and a cheap book with loads of "how to do" faces. I have saved myself a fortune!

I also do my children's parties and other friends' too. About time I started making some money out of this I think - especially as I wash the brushes and sponges after each child in hot soapy water too!

I do hope that you have public liability insurance if you are doing other parties. One slip of the brush and you can quite easily cause a nasty accident!

As Glyn mentioned, FACE members follow a very strict code of conduct but there are also face painters out there that follow this conduct without being FACE members.

My advice is to always check whether people are insured and that follow very basic hygiene practices. Using one sponge per face, clean water per face, not painting anyone with visible skin complaints such as cold sores, rashes etc. They will usually post this health and safety information on their website.

To book a reliable painter in your area, or to find out more information on what to look for when booking a painter, then take a look at www.fpi-org.co.uk (http://www.fpi-org.co.uk) or www.facepaint.co.uk (http://www.facepaint.co.uk/)

[sooz]

I face paint for a local childrens charity, and we've always been told to not paint on any children with broken skin or spots on their faces (so no teenagers :D )

We use the same sponge and brushes as we're only allowed 10 mins max per face...infact they rarely sit still that long :rotfl:

The water gets changed regularly though

And I must admit, I am firmly of the camp that belives some germs and dirt are good. Mine like to eat dry cat food, given half a chance, and worms are considered easy meat. Buggy tyres are good for sucking and chewing too. Thankfully the elder has now grown out of this, but the little one is still on a mission to put everything in his mouth. The elder likes to use every public toilet he sees, and preferably hang his willy on it too. Boys :eek:

[AnnieH]

My kids love having their faces painted. My eldest DD decided she didn't want hers done this weekend, as she has very sensitive skin and the paint irritates her face.

DD2 had hers done at the renault weekend, and the lady was really professional. She could have anything painted, as loong as it was in renault colours LOL so she was a gold and blue butterfly.

DS is 2 and a half, and he had his doine on holiday. The ladies there were very thorough, and made sure he'd be fine having his face apinted. They were amazed at how well he sat as well (he's a really good boy bless him)

I think kids need to be exposed to some germs to build up their immune system, but would hope that face painters would refuse to paint faces that were infectious, or sore.

[blue_monkey]

I have to admit that I did laugh out loud at some of the answers on here. Surely it is commong sense - although with the post from the facepainter I am not sure - if my child had a cold or sore skin then I would not let them have it done and yes, I would make sure their face was clean first.

The germs on the other hand are another thing - this is why my local doctors surgery has had to get rid of all their toys and when you are left wiating for an hour all the kids have to do is run around and scream because they are bored. The toys have all been taken because of the fear of (deap breath) germs being spread on the toys!

Now my kids mix with other kids, they all share biscuits, they all touch each other hands, toys, mud, the chairs and the hands go in the mouth, they are at the age where they will slope off to the loo and go and (gasp) not wash their hands. They play in the sand box outside that has had the lid left off and they play in muddy puddles. My son will even get sweets of the floor and they are in his mouth before I can even get the words 'no' out let alone get over to grab it from him. what about public loos, someone could have something on their hands - not wash their hands and then touch the door handle, and then you touch the door handle....... then they go to boots and open the door, soneone else will go to Boots and open the door..... get a grip!!

Kids are kids, they have to build up their immunity levels somehow and everyone is trying to keep everything so clean that the kids do not have the anti-bodies to fight off bugs and diseases. Every cleaner has anti bacterial this and that in it, the washing up liquids, plates are made with it in (how) as are fridges (eh?) and we wonder why our kids can't breathe fresh air without coming out in a rash!! Let your kids be kids, you don't have to grow up in squalor but you have to let them play in a garden and make their own choices and learn not to put that in their mouth. Didn't you ever eat snow, play down the fields and then worry about washing your hands in anti bacterial the minute after?? I am 36 and there was no such this as anti-bacterial liquid and I cringe at the stuff we ued to do, picking up slugs and snails and that - I would never give it a second thought. Remember when you could go and touch an animal on a farm such as a horse without being instructed to clean your hands at the next wash basin which are 15 cm's apart.

we are all so germ concious now, I admit I am the same a little with animal hair but because I am allergic to animal hair if I touch an aminal then I will wash my hands - do I get my kids to?? No, not that often I suppose. I don't think that makes me a bad person, just that I want my kids to have some immunity to everything they can, they haven't had foot and mouth yet thank god!! I have snakes the kids touch, we was on holiday and my son ran over to touch this lizard (if you were in the audience at Butlins that was my son!!) and the minute he had touched it he had to have his hands disenfected - see we would never do that. Everyone has to cover themselves - just in case.

Let them be kids and get their face painted - maybe you should be worried about going swimming because of the kids that are weeing in the pool or those that have not showered before going in. As long as the face paints get washed off at the end of the day then what is the harm. As for Public Liability - argh, this drives me nuts and what is the world coming to??

My little story about face paints though, a bit like the celtic swirls. In florida early this year there was a clown at breakfast time and my daughter was first in the queue for the face paints, on the first day she walked aorund the whole day proud as anything she had these face paints on, however, come to wash it off that night in the bath and she had these blue and purple stains all over her face where it would not come off, LOL, we had to take her back the next day to get something done in a lighter colour to disguise it!! I try to encourange my son to have his face painted and he like the idea and then stops, he spent the night waslking around Disney with a green/blue face because wanted to be a dragon - and then changed his mind after 30 seconds when the base coat went on. LOL!!

let your kids grow up and have a life without being worred they are going to catch everything going else they will have grown up not knowing what it is like to be a child, worried about germs and illnesses, children should not have to worry about this and they will be 12 before you realise that you have them wrapped up in cotton wool and have not had any sort of life and they have missed out. There are a million things to get germs from, if you were worrying about them all you'd never go out.

[Facepainter]

It's fine to paint for charity as long as you are covered with insurance - I cannot stress this point enough.

Also one sponge per child is not good enough. It's fine if you are of the camp that thinks "germs are good" but that is not your right to decide on that for other people's children. Impetigo and conjuctivitis etc are very nasty and highly contagious - you MUST have ONE SPONGE PER CHILD. They can be washed in your washing machine at home and reused for another event no problems but do not share sponges please.

Please do not drag down those who are trying to do this professionally by causing bad press please.

[Facepainter]

Blue Monkey - we are not just talking about snotty germs here - we are talking about nasty diseases. Would you willingly inflict that on your own child? To me that is just bad parenting - sorry.

If you went for a facial would you be happy about them using tissues from a previous client? If not why not? And if not then why is it ok for your children whose immune systems are not as strong as ours.

We are not saying don't paint your children or we would be out of a job! We are saying take a look at the painter first and see how clean their stuff is - ask about insurance etc before making your decision.

[RadoJo]

Blue Monkey - I do see your pont about common or garden germs, but lizards can transmit salmonella, which I think is a little more serious than catching a cold. I personally think that the answer is somewhere between not making any effort and overdoing it, but I agree that I wouldn't want a child to catch a cold sore form anywhere as the virus is chronic and can make teenage years, stressful times and special occasions horrific if they flare up.

[another_facepainter]

We use the same sponge and brushes as we're only allowed 10 mins max per face...infact they rarely sit still that long :rotfl:


Most professional face painters will do faces in 5 mins or under and still only use one sponge per face. It is basic hygiene and although I believe that some germs are good (I have two boys myself so have all sorts coming into the house), common sense takes over in some circumstances such as face painting.

If you use a sponge on someones face and they have any bug or infection, then it will be passed onto another child. It takes no more time to pick up a clean sponge than it does to pick up a dirty one. If you use the round face painting sponges then they can be cut into halves or quarters and you can store them in one of those washing machine bags and take a spare one along, then just pop the dirty ones in one bag and take a clean one out of another bag. After the job they can be put into the washing machine on a high wash to clean them ready for the next job. It's not difficult.

It would also be much more time consuming should a parent decide to sue if their child was to end up with conjunctivitis or something worse for the sake of common sense. My niece suffers with a nut allergy, so say for instance I was to paint someones face who had unbeknown to me just eaten something with nuts in and their were traces of it on their skin, I use one sponge on them and then go on to do my nieces face with the same sponge, traces of the nuts would be on that sponge and automatically she would have a severe reaction requiring medical attention. This is a VERY extreme circumstance but it is one that could happen. It is not about wrapping them up in cotton wool, it is just common sense.

Please, please take the time to visit the FPI website as mentioned in previous posts for ideas on health and hygiene.

[Artist]

I think a few of you on here have yourselves a bit confused as to what is happening when you get your kids faces painted. While I agree kids have to have thier peck of dirt etc... if you are paying for a service that service should be safe and professional - it is required to be so by law (see HSA website) If you ate in a resteraunt or cafe that had poor hygeine and made you ill that would not be acceptable and you could end up with some nasty disease like e-coli. The same is so with facepainting, you could easily end up with a nasty infection which was transmitted through the poor hygeine, in some csaes this could lead to long term health problems.

Its one thing a parent letting thier kids "have thier peck of dirt" its another when you pay for the priviledge of someone else doing it! I'd higly recommend the fpi-org.co.uk site to anyone considereing facepainting either for business or for fun - and would recommend if you want to hire a facepainter to go for a professional who is a the very least covered by public liability insurance, who changes thier water regularly, uses one sponge per child not one per colour and preferabley one who is endorsed by a professional body such as FACE.

[pixiegirl]

Im a qualified face painter and always ensure my water gets changed after each child. Use disposable cups. wash my brushes with steralizing solution and water, put my sponges in the washing machine. Only ever use safe non toxic face paints and always ask the parents if they want to do a 2 "test patch" I also give out a leaflet which says the best ways to clean off the face paints, not to leave them on over night etc etc

oh and i always have plenty of wet wipes (sensitive ones) just incase the child has a chocolate covered snotty face!

Just depends on who you get to paint your childs face!! :rolleyes:

pixie x

[lesleystrawson]

Does anyone know what chemicals in these paints can cause allergic reactions?

My 5 year old has had her face painted twice by 2 different painters.
Next day each time (after washing it off before bedtime) she has had reactions, the first time just some red blotches, but the second time her whole face was swollen, (although it didn't seem to worry her at all) and it was a full 24 hours until she looked right again. Piriton helped a little.

Could this be the fact that different chemicals/paints were used, or is it likely that if she has it done again (which I am reluctant to be honest), she may start getting difficulties breathing etc??

I appreciate that medical advice shouldn't really be given, but maybe soemone else out there has had this happen to them?? She isn't allergic to anything else as far as I am aware.

Lesley

[hardpressed]

Something very similar happened to my son when he had hypo-alergenic stage make-up on for a school play, his face became red and swollen and he felt really ill and had to take 2 days off school, needed a trip to the doctors and anti-hystermine. So definatly no face paints for him.

[sooz]

Most professional face painters will do faces in 5 mins or under and still only use one sponge per face. It is basic hygiene and although I believe that some germs are good (I have two boys myself so have all sorts coming into the house), common sense takes over in some circumstances such as face painting.

If you use a sponge on someones face and they have any bug or infection, then it will be passed onto another child. It takes no more time to pick up a clean sponge than it does to pick up a dirty one. If you use the round face painting sponges then they can be cut into halves or quarters and you can store them in one of those washing machine bags and take a spare one along, then just pop the dirty ones in one bag and take a clean one out of another bag. After the job they can be put into the washing machine on a high wash to clean them ready for the next job. It's not difficult.

It would also be much more time consuming should a parent decide to sue if their child was to end up with conjunctivitis or something worse for the sake of common sense. My niece suffers with a nut allergy, so say for instance I was to paint someones face who had unbeknown to me just eaten something with nuts in and their were traces of it on their skin, I use one sponge on them and then go on to do my nieces face with the same sponge, traces of the nuts would be on that sponge and automatically she would have a severe reaction requiring medical attention. This is a VERY extreme circumstance but it is one that could happen. It is not about wrapping them up in cotton wool, it is just common sense.

Please, please take the time to visit the FPI website as mentioned in previous posts for ideas on health and hygiene.

Ok, I will pass all your information onto the charity. i must stress i am not a professional face painter, nor do I charge. I, along with lots of other mums, are asked to help out on fete/fundraising days. We offer our time for free.

I guess I'll just have to tell them next time that I can't help. Better offer to man the bouncy castle. Oh no...probably be in trouble for that too :mad:

[blue_monkey]

Gosh we could go on all day about the stuf that is carried in whatever but I will still get my kids faces painted, I paint my friends kids faces when they are round here too. We tend to get them done at fetes where people are raising a bit of money for local charities not paying someone to have them done professionally. Yes, I know lizards carry salmonella - if I orried about it I'd be long gone before now - if you read previous posts about the number of times I have handled lizards then I have more to worry about than my boy touching a lizard. I use out oof date eggs and I give them to kids too. We worry too much - you guys are all proessional face painters coming on here to diss other people for doing it, I don;t think I've ever come across a professional paice painter to be honest - only atDisney and they were very good and very hygenic aut at £10-£12 a time I would expect them to be but thse were no ordinary face paints they got for this price. Paying £1 at my local fete for my child to look like a princess I really don't care. My children have not gotten sick yet and there are far more important things to be worried about then you giving me the 'you kids can get this and that' lecture. You are scaremongering and you go ahead and do so and spoil the kids fun. Just how much do you charge out of interest for being 'professional?..... Will I find you at my local fete giving the money you earn to charity????? Parents can pretty much judge for themselves what their kids are doing. next you'll be telling me I should be taking my kids to playgroup in a bubble for fear of touching another child who might have conjunctivitus (for example - yep, my kids have had it this year from school, can' stop them going there can I and as it comes up in a matter of hours it has spread before you know it!)

[sooz]

It's fine to paint for charity as long as you are covered with insurance - I cannot stress this point enough.

Also one sponge per child is not good enough. It's fine if you are of the camp that thinks "germs are good" but that is not your right to decide on that for other people's children. Impetigo and conjuctivitis etc are very nasty and highly contagious - you MUST have ONE SPONGE PER CHILD. They can be washed in your washing machine at home and reused for another event no problems but do not share sponges please.

Please do not drag down those who are trying to do this professionally by causing bad press please.


the charity itself covers the insurance aspect of holding fundraising days. And they supply all the materials. I can only work with what they give me. Although I sometimes take my own hairclips, as they always forget to bring these.

Having read all of your posts, I'll let the charity know that I am no longer available to help them on face painting duties. I could also help out on their cake stall, as we have lots of disclaimers on the front of the table, that cakes may have been made in non-professional kitchens :D and worse still, by people who have no training whatsover in baking cakes, domestic hygiene or food health and safety :rolleyes:

[thriftmonster]

I don't let my kids any more after ds1 got a lovely case of herpes in one eye and ended up at the children's eye hospital and conjunctivitis in the other eye from the same face painting job. I don't have any issues with children getting dirty, building up immunity etc but if you had seen him.....

I'm sure it wouldn't have happened if all the rules outlined above had been followed - however once bitten twice shy!

[blue_monkey]

The point is - it is rare that it happens - and anything could happen, he could of picked something up at school, you can't exactly stop them going to school. My friends boy fell of one of the apparatus and broke his arm, you can't stop them going to the park. I do not know of anyone who has picked up an infection from having their face painted - if I did then this might be different, as you say, once bitten twice shy - but until I know personally of that happening then I will worry. Until then I will carry on letting them hvae it done. All this post has done is now worry those poeple like the above who help out at fetes and the like - the 'professionsal's sure do not offer to do it for free so those who are willing to give their time for nothing do it. As has ben pointed out, where do you draw the line? Bouncy castles (broken limbs), trampolines (ditto), discos (too loud), bubble machines (too slippery), football at the park, walking (getting dog poo on you and contracting some disease from it) - the list is endless, if we spent so much time worry our kids would not do anything would they? As I said before, it is scaremongering by professionals who want you to spend your money with them who would not be giving their time for free to help raise money anyway. Let your kids get their faces painted (if anyone is left to do it now) and use your common sense - if your child has something on their face then done let them get it done and save everyone else getting it. Some diseases are contagious though and they will get them whatever you choose to do unless you keep them at home locked in their rooms 24/7/. I don't like my kids having coughs and colds caught from everyone else but that is part of life.

[dee mum of 3]

I think I am one of those mums who are over cautious as a result we dont do face painting(tbh they never asked anyway) but the biggest bugbear for them is that i wont allow them to go on bouncy castles at the market or trampolines-reason being that i read once about a child whod been brain damaged in a fall on a unsafe castle and noone was held responsible......

[another_facepainter]

I think you'll find that most, if not all, face painters will work regularly for their chosen charities free of charge. Also most will work at their school fetes without charge too, so please do not be so quick to judge us as purely being out for profit.

We are not trying to scaremonger - quite the opposite. We are just trying to make you aware of hygiene issues. Nearly every face painter started out painting at their children's school fetes and developed their skills from there. A professional painter will carry their own public liability insurance and may be CRB checked. They will work to very high health and safety standards, quite often be members of the Face Painting Association FACE (although this is not compulsory and has no bearing on their professionalism) and will create good quality faces in under 5 mins.

We are not knocking school/village fete helpers, nor are we saying not to do it, as I said, it's where we all started, we are just saying please pay attention to the advice given. If you are helping out at a school or for charity, then you would be insured under their policies anyway, but it is still useful to follow basic health and safety practice.

Somebody said that they'd only ever come across a 'professional' face painter at Disney, but they were quote: 'very good and hygienic' which is exactly the point we're trying to make.

Please do not think that we are trying to put you off having your kids faces done or putting you off trying it yourself, we were just raising valid points as with all trades, there are 'rogues' out there.

Btw, a professional face painter of any good quality will usually charge around £60 - £70 for a two hour party, then around £20-£25 per hour after that.

If you have any further concerns or questions, then we'll all be happy to help and please take a look at previously quoted sites like www.fpi-org.co.uk.

[tankgirl1]

hmmm- who would have thought a thread on facepainting (dragged up from 2004 no less!) would turn out so controversial!

for what its worth, DS has never wanted his face painted - hes too young yet i think at 2 - but when hes a bit older of course i'd let him.

i too am of the school of thought that a few germs are good! DS likes nothing more than 'bigging mud stones' (his words - roughly translated as digging in mud and playing with stones!), and we have a dog and two cats who he regularly plays with. if i made him wash his hands after touching them each time, we'd be in the bathroom all day (i do however think it is of upmost importance to keep pets up to date with flea and worm treatment if they are around kids- but thats a whole other thread!)

until today i didnt realise there was any such thing as a professional face painter - hows that for naivety? good to know that there are guidelines and such out there though.

just my tuppence worth.... :)

[raineshoe]

This thread just shows me that parents just don't care about their children's well being. Lets face it would you like your face wiped round with a sponge used on the previous childs face when it might be covered in bogies? I doubt it, so why expect your child to put up with it.