Receiving my small order of face paints this morning got me thinking!
Q.  If you could take a look at the picture of my order, how much do you think I’ve spent on it…  £15, £20, £30 or more?

paint orderI ask the question, because this is just a small amount of the paints I use on a typical face painting job, and these are things you only see at an event, much more funds go in to running a face painting/balloon/party business, including ongoing training, insurance, transport, taxes, etc. etc.

The face painting industry is changing, and sadly not for the better, there are those of you who charge peanuts, without a care for the Health & Hygiene of children, the amount of people who queue up with a baby in arms, and get irate when I tell them I can’t paint their baby’s face, they soon understand when I explain the implications, but I am finding I am having to do that more and more lately.  Professional face painters are so for a reason….we care!
For those out there who are charging £20, £30, £40 and even £60 for 2 hours face painting in Runcorn, Widnes, Warrington, Liverpool and surrounding areas in the North West, please sit back and think about what you are doing is safe, and whether you are actually earning anything after realising the costs that go in to running a real business.  Those who charge so low are in fact damaging an industry that isn’t respected by some hirers who now think they can cancel your booking as soon as they find somebody who can do it for £20 or worse…for nothing or for “exposure of your business”.  My work is my exposure not standing in a field for 5 hours+ expected to use my business time, and costs to provide you with a freebie.

Face Painting KitThis is Ditzy Doodles face painting kit, you will notice it is clean, you will also notice the 3 stainless steel pots, this is the best method for cleaning brushes on a job, what you don’t see is a 2 litre bottle of water and bucket under the table to change the dirty brush water regularly.  You also don’t see the big bag of sponges to ensure each child gets a clean sponge, or ensuring the kit and sponges are cleaned to the correct standard.  You don’t see the disclaimer that is displayed on my seat for all the parents and guardians to read (something which must be displayed to ensure no nasty surprises crop up).
You don’t see the hours of practice, training and workshops Ditzy does to ensure your children get the best service possible, or the insurance and all the business costs involved in running a face painting/children’s entertainment business.
So if you are one of those painters reading this, please take note that professionals are being pushed out of a highly skilled industry, I know at least 5 professionals who have had to give up their face painting career, because you are causing unnecessary damage to professional businesses.
If you are a potential client reading this, please do consider when you hear the price of £80 (this varies across the country and after business cost, insurance, travel, taxes etc. how much of that is actual profit) for two hours, that you are hiring a professional, a professional who cares about their art and more importantly the child who is sitting in their chair.  A professional will go all out to ensure your child has the most positive painting experience, we won’t listen to you when you tell us what you want the child painted as, we listen to the child, because they are the ones who will be having their faces painted, we won’t paint a child who is being held in a head lock by a parent, we won’t force a child if they change their minds about being painted!

Not everybody out there is a professional face painter, be careful who you book, check all their testimonials, look at their work (although it has been known for other companies to steal images from businesses and pass it off as their own work – it’s happened to me several times, and they’re the ones I know about!), ask for recommendations, ask for evidence of insurance and their policies on health and hygiene.

Professional painters are here for a reason, to give your children the best positive experience they will ever have sitting in a painters chair!

For more information about The Party Squad’s Face Painting services please go to http://www.thepartysquad.co.uk/funky-faces-packages/

A. The answer to my earlier question of the image of my face paint order……almost £70!!!  So can you imagine the cost of the entire kit on the display!!!!!