Nearly every child at a party wants their turn in the chair, so here is what to know before you book one.
Face painting is where this company started, in 2010, with one Disneyland-trained face painter and a small paint kit. It is still the most popular service we offer, and that is really down to the children themselves — nearly every one of them wants their turn being painted into their favorite animal or character.
Our face painters complete 20 designs per hour, guaranteed, so the line will move along faster than you have a chance to pull out your phone for a picture. We offer a wide variety of designs displayed on our large retractable design board, which every face painter carries with them. We offer everything on the menu, and if you can show them a photo, they can most likely replicate something that has been done before (subject to available time).
It takes under five minutes and is never charged, so the time you hire is the time you get. We just need you to provide the shade and we will bring the rest of the equipment and supplies.
That 20-per-hour figure is the number to plan from. Twenty guests, one hour, one artist. Forty guests who all want one, and a single artist will be painting for two hours. You do not have to work that out yourself, though — on our pricing page, pick your services and open “Not sure how long to book?” underneath them. Put in how many guests you would like serviced and we will suggest a length for each service you have chosen.
The last thing we want to risk is a child feeling left out. We only want to leave with happy faces intact, but we need help with accuracy here so we don't end up as the bad guys.
*We focus on the kid count, but you would be surprised at how many “big kids” end up in our chair. The dads that want the Mike Tyson face tattoo for the day, the moms that want to match their daughter with a little flower swirl sparkle, or the teens that decide they want to take a group ninja turtle photo once they decide which turtle they want to be. So no time is wasted if you are worried about overbooking time.
Set your start time too early and the kids simply aren’t there yet to be painted, while the ones running late end up missing the window altogether. This mainly bites on the shorter bookings, where there’s no slack to absorb it. An hour booked for twenty kids is the classic — ten minutes of an empty chair at the beginning and the last few kids walk in just as the artist is packing up. That tends to be the moment someone asks whether the artist can do "just one more."
So let's work together to avoid the glossy eyes of the child and the frustrated parent who will bear the brunt of those tears. The artists may have another event to get to, so they can't always extend their time. We do our best to leave wiggle room, but we also don't want your money to go to waste at the beginning, just to add extra cost that could have been avoided.
We go through when to start each of the eight services and what order to run them in to help you decide your start time before it gets booked.
Face paint photographs beautifully, but it is the first thing to go when wet. If your party has a pool, a water slide, or an extra hot afternoon of running around, consider whether glitter tattoos, which are waterproof, or services like handprint painting or caricatures may suit the day better.
Face paint washes off that night, which can be a sad thing for the kids to experience.
Hot tip: Have them look in the mirror and say "goodbye" and/or "see you next time", and their tears get a little lighter.
If you want your guests leaving with something in their hands or longer lasting, consider caricatures, glitter tattoos, or handprint paintings as alternative options.
A few things can quietly rule face painting out. Some venues have their own rules about paint, and so do some bounce house companies, so it is worth a quick ask before you book.
At a more formal party, even one full of children, you can find parents gently steering their little ones away from the chair because they are worried about a smudge on a nice outfit. None of that means you should not book face painting. It just saves you from finding out at the party or the scramble of needing to book different services.
There are whole events where the grown-ups are the focus, rather than just the ones who join in at a birthday party. Sugar skull designs for Day of the Dead are mainly for the adults, and at a sporting event, age stops mattering altogether — we have all seen grown men in full body paint for their team. We have worked with clients like the NFL and LA Galaxy.
Face painting would not usually be our first suggestion for a mostly adult crowd, but it is a long way from being only for the children.
Birthday parties, school carnivals, city festivals and Easter egg hunts. It works across almost every event we take, which is exactly why it is the most requested thing we do.
Every price on this site is a real price you can see without filling anything out. When you are ready, send in a booking/inquiry form and we will confirm your date and your pricing by email.
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