Face painting is a beloved mainstay of county fairs, school picnics, dress-up plays, and birthday parties. But as much as kids love it, they’re not always so enthusiastic about the feel of oily or cakey paints. Children are especially bothered by scrubbing that’s often needed to remove face paint and the fact that many paints seem to slip off and/or fade away quickly. Luckily, great face paint sets are out there without any of these discomforts—and we’re on the hunt to find them. In my search for an easy-on, easy-off face paint set, I tried Blue Squid’s Face Paint Kit for Kids. Keep reading to find out if this palette is a keeper.
Entertainment Value: Stellar
This face paint kit was a hit at a recent impromptu face painting party with neighborhood kids age 7 up to age 16 (and their moms). The set is easy-to-use, easy-to-apply, and gives you all the colors you need to create just about any look. Kids particularly had a blast using the included set of 30 stencils, such as a star, snowflake, bat symbol, cat, bird, and the word “love.” The inclusion of the stencils means just about anybody, regardless of their artistic prowess, could get in on the fun of doing their own face paint, as well as easily putting designs on each other. In the course of a few hours, we had kids use most of the stencils and paint their faces with our own designs, such as bunnies, flowers, pandas, frogs, superheroes, and skulls. Everyone enjoyed using this set and kept coming back to add more body (most of the kids ended up with their hands, arms, and cheeks covered) and face art. Another perk of this kit is Blue Squid’s online tutorials on face painting, where customers can access creative how-to videos and tons of useful face painting information and inspiration. Our group of kids had fun just looking at the videos and photos, offering lots of clever ideas from expertly crafted tigers, clowns, and butterfly faces to awe-inspiring glow-in-the-dark designs.
Performance: Good enough
This face paint set is a delight to use. It’s got all the basic colors in invitingly large paint pots that are easy to blend and apply to the face. The colors go on smoothly and with good opacity. The one drawback is that the colors have a slight whitish cast, giving them a somewhat less vivid or pigmented dimension. This is only a problem if you are strongly wedded to a specific “true” color and want vividly brilliant primary or secondary color. This whitish clouding of the shades is particularly evident with the red and green paints—the red looks more rose-pink or red-coral, and the green comes off lighter, as in avocado or lime rather than kelly green. Children weren’t complaining. And, if I didn’t look closely at the pigmentation and brilliance of the colors, I probably wouldn’t have noticed either. Instead, everyone was focused on the cute designs covering each child’s adorable, happy faces.
Design: Watercolors for the face
Blue Squid’s Face Paint Kit for Kids is a professional quality face and body paint set that looks like a typical watercolor set. The set has two rows of six colors for a total of 12 large (1.5 inches in diameter) pots of paint inside a plastic case with a clear cover that snaps shut. There is also room for the three included brushes to fit snugly between the rows. The colors are white, brown, green, pink, blue, yellow, purple, red, light blue, orange, gray, and black with 0.35 ounces of paint (much more than most brands). You should have enough paint to paint many faces. Blue Squid says you’ll be able to decorate 100 or more faces from each set. We did about a dozen faces. The pots were muddy from kids mixing without cleaning their brushes but are still almost like new. A little paint goes a long way. I like the ease and simplicity of this set with the paints and brushes stored in a convenient, sturdy case that’s built to last multiple face-painting adventures. The inclusion of a stencil set is a great bonus that really extends the fun of this set.
Wearability and Removal: A breeze
These cosmetic grade, hypoallergenic body and face paints are safe for sensitive skin. Blue Squid’s products are made with paraben-free, non-toxic, vegan, all-natural, FDA-compliant ingredients. Still, do a small patch test to ensure your child does not have a negative reaction before applying this makeup to the entire face. The paints are easy to apply, just requiring a bit of water to create a smooth, light paint that goes on evenly. The paint dries without drying the skin, so there is no tightening or flaking. My kid testers barely noticed they were wearing it. One of my boys went to bed with a fully painted face, and it actually looked pretty good in the morning. Even better, there was no evidence of the paint on his pillow. This paint washed away easily with mild soap and warm water. Wet wipes work equally well.
Price: Mid-range
Blue Squid’s Face Paint Kit for Kids costs $22. Similar sets can be had for less (starting around $10 and up), but this kit is worth the extra money as it includes 12 large, high-quality pots of bright colors, paintbrushes, and stencils. Less expensive sets use cheaper products that are harder on the skin, more challenging to apply and remove, and offer less vibrant or opaque color.
Blue Squid Face Paint Kit for Kids vs. Snazaroo Face Paint Kit Ultimate Party Pack
Both of these 12 color sets are safe for use on kids with sensitive skin, are easy to apply and remove, and can achieve beautiful, bright designs. The Snazaroo Face Paint Kit is cheaper at $16 and includes the bonus of glitter, while the Blue Squid kit costs $22 and features stencils and larger pots of face paint. Both are good options with fantastic results. This is a good, casual use, all-purpose face paint set. While it doesn’t offer the same coverage or highly pigmented color of higher-end palettes, Blue Squid’s Face Paint Kit for Kids will more than get the job done for dress-up play or a child’s birthday party. The inclusion of soft brushes and fun stencils add to this kit’s appeal.
