Kids love having their faces painted. Whether it's just a small star painted on their cheek or a full-blown animal patterned face to decorative princess or fairy or butterfly eyes, transforming their 'everyday' look is incredibly satisfying.
But many parents wonder or even worry that face paints can't be all that great for their kids' skin. This is a reasonable concern as the vast majority of face paints for kids (and even art materials in general) are made with harmful ingredients. And yes, even the ones that are labeled 'non-toxic.'
All too often, parabens, artificial dyes and harmful preservatives like the formaldehyde-releasing DMDM Hydantoin are listed in the ingredients of many kids' products. Conventional arts and crafts face paints do not list the ingredients, leaving parents to rely on a 'non-toxic' certification (which still could mean their product is made with petrochemicals and a host of other toxic ingredients).
The reality is, most parents tend to pull out the face painting supplies around Halloween, maybe a birthday party, or for a play at school. Or just for that special rainy day. So, the face paints aren't seeing daily use like other skin care products but that doesn't mean they should be filled with harmful chemicals.
We chose Glob Natural Face Paints because they are made without parabens, synthetic dyes, nano particles, talc or petrochemicals. And because they're made with certified organic ingredients. And because they work! Using the bamboo brush (comes along with the kit), it was very easy to control a nice, detailed line...and this is important when drawing around little eyes!
Made in California, Glob paints are crafted from fruits, vegetables and herbs. The vibrant colors come from beets, purple carrots, turmeric, red cabbage, oranges, tomatoes, carrots, marigolds, annatto, gardenia and alfalfa. The materials in the paints are also recyclable and biodegradeable, making them safe to wash in the sink and into our water supply.
Glob paints was started by an artist herself. Having been exposed to all kinds of art products and paints, she developed reactions to the chemicals, but just assumed that was par for the course. Although in recent years, with all of the important information surfacing about the safety of chemicals in our skincare, she wondered why the same rules didn't apply to art materials. This ultimately gave her the incentive to create a line of safe art supplies for kids.
One thing to note about face paints: there needs to be some kind of preservative to protect from bacterial contamination. Glob face paints have the addition of 1% phenoxyethanol (studies show it to be a safer alternative to parabens).
And a few tips about using Glob face paints:
- The blue face paint (ultramarine) is not for use on lips.
- The face paints may stain, just like fruit juice - so careful with fancy clothes!
- The paints have a shelf life for a couple years so no worries about using up right away.
- Paints are not expected to be mixed with water - ready to apply right from the paint tray!
- To remove face paints, we recommend using coconut oil or almond oil.
