Tulip Body Art Review

By Contributor Pamela Chan

When we received the Body Art face painting product by Tulip for a review, my first thought was “this is a party in a box”. The cover of the box includes closeups of the contents, a stencil and four finished face paintings. This gave me the idea that we should use the face painting as part of a birthday party. Since my family (including 4 year old twins) would be meeting family members for a birthday party, it seemed to be the perfect opportunity.

In the Box

The box contains the following products, with each item having it’s only space in a plastic insert. This helps to keep the products organized when you are finished using them.

  • 10 clear body crystals
  •  4 containers of glitter body paint (gold silver, red and teal)
  •  8 reusable vinyl stencil sheets
  •  5 face paints (fuchsia, teal, yellow, black and white pearl)
  •  1 applicator brush
  •  1 cosmetic brush
  •  1 round brush
  •  1 flat brush
  • instruction and inspiration booklet

On the back of the box you can see four photographs showing the application of a glitter tattoo, jewels and a stencil.

The fourteen stencils that are included are also shown. (See image above.) They include:

  • a penguin
  • stars
  • a shark
  • spider
  • butterfly
  • heart with arrow
  • stars in falling star pattern with musical note and guitar, which could be used together or separate
  • lightening bolt
  • dragon
  • a Sacred Heart (heart with crown); and,
  • two dice in flames.

Tulip Body Art

Our Experience

Since it has been over a decade since I’ve tried my hand at face painting, I was a little apprehensive about how the results would turn out. I had four children ranging in age from 4 to 11 who were keen to try the product, so I figured I would have the chance to perfect my skills. Since there are different types of product to apply (regular paint, glitter paint and gems) and four different stencils, each child ended up with his or her own unique results. You could also use the paints to branch out and draw your own designs free hand.

After reading the manual, I understood that you should apply a stencil, fill it in with the special glue, remove the stencil, apply the glitter and then brush the excess away. We tried this with the stars and found that the glitter globbed onto the glue and blurred out the shape of the star. This could be because the stars are smaller. The video below shows the suggested approach. To try something different, the next time we decided to apply the glitter to the glued areas before removing the stencil. After we applied the glitter we waited a minute or two before removing the stencil. It worked perfectly!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hh-rlUPow5U&feature=share&list=PL5E0XSNEQ8fuak-1I5kuUouN2D0QZAVSU

One child decided to use face paint for the owl and then to apply glitter to the eyelashes and nose. (See image above.) I would never have thought about applying the glitter so strategically. It turned out really well.

As shown on the back of the box, you can combine different colours when using a stencil such as the rainbow. You can also apply the jewels strategically to enhance the finished painting. The overall effect looks very pretty.

For my first effort, I painted the lightening bolt free hand. I got the impression from reading the instruction booklet that images such as the lightening bolt and the penguin are done without a stencil. On the back of the box, however, you do see that colour has been applied over the stencil. If you are a confident artist, don’t hesitate to do an image free hand. What we discovered is that you can do images such as the penguin with the stencil. After you have applied all of the paint colours, wait a minute or two before lifting off the stencil. If some of the paint smudges a little as the stencil comes up, use the smallest brush to touch up the painting. The face paint is goes a long way so you don’t need a lot to paint in a stencil. Make sure that your brush is damp (not soaking wet) and gradually apply the least amount of water necessary to make a slick, mud-like consistency.

The Product Was a Hit

I’ve seen other face painting products in stores and would recommend the Body Art product as a top choice. The stencils, different sizes of brushes, extra jewels and different types of paint offer many different options. It’s also a product that could be used with young children or by older teens and even adults. Older youth would enjoy creating more elaborate effects using the product. My preschool aged children enjoyed using the product with me and have repeatedly asked me to take try it again.

THE GIVEAWAY

Win it: One lucky US/CAN reader will win a Tulip Body Art Kit! Enter to win via Rafflecopter below. Good Luck!

Disclosure:  I received a sample of a product to facilitate this post.  All views and opinions stated on this post are 100% my own.

Pamela Chan lives in the Tri Cities area near Vancouver with her husband and four year old twins. They enjoy exploring cultural events and scenic local parks. On BCfamily.ca she writes about ideas that strengthen our communities and celebrate multiculturalism in British Columbia.