Dose anyone have good gray body paint recommendations for cosplay because i DO NOT want to be one of those homestuck cosplayers that gets gray everywhere but me and my hg want to cosplay Vriska and Terezi
Hello there!
First recommendation: armsocks.
You don't want to get grey paint everywhere? Cover your arms in fabric instead. This is my only recommendation for body paint for con wear. Don't bother with paint on your hands and arms when at an event.
For the rest: it depends on your skin type and what you want out of your body paint. For brands, I would recommend Kyrolan, Ben Nye, or Mehron.
There's two main types, oil-based cream paint and water-activated paint. There's other types too (like water-based paints in a tube or alcohol activated paints), but these are the major ones most cosplayers use.
Cream paint comes in a little flat cake and, as the name implies, is creamy, almost like a softer lipstick in consistency. The pros are that it has a low learning curve in application and is typically opaque with one coat. The cons are that is feels heavy on the skin and is oily, so if you have oily skin, it might make that worse or your skin oils might smudge it. This is one that you should NOT put on your body because even with full setting it can still smudge. It also requires powder and setting spray. When you put it on, you will fully saturate it with powder. No, even more powder than that. This will absorb the oils and help keep it on your skin and from smudging. Brush off any excess powder with a fluffy brush. Use setting spray after.
Water-activated paints come in two major formulas, wax-based and glycerin-based. Get glycerin-based if at all possible, since it's smoother and softer and less likely to crack. As it sounds, this is paint that works more like watercolor paints but more opaque, in that they come in a flat, dry little cake and you add water to them to activate them. You can also get activation liquids that are supposed to help them last longer and be more sweatproof. The pros are that they are good for oily skin and feel drier on the skin and less heavy, and they are less likely to smudge. The cons are that they feel drier on the skin (so you might find the dryness uncomfortable), that they have a higher learning curve, and that they are harder to blend powders on top of, but tbh they're both hard to blend powders like contour or eyeshadow on top of. It also might reactivate and smudge with sweat, but powders and barrier sprays can help with that. Add a bit of water to the cake and use a damp but not super wet sponge, and dab it onto your skin. Wait for it to fully dry before doing another layer. Be careful to dab, not wipe, as to not disturb the paint underneath. This is where the learning curve comes in, since the amount of water is a bit of an artform, and it's easy to make it too dry or too wet and then remove the paint instead of adding. You can add a bit of powder on top, but you mostly want setting spray for this one.
Personally, back in my own troll paint days, I used Kyrolan Aquacolor in 32 B. I liked the feel on my skin, and I liked that it didn't require as much heavy powdering to set.
There's also newer foundation-type paints, but I haven't done body paint since those have become popular. I've heard mixed things, in that some people swear by them and some don't like them, but there's mixed things about all body paint types, since it's deeply personal.
Alcohol paint is really the only choice if you're doing your arms, but I wouldn't recommend it to a beginner or unless you really truly need your arms painted for some reason. Terezi and Vriska can absolutely wear armsocks.
An armsocks tip: either create a wrist escape hole or bring a bunch of disposable gloves. Go to the bathroom? Put on gloves before you enter, then take them off when you leave and toss them. Eating something? Put on a fresh pair of gloves. Or have a wrist escape so you can wash your hands.
I hope that helps! Good luck :]
