Supplies Acrylic paint Alternatives

Gouache works great for faceups! I use Winsor & Newton but there are lots of other great brands. Personally I would suggest choosing an artist-grade product (if your budget allows for it) to avoid unnecessary frustration that can be caused by lower-quality art supplies. For linework, I recommend using gouache in combination with Liquitex Flow-Aid (or any similar art-grade product) to achieve your desired paint consistency. If you are skeptical about the quality of the results that can be achieved with gouache, just look up Xanthi's old faceup videos on YouTube. The beautiful results speak for themselves

 

Gouache or watercolors would be your best bet. Gouache for opacity and watercolors for flow. Acrylics are always, well, acrylic. They're plastic based in every instance, it's in the name. But! Faceup sealants are what you really need to worry about with pets/children. A lot of sealants are rather toxic.

 

I'd recommend an airbrushed sealant like liquitex matte varnish or Vallejo. You still need to wear a respirator (and obviously be in a room without pets and kids) when spraying, but once the spray settles they're non toxic, no fumes or anything. Those will be your safest, most effective bet. You can also sponge them on but when using water reactivated paints like gouache and watercolors you're more likely to get smearing and bleed with sponge on varnish than with airbrushed.

 

Seconding that your biggest worry would in that case be the sealant as none of them are really eco friendly. Using a sponge with Liquitex Matte Varnish or other similar brush-on sealant is probably the least harmful for the environment as no particles are burst into the air and settling anywhere you don't want them to/nobody gets to breathe them in, but the product itself is no better than acrylic paint as it dries to a plasticy layer and is not safe to ingest or leave on skin for a long time.

As for paints, gouache and watercolour paint (and pencils) are popular and useable! They won't dry in thicker layers on plastic/resin, though, and water doesn't always give great results as a thinner so using acrylic thinner might still be necessary... Pastels are also popular to use in faceups for blushing etc but it's good to be aware that the dust is not good to breathe in and some pigments might be toxic.

It's a little tricky with faceups as it's not possible to do it with completely non toxic eco friendly products, especially as one can't do it without sealing. But as long as you familiarise yourself with how and where to work with things safely (PPE, ventilated space etc), it's less of a problem. In any case, it's still good to keep children and pets away from the immediate faceupping proximity.

 

I'm not sure how ecofriendly are, but I use for my dolls paints from Citadel (used on warhammer miniatures) they are an excelent quality and they are non toxic and thought for kids used too. Non-toxic are for sure, on the label it even says that they can be eaten without danger for children! I'm not so sure about spray varnishes. Safe for brush applications too yes. They dissolve in water. I would also like to know if they are fully manufactured in an environmentally safe way and cruelty free. Its important for me too.
I've been using them for years and I like them a lot because they are easy to apply and quick to dry. For people like me, not very expert, I recommend them. Although they are somewhat expensive, I think they are good. I hope I have helped you a little