Supplies What Materials for Faceups?

o.k. general list:

Mr. Clean magic eraser
gummy eraser
MSC UV CUT SPRAY
good quality pastels ( i like pan pastels )
acrylic paint
acrylic paint retarder ( for thinning )
the thinnest brushes you can find ( i cut mine down ) for detail work
other brushes for blushing
and if you want water color pencils ( i don't use them)
q-tips, regular and the kind with a pointy end for makeup
if you want to change eyes, i recommend Macks silicone ear plugs to stick them in with.
eyelashes optional ( craft glue to put them on with)
this should get you started!

 

so i'm getting my dollfie soon and there are some things i have been wondering about that i figured i should know

one question i found my answer, so thank you guys!

my next question i wanted to know about was, what do you think works best to use for makeup

Acrylic paints?

color pastels?

if so, for acrylic paints, is it alright for the dollfie skin, to mix water with the paint to give a lighter touch? or is water bad for the skin?

any other tips on how or what to use for makeup, i would love to hear!

i would ask my friend, but apparently i'm not cool enough to have a dollfie... and i'm not allowed to get one D''':
so i have to bother you guys, sorrry :/

thank you guys for your help!

 

I use chalk pastels and acrylic paint, and watercolor pencils all together for my face-ups. I like the pastels for a blush sort of effect, but you can use acrylics for that, too. Water is totally fine for both resin and vinyl, so it's okay to thin the acrylic paint with water. Be sure to seal the doll with something (like Mister Super Clear spray or Testor's Dullcote) before you put on any type of color to avoid staining, and after coloring to keep the color in place.

 

I've only done a few face-ups but acrylic paints, chalk pastels, and water are all safe to use on resin. Just make sure to avoid anything with oils.

 

Yes, acrylics are absolutely fine. It might be a bit difficult to control though if you're doing this for the first time; its gets blotchy so easily and you need a very steady hand to draw fine lines (eg. for lower eyelashes, lip lines). I'd suggest watercolour pencils for the lines and chalk pastels for lip and cheek blushing while you're a beginner, and work upwards to more sophisticated materials as you gain confidence

As a side note, you might want to get some water-based varnish for the lips if you want a glossy look, and of course some acetone-free nail varnish remover to remove any mistakes... gummi erasers are also one of my fav tools to lift extra colour.

I heard that MSC is much better than Testors as the latter looks yellow after a few layers. I'm using Tamiya's Flat Clear Spray and it works beautifully.

 

Acrylic paint like Van Goh, high quality oil-free pastels like Rembrandt and Shmencke, high quality watercolor pencils like Faber-castel. Water is fine on bjd skin just make sure you dry any water that gets inside or after awhile it can reallllly smell bad. As far as your friends who needs em, you're gettin plenty of info here, tell them to sod off.

 

Hi everyone!

So I want to get started in the art of doing faceups.
I'm attempting to compile a list of essentials which is a bit
daunting....I don't have much funds to spend and would like to
avoid spending it on items that end up being unnecessary
for a beginner.

First on my List: Mr. super clear flat. (from junkyspot)
Second on my list: Obitsu 60cm head(s)
I chose Obitsu 60cm because I find them pleasing and there is a nice
variety to choose from. But if anyone has another suggestion I'd love
to hear Price or quality wise.

The uncertain part of my list is:

Pastels: Best colors to start with? I was thinking several shades
in natural tones. What colors do you find yourself using the most?

Acrylic paints For eyes only?

Watercolor pencils: I've read many threads/posts discussing this
What brand do I choose?

Brushes! What sizes do you use the most or only use?
Brand (if available) & store/site.

I'm sure I'm missing other things so I greatly appreciate any
help you can offer!! And Thank you in advance

 

Okay pastels wise I bought earth tones (I managed to get a box of them with all browns, yellows, reds and a black). You might want to add a few extra shades of red, and get any bonus colours like blue for example because of eyeshadow. Depends what you're planning. Obviously don't get oil pastels lol!

Acrylic black, white..I don't really use them much but if you're going to do tattoos they're the colours to get (as well as red, blue and yellow). Maybe silver and gold too? Might make some nice designs

Water colour pencils: Black and white are my must colours. Black for the eyes and white for the lips. I like Daler Rowney personally but might be because that's what we had a college so i'm used to them. Keep them very nice and sharp.

Brushes: various sizes, a large round one for blushing all the way down to a 20 0 from hiroboy for tiny details. You will have to invest in good brushes- it might seem expesnive at first (I think one of my tiny brushes was about £16) but the more you spend the higher quality. There is nothing worse than cheap brushes with bristles falling out all over your face up.

Just have lots of fun and experiment!

 

Thank you! A quick question though, you use
watercolor pencil for the lips & eyes? I had seen tutorials
using acrylic (I thought) for the eyeliner/lashes and brows.
Is it simply preference?

 

You get much finer lines with acrylic and small liner brushes than with watercolor pencils. However, watercolor pencils are sometimes easier to handle for beginners and don't require as steady a hand.

Also, if you're going to use acrylic, (I recommend Liquitex) you might want to purchase an acrylic thinner/fluid retarder. While you can use water to thin the paint, it doesn't quite get it thin enough to achieve fine lines without some gloppiness.

 

You can also use cotton balls to apply blushing in cheeks and other parts and cotton tips to paint the lips and eyecreases (don't know if it's well written. Sorry for my english! ). They work great, in fact, I barely use brushes. Well, I don't use acrylic either :P

Brands I use:
Faber Castell for waterpencils
Cretacolor for chalk pastels

Hope it helps

 

Your english is perfect! Thanks for the tips all
I'm sure I'll have tons of other questions when I finally
get started...

 

hey, I'm kinda new to the faceup world, but I've been practicing eyebrows and lashes and lips and blush, but wit hcolored pencils of paper. I want to work on a doll, but I don't know what kind of materials to get, or where, or what brand. help please?

 

Acrylic paints, paint thinner for the acrylics, lots of different sized brushes, (especially a really tiny one for lashes and brows) a sealant of some sort (should be resin safe) CHALK pastels (not oil!) and water color pencils. You can do an entire faceup with just water color pencils and pastels. I did that, since my friend didn't have paint thinner for the acrylics.

 

So basically, I've mastered teh techniques on paper, aat the right scale, in a way I'm happy with. BUT.

I have NO CLUE what to use on an actual doll!

so if anyone could tell me what I need to do a faceup, what kind of whatever that is is best, where I can can get it, and how much it is, I WILL GIVE YOU A LIFE TIME SUPPLY OF COOKIES.

PLEASE. I NEED HELP.

 

to sum up my views, for a beginer i would use the lower end suplies as a practice. I for one got my pastels from wal-mart but i love them and they work great. anyway here is a list of what you want for starters and some sugestions

Sealant: your safest bet is Mr. super clear flat, Volks , ZM finishing spray, or Testors Dullcoat. its about $10 from volksusa

Pastels: CHALK PASTELS ONLY oil pastels will stain a doll. I got mine at wal-mart in the art suply section for about $5 i also sugest volks Pastels which are about $10

Watercolor Pencils: i went to an art store for these i dont remember the price but i got a nice little set of them with most of the colors i needed and it didnt really break the bank.

Acrylic paints: Currently I use delta ceramcoat and folkart artists pigment, with windsor and newtons acrylic retarder. i had to go to an art store for the retarder. but delta and folk art acrylics can be found at walmart, or art/craft stores. i dont have the prices on those either unfortunately.

All this has turned out with a result somewhat like this but thats also personal skill level:
SD:

Tiny:

Teeny:

 

Not just chalk pastels but also "soft pastels" which many people think are better. I have a set of Lowell and Cornell ones with portrait colors, so it has all the colors I would really use on a faceup plus a few blues and purples, and it wasn't that expensive at all.

Testors comes in small cans... smaller than MSC. I buy mine from a store like Michael's with a coupon and it was $3.18. Much cheaper than MSC and in my opinion, a decent product (though I haven't used MSC to compare, the hassle of buying online, not to mention how much more it costs, makes me not want to try).

I suggest getting most of these supplies with coupons.

You might want something of a little bit higher quality than delta for acrylics if you plan on doing these more than a couple times. Delta and others by them are craft acrylics and aren't really meant for art. It's worth investing a few extra dollars in a set of artist quality primary colors.

Also, you don't need paint retarder, you can use water if you mix it really well... I have and it's worked just fine.

You will want clear acrylic gloss for lips, lids, and eyebrows (if that's your bag). I have a ton though, so if You're going to be at the July Seattle meet, I can bring you some for a buck or two... the only bottle I've seen is about $8, quite large, and will last forever if you only ever use it for faceups... it seems kind of silly to buy a bunch more though when I have a ton to spare.

As for brushes, you'll need at least a round one with a brush about a centimeter in diameter for basic blushing, one about a fourth of that size for more precise blushing, one even smaller than that for glossing, and a really teeny one for eyelashes/eyebrows. Do yourself a favor and buy artist quality brushes. Craft brushes will not give you the results you're looking for. Craft stores like michaels have little bagged sets that might have all of those I mentioned in them, then you can use a single coupon on it.

You'll also need a little piece of sandpaper to grind your pastels into powders with.

 

Sorry for the giant picture D=

First, what you will ABSOLUTELY need is some kind of sealer. It's a bit silly to tote your doll around without SOME kind of sealer on it. ><

You could use testors, MSC (which is what I use), finishing spray, dullcote... There's a sticky up top about MSC and other sealers.

Next, you'll wanna use brushes. Mine are the red, orange, and yellow ones on the lower right. I use them because they're a little frayed- which I think gives a better, even spread versus a thick or firm brush. You could use q-tips, which I never got good results with, or even un-used blush brushes for makeup. Still, I prefer my filbert for blending (the yellow), angular for areas around the eyes (orange), and the flats for cheeks (reds). The large red/flat is especially nice.

Next is some kind of color medium. You'll likely want to use chalk your first time.

With chalk, you have a few things to take into consideration. First, it's the softness. The softer the chalk, the easier it is to get from the stick to the brush. PERSONALLY, I think softer chalk winds up giving slightly more even color, though it's minute.
Next, it's pigmentation, or amount of color actually in the chalk. How strong the color will be in VERY thin layers.

Don't be afriad to pick up CHALK pastels if they're on sale really cheap. Having too many pastels never hurt anyone. Likely, they'll break or- if you have cats- get topled over and just go missing.

You'll also need something to scrape the pastels. A stiff, bristly (OLD and WORN and WORTHLESS) brush. A butter knife, x-acto knife (or similar craft knife) or even a pair of scissors. Make sure it's a FINE powder, though, and not thickish chunks. Think dust.

Finally, some kind of sealer remover. Usually nailpolish remover (non-acetone or regular) and a medium, like cotton balls or pads. Personally, I think using a pad takes less time.



That's all you REALLY need. There are a LOT of options you can take, however.

Gloss: I have two kinds. A GOLDEN-brand medium and tamiya acrylic gloss. I prefer the Tamiya for dolls, but I have been known to use GOLDEN. It appears more like craft glue, having a milk-white consistency, but drying to a VERY shiney, clear finish. Actually, if you ask me, the medium is shinier than the gloss. So, it really depends on how shiney you want it.

You'll need acrylic paints for fine detailing. If you want a WIDE range of colors, get the three primaries and black and white. If you go that route, I suggest another set of dedicated brushes for paint. Never use a chalk brush for painting, or a paint brush for blushing. It's just bad business.

Also, you'll need a REALLY good, tiny brush for eyelashes, liplines and eyebrows. Long, thin, scripters/liners are best. You might be able to get away with a shorter, thicker brush but I think liners give the best results. Always taper the line, or else it looks like a chunky, thick, dark hair.

You can buy a thinner. I use Mr. Color Thinner... However, you have to be CAREFUL with it. It WILL remove the sealer. I suggest using a little sealer for good consistency of paint, but mostly water.

There's a round disk with slots for mixing paint/chalk, and a sheet of plastic from an old notebook. The latter is easy to obtain and you can throw it away.

I could give some color advice if you like, but that's all I can think of off the top of my head as far as tools go.


And in the end, there's the airbrush route, but I know NOTHING about that.

 

I am almost ready to do Ashe's face-up and I wanted to make sure that the materials I had selected to use were compatible with the resin. I am still missing a few things, but for the moment, I want to see if I'm off to a good start. [I know there may be other threads like this, but I wanted a one on one in case some of my materials are not a good choice or may cause damage to my doll]

Sealant

[have not bought any yet, debating between these two]
MSC [hard for me to find and don't know if I need 'flat' or 'UV Cut']
Testors Dullcoat [I could buy this at a nearby craft store, but am not sure how compatible it is with resin]

Brushes

[haven't ordered them yet, still looking around, but if you have any size recommendations for certain uses (ie: a good size to do eyelashes, etc.) feel free to post them here, it would be appreciated]

Color Materials

Reeves Soft Pastel Set (24 colors)
Daler~Rowney System3 Acrylic Paints [I read the booklet they came with, but did not find anything about them being tested on resin]
Water (used as a thinner for the acrylic, if there is a better thinner you'd recommend, feel free)

Random Tools

various makeup brushes and applicators
Q-tips
Doll Eyelash [Will be ordering soon]
Tacky Glue (for eyelash) [Buying soon]
Toothpicks
Mr. Clean Magic Erasers (Mother buys these things like crazy XD)
Face Mask (for when spraying sealant)

 

For sealant:
MSC, (both flat and uv cut) work just fine, as does Testor's Dullcote...all 3 are used by many people, (I've used all 3 at various times myself...I prefer MSC flat, but that's just a personal preference)

Brushes: a 20/0 liner brush should do for eyelashes etc...make certain to get some larger, round brushes as well for blushing

Color:
For paint, be sure that you have a paint that can easily be thinned. You also might want to invest in some fluid retarder. This thins the paint much better than water and makes it easier to achieve fine lines for lashes etc.

Hope that helps a bit

 

There's a whole sticky on sealant that might be helpful - either MSC flat or UV cut flat will be fine. Lots of people use Testor's just fine, lots of people also have horrible experiences with Testor's. I've got some MSC ordered, but have been using Model Masters Lusterless Flat - almost as easy to find as Testor's and works better based on the research I've done.

You want the tiniest finest thinnest brush you can find, for eyebrow and eyelashes. I use Liquitex Flow-Aid (in water) and Retarder with my acrylics so it doesn't dry on the brush so fast since you do want it very thin.

You may want some watercolor pencils, also. Some people don't use them at all, some people use them instead of acrylics. I personally use them a tiny bit for lip lines and sometimes a bit on the eyeliner to make sure I got everything.

 

MSC flat or UV cut is fine. There are several threads on where to buy it.

For brushes I recommend smaller than 20/0 if you can find it. But if you're just starting out 20/0 would be perfect. I use a cheap pack of variety brushes for blushing, with a separate brush for each pastel color in different sizes.

I actually prefer using just water to thin my acrylic lines. I have Liquitex Flow-Aid and I get much better results not using it, so I wouldn't say its necessary for starters.

For gloss I like Liquitex Gloss Medium, and one bottle will last you forever. It cleans up easily with water, which is a plus for me.

Make sure you are using a respirator with cartridges for paint and organic fumes.

 

I like the tacky glue that says Fast Grab on it. It lets you move and re-position when you want to until you got it right, but your lashes won't pop up or fall so easy while you're getting them just perfect.

 

I just finished purchasing all my supplies.
I've gone with:

Sealers:
- MSC Flat UV Cut
- Liquitex Gloss Medium
- Reaper Brush On Sealer ('satin finish' acrylic, possibly for manicure, I'll be going for a natural look, also as a paint additive to help prevent beading)

Colours:
- Koss soft Pastels
- Staedtler Watercolour Pencils
- Reaper Master Series acrylic Paints (I have a billion of them from painting miniatures)
- A personal pre-mixed blend of thinner/flow aid/retarder (also from mini painting, again using Reaper brand additives)

Brushes:
- Windsor and Newton Series 7 Miniature Kolinsky Sable brushes in 000 (honestly, this is smaller than most "20/0" that I've seen and keeps a beautiful point)
- a small (less than 1cm wide) flat brush and a small round brush of unknown origin that I have lying around (for blushing).

other:
- Windsor & Newton Brush Cleaner
- Q-tips
- toothpicks
- tacky glue
- eyelashes
- kneadable eraser (also to be used for eye putty!)

I forgot about the magic eraser - I will have to go buy a pack, they'll be useful around the house too.

 

So I'm venturing into the world of faceuping. I know about the different sealers and such but I'm lost on some affordable materials (pencils, paints, pastels, etc.) I plan on going to Michaels tomorrow to gathering the stuff I need but does anyone have any suggestions on affordable things to use for faceups? Thanks!

 

I started off with a cheap set of Mungyo pastels (about $7 or so) for blushing, though I've since upgraded to a more expensive brand with more pigment. Since inexpensive pastels tend to contain more binders and less pigment, it can take more layers of color to achieve the desired look sometimes, but you can still get the look you want with a little patience. They were a color set, but the box looked like this one: http://www.jerrysartarama.com/image...000-ST-01-Mungyo-Gallery-Soft-12-Charcoal.jpg

I also use watercolor pencils, both Faber-Castell or Derwent brand. They're a dollar or two apiece, but you can buy them individually and only get the colors you need. Since I only use them for eyebrows and eyelashes, a couple of colors was all I needed.

For paints... well, that's where I splurged, even from the beginning. So I'm not sure what inexpensive options work well. Liquitex Soft Body acrylics really work best for me, so I stick with them even though they're about $5-10 per bottle. However, one bottle will last you a lifetime in doll faceups. Depending on what you use it for, you can also just get the colors you need... If you just use it for eyelashes, eyeliner, or lips, you may be able to get away with just a few bottles. One of my dolls has an elaborate rainbow-colored tattoo that I do, so unfortunately I had to get a lot of colors.

Also, I use Liquitex Gloss Medium and Varnish on lips and around eyes (and on nails when doing body blushing), and it's about $6-8 per bottle... but it gives a lovely high-gloss effect and a little goes a long way.

 

As TheFontBandit said, Mungyos are great to start with. I personally started with Mungyo Gallery, they're softer than regular and have more colour. The also cost more, $15 for a set of 30 colours but I swear by them. I upgraded to Rembrandt but I still sometimes use Mungyo. As for watercolour pencils, I prefer Faber-Castel because they're not quite as soft as Derwent. I've also used the cheap-o ones from Walmart with no ill effects, I actually really like them, they're very hard and won't crumble when you're drawing fine lines. Bad part is, much less colour selection. As for paint...well, honestly, if you're a beginner, I would start with mostly watercolour pencils. However, if you are looking for paints, Liquitex is my favourite. At Michael's you can buy a Liquitex Beginner Kit. It's like 5 bucks for 12 colours and I've never had it stain, it'll just need thinning. As for gloss, I absolutely LOVE Windsor and Newton Acrylic Mediums Gloss Varnish. It goes on in very thin layers so you can choose the amount of gloss. It costs about $6 for a small bottle.

So, here was my beginner's faceup kit:
Cheap-o paintbrushes from Walmart: $3
A few nicer paintbrushes for detail: $7
Mungyo Gallery Soft Pastels: $15
Exacto knife to shave pastels: $3
Mr. Super Clear: $15
Rubbing alcohol for removal: $2
Kneaded rubber eraser for fixing pastel mistakes: $1
Watercolour pencils from Walmart: $6
A few select F-C pencils: $5
Windsor and Newton Gloss Varnish: $6
(optional) Liquitex Beginner's Kit acrylics: $5
(optional) Liquitex Slow-Dry: $8

So, I made a very basic kit for around $96, including sealer and optional acrylics. Of course you can build on to your beginner's kit, substitute, etc. I just really liked these beginner's supplies and it got me through a LOT of faceups before I was able to upgrade to higher quality pastels (hoping to try Sennelier pastels eventually, they look nice) and to a wider range of Liquitex colours and watercolour pencil colours.

Good luck! Faceups are a lot of fun.

 

Hey I'm back with more noob questions XD
I know there are many threads about faceups and materials but I wanted to start a fresh one because I have some questions and a lot of the other threads are long and contradict eachother. I'm sorry if anyone gets annoyed by my noob questions, but if they do please refrain from posting mean comments

Alright so my Mr. Colour isn't working out the best and I need a lot more practice with it before I put it near my doll. I am confident with my acrylic and pencil skills but what brands do I need to buy? Which brands are safest for the dolls and which clean off the easiest?

I read that faber castel or derwent watercolour pencils work well, does anyone disagree with this? I actually haven't been able to find any of those brands (or the colours I need in them) in my nearby art store DX Does anyone recommend anything else?

I do have a lot of prisma colour pencil crayons lying around but I was worried they would be rough because they aren't watercolour pencil crayons. Are prisma pencil crayons very different from watercolour pencil crayons and is one easier to clean off/use in general?

As for acrylics. I heard liqutex is good but does it matter whether they're basic, soft body, etc? Also, should I check for any ingredients in my paints that are a no no for my dolls? Are there any other good acrylic brands?

Do the acrylics need to be thinned or is water ok? I'm kinda scared of paint thinner after dealing with deadly mr. colour thinner.

Does 99% rubbing alcohol clean off the acrylic or pencil if necessary? That's what I've been using to clean my dolls so far.

I'm only planning on painting or drawing thin hair lines and eyeliner if this helps anyone answer my questions.

And I might aswell ask one more thing, any advice for someone using the tamaya gloss for the first time on their doll?

Thanks for your patience with my noob questions.

 

my best advice would be to take what others have posted and then use your own judgement.

I don't think I use any brands that have been mentioned, other than the Tamiya Gloss and the MSC (when I can find it)
I use Koss pastels, Staedtler watercolour pencils and Reaper Master Series paint. And right now I'm using Tamiya Clear Flat spray, because the one store I know of that carries MSC locally has been having trouble getting it in.

Watercolour pencils are very different from pencil crayons. With the watercolour pencils you are able to use water to soften and blend the lines or even remove it entirely (before sealing of course). I have seen it said that pencil crayons will often use wax as a binding agent, so there is a chance they could stain a doll.

Tamiya Gloss is just a clear glossy acrylic paint. So, just dip a brush in and go! Please make sure to use it in a well ventilated area. I personally found the fumes to be much worse than MSC or other sprays.

Pretty much all acrylic paints will be okay ... the main difference between brands is the pigment (i.e. cheaper brands won't thin as well, because the pigment is in bigger 'pieces' than in the higher quality brands)

 

I haven't used pencils and pastels in a long, long time, so I can't really offer you any help with that other than NO, PLEASE DON'T USE NORMAL PRISMACOLORS. x_x They're wax-based and have the potential to stain. There are Prismacolor watercolor pencils and if you can find them, they're fantastic.

It doesn't matter which Liquitex acrylics you use, it's a matter of preference. I have a huge drawer full of basics, hard body, soft body, AND ink and they all work just fine for me and my dolls. It's just the price that'll stop you from getting one or the other. XD I also use Tamiya and Citadel acrylics, but they smell terrible in two totally different braincell-killing ways so it's not very often. x__X

If you just use water to thin your paint, it's going to lose the saturation of color, and you'll have to layer your paint on to get the desired color. Depending on which paint I'm using and if I'm breaking out the airbrush I'll either use Liquitex Flow Aid or Tamiya X-20A thinner. With either or, a couple of drops go a very, very long way.

 

other good brands for acrylic paints are: Golden, Windsor and Newton, Rembrandt. hobby paints CAN be used, but they are less densely pigmented than professional paints and so end up being less vibrant. sometimes this is a good thing, sometimes not.

in general, anything with a wax or oil binder (what holds the pigment together) is a no-no. watercolor pencils and chalk pastels use water-soluble gum arabic (also found in foods, by the way, just some random trivia) as the binder usually, so are safe on resin (and on you, although that's not really the issue, is it?)

99% isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol will take watercolor pencils and pastels off just as well as it does acrylic paints. just be sure you're using it in a well ventilated area. if you can find it, Windsor and Newton make a Brush Cleaner and Restorer that works extremely well and is somewhat lower on the fume-ratio (ie: it's not evaporating as quickly as the alcohol will.)

hope this helps!

 

Hello DoA ^^

I've read a lot about face-ups and the materials required, but I've still some questions. If there are threads about my questions which i didnt found, please link them

I know already that I have to clean up the haed with something like nail polish remover. It should be completely dry before I can coat it with MSC (or something else). After the coating I can start with painting. (It sounds so simple )

But: I woul like to work with soft pastells. I don't own some, so i have to buy them. I read already that it make sense to buy some brand ones, but: which colors should I buy? A set? 12 Pastels? 24? 36? There is so much assortment.
Or should I buy them seperate? But if I buy them seperate: How many and which colors should I choose?

I have some acrylic paints at home, so I dont have to buy them.

Is there something else I realy realy need? (At my point of view Q-Tips etc. are something that is in every houshold 'in stock')

Thanks by advance
Levi

 

Oh. So, i am new at face-ups also, and last night I used nail polish remover to take the factory face-up off my doll. But I didn't know you are suppose to spray the MCS before you start working on it and do you use is it as a finishing sealant too?. Good know when I do go to work on it. And I just bought myself a 36 set of soft pastels, instead of paints. But I wanna see what other people are gonna say to your questions. Since I am curious too. lol

 

Yeah, I read that you should seal the head so the paint can not stain the resin. And sure you should seal the paint so it cant easyly rubb off. But thats only what I read, I tryed nothing myself yet.

 

Make sure not to get any oil based products. I've been told that those ruin the doll which I entirely believe. I have also found out that if you really don't want to paint the eyelashes or eyebrows on, using WATER colored pencils works very well. And yes, putting on a good coating of whatever trustworthy sealant you have on first is always the safest thing to do seeing how paint and pastels will definately stain it. I made a mistake of not paying attention as to how much of the sealant I accidently rubbed off during the face-up precedure and now Gabe has a little bit of a brown tint over one of his eyes from the pastels. So I recommend that. Plus do as much research as you possibly can about any of the products or even about your bjd if you already haven't just to be safe about it! Hoped it helped! ^ ^

 

You should DEFINITELY seal the head before to prevent staining and after to prevent the face-up from rubbing off. As for pastels, it's really your choice.. if you'll want natural face-ups, just buy some colors, like browns/reds/black etc, if you want fantasy ones, go for greens/blues/etc.

Look at face-ups tutorials to see how people and what people use to do face-ups. And some Nail Polish Remover contains accetone = which will melt the resin if you're unlucky =w= As I know, Windsor and Newton brush cleaner is the safest for cleaning face-ups off dolls.

 

You can use nail polish remover with or without acetone, but never on a dyed, coloured (like ResinSoul or Bobobie does), or tanned doll. You can use it to scrub the doll's faceup and paint off, but absolutely do not let the head soak in the acetone or remover. Repeat: Absolutely do NOT soak in the remover!

If you get Windsor&Newton Brush Cleaner and Restorer, you can soak the doll parts in the fluid for long periods of time with no damage.

I suggest that you do the work in this process:
1. remove existing faceup by scurbbing, not soaking
2. dry off with a towel or paper towel
3. let sit to evaporate remaining water (hour, or less, maybe)
4. spray evenly with sealant
5. let sit for 15 minutes
6. pastel blushing
7. repeat 4 and 5
8. optional, repeat 6 and 7 as much as wanted for rich, even colours
9. acrylic paints
10. repeat 4 and 5
11. optional, gloss

The more layers you do with pastel and spray, the better the colours will look. I hope that helps.

EDIT: Why don't you get a set of 12? That'll provide you with an assortment that you can pick from. You can pick up individual pastel sticks later when you think of colours you need. Browns, tans, light pinks, auburn, grays, and blacks are usually what I use for a natural faceup.

 

You asked about pastels, and how many colors to get in a set.
Unless you plan to do fantasy face-ups you really don't need any crazy colors. If I ever buy another set of pastels I will buy a set with browns, pinks and black. My green, blue and other color pastels never get used.

As a note make sure the acrylic paint you have isn't the cheap $1 stuff, it can stain.

 

You should really avoid EVER using nail polish remover of any sort for removing faceups off resin. It's the worst thing next to straight up acetone and not knowing what you're doing to do that. Windsor & Newton is highly recommended my several artists for cleaning. Also Isopropyl rubbing alcohol for those who are extra apprehensive frightened of doing something to damage their doll or like one of my personal friends, she can't us W&N becuase something that is in it bothers her health. For whatever you do end up using you want to clean it and in between cotton balls worth and at the end especially rinse the head in water to assure all the remover is cleaned from the head. Dry with a paper towl (I have the best luck with just standard kitchen paper towls than anything for lack of lint left) and for extra assurance give a once over rub down with a magic eraser. If you can avoid soaking all the better. You should only ever soak if there is something stained in. If you soak in a remover soak in alcohol for about 20 min don't reapeat more than twice becuase if that hasn't done it it's not coming out with that. I've heard people soaking in W&N but I've also head that after elongated exposure of W&N sitting on the resin that it will pit. Best thing I've found for stain removing is soaking in an OxiClean bath. Name brand no additive oxi clean and follow instructions. may take a couple of times and you want to do the head and whole body becuase it de-yellows and will sometimes slightly lighten the resin. And if you do soak your dry time is severly longer! You have fully submerged and the pours are full. They need 1-3 days to dry depending on your resin. Also if you soak alchol especially you want to give some wait time because it will soften and leave the resin a bit brittle (this is why you don't want to soak too much and why soaking is only recommended under special circumstance. it is NOT and everytime thing and will damage your resin)

Okay if I didn't just overload your brain yes after cleaning you need to wait time for it to dry. That is a MUST! When you clean remover and water you rinse with does get into the pores of the resin. If you are just surface cleaning just like cleaning off a faceup to turn around and redo, minimum 45 min. I tend to leave for 2 hours for extra assurance but I am an overcautious person. You will want to give 2-3 base coats of whatever selant you are using. it gives a good even coating and texture and will protect the resin from staining from your art products.

As for pastels a set with pinks and browns and things if you're going for natural faces. If you buy sets you are almost always going to end up with ones that you don't use. I tried the whole buying serpeately but if you don't have proper storage and containment it gets rather messy. I like having a box of assorted colors with their own seperate holders. I currently use Mungyo soft pastels and though there are colors I don't use often, you can also if you are going to shave/grind your pastels mix the colors and sometims a color that seems odd will go onto the resin a much different look and color than the pastel itself. Options are good. For starting though you don't need to spend more than $12-15 on a basic set.

The only other things I really use with faceups is I use paint brushes to apply the pastels with. I usually prefer nylon and sable fiber. I use a flow-aid, a fluid medium with my paints to help them glide on better. Water color pencils. Even if you do a lot of paint work having them for little details isn't a bad idea. I only ever use like a black, 2 tones of brown, white, and pink. And then gloss varnish for lips and eyes.

 

@mel-mel-chan no acetone? But in other Threads they say to use acetone. Im confused now... but I think regardless what I use i dont let soak it.
So you say that I should use Windsor&Newton Brush cleaner or Isopropyl rubbing alcohol, right? (Sorry for my stupid question, but I'm not sure if I understood your text right. So i think I should ask twice until damaging my doll...)

Good to know... I will write some better paint on my shopping list. (I need a tree with money as leafs...)

 

Acetone can be used... but I really wouldn't recommend it. Prolonged exposure to it can damage the resin. Seriously, Windsor and Newton and plain Isopropyl alcohol are the ones that are safest. If you're really super-worried about damaging resin, go with the Isopropyl alcohol. It's the absolute safest thing you can use on resin to remove faceups. It might take some scrubbing with a toothbrush, but it does work.

 

I used chalk pastels (make sure you definitely DON'T get oil pastels) and I just scrape them for the pastel dust. I use soft wide brushes for applying my pastels. As for what colours, I just buy whatever colours I need for a particular faceup. I have different shades of reds and pinks and yellows for blushing and lips, and then different shades of hair colours for marking out my eyebrows before I add in the details. I use a pointed Q-tip to draw on the eyebrows first. I also have a couple more exciting colours that I use for eyeshadow.

...Some people prefer to use paint, but I'm not very confident with paint (I've only used watered-down paint along with a toothbrush to do freckles) so I use water colour pencils. I have black for doing eyeliner and eyelashes, hair colours for doing eyebrows, pinks and browns for lip corners and eyelid creases, and white for doing lip lines.

I also have some erasers to rub out any mistakes.

You should definitely do a few coats of MSC before you start doing your faceup to give the pastels something to grip to, and so your doll doesn't get stained. I like to spray coats in between each step of the face up because otherwise I lean on my work and rub it out/smudge it. When you're done do a few coats again. Also make sure that you get matt/flat MSC! Haha.

You can also get some gloss for your lips.

Don't forget to wear a mask when spraying your MSC, and use it in a well-ventilated area.

 

If you can't find the Windsor and Newton brush cleaner, go to your local chemist and get either Isopropyl alcohol wipes, or a bottle of Isopropyl alcohol. It is really safe for resin, because it air dries in seconds, so it can't harm the doll. The wipes are amazingly easy to use, cause there is no mess - I first caught onto them cause my doctor gave me some when I took my Puki in with me to a check up!! I got a big container of the Isopropyl alcohol wipes, there are like 200 in it, and it was only $15NZD. So not bad really.
With your pastels, you won't need a massive range, unless you plan to do really colourful faceups! If you don't want to spend heaps, then I would suggest getting just some basic colours - some light pinks, maybe a red, some browns, and possibly some peach colours if you don't want to have really pink lips. You can generally tell what colours have been used in a faceup just by looking, so you can pick that way. If you do want to get a set, go for a 24set (thats what I have!) My 9 and 12 sets didn't have the range in pinks and browns, just bright red and a very dark brown. You may find that not many sets have a range in browns, so you may want to buy one or two seperately.
Hope that helped!

 

Thank you all!

I asked my mom for Isopropyl Aalcohol and she said its called same here (She works in an hospital, though i thought she should know it ^^) I think I will look after Windsor&Newton in the Store i'm going to buy my pastels and if they dont have it i go and buy the alcohol thing.

Thank you all for your advises abaut color range and pastels and watercolor pencils and so on It helped me very much.
The store where I will buy my stuff is a realy big art-store with an amazing assortment. And now I have an idea for what I have to look.

My shopinglist contains:
- MSC (maybe I have to buy it online)
- Windsor + Newton Brushcleaner
- Soft Pastel (24 Set + some browns/reds)
- Brushes (I have some, but need one realy thin one)
- Acrylic Gloss
- eraser (putty one... i dont know its name in english)

I have a Set of 36 Watercolorpencils so i think i dont need more yet.

Is there something I have forgotten but is absolute necessary?

Levi

 

Acetone reacts differently on different batches of resin. I used it for ages on my Dream of Doll Camine and Too with no problems, then one day I got a new Lahoo from the same company and even just with brief contact to acetone it melted his eyelids off! His resin was pitted and soft and I really messed him up. Some people swear by acetone, just because they've never had an issue with it.
I always used W&N now, you can soak a doll for ages in it and then just wipe the face-up right off. It's just as easy as acetone, but waaaaaaay safer.

EDIT:
Oh! As a tip, when you buy brushes I would suggest a small, very stiff one. After you soak the head in cleaner you can use a stiff 'scrubby' brush to get residue out of small places, like the eyelid crease or between lips.

 

You don't need too many different pastels, really. If you have blue, red, yellow, black, white and a brown and/or tan then you can mix pretty much any color you want.

I've soaked a hand in green nail polish remover for 24 hours or so (it was an extra and un-needed) and absolutely nothing happened to it.

 

I've always cleaned my heads with Windsor&Newton. I use paper towels (dipped in W&N) to wipe most of it (takes a few minutes to dissolve the layers of MSC and paint) and q-tips and paint brushes to get small areas like lips/eye corners/nose clean. Then I wash off the W&N with soapy water (Dawn dish soap) and the magic eraser to get rid of all the shine left from the W&N. Dry with more paper towels and again I get all the water with a paint brush or q-tip. Let dry till there is no water left.

After the head is completely dry I spray with MSC. I usually do 2-3 very light coats (letting it completely dry in-between). Then it's ready to paint.

I use Rembrandt Soft Pastels. They "stick" the best for me on the resin vs. the cheaper set I had. But a small set of those could cost 50usd, so I buy them separately from Dick Blick. Leechy has an awesome chart for colors to use: Tutorial: Natural Faceup

Basic list of all I use:
Windsor & Newton
q-tips
MSC
knife to scrape at pastels
Rembrandt Soft Pastels
Varous sized brushes for pastel blushing
0/20 or smaller round brush for painting eyelash/eyebrows/liplines
Liquitex soft body acrylic paints
Liquitex flow-aid (for thinning paint - I normally just use water)
Liquitex gloss - used after final coat of MSC for lips, eyes, ect...
tacky glue for eyelashes
Toothpicks and tweezers for applying eyelashes

 

I'm totally newbie so I have a question. What for should I use acrylics and what for are pastels? for example what should I use to blush body and face - as a base. And secondly - do you buy single, specific colours or 12, 24, 36 packs?

 

Pastels for blushing, makeup, etc.

Thinned acrylics for details - or you could use watercolor pencils if you have trouble with controlling a brush.

I bought a couple of packs of pastels (one 12, one 24), but if you wanted you could buy them individually in the colors you need. You only need fleshtones if you plan to do natural faceups, but if you plan on doing makeup with crazy colors, you might as well buy a pack so you can go nuts.

 

Thank god I found this post lol, I'm looking into starting faceups myself and couldnt find a good post about the supplies, thank you!!!

 

Hi people, I've read a lot of this thread but I wonder, where can I, who live in Sweden, Europe, buy a very small brush for eyelashes ONLINE? I have a very thin brush already but I'm sure you people use an even smaller brush. Anyone know a good supplies homepage which ships to sweden?

 

http://www.dickblick.com/brushes/decorativebrushes/ - Lots of Miniature Brushes, not sure if there's one smaller than the one you already you have.

http://www.dickblick.com/customerservice/shipping/ - International shipping info is at the very bottom. =)

 

i saw earlier in the thread that eyeshadow would work for actual shadowing for eyes, anyone know if NYC Color Wheel Face powder or other basic blushes could be used or do those also stain? I looked at the ingredients and i am not sure what could be classified as an oil.

 

Is it ever ok to use cosmetics on resin??? I am going for a irridescent looking lip, like a shimmer eyeshadow. Will it be ok on resin, or have any bad effects??

 

No, I wouldn't recommend it. Most makeup have some sort of oil in it, and that can ruin the resin and/or the faceup.

 

Hey. I've had a question that I asked around about a few times, but never received a detailed answer. If you make a small mistake with acrylic paint while painting, say eyelashes or eyebrows, what's the safest way to perform a spot treatment? So far the only answers I've gotten are water, or Mr. Color Thinner. Is there any other way to perform spot treatments for acrylic errors? If you use thinners won't you have to clean the area before continuing? Is there a different way to do spot treatments depending on if you've blushes the face first or not? What other materials can be used to fix a small error and which are the safest? There are so many faceup artists, I'm sure some have made errors before...

 

@missimissi, if it's a small error such as an eyelash or eyebrow hair, lip line and etc (before it's sealed)? I'll try rubbing it off with a little eraser first, if that doesn't work I'll gently scraped at it with a toothpick.

 

Not a face up artist myself, but I have done plenty of face ups for some
of my dolls & floating heads and have had plenty more errors throughout
the whole process. Here&#8217;s what I do because I suck at face ups, I usually
wipe eyebrows and eyelashes a couple hundred times before I&#8217;m satisfied
with them, so I always leave them for last! That means I&#8217;ve sealed everything
else a couple times before I start working on eyelashes or eyebrow hair-strokes,
even the blush under the brows has been sealed. That way I can be sure that
whatever I need to wipe, will be the only thing I wipe off! (: I use either wet or most
cotton-swabs, wet/moist blending-stumps, wet/moist brushes (works only if you use watercolors
instead of acrylics), or a small piece of moistened magic eraser &#8211; which works the best if
you have a lot of paint to remove and not a lot of patience. Hope that helps. ^ ^


- Enzyme

 

I have a quick question about faceups, as I am a total newbie to this ^_^;; I just got my first BJD (from doll-love.com) who came with a default faceup, and would like to do a different faceup myself; however, the only parts that I want to 're-do' are the lips, the eyebrows, and add a different color of eyeshadow and eyeliner.

Is it okay to simply just remove the paint in those areas, re-prime, paint, and then seal them back over? or will I have to remove the whole faceup and start over?

 

I use dry time extender to thin my acrylic paints, so if I make a mistake, it's very easy to wipe off because the pain isn't dry from the extender.