Odd Question

[versora]

I have a really odd question.

Is is safe to use the mineral powder blush on a doll? It has NO oil whatsoever it's organic powdered blush and I have tons of the crap. Just thought I'd ask. I most likely won't use it, but just wanted to know.

This his what container looks like:

[OkamiKodomo]

If you can get a list of the ingredients, someone may know better than I would. I know I use mica on my guys sometimes, and I have heard some people have luck with certain colors of the LA Looks glitter powders. I have one that is "Just for Eyes" I think, that was pure pigments. Usually it's the fillers and binders you need to watch out for.

[versora]

ah. well depending on color but these ingredients are apparent:

Mica
Zinc Oxide- 16%
Bismuth

May contain:
Titanium Oxide
And Iron Oxides

And two of them are SPF 15

[OkamiKodomo]

Those actually look like they'd be safe. The zinc and titanium oxides are what give them the SPF, if my research is correct.

You might also want to look into Beauty from the Earth cosmetics. Their eye shadows are pure mineral pigments as well.

[versora]

Ah, cool. That way I don't have to bust my ass buying chalk pastels right away. I can use what I got while I try to save up for some. I'll look into the beauty from the earth stuff too. My poor guy is gonna end up shimmering, lol Still need to get water color pencils though.

[K2!]

I would avoid using any products such as make up, which was made for human skin not dolls. These products were meant for short term use (a few hours to a few days) not the years which quality artists' materials are made to last.

[versora]

Ah. ok. well looks like I'll be saving up for good soft chalk pastels. the ones I have are from Walmart. The ones I found that are artist grade are Rembrandt and are very expensive but are the best brand I ran across.

[DollyKim]

The Wal-Mart brand might be perfectly fine as long as they're doll safe chalk. My pastels are mostly Leow Cornell because I don't use them outside of dolls. There are quite a few "cheap" art supplies that are perfectly fine to use because they're aimed at art students with limited budgets.

It's the kid-centric brands that can be hit or miss.

[versora]

Ah, yeah. That's true. But with my itty bitty pack of 12 chalks, it's tedious to have to mix the powdered chalks after sanding them to make new colours. I may need to find a bigger set. And it's next to impossible finding the water colour pencils at Walmart. Or at least my local Walmart. *throws curses at my local Walmart* I have Crayola colored pencils, but I don't think they are doll safe.

[OkamiKodomo]

The thing to watch out for with the student-grade art supplies is the same reason shelling out for the good stuff is worth it. Student grade stuff doesn't contain much pigment; it's mostly fillers and binders. They can go on grainy and uneven, and tend to look dirty. The acrylics, I haven't used the cheapest stuff before, but I did use the Liquitex Basics before I upgraded to Golden Fluid Acrylics, and I will say the difference was phenomenal, both in how they applied, and how easy they were to thin out to the right consistency; makes me glad I never bothered with the cheap stuff. I used to be a very strong proponent of the whole "it's not about the materials, it's about how you use them" theory, but now that I've upgraded my supplies, I can get even better results. Yes, it IS possible to do good work with low-end materials, and no, good materials do NOT mean you can automatically get good results. Art supplies is almost exclusively a 'you get what you pay for' deal.

A few things I will recommend in general from both ends of the spectrum. Crayola watercolor palette. This is the set I've been using. You can get the 16-color set for $5 at a Michael's, cheaper if you have a coupon. Another thing is the Blick brand Artist Soft Pastels. Sets are available; go for the portrait one if you want a good line-up of blushing colors, and one of the assorted sets if you want a range of other pigments. They also sell open stock, where you can buy individual colors, and they carry the Pearl Ex shimmer pigments if you want to use some sparkles.

Crayola Watercolor Pencils are fine, but you will encounter the same problem with mixing colors. My advice to you would be to locate your nearest craft super stores (JoAnn's, Michaels, Hobby Lobby, AC Moore) and gather up their coupons. JoAnns and Michaels accept competitors coupons, Hobby Lobby does not, and I have no idea about AC Moore, but you can wait til one of them puts out a 50% coupon, print it out a few times, and take one copy to each store that accepts them. Use one to get a good set of pastels, another to get a good set of paints.