Glitter tattoos offer an easy and trendy alternative for those who feel that their face painting skills are not up to painting professionally. No drawing or painting skill is involved. They are quick, easy and beautiful, and have the advantage of lasting several days.
The process is straightforward. All you need are self-adhesive stencils, an acrylic adhesive safe for use on the skin, small brushes or applicators for the glue, some alcohol for cleaning the adhesive off your applicators and prepping the skin, and lots of glitters.
Stencils come in a multitude of designs suitable for all ages and sizes. From fairies to devils, from sports logos to flowers, kanji characters to butterflies. Pretty much anything you can think of can be found in a stencil. The cost for individual stencils usually starts around $0.50USD each, but ordering in quantity will reduce the price per unit. The stencils are the greatest cost involved as the glue and glitter last an extremely long time, but the stencils are usually single-use, although some people manage to use them more than once with extreme care.
Cosmetic grade glitters are sold in small jars, bags, puffer bottles, and vials. You can get any colour imaginable. The best for using glitter tattoos are opaque colours as they will show up more. There are UV reactive colours as well, which are nice if you are working in nightclubs or where there are black lights, but they are a little too light for regular glitter tattoos. Most retailers of face painting-related products sell cosmetic-grade glitters.
You can buy starter kits for glitter tattoos which give you everything you need to start doing them. This is a pretty painless way to get started and get a feel for it. You then can purchase the specific stencils that sell in your area and the colours of glitter that are the most popular to supplement your kit.
The process is as follows: wipe the area of skin down with an alcohol swab or a little alcohol on a tissue to clean off any oils or lotions; peel off the backing of the stencil and apply sticky side down to the skin and press gently to ensure adhesion (if there is another clear layer on top, remove it now); apply the adhesive with a small brush or sponge-tipped applicator over the stencil design area; wait a moment and peel off the stencil carefully; let the glue dry to clear and then apply the glitter one colour at a time over the adhesive where you want it; tap gently to ensure the glitter is in full contact with the glue and dust off the excess with a soft brush.
If you have some ability to draw, you can do freehand tattoos too. Use a small paintbrush to apply the glue and let it dry, and then apply your glitter. If doing multiple colour designs, do it in stages so that each colour remains solid.
You can charge whatever your market will bear for glitter tattoos – depending on the size and complexity. $5.00 per tattoo is not uncommon, more for multiple colours.
So if you want to add on an easy and profitable service, consider providing glitter tattoos.
© Shannon Fennell 2009