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The Science of Face Painting
Face painting has historically been considered "arts and craft", "hobby art" or "just for fun": it has a scientific side as well. The Creative Team undergoes an extensive training in techniques, as well as continuing education in ever-evolving processes in risk-reduction. It is not enough to possess artistic talent in the face painting industry, product knowledge as well as an education in chemistry, biology, and sanitation is important.
You might be surprised by the level of microbes found through an APT testing process on any common surface in a typical artist case and brushes, ranging between 154 and 871! For anyone not familiar with APT testing, it is a scientific swab test that detects living organisms that contain viruses and bacteria, found on common surfaces. In the food and beverage industry, the acceptable levels for an APT test are between 1 and 10; however, with the cosmetics industry, APT testing is 5 times more sensitive for the detection of microbes and results should be around 1-3. Vivid Imaginations has a developed a process that is continually tested for quality assurance for an APT target goal of 0 every time!
So why would this be important? Isn't face painting "just for fun"? If you consider the financial costs of medical care and the emotional impacts on a child who contracted impetigo or molluscum contagiosum, or someone who has suffered a chemical burn, you may start to think like we do. We believe working with the public and working with skin, should not be allowed by unqualified individuals, in the best interest of public safety. Does it make sense to allow anyone without formal education, to purchase a face painting product, and be permitted to perform on the public's skin, for a private or public event? From our professional position, the answer is clearly no. It is a risk to public health to allow volunteers or others without formal education, to work with skin. Online education from face painting schools do not adequately cover risk-reduction or teach sanitation processes that would pass an APT test, if they even touch the topic of communicable diseases at all.
As we push for the regulation of the face painting industry in the State of Washington, Vivid Imaginations has developed a curriculum with phase testing and exam certification, for future artists seeking employment in this professional industry. Our direction will shift with the launch of Vivid Imaginations Face Painting Academy, an official school and training facility for artists looking to break into the trade or level up and expand their knowledge base.
We encourage parents and corporations to begin observing the processes in face painting, and consider the level of care going into the experience. We believe children are not second-class citizens, and their skin and face painting experiences should receive the same level of cleanliness as care as an adult might receive at a MAC makeover. It is not enough to know how to paint faces: face painting artists should be held to the same expectations of education and care, as a licensed cosmetologist.
