I was going to post this elsewhere but it turns out I have a lot to say on the subject and I’m sure quite a few of you do as well. 

Do you paint up for shows? Why or why not? Did you ever paint up? Do you have a design that’s “yours” or do you wing it every time? Did anyone actually use the paint that ICP were selling a few years back? If so, how was it? Sure looked like a price inflated repackaging of the cheapo shit that every Halloween store sells for a dollar to me but I never used it.

Any tips or advice on painting? I’ve seen people use a primer before, seen some not use primer, seen some put white over their whole face and do other colors on top, I’ve seen some leave the skin showing where they’re going to use black, I’ve seen people put on one solid layer of white and I’ve seen people (people that aren’t monsters) do multiple layers until they get the thickness that they want. Basically, there’s not a lot of consistency with painting up for Juggalos. We’re kind of all over the place with the shit and having seen many a ruined paints as shows, almost none of us use a setting powder or even some hairspray to keep it on longer. 

The main thing I notice with people at shows is who invested the money (I highly recommend Mehron. https://www.amazon.com/HSA/pages/default?pageId=CE600FEF-F447-4DEC-87FF-29BAB494C036&store_ref=HSA_AC2I7BCQYZBZJ0C#nav-top) in some good quality paint and who picked up a tube of that gross greasy shit at a convenience store. The more expensive stuff tends to have a much longer shelf life, has a smoother overall feel, sets up better, is more water resistant, and goes a lot farther when spreading it out. 

Unless you’re going for messy or Twiztid raccoon paint, you need good tools too. I have three types of paint brushes, two sponges, cotton swabs, cotton balls, baby powder, a small thing of water, paper towels, baby powder, and a dull knife all in a bag and ready to go along with my paint. The tools to apply are just as, if not more, important than the actual paint. 

There was some interview with Twiztid a long time ago and the interviewer wanted them to paint him up. They told him to “tap” the paint with his finger once it’s applied. It’s possibly the best advice I’ve ever gotten about paint. It removes the freshly applied to face look that a lot of people have and gives the paint a consistent layer across the face (think of the Juggalos that have literal chunks of white above their eyebrows and a single layer of goth teenager white on their cheeks. Tapping the paint helps with that). 

We’re fucking Juggalos! I can’t be the only one that has a lot to say about paint right?

Also, I mentioned face-painting specifically because body painting is a completely different beast and has a much longer, intricate list of do’s and don’ts.