Thursday 21 October 2010

Snazaroo - Halloween Face Paints & Special FX Kit


"We're the witches of Halloween ooooh ooooh
Our faces are scary and green oooooh ooooh
We fly around at night
To give you all a fright
We're the witches of halloween oooh oooh" !!

The girls absolutely love Halloween and let's face it, why wouldn't they ? First of all you get to dress up, then do face painting, go round knocking on all your mates' doors and finally get bucketloads of sweets !!

This year, we'll be able to get really inventive because we've received some fabulous face painting and special FX kits to test out. Having tested some of the other Snazaroo kits on offer earlier in the year (review here), I was amazed to see how easy they are to use so I'm really looking forward to having a go. I'll add some photos after the event but wanted to tell you about what's on offer before the big day or it'll be too late for you to stock up on them and try them out for yourselves.

The special FX kit is fabulously gory and gruesome. The website describes it as "a great all round Special Effects kit. Containing: 18ml moulding wax, 50ml dark gel blood, 2ml burgundy, spatula, stipple sponge and a step-by-step guide." The step-by-step guide on the back of the pack and in the enclosed booklet shows you how easy it all is when you know how to get, amongst other things, a horrifically realistic cut finger, gashed knee (although Sophie's got her own this week without even opening the kit, due to a run-in with her sister's bike !) and bullet wound. Ever since we picked up the parcel yesterday, the girls have been peeking at the ghoulish picture of the cut finger on the pack, squealing and running away then coming back giggling for another look ! And all it takes is a bit of moulding wax and gel blood !

If the sight of blood makes you go weak at the knees, you'll prefer the slightly less scary options at the back of the booklet. I love the ones that use squished up bits of soggy kitchen roll or cornflakes stuck to your skin and covered in green face paint to get surprisingly realistic scaley faces and hands. I'd never have thought of that so it's great to get some insider's tips on creating special effects.

The booklet does give you a few warnings that you need to take into consideration before you start. Fake blood may stain fabric so cover your clothes in case of spills. The special effects wax can be quite sticky and messy when you first use it. And -my favourite - make sure you use the spatula to cut the wax and not a sharp knife. Now that really WOULD be Halloweeny !


For the less blood-thirsty amongst you, the Halloween-themed Face Painting Kit gives you great scope for a whole range of spooky designs. It contains 2ml of White, Black, Bright Red, Dark Green, Orange, Dark Grey, Dark Brown and Purple, as well as a brush, sponge and full colour face painting guide.The guide, which is the same as in the other non-Halloween-themed pallette kit I tested earlier in the year, offers as many non-spooky face paints designs (fairy, butterfly, puppy, etc) as Halloween ones (witch, Dracula, cobweb, etc) so you'll be able to use the kit many times throughout the year too.

The pack contains enough to do 50 faces because the paint is highly concentrated. As I mentioned in my previous review, the face paints go on really smoothly, give great coverage and really vibrant colours but they are really easy to remove at the end of the day with a face wipe or soap and water. The paints are non-toxic and hypo-allergenic and are water-based.

If you're looking for inspiration, the Snazaroo website also offers a selection of printable guides that you can download to explain how to create various Halloweeny designs as well as a beginners' guide to the basic techniques of face and body painting.

Happy Halloween - have fun and don't forget to brush your teeth !

star rating : 5/5

RRP : £9.99 for the special FX kit, £10.99 for the Halloween Face Painting Kit

Other reviews you may be interested in :

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