Shimmering metallics and pearls are beautiful background choices for butterflies. The best thing about them is that they translate well to almost any skin tone. There are many gorgeous metallic splits to choose from for this type of design, such as Kryvaline Fairy Garden, Silly Farm Brilliant Bling, Kryvaline Girly Pearly, or Kryvaline Glowgaze, to name a few.
(Tip: For pale skin tones, use the dark colors for outlines. For dark skin tones, use silver or gold for the outline, or outline with white as shown below.)
Materials
• Favorite shimmering split cake
• Cosmetic glitter
• Butterfly sponges
• #5 round brush
• #2 round brush
• Diamond FX or Wolfe white
Tutorial
Begin by sponging the butterfly wings above and below the eye with butterfly sponges. Before the design has a chance to dry, apply pale blue cosmetic glitter. (Stop by Facepaint.dom for a video tutorial of this technique.)
Clean up the edges of design with a wet wipe if necessary, but only use good quality, scent-free wipes for best results. Some children react to certain brands, so always check with parents first.
Using the #5 round brush, make a dot and upside-down tear drop for the butterfly body.
Load your #5 round brush with shimmering pearl purple (or whichever color best matches your shimmering butterfly base) and add teardrops and swirls to define the outline of your butterfly and for the antennas.
The lower edge of this butterfly is a series of short teardrops which get smaller as they approach the inner corner of the eye.
To make the entire design stand out on the face, outline the wings in Diamond FX or Wolfe white with a #2 round brush and add dots.
For darker skin tones, you can using Paradise metallic silver for the antennas and outlining the wings rather than purple and white.
Enjoy your beautiful shimmering butterfly!
Beth MacKinney is the owner of and primary face painter for Face Paint Pizzazz in the NW Chicago suburbs. Stop by Facepaint.com to check out her other face painting blog posts and tutorials. Beth also writes for Examiner.com as the Chicago Face Painting Examiner.