Reaction to face paints, advice needed please

[rebelrebel]

Hi everyone,

My neice took her 4 year old boy to a local indoor play area (which has just gotten new owners) she paid for his face to be painted, then this morningh when he woke up he could hardly open his eyes, they were really swollena nd sore and red, she took him to the doctors and he said its definately a reaction to the face paints and the doctor said it looks like they have scratched the skin around his eye too, he said he was very lucky that it didnt spread to his whole face, but the poor little lad has been in agony today.
Our Zoe says when they did his face the paints were just in what she explains look like the chinese food cartons and not in the proper pots they are usually in!

She and I would hate for anymore kids to suffer from these people doing the face paints, and if they are not using the correct paints or being unheigenic or scratching kids faces, our Zoe has asked my advice as what to do so I thought I would ask for any advice on here.........

So if any of you have any suggestions we look forward to hearing your advice.

Thanks Ruth

 

[rebelrebel]

anyone? please

 

[Ruth Mills]

I would seriously get this investigated! All face painters should be using professional products designed for face painting and have public liability insurance; if the paints were just in plastic food containers then they could have been anything - e.g. artists acrylic paints which should really not go anywhere near a child's face, as they sometimes contain chemicals which are really not suitable for applying to the skin!

Professional face paints, e.g. Snazaroo, Grimas, Kryolan, Mehron, Wolfe Bros, Fantasy Worldwide, Fardel, etc, are specifically designed and formulated for use on the skin, and should only very rarely cause skin reactions.

How would you say the face painters were for hygiene too? As sloppy hygiene is another thing to be very wary of with unqualified face painters.

However, not using the proper paints is a Health & Safety issue as far as I am concerned, and should be dealt with by the appropriate authorities, as it's just not right for children to suffer such a horrible reaction because face painters choose not to use the correct products!

 

[Mrs.Clooney]

Ruth is correct and this really should be investigated further. It may be that her son is ultra sensitive, but this could be an issue for other sensitive children.

Firstly did your niece contact the owners to notify them? Are they licsenced to offer face painting and be charging for it?

Secondly, she should notify her local authority so that they can take the matter up with the owners.

 

[Ruth Mills]

I'd be inclined to sue the owners of the play area too - assuming they have public liability insurance, then this should pay out to cover compensation for the little boy's skin reaction. If not, then it's their own stupid fault - particularly if they are using inappropriate products for face painting - in which case the lawsuit may well close them down - thus protecting other children from horrible skin reactions like this!

Really though - if they *were* using inappropriate products for face painting - then this risks giving proper face painters with the correct training, products and insurance a bad name - just like NSS salons and the nail industry!

 

[rebelrebel]

Thanks for your replies :hug: I have shown my neice them and i'll keep you posted as to what she decides to do and what happens.