Practice Heads

[Party Picassos Facepainting]

How many of you own and regularly use a practice head? I put out a shout on facebook to all my pals, looking for an old hairdresser head, but no luck yet. What is the best head: the ones sold for face painting or do hair dressing heads work all right? My sons are losing interest in being my practice dummies and I am tired of painting up my arms, face and legs! My husband is NOT very interested.

[Glitterfly Faces]

Great question.  I am in the same boat.  Sometimes the arm just doesn;t work when trying to do face paintings. 
Can;t wait for replies.

[Wildcatfin]

I bought 1 when we moved to Hk, as floating in a bay living on a boat, we had no neighbours and no friends with kids.
Wish I hadn't, TBh.

OK its maybe useful for working out how to fit something on a face/ lines on a face, but unless you can clip it at a similar height to a real person its not that realistic at practice painting them ON a person. Plus on most of them the features/ foreheads are nothing like a real person's, unless they are bald or have an ENORMOUS forehead.
Plus cleaning its a pain, something always stains it.

For blending practice don't bother, even the newest fake skin ones are so...NOT.

I use the flat practice pad that came with it more, which is not often,  to doodle lines on...wish I had saved my money and just got that if anything.
Cat x

[Sherry]

I got a Bratz styling head after making a request for a styling head on my local freecycle.org.  I've heard of people going to their local beauty schools and getting the cast off heads for free.  I bought one of the Profaces, but the only thing better about it is that it's got a bigger face than the Bratz head.  When I try to paint on them, my brush slips around and is not like real skin.  I find them good for laying out new designs and for practicing speed if you're a complete new painter.  I also let my kids play with them.  They love to face paint.     Other than that, I rarely use mine.

[Alison]

I use the hairdresser heads.  But they have practically no forehead.
Nothing wrong with that, since you Might get a person who doesn't have much forehead,
but it's not a fun-face.  And many ppl would have plenty of forehead.

So what I'm saying is that you get the same limitations over and over
based on whatever head you're working with. 

I once went to a workshop - used their half-heads that were specifically made for fp.
I liked them - laid flat - but much more expensive.

You're affected by whatever your supplies are

[reginanewsum]

I have never used a practice head, and I really don't think I would use one any ways. But I did read some where, they way to clean them was to get a MAGIC SPONGE! I have used magic sponges to clean the cupboard doors and the finger prints of my regular door, and it worked wonderful! But they are costly I think, after one use for me , it was time to throw them away!

[Sherry]

The only reason I haven't tried the Magic Sponge on my practice head, is because I believe they remove things so easily because they're mildly abrasive.  I don't think that would be good for my practice head over time, but I could be wrong.  Because of the cost of the practice head, I haven't wanted to risk it. 

[saloner]

Hi guys.  Go to any beauty school and ask them to give you all of the Mannequin  heads that the teachers and students no longer need. They just throw them away. 

Another thing I do is go to any day care (you have to have the parents sign a release form) or after school events place or just go to any lake it takes no time to get a crowd to do free face painting to update your pictures. that is what I do.