Body Painting

Body painting is a temporary form of body art where designs are painted on the body, normally with water-based make-up products.

The area being painted can vary from a fairly small design, e.g. on an arm or back, to a complex design covering the whole body. A full body design can take anything from 3 to 6 hours (or longer even) depending on complexity and time constraints.

For modesty, a thong is usually worn for full body designs, and nipple cups may also be used if desired.

Body painting is usually covered as part of the syllabus in Theatrical and Media Make-up college courses, although shorter courses focusing entirely on Face and Body Painting are often available. There are often opportunities to take part in body painting competitions, many of which take place at hair and beauty trade shows, e.g. Professional Beauty.

For those wishing to pursue body painting further, there is a British Bodypainting Association and British Bodypainting Guild as well as body painting festivals in Wales, Kent and (further afield) the World Bodypainting Festival in Austria.