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Making Camouflage Face Paint

09jisaac

Regular Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2011
Messages
1,692
Location
Louisa, Kentucky
I recently went on a quest to find any camouflage face paint in any local stores. I only found one, a Primos brand. It is in a small green plastic clam with four colors, white, black, green, and brown, and a small, cheap stick on mirror. If anyone knows about buying face paint you know that it is not cheap and you get a very small amount of paint. If you are an avid hunter I doubt this small amount of paint will last you a year.

So I figured there has to be a better way. Any google search I tried just showed how to make face paint with corn starch and shortening, which I didn't think would be too useful for hunting or showing me the proper way to apply face camo face paint. I about gave up but when google autofill decided that "How to make face paint with crayons" was an appropriate search result I tried it anyways. The direction was melting the crayons in water and then adding petroleum jelly.

I figured this was worth a try. After I bought all the necessary supplies I tried it. Not a very good idea. The waxy crayons would not mix with the water and was somewhat of a disaster. So I tried just melting crayons and petroleum jelly in a pot. This seems to be an acceptable way to make face paint.

My mixture was very imprecise but it is as follows:

Two Crayons stripped of paper
A large table spoon of petroleum jelly

Heat in a pot/pan/skillet/can until everything is melted good and mix well. This does not take much heat. Parts that aren't mixed well and are more crayons that jelly will clump and not spread easily. You can mix the colors however you like to get the desired colors. There is no set rules on how to do this but I used similar colors to get earthy tones of similar. Less petroleum jelly makes it clump together more and is harder to spread. More petroleum jelly gives it a glossy look. As with all oil base paints this will have a slight gloss no matter the way you do it (I think).

My black (Black and grey) came out looking a lot like automotive grease. It all smears like grease also.
My dark brown (Brown and maroon) came out too redish, but I'll use it anyways.
My tan ("apricot" and a pale orange) came out too orange but is still usable.
My green (light green and lime with a small bit of dark green) turned out very well. As an after though I wish I would have made a lighter green too.

Clean up is the same as with grease or any bought camo face paint. Soap and water will bring it all off but you can use a rag to get the majority off quickly, water alone is of limited use. The best part about this method is I have more face paint than with the store bought stuff and for around the same price.

My crayons ran $1 a box, I bought two boxes but only used eleven out of them. Petroleum jelly was about a dollar but I had almost a whole jar left over from my zombie experiment. I used about half a jar. And I bought a cheap thing of make-up to store my paint in, this was $2 and reusable. You can, easily, add your colors to a make-up container, a store bought camo paint container or even lipstick/chapstick tubes to make it a breeze to apply.

I tried adding pics but it kept saying they were too large.

Hopefully this helps somebody.
 

Griz

Regular Member
Joined
Feb 14, 2010
Messages
315
Location
, ,
Wow. Neat idea.

This has got to be up there on the list. "Things you find on the Internet"
 
H

Herr Heckler Koch

Guest
Blue hair dye and blaze-orange so you can hunt - not shoot - deer.
 

Daylen

Regular Member
Joined
Aug 29, 2010
Messages
2,223
Location
America
Facepaint for hunting!? What are you hunting? If you are close enough to prey that has high visual acuteness then the smell of the grease will likely give you away.
 

09jisaac

Regular Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2011
Messages
1,692
Location
Louisa, Kentucky
Facepaint for hunting!? What are you hunting? If you are close enough to prey that has high visual acuteness then the smell of the grease will likely give you away.

I am guessing that if I can find a face in a field very easily then turkey can too. Just because an animal can smell something is off does not mean that it will trigger a flight response. You will be surprised how close I have walked to a deer (unknowingly) that they refused to move because they did not see me. They knew I was there but decided it would be best to find me before they ran, potentially in my direction.

Also, the paint I have suggested does not smell any stronger than ones you can buy at the store. But, ultimately this will have little effect on hunting. I think the proper way to hunt is to try to stay downwind of your target. Please correct me if I am wrong.
 

F350

Regular Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2012
Messages
941
Location
The High Plains of Wyoming
Several years ago one of the hunting supply companies put out a powered face camo; I really liked it, it didn't rub off like the grease paints.

I haven't found any in a long time. I have used dry powdered paint pigment found at craft stores mixed with women's makeup to get the color I wanted and I think it also aided in removal, it stayed put during the hunt and came off with cold cream. (A little advice, try on your arm, leg chest etc just to make sure what you have will come off first. Everything I used had to be mixed with some kind of solvent to make it a paint, and the plain powder pigment didn't stain the skin)

The past 10 years or so I have been using "spandoflauge"....

http://www.armynavydeals.com/asp/products_details.asp?SKU=5511&ST=2

Pull the material from the back of the head to the face to make a denser coloring over the face, unlike other face nets it is tight to the face and doesn't restrict your vision like the loose netting does.
 
Last edited:

Christovich

New member
Joined
Jun 12, 2013
Messages
1
Location
Monroe, LA
Tallow for paint?

Facepaint for hunting!? What are you hunting? If you are close enough to prey that has high visual acuteness then the smell of the grease will likely give you away.

Has anyone ever tried using tallow instead of petroleum jelly as a base for the paint?
 

CDT COX

Regular Member
Joined
Dec 13, 2010
Messages
277
Location
NC
I am guessing that if I can find a face in a field very easily then turkey can too. Just because an animal can smell something is off does not mean that it will trigger a flight response. You will be surprised how close I have walked to a deer (unknowingly) that they refused to move because they did not see me. They knew I was there but decided it would be best to find me before they ran, potentially in my direction.

Also, the paint I have suggested does not smell any stronger than ones you can buy at the store. But, ultimately this will have little effect on hunting. I think the proper way to hunt is to try to stay downwind of your target. Please correct me if I am wrong.


Stop being silly. Just buy this and be done with it
http://www.basspro.com/RedHead-Spandex-3/4-Face-Mask/product/10213714/
 

09jisaac

Regular Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2011
Messages
1,692
Location
Louisa, Kentucky

Can't stand stuff like that on my face. I can handle face paint.

I can get broken crayons from the junk store (coloring candles, making new crayons) for nothing and I use petroleum jelly for a lot of things. So I am not out anything with my method.

I felt the need for face paint after playing "sniper games" with my girlfriend. It is easy to spot the human face in brush. I figure that if I can spot something that easily then my prey can also.

Also, I am not much on sitting and waiting for an animal to come to me. I don't think that is much fun. It is too much like fishing.
 
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