Fall is officially upon us, and with the weather change comes thoughts of Halloween. Most kids love the opportunity to dress up and collect tons of candy. Those who love Halloween often go all-out: costumes, decorations, and scary makeup.
Niverville’s own Eileen Davage, who does face-painting for children’s birthday parties, also does Halloween makeup. “Halloween has always been my favourite holiday,” says Davage. “It allows me to experiment with some pretty cool special effects techniques! Part of the fun with face-painting is the variety of artwork I get to create, everything from superheroes to princesses to villains and monsters.”
But that’s just for kids, right? What about adults?
“I see a lot of adults on Halloween weekend,” adds Davage, pointing out that she does face-painting for all age ranges.
By the time Halloween rolls around, Davage says she’s completely booked up. Although anyone can go to Walmart and get Halloween face paint, it takes talent to apply it properly. Also, store brand face paints often aren’t good quality, or are very watered down. Davage uses professional face paint that is highly pigmented and won’t cause a skin reaction.
“I’ve been face-painting professionally for three years,” Davage says. “My husband is military and we tend to move every few years. I wanted to do something fun to keep me busy that I could take with me no matter where we go and would also allow me to stay at home with my children until they went to school full-time.”
Davage is also a certified professional photographer and works as a graphic designer.
Though Halloween is a busy time of year for Davage, most of her face-painting is done throughout the year at children’s birthday parties. “The great thing about birthday party face-painting is that it’s not seasonal. I can work anywhere from four to 16 parties per month. I’ve also painted fantasy makeup designs at a bachelorette party and Mardi-Gras-style masks at an adult-only masquerade ball.”
Davage says that the demand for this particular skill has grown in the rural area recently. “The community has been amazing in supporting me and I am so very thankful.”
