I was painting troll symbols on shirts with Tulip Soft Matte fabric paint the other day, and some of the paint got on my arm. I didn’t clean it off right away and once it had dried I noticed that it wouldn’t rub off, but came off easily in water. I decided to do some trial runs to see if it would stay on as well in large amounts -thus was born Poor Man’s PAX.

Picture intensive and pretty long [tutorial style], more after the break.

These are my materials. Plus setting powder which I guess I didn’t feel like including in this picture, so don’t forget that! :UU Like I said this is Tulip Soft Matte paint, which you can get at most craft stores - I get mine at Joann Fabrics. This stuff is non-toxic. I wore it for two days straight as part of my tests and I did not get sick. NO WORRIES, EVERYONE :33

I have a large bottle of Linen color, and a small bottle of Ebony. For applicators, you can seriously just use paper towels. Make sure you have enough on hand that you can replace them often, because after a little while they will start to fray and leave fibers on your skin. :UU

If you’re looking to paint your skin for Sprites or Carapace People [or Guardians or Ancestors, if you’re going literal and want white or black for those too], just skip the part about mixing colors and grab a bottle of plain white or black :33

FIRST STEP: PUT ON JUNK CLOTHES. This is fabric paint we’re working with so of course it will not really come out of clothes.

This is pre-mixing. You will NOT need much black - as you can see this is probably a three to fifty ratio of black to white. This much paint is probably enough for one arm. Make sure you mix enough for both arms and your neck [and possibly your midsection if you’re being March Eridan, or your legs if you’re being Feferi] so that your color is uniform.

Once you start mixing, you’ll probably think the paint is going to turn out a lot darker than you imagined. DO NOT CHANGE ANYTHING YET - this is normal. After a little mixing:

And after a lot of mixing:

And even if you think it’s thoroughly mixed, mix it some more! I’m serious you’re gonna have to mix this stuff a heck of a lot more than you think you will.

Now just take a folded-up paper towel, dip it in the paint, and slap that grey on your arm, no primer needed! Only do a small part at a time, though, so it doesn’t get messy.

After you’ve gotten your paint on your skin and spread it around evenly, dab at it with the painted part of your paper towel. This will make sure you don’t have a weird streaky look - the paint will look more like real skin :33

Now hold your painted skin in front of a fan for a minute or two.

After a minute or so, you should be able to gently brush your fingers over the paint without feeling almost any stickiness. That means it’s ready for sealing.

Pat the sealing powder onto the paint. This is more to keep the paint from sticking to itself than to keep it on your skin. [I’m using flesh-tone powder here because I don’t have any translucent powder at the moment, but it actually doesn’t seem to affect the grey color much if at all.] Pay extra attention to this step on your joints, since that is where the paint is most liable to stick to itself.

After the powder is all done, feel free to revel in the fact that the grey now feels basically like your skin. :33 Then move on to the next section of your skin to be painted.

In general you want to do the joints separately, and the front and back of joints separately as well. Another protip on joints: fully extend them. When doing the insides of your elbows, stretch your arms out. When doing the outsides of elbows, pull your arms in. You get the idea :33 [Also, just to clarify, the only reason my coverage is patchy in the next several pictures is because I’m lazy. If you want to see what it looks like full-out, I can post those to my blog :33 ]

Notice how I can bend my arms -

- pinch my arm -

- chafe the skin -

- even scratch -

- without any peeling or fading.

Doesn’t come off even after a full day of your collar or waistband rubbing at it, either. It works on stomachs [March Eridans rejoice!] -

And on your neck [make sure your hair doesn’t get stuck in it - also sorry for the weird angle, I was trying to eliminate shadows] -

And legs!

I do not reccommend using this on your face. No I have not tested it, but because of how it acts on hands, I have reason to believe it would emphasise any place where your face creased. [This isn’t an issue anywhere but hands, for some reason.] Besides, you wouldn’t be able to use it near your mouth or eyes. Like I said it’s non-toxic, but do you really want to be swallowing this stuff? No, I definitely, one hundred percent reccommend Ben Nye. I use Tulip up to my jawline, and use Ben Nye for my face. Cadaver Grey and Grey both blend pretty well [not perfectly, but adequately] with Tulip fabric paint, and you can tweak your mixing to match your specific makeup. Here is a bit of Cadaver Grey on top of my Tulip Soft:

Cadaver seems to be a little more purple than my Tulip this time around, and plain Grey was a little more blue when I used it last. It’s close enough that you shouldn’t have to worry about it, it’s just if you are someone who would be bothered by that, there are options :33

Sound too much like a Shamwow commercial - too good to be true? Here’s the catch. HANDS.

This stuff simply DOES NOT stay on your palms or fingers. The backs of your hands and even the little webby part between the fingers seems to be mostly fine, but the palms. THE PALMS. If you are just casually cosplaying you’ll probably be fine, or if you’re being Equius or Nepeta and can cover your hands with gloves. Regarding hands, right now I’m thinking your best option is to buy some PAX just for your hands. Yes, PAX is expensive, but at least now you don’t have to use it for ALL of your exposed skin. :\

ALSO REGARDING THIS: if there is someone out there who knows more about makeup than me [by which i mean probably most of you] PLEASE, do your own trials and maybe you can find a way to keep this stuff on your hands. The rest of us would be very grateful :33

DON’T WORRY YOU’RE ALMOST TO THE END. Just a few tips for removal :33

Rubbing alcohol works really well - this stuff comes off just like Ben Nye, even if you’ve been wearing it all day.

But if you don’t have any rubbing alcohol, don’t worry - ten minutes in the shower and you can literally just rub it off. [Looks like your skin is coming off, pretty gross but hey]

The longer you’ve had it on, the longer this will take, but when I was doing my trial run and had Tulip on for two days, it still only took twenty minutes of soaking and it came right off :33

And there you go! :DD

Extra tidbits I discovered: You CAN sleep in this stuff. It peels just a little but you can touch it up in the morning. But seriously, I recommend NOT doing that. It makes your skin feel dry even though it doesn’t ACTUALLY dry it out. :\

Also: If you’re looking at the “water removal” bit and thinking “but Farareusis, I want to do a photoshoot as a sea-dweller splashing around in a river!” Don’t worry! You can still do that. Just make sure you have had the paint on for several hours before you go in the water. This stuff will almost literally fall off of your skin if it gets wet too soon after applying. So, if you’ve had it on for a while, feel free to take a quick ten-minute photoshoot in the shallows :33

Thanks for reading, and I hope this helps you guys :33

submitted by farareusis