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[meepstio]

could anyone recommend me better brands than ben nye? (I guess specifically for troll skin but i plan using it for scanty as well)

I've used ben nye before but it just keeps smudging on my skin no matter how much primer, powder, or seal I put on. >_< Pretty grown tired of using it, is mehron better to use? Or any other brand?

[huskies4ever]

Some people use Kryolan and some people prefer it to Ben Nye.

[detenten]

My friend cosplays a Twi'lek and uses Mehron Paradise. It's water-based so you must sponge it on and not wear it in the rain, but she always looks fantastic with full body coverage that doesn't rub off. I used it for my facepaint for Mystique and was pretty pleased with it as well.

[animenerd93]

i use wolfeover ben nye but krylon is also a favorite of mine

[verdatum]

It doesn't have very much to do with the brand at all. It mostly has to do with the category of makeup you are using. There's moist cake, dry cake, creme, greasepaint and (water-based) liquid. And liquid is pretty much just pre-mixed moist cake. If you want serious hardcore body paint, there's PAX (which you really should just mix up yourself), and Alcohol Activated makeup.

Creme and greasepaint are specifically designed so you can smudge them. It's the mechanism for a whole host of makeup effects. You don't really want to use them in any application where there will be a lot of friction.

That said, Kryolan and Mehron tend to be held in higher regard than Ben Nye, but a lot of it is subtle differences, like packaging and color selection. I can however say that I had a pretty lousy experience with Ben Nye's Magicolor line of liquid makeup. It cracked and started to peel away before I even got the chance to apply fixing spray.

[Sweet Loretta]

All the brand mentioned in this thread are good. They variy by ingredients and colors.
Ben Nye is talc based, Mehron's Paradise and Kryolan Aquacolor are glycerin based. Paradise has a bit less than Kryolan. Wolfe FX is parrafin based, which is why it tends to be a bit more durable.

None of these moist cake makeups are set into place (made more durable) by using powder. Powder is for cream and grease paint makeup. While the powder may seem to help moist cake make up it is really only drying it a bit.

Ben Nye works best with Ben Nye Final Set or Liquid Set. Becausee they are formulated to work together.

Paradise, Kryolan and Wolfe work well with Mehron's Sweat Barrier and Kryolan's Fixing Sprays.

PAX is not a makeup at all, but rather glue and craft art paint.

[Miss Tomyo]

My friends prefer Krylon which looks just as good as ben nye but it also took longer to put on because it needed to be dried and then have a second layer applied which also needed to dry before powdering and setting. Another friend did use Mehron. I don't know what he was doing but his make up came out really dark (like the ben nye color steel gray) and also required a lot of drying. The last option [without going into scary realm of PAX] is Snazaroo which I know nothing about. Your best bet is to try a bunch and see what works best for you in the end.

[Rukeya]

I second the vote for Mehron paradise. As long as you stay away from rain, as mentioned in a previous post, it's extremely durable. I actually preferred Mehron to both Kryolan and Ben Nye water-based makeups. Paradise didn't crack on my skin, actually lasted on my eyelids (in the creases) and smelled nice.

If you're worried about sweating or tearing up, just use the paradise in combination with a grease paint that's of the same or similar shade.

I used Paradise (storm cloud) for my Tyki Mikk cosplay, which uses a gray shade (similar to trolls).

[Talossa]

I lovelovelove Mehron paradise. The last cosplay I did, I used it to turn my face and chest orange - I put on a layer of Mehron's barrier spray, then the makeup, then another layer of barrier spray, and it stayed perfect for ~14 hours. Didn't crack, didn't smudge, didn't fade.