Halloween is the busiest time of the year for professional face painter Chonya Alvarez.
โ€œWe definitely get a lot of requests for princesses. Weโ€™ve got a lot of Pokรฉmon going on,โ€ said Alvarez, who only uses face paints and makeup designed especially for the skin. Some cheaper products, she says, contain ingredients known to cause irritation to the skin.
โ€œEspecially at that age, (children’s) skin is very sensitive and you donโ€™t know what is in those paints,โ€ he warns.
Tampa dermatologist Dr. Seth Forman agrees, and has seen the effects first hand.