Review: Livos's SALIS Natural Hemp Finger Paint Set

Kidbean was so kind to send us Livos's Natural Hemp Finger Paint to try out and review. The first thing I did was to open one of the glass jars and have a sniff. It didn't stink like most commercial finger and tempera paints!


I have been eyeing this German paint set for some time primarily because of its non-toxic properties. Based on Kidbean's website as well as the information on the packaging, Livos's Natural Hemp Finger Paint are:

• petrochemical-free
• hemp-based and vegan
• made without any heavy metals or VOC's
• lead-free
  
• derive their colors from vegetable dyes or all-natural mineral pigments (from iron oxides or naturally colored earth)
• They are the only recommendable finger paint under the Swiss Consumer Association, No. 177, 10/90, and correspond to the German Voluntary Agreement upon Finger paints.
• use Benalkonium Chloride, a preservative permitted for use in the food and pharmaceutical industries and deemed safer than standard food and cosmetic preservatives that are either incompatible with the low activity in paints or are known allergens.
• need to be refrigerated after opening
• recommended for age 3 and older
  

Now that we've got the technical aspects out of the way, let's go on about how it works.


The finger paints are thick but not as goopy as commercial finger paints. The colors are also radically different. The five colors offered in the set--red, yellow, white, black, blue, and green, are more earthy like natural clay colors. Everyone who visits my house comments on the intense and striking blue color. After much debate, we've settled on the name of that blue shade--cyan. The red is more like brick red and the yellow more like mustard yellow. And the black and white colors seem bolder than standard paints. There seems to be more pigment in this paints than standard finger paint and so the colors are more solid, rich, 3-D looking, and have more depth. My children and I enjoyed this unique sensory experience without the obnoxious fumes from standard tempera and finger paints that give me a headache.

Livos's SALIS Natural Hemp Finger Paint is also versatile. It can be used straight as a finger paint or diluted to a tempera paint or even watercolors. When I diluted it with water, I was surprised at how it still maintained its vibrancy and worked beautifully.

diluted paint
A painting with the diluted finger paint.

I love the fact that this paint was meant to paint other mediums like wood, glass, and stone. Also, the quality of the paint seems like it would be ideal to make sharper images in stamping and imprinting work. It's also great for layering as you can see in the picture below.



The air-dried clay creations that were painted with the diluted paint

The only downsides to this paint is probably the cost ($30.00 for the set and the jars are small though if you diluted to make tempera paint, it would be more cost-efficient) and the fact that the paint is NOT water-washable. The recommended two to three drops of liquid soap added prior to use helps significantly with hands, but it's still stains clothing. Though I have to admit, my supposedly washable tempera paints also stain clothing.

I also noticed that since this set does not have standard primary colors aside from black and white, experiments with color mixing, while making new shades would not be exactly the standard blue + yellow= green. However, painting with a high-quality paint set with unique natural colors is also an experience that would not replicable with standard paints. And truly, I think this is the most non-toxic finger paint in the market!

Bottom line: I would save the cheap tempera paint for mixing with other mediums like when making puffy paint, but save this good stuff for actual finger painting/painting.

You can find Livos' s Natural Hemp Finger Paint Set for $30.00 at Kidbean.com with free shipping with purchases over $100 with exceptions for certain purchases.