A Cumbrian woman has gone viral for her unique facepainting videos.
Beth Gray, 33, of Maryport, has been a facepainter for eight years and has been sharing videos of her work since 2019.
But over the past three months, the mum of two’s videos have exploded in popularity with one video of her Minecraft inspired facepaint reaching 120 million views on Instagram alone.
Her videos have also drawn in thousands of comments and messages from people across the world.
But it all started back in 2015, when Beth was given a set of facepaints by a friend who moved to New Zealand.
She said: “She had some Snazaroo paints and we both went to Uni together to do art and she said do you want these and I said yeah, why not.
“My oldest daughter is 10 now and I think I started painting her face when she was about two or three and I started doing her birthdays and then friends started asking me if I’d do their children’s birthdays too.
“When strangers started asking me I thought, I should do this and it was around 2020 when I started doing it properly.”
Beth has since gone on to do facepainting for all kinds of events and occasions across Cumbria and beyond.
@bethgrayarts this one proved controversial on insta 😅 #facepaint #minecraft #facepainting #creeper ♬ original sound – Beth Gray
She is also supported at events by her dad John, who helps her set up and pack up her stall, brings her food when she’s busy and helps wash brushes, as well as driving when needed.
She said: “It’s definitely stressful, but it’s also really rewarding, because I’ve done it for so long now, some of the kids I’ve done their first facepaint and then I see them over time and they get too old for me, it’s very bittersweet.
“But I do the council’s fun days, youth club events, agricultural shows, Christmas light switch ons and I go to Glasgow to do a comic con there.
“I’ve also done hen parties, I haven’t done a stag yet, but there’s always time and there’s a few adult events so in Seaton they’ll have singers on, and I do glitter and eye designs.”
@bethgrayarts You are all so critical… but I know I can do a butterfly! 🦋 #facepaint #facepainting #faceart ♬ original sound – Beth Gray
Beth said that she made the decision to start recording her facepainting as a way of documenting her work.
She said: “I just started documenting doing it after some of the parents were saying they found it really satisfying to watch.
“But trying to record and paint at the same time doesn’t really work and I used to try and get the parents to do it, but it didn’t always work.
“So I thought it would be cool to buy and use the Meta glasses to record from my point of view and that led to my first viral video which was a butterfly I did.”
@bethgrayarts 2 Minute butterfly 🦋 #facepaint #facepainting ♬ original sound – Beth Gray
Beth’s butterfly video, done with Meta glasses and recorded from her point of view, sees her paint a butterfly in under two minutes.
It gained her a whopping 10.2 million views on Instagram alone.
She said: “The next I had was a tractor, which got 14.6 million views on Instagram, but nobody got what it was at first because at the start it looks like a Minion, and that was at another agricultural show.
“Then I had the Minecraft one on Instagram, which hit 120 million views and I just couldn’t believe it. That was a bit of a controversial one, I think because it wasn’t a full face of Minecraft, so again people didn’t get it straight away.
“Some people have been super critical of them, but I think that is just what happens when you reach a certain level of views.
“It’s weird to think that many people have watched it and I do get all sorts of messages. One person told me the video had gone viral in Argentina, and I was just going home like this is really strange!
“I’ve also had messages from people living in places like Africa asking where I get my paints from too.”
@bethgrayarts Lets hope this goes better than the last time I upload a video of a character design on a forehead 😅 #facepaint #facepainting #paints ♬ original sound – Beth Gray
Beth said her viral videos do also bring in a small amount of money.
She said: “It does make you money on TikTok and Facebook, but it doesn’t bring in a lot. The first videos I went viral with I didn’t have enough followers to access what they call the Creator Fund, you’ve got to have a certain level before they pay you.
“I never thought it would be a little source of income, so it is quite good, but you do have to keep posting quite often and keep on top of it.”
Beth said her favourite design to paint is a butterfly and that she often gets asked for all kinds of weird and wonderful designs, all of which have to be done very quickly.
She added: “Generally all facepaints are all under two minutes as kids don’t like to sit still and there’s always a big queue, so it has to be good quality and quick to get through everyone.
“But kids don’t always stick to the menu board, they always ask for something random.
@bethgrayarts Grinch tutorial
♬ You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch (From "Dr. Suess' the Grinch 2018") – Starlite Singers
“I went through a phase of doing fruit, I went to a school and they all asked for aubergines, I’ve also done The Michelin Man and the marshmallow man from Ghostbusters twice.
“One little boy I painted was obsessed with Forky off Toy Story and he’d ask every time he saw me until he grew out of it, and it was really sad!
“The new ones I get asked for are the Italian brainrot characters and YouTube characters that I have to Google and have a go at.
“After Christmas I will hate Elsa for a good month because I do so many, after December ends I’m always like I will not paint her for a month!”
Beth, who also works part time for Northern Soul Scents, also does commercial and private murals alongside her facepainting.
She said: “I did one for my friend’s little boy and it was a Lego Marvel mural right across his bedroom wall in a realistic style and that’s one of my favourites.
“I also did one for Northern Competitions, so the guy who runs it, his full front room is in a graffiti style so he can record his videos in there.”
You can find out more about Beth’s facepainting and murals here.
