There's a world of difference between colouring the whole of your face in a single colour, and painting various designs and patterns on it. The messages conveyed are totally different.

What is it that makes "the tradition" of totally blacking the face so sacrosanct that it's the only part of "the tradition" that can't be changed under any circumstances? Many (most?) border sides seem happy to discard large parts of the recorded tradition such as - only doing traditional dances rather than making up new ones; only dancing in the winter; only dancing at night; all-male sides; referring to their activity as "going n*****ing"; etc, etc.