Halloween is very nearly upon us, so if you have a family of budding ghosts and ghouls, you’ll no doubt be planning their Halloween party costumes. Whether you’ll be out trick-or-treating or having a Halloween party, one thing that sets off a scary Halloween costume is face painting.
If you’ve never tried face painting before, Halloween designs are perhaps the best place to start. By their nature the painting doesn’t have to be perfect; in fact, a few rough edges to your make-up can actually help create the look you’re after.
So without further ado, here’s our top five tips for Halloween face painting.

Have some hair grips at the ready

Hair grips come in pretty handy – especially when face painting younger children. The younger the child, the more you’ll feel like you’re face painting a moving target. While it’s perfectly understandable that they’re excited for the ghostly fun ahead, it can make it difficult to keep hair out of the way. This is easily fixed with some handy hair grips that can be used to keep fringes away from the face while you apply the face paint.

Cotton wool pads make great paint brushes

If you have a face painting kit you’ll probably have some face paint brushes at the ready. While brushes are great for adding detailed top layers of face paint, they’re not so good for getting an even base layer over the face.
We’d recommend adding the (often white or green) base layer of face paint with a cotton wool pad to get an even coating. It’s also a lot quicker to cover a bigger area with a cotton wool pad than it is with a paint brush.
Remember to wash out your brushes as you start each new layer of face paint. If you’re using the cotton wool pads, use a new one for each colour. That way you’ll be sure that you don’t spoil the previous layer with any traces of the last colour that you used.
Water is fine for rinsing out your paint brushes, but do remember to dry the brushes with some paper towel after washing so that they don’t contain excess water that will make your face paint too runny.

Test your face paint colours out first

Halloween is all about fun – no one wants any real horror stories. So, while face paint is tested and is often hypo-allergenic, it is still a good idea to test all of the colours you intend to use for allergies on a small patch of skin – perhaps on the wrist. Apply the paint and wait for five minutes before removing it. If you see any sign of reaction, usually redness, don’t apply any paint to the face.

Google Image Search

You can find some great inspiration for face painting by doing an image search on your favourite search engine.
The great thing about face painting is that it’s fairly easy to work out how you can build up layers of paint on the face to create the design. So, have your laptop or tablet nearby with the design you want to produce on display as your guide.

Return your little horrors back to normal with some baby lotion

A good wash with soap and water is the best way to remove the majority of face paint, but often there are little traces of colour that just don’t seem to want to come away. We recommend using some more of your cotton wool pads and some baby lotion to remove the last little patches of colour without having to rub excessively.