Face Paint Ideas: Easy Designs With Steps and Printable Stencils

How the face paint ideas picker works

Choose who’s being painted and a theme; those two are enough for an idea. Your experience and time per face adjust the scores: beginners and quick lines favor small cheek and temple designs, and confident painters with time get the full-face looks. Young children never get a zombie or skeleton as their first suggestion. The picker shows the top design with the reasons it was chosen and two others that also fit, and the estimated time per face uses the same design categories as our face paint calculator.

Each result includes the steps in order, the colors and basic supplies, and a printable item. For cheek and temple designs, that’s a cut-out stencil; for full-face designs, it’s the face guide, so you can copy the shapes. You can print just the stencil or save it as an SVG file.

Easy face paint ideas for beginners

Small designs on the cheek or temple are the best place to start. A butterfly is two pairs of wings and a thin body, a rainbow is four arches with a cloud at each end, a star cluster is one big star and two small ones, and a pumpkin is three overlapping ovals with a stem. A snowflake is just three crossing lines with a few dots. Each takes a few minutes, and with a stencil you only need to sponge paint through the shape and add a few details with a brush.

Butterfly face paint

The butterfly is the most requested face paint idea at children’s parties, and there are two versions here. The butterfly cheek sits on the cheekbone below the eye and takes a few minutes. The butterfly mask spreads big wings across the forehead and upper cheeks with the body down the bridge of the nose. Paint the wings on the brow bone and the cheeks, leave a gap of bare skin around each eye and never paint the eyelids. White dots or swirls on the wings finish either one.

Halloween face paint: clown, zombie and skeleton

For Halloween, the pumpkin cheek is quick and friendly for young children. The friendly clown is a classic: a thin white base, big arched brows, a round red nose, rosy cheeks and a red smile painted around the mouth, not on the lips. Zombie makeup uses a gray-green base, shadowed eyes and cheek hollows and a stitched scar; keep the shading on the brow bone and under-eye skin, off the eyelids and lash line. The skeleton uses a white base, dark circles around the eyes, a small upside-down heart on the nose and drawn-on teeth. Set full-face designs with a light dusting of powder so they last the evening.

Every face paint design

Animal and fantasy face paint ideas

Animals are always popular. The kitty is a quick favorite: a pink nose, whiskers, a few whisker dots and a little flick at the outer corner of each eye, painted on the skin rather than the lid. The tiger is a full-face design with an orange base, a white muzzle and bold black stripes that are thick at the edge of the face and thin toward the center. For fantasy themes, dragon scales sponged through a stencil or a piece of net look impressive for very little effort, and the hero eye mask is a simple shape around the eyes in one bold color, with a star on the cheek. None of the designs copy a character, so anyone can make them their own with different colors.

Face paint ideas for teens and adults

Older kids, teens and adults often want something bolder. A flower vine from the temple down to the cheek is pretty at festivals and garden parties, and a star cluster with a little cosmetic-grade glitter suits a night out. For Halloween, zombie and skeleton faces are the most popular full-face looks, and a light dusting of powder helps them last through a party.

Face painting stencils to print

A stencil turns a tricky shape into an easy one. Print the stencils on card stock, cut along the dashed line, then hold the stencil flat against the skin and dab paint through it with a barely damp sponge. Lift it straight off, wipe it clean between faces and add details with a brush. The scales stencil works with any green or blue, and a piece of fine net works the same way.

Face paint safety

Use only face paint made for skin, with colors approved for use in cosmetics, never craft paint, acrylics or markers. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration suggests a patch test on the arm 24 to 48 hours before the event. Keep paint out of the eyes and off the eyelids, and never use neon or glow-in-the-dark colors near the eyes. Use a fresh sponge for each person. If you add glitter, use only cosmetic-grade glitter made for the face, kept away from the eyes. Take paint off gently with water and a mild cleanser, and if a rash or swelling appears, stop and ask a doctor.

Tips for a smoother face painting session

Start with clean, dry skin and ask about allergies before you begin. Use thin layers: a barely damp sponge gives a smooth base, and too much water makes paint streaky. Let each color dry for a moment before painting over it. For young children, choose quick designs and show them the picture first, so they know what’s coming. If you’re painting a group, our face paint calculator works out how many faces you can paint in the time and how many supplies to bring.