Halloween Makeup

What to use

Water-based face paint is the right choice for almost every purpose. It applies easily with a damp sponge, dries quickly, layers well and washes off with soap and water. Grease-based paint gives more intense colour and is better for full coverage, but it smudges and needs an oil-based remover.

Buy products that carry EU cosmetic labelling, ideally certified for children's use. Cheap unlabelled kits from novelty shops are the most common cause of skin reactions on Halloween. A basic set of white, black, red, orange and green, one flat brush, one fine brush and a wedge sponge will cover every look on this page.

Always patch test

Apply a small amount to the inside of the forearm the day before and leave it for a few hours. This single step prevents nearly every unpleasant surprise, and it matters most for young children and anyone with sensitive skin or eczema.

Never use ordinary acrylic or craft paint on skin, and keep all products away from the eye area itself and from broken skin. Cosmetic contact lenses sold as costume accessories should only be used if they are prescribed and properly fitted.

The skeleton face

• Cover the whole face in white with a damp sponge, in thin layers, and let it dry.
• Paint the eye sockets as large black circles, softening the outer edge with a dry sponge.
• Blacken the tip of the nose in an upside-down heart shape.
• Draw a horizontal line across the mouth from ear to ear, then short vertical lines across it for the teeth.
• Fill in every second tooth gap lightly with grey rather than black for a softer, more realistic result.
• Shade the cheek hollows with grey, blending upwards.

The cat

Paint a black triangle over the tip of the nose and extend a thin line from it down to the top lip. Fill the upper lip in black to form the mouth. Draw three whiskers on each cheek with the fine brush, keeping them slightly curved rather than straight, and add a few dots at their base.

For a fuller version, sweep white above the upper lip and around the mouth, and extend the eye line outwards and upwards with black. The whole look takes about ten minutes and works on any age.

Spider web across the face

Start with a pale base if you want contrast, or work directly on skin. With the fine brush, draw four or five straight black lines radiating outwards from one point, usually beside the eye or on the forehead.

Then connect them with curved lines, each one bowing slightly inwards towards the centre, keeping the spacing progressively wider as you move outwards. Finish with a small spider painted at the edge of the web. It is the most impressive-looking design in relation to the effort it requires.

Vampire

Use a very pale base, one or two shades lighter than the natural skin tone, applied thinly. Contour the cheek hollows and temples with grey or a cool brown so the face looks drawn. Darken the eye area with grey and deep burgundy, blending outwards without a hard edge.

Finish with a strong dark red lip and, if the costume calls for it, two thin trails of stage blood from the corner of the mouth. Restraint is what makes this look work; the pale base plus dark eyes plus red mouth is already the entire effect.

Gentle looks for young children

Many small children want to take part but do not want a full face of paint, and some genuinely dislike the sensation. A small motif works perfectly: a single pumpkin on the cheek, a bat on the temple, three whiskers, or a spider with a short thread of web.

Let the child see what you are doing in a mirror as you go, work in short stages, and stop when they have had enough. A partly finished cheek motif that the child is happy with beats a complete look they want removed after ten minutes.

Making it last and taking it off

Set water-based paint with a light dusting of translucent powder, and avoid touching the face during the evening. For grease-based paint, powder is essential rather than optional.

Remove water-based paint with warm water, a mild soap and a soft cloth, working gently rather than scrubbing. Grease paint needs an oil-based remover, micellar water or plain cooking oil on cotton wool first, followed by a normal wash. Finish with a moisturiser, because face paint is drying on children's skin.