59 Best Face Painting Ideas

Face painting has been a popular trend for years. It is quite common at children’s parties, but that doesn’t mean adults don’t indulge in it too! In fact, Halloween is a special time when face painting is embraced by children and adults alike.

Are you looking for some new, fun face painting ideas to try out? Don’t worry! We have curated a list of 59 face painting ideas for you. The only piece of advice we will give you is this - make sure to use skin-friendly paints when indulging in this art form.

Face painting can be a fun task, especially if you already have a theme in mind. If you don’t, it’s okay too. Take inspiration from our face painting ideas. Remember to keep a bowl of water near you to wash off any paint, in case it causes irritation.

So without further ado, let’s get painting!

Face Painting Ideas

Iridescent Floral Patterns

We begin our list with a beautiful yet straightforward face painting idea. This one features a minimalist floral pattern around the eye area. Make use of white face paint, and remember to add some shiny, glittery lip-paint to finish.

Fuzzy Bunny

One of the most popular themes for face painting is animal faces. Paint a bunny face using this image for inspiration. Add big bunny teeth on the lips and finish off with bunny ears behind your head.

Big Mouth

We admit it - this one is cool but also kind of creepy. Paint a ‘big mouth’ by using your jaw as the upper lip and neck as the lower lip. Add large teeth and a tongue to complete it.

“Keeping Shut”

This face painting concept is an interesting idea if you think about it. It features a hand-painted across the mouth in black and the lower portion of the face in red. This one is open to interpretation.

Pink Tiger

Try something inspiring with this face painting idea. Paint the traditional tiger face but with pink and white paints instead. Add a pink wig to pull the look together nicely.

Happy Clown

This is an interesting take on the traditional clown face painting idea. For this one, try using blue paint instead of red and black. Paint the lips in blue as well. This idea gives us a very ‘cirque du Soleil’ vibe.

Yellow Cross

This is an extremely simple face painting idea that you can use for various concepts or themes. Paint your entire face in bright green paint, leaving a plus sign down your face and cheeks. Cover the leftover area with yellow paint.

Lick Your Nose

A creative face painting concept which makes the wearer look like they are licking their nose! Do this by painting a tongue starting from your mouth and going upward toward your nose. Keep a pink and white theme to make it look more realistic.

Snow Leopard

This one is a favorite amongst kids. Paint a roaring snow leopard by using white and black paints. Use a reference image to paint the ears, nose and whiskers.

Fire & Ice

Here is a creative idea for two people who want to experiment with face painting themes. One person can paint a half skull using white and black. The other person can opt for a more complex, creative design using brighter colors as a contrast.

Rainbow Eye

A simple yet inspiring face painting idea is to take about five different face paints and create concentric circles around one eye. Paint three dashes across the other cheek to complete the look. This one is also open to interpretation.

Diablo

This can be an excellent face painting idea for a Halloween party or a Diablo themed event. Begin by painting your entire face in red, then making the rest of the designs in black. Add paper mache ‘horns’ on the skull for a complete look.

Cute Bunny

Paint a cute, colorful bunny using this image as an inspiration. Place little sparkle hearts on the cheeks and a pink nose and whiskers. You can add bunny ears on the head if you really want to play the part!

Why So Serious?

Here is a creative take on the traditional ‘joker’ face paint. Opt for black and white tribal designs on the face and skull. Finish the look by painting a large, plastered ‘smile’ over the lips and extending to the cheeks.

Clown

Finally, this is a traditional clown face idea which has been popular for generations. Fortunately, this one is easy to recreate and is immensely popular amongst the younger crowds.

Pride

The message is clear with this face painting idea - supporting the Pride movement. Paint the beautiful colors across your face in bold strokes of red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple.

Sugar Skull

This is one of the most popular face painting concepts which is extremely fun to recreate at home. Grab some white, black and red face paint and create the ‘candy skull’ using this image as an inspiration. Add some yellow dots on the forehead too.

Butterfly

The butterfly can be painted in different ways on the face. In this idea, you can opt for two main colors and paint the butterfly’s wings across both eyes. Complete the look by mixing the shades and applying them on the lips.

Hand Print

A hand print across the face is easy to paint and a lot of fun. For this one, you can choose blue and white, opting for a steely blue-gray color for the hand print. Feel free to choose any other color you wish.

Rainbow Dreams

This face painting idea is fun and creative. Choose a few bright colors from your palette and paint in a swirly design across one side of the face only. Add white moons and stars, lining them with black, to complete the look.

Bear

If you are having difficulty painting the traditional ‘bear’ face, opt for this concept instead. Use the brown, yellow, white and black shades to create lines and whiskers on your face. Make it a complete look with a furry costume and animal ears.

Killer Clown

Planning an ‘IT’ themed party? Recreate the scary clown look with this face painting idea. Make sure you use fake blood and teeth to really add the ‘killer clown’ appeal to your face paint. You can even opt for colored contacts for this one.

M&M’s

Explore candy land with this creative M&M’s face paint inspiration. Paint the colors of the rainbow across your face and stick a couple of M&M’s to one side. Don’t get too hungry and pick the candy off your face to eat!

Orange And Green

If the theme for your next party is orange and green (maybe a pumpkin party!) then try out this face paint idea. Use orange blush and lipstick to really bring the look together. Add some long, green lashes for extra effect.

Dracula

Here is a unique take on Dracula - instead of getting fake teeth, paint them over your mouth instead. Make some swirly gothic designs on your face and if you want, wear a cape along with it. A great idea for Halloween!

Reptile

To make a shimmery green face paint, mix some bronzer or highlighter with your green face paint. Cover your entire face with the paint, then add the black detail work using a thin brush. Make ‘scales’ under the eyes using the same paint.

Jester

Dressing up as the Jester this time? Here is a great idea for the ‘Jester’ face paint concept you can try opt. Use a base white coat to paint your entire face with, then add the other colors. Complete the look with dark red lip paint.

Devil

It’s always fun dressing up as the Devil for any theme party. This time, opt for an orange face devil, complete with painted horns on the head and chin. Paint over the eyebrows by creating arched eyebrows over your natural ones.

Animalistic

Another great face paint idea using an animal theme - create a tiger inspired look on both sides of the face. For the middle portion, keep it simple, opting for black and diluted shades of orange and red. Finish off with bright colored contacts.

Emo Skull

This is a classic emo skull look worn by many teenagers during their ‘emo phase’. Create lightly painted skull teeth over the middle of the face, and opt for white contacts to add a creepy appeal to the finished look.

Leopard

If you want to opt for a creative leopard face painting style, try adding some glitter to your face paint. You can also choose a gold paint rather than yellow and brown to give it a shiny effect.

Tribal

Tribal face painting ideas can be lots of fun to recreate. Here is a particularly simple design with just blue and purple shades and minimalistic patterns. You can create this by taking help of the reference image and using your own imagination.

Female Candy Skull

This is another version of the candy skull face painting idea. Of course, it is not restricted to just women, men can try this design too. Go for a bright yellow to make the stars and the lip color for this one.

Red Eye Skull

We know how popular skulls are in face painting, so we added yet another one to our list. This one features red eye sockets with white and black used to detail the other features.

Eye Designs

Face painting doesn’t necessarily have to cover your entire face. If you’re looking for something a little simpler, opt for these creative options where you decorate just the eye. From ladybug to butterfly, flower petal and leopard - the options are plentiful.

Halloween Ghost

Here is a simple idea for a Halloween theme party. Paint a cartoon ghost on the forehead, with the scrawny arms creeping across the eyebrows and going down the side of the face. This one is easy to recreate with just two paint colors.

Black Cat

For this animal face painting idea, instead of painting your entire face as a black cat, paint one on your face instead! In this image, you can see that a small black cat has been painted at the side of the face.

Pirate

Most kids love dressing up as pirates for costume parties. Of course, adults love it too! Paint a black eye patch and a twirly moustache for this idea. Finish off with a red bandana and a goatee to complete the look.

Tiger

Be a ferocious lion with this excellent face painting idea! It is relatively easy to recreate but requires a bit of patience and skill with the paint brush. Use orange face paint and black stripes, complete with white, sharp teeth.

Hulk

Everyone loves dressing up as a superhero. If you’re fond of Hulk and want to bear his face for a costume party, try getting some green face paint for this one. Make the details with black paint.

Peacock

A new take on the traditional peacock face painting - paint the entire bird instead of just the peacock colors in this idea. Use the majestic colors of the peacock and paint a beautiful tail across your cheek using orange face paint.

Bow Mask

This face painting idea features a Minnie Mouse bow across the eyes as an eye mask. Paint it with red face paint, and add mirrors to give it a unique appeal.

Half Skull

Try this unique half skull face paint concept with this cool image. As you can see, one eye is painted as a rose with the other side of the face as a skull.

Fantasy Art

Let your inner creative juices flow with this idea. Use all your favorite colors for this idea, and if you need inspiration, just take a look at our reference image.

Half Face

Be as creative as you can with yet another idea of a half face! Paint one half of your face in monotones, and keep the other side brightly colored for a cool effect.

Detailed Tiger

Here’s another interesting take on the ‘Tiger’ face paint concept. This one features more feminine designs, giving it a unique appeal.

Frankenstein

Always thought Frankenstien was cool and scary? Try this face painting inspiration for your next party. Make a few white streaks in your hair for a better effect.

Two Face

Batman’s two-face is undeniably cool. Give this idea a try with red, pink and white face paints to create a super cool aesthetic.

Joker

Dressing up as Joker from Batman is all too common for most. For your next event, use this inspiration to make your own Joker mask using face paints.

Dragon

Painting a dragon on your face might not be the easiest task, but it’s fun nonetheless! If you get stuck painting this one, take help from some online tutorials if you need.

Owl

Tune in to your inner Hogwarts with this great owl face painting inspiration. Use soft shades of white and mauve for this one.

Metal

This is an interesting ‘metal’ themed face mask you can try out for your next event. Use geometric patterns to create the metal effect.

Female Jester

You’ve seen the male Jester, now here is the female version of the same. Use white as a base and red and black for details.

Gold Butterfly

Paint a beautiful butterfly by using this image as your inspiration. Make sure to paint the butterfly’s body in the middle.

Puppy Dog

Everyone loves puppies - and any chance to dress up in a costume calls for at least one ‘Puppy Dog’ idea, doesn't it? This one is simple to recreate, using just 3 paint colors.

David Hasselhoff

Create an optical illusion by painting a face on the side of your own. This one works better if you can get someone else to paint it for you, as it can be a challenge to paint the face on your own.

Peacock Feather

Paint two peacock feathers on either side of your face, using the image as a reference. Use green and blue for the feather, adding other colors to the insides.

Hand To Mouth

Another excellent concept like the ‘Foot In Mouth’ design. For this one, paint a hand across your mouth, using your own hand for reference! This one looks very cool and has a realistic appeal.

Elf

This time for Christmas, become Santa’s Little Helper with this Elf face painting idea. Paint the elf’s hat across your skull and don’t forget the big grandfather spectacles to complete the look!

Conclusion

Face painting can be made into a super fun game to play at parties and events. The best part is, face painting is not just for kids. It can be enjoyable for adults as well, especially during events like Halloween or costume parties.

We hope you got some great ideas from our exhaustive list. Before we take our leave, we will once again advise you to be very careful with the kind of paints you decide to use. Facial skin can be quite delicate, and using the wrong kind of paint can cause allergies.

Well, have fun painting, and stay safe. Until next time!

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