Do you want help selecting the best brushes for face painting that will make your work clean and easy? Perhaps you’ve tried some craft ones earlier and the results left you frustrated?
No worries!
We’ve prepared the most complete guide for the best face painting brushes, exact links on where to get them, and extra valuable tips to make them last forever!
We’ve also highlighted the must buys for beginners so you know where to start and to stop you buying tools you don’t need.
But before we begin, here is a link to the premade collection with all tools ready to buy from one place!
NOTE: This article is built in partnership with JestPaint.com — one of the biggest and reliable face painting stores in the USA. All our suggestions are linked to JestPaint.com. Worldwide shipping is available.
Let’s begin…
~ Quick Navigation Content Guide ~
- Can You Use Makeup Brushes for Face Painting?
- What are the parts of a paint brush?
- Types of face painting brushes
- Face Painting Brushes for Beginners
- The extra special brushes
- Professional Face Paint Brush Extras
Can You Use Makeup Brushes for Face Painting?
While both face painting brushes and makeup brushes are used to apply color and designs to the skin, they are designed for different purposes and have some distinct differences:
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Bristle Material:
- Face Painting Brushes: Typically made with synthetic bristles. Synthetic bristles are more durable, hold up better with frequent washing, and are less likely to harbor bacteria.
- Makeup Brushes: Can be made from both synthetic and natural bristles. Natural bristles are often preferred for their softness and ability to pick up and blend powder products, while synthetic bristles are better for cream and liquid products.
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Brush Shape and Size:
- Face Painting Brushes: Come in a wide range of shapes and sizes to accommodate various techniques like outlining, filling in large areas, blending and applying one-stroke paints.
- Makeup Brushes: Designed for specific makeup applications such as eyeshadow, foundation, blush, and contouring. They include shapes like kabuki, fan, stippling, blending, and angled brushes.
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Handle Length:
- Face Painting Brushes: Often have longer handles to give artists better control and precision when painting detailed designs. They’re also easier to display in a folder and grab on the go.
- Makeup Brushes: Typically have shorter handles for easier handling and maneuvering around the contours of the face and more compact for daily use and travel in makeup bags.
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Flexibility and Firmness:
- Face Painting Brushes: Usually have firmer bristles to handle the thicker consistency of face paints and create sharp, defined lines.
- Makeup Brushes: Can range from very soft (for blending powders) to firm (for applying foundation), depending on their intended use.
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Cleaning and Maintenance:
- Face Painting Brushes: Need to be cleaned frequently (after every use) to prevent color mixing and ensure hygiene.
- Makeup Brushes: Also require regular cleaning, but the frequency can vary depending on the product used, the area of the face they are used on and the number of faces they touch.
In summary, while there is some overlap and you can use some types of makeup brushes for face painting, face painting brushes are optimized for the specific needs of face painting, offering greater control and durability for that purpose.
What are the parts of a paint brush?
First it’s important to know the basic parts of a paint brush and how to care for them.
Bristles / Hairs: Made from either synthetic or natural fibers the bristles of a brush are important as they have a huge impact on the application of paint on the skin. Whether you work with firmer or softer bristles largely comes down to preference and how much pressure you naturally put on the brush when you paint.
In addition to firmness, you can get a range of lengths of bristles — look at these two 3/4 angle brushes for comparison. The Bolt short angle will give you more precision in your application (defined rainbows) but the FacePainting Hub will load more paint and allow for more flowing application (floaty butterfly wings).
Similar differences can be seen in liner brushes, with some only a few millimeters long while others are over 1cm long. Again, what you choose to use will depend on your style and preference, so you may want to try a few different options to see what you prefer to work with.
Regardless of length or firmness, quality brushes will have bristles of the same length, neatly compact (no stragglers!), and hold their shape after use.
Ferrule: This connects the bristles to the brush handle with glue. It is important to keep as much water out of the ferrule as possible to preserve the glue. When reshaping brushes we definitely want to keep the boiling water away from the ferrule!
If your ferrule comes off you can reattach with a strong glue and leave to dry for a couple of days before using.
Crimping: This attaches the ferrule to the handle. Again ensuring we don’t have water high up into the ferrule and crimping will preserve the life of our brushes.
Handle: Wooden or acrylic, longer or shorter, colored or black. These mostly differ depending on the brush manufacturer and model. Whilst it may be tempting to buy brushed with the pretty looking tie-dye butterfly handles from Amazon, if they aren’t face painting brushes we recommend to avoid them.
Sometimes it helps to have different colored handles for the different types of brushes you use (blue handles for white paints, purple for darks etc). But the best buy is the brush that paints the best for you regardless of the handle.
Types of face painting brushes
The type of brush can make a BIG difference to the end result and it is much easier to produce nice work with a set of professional high-quality brushes, rather than cheap craft brushes.
If you take care of your high-quality, professional face painting brushes properly (use it, wash it, store and sanitize in the right way), they will last many years.
Cheaper brushes are more likely to deteriorate very fast and will require replacement.
Professional face paint brushes, with proper cleaning and storage, will last for many years!
Face painting brushes can be divided into five groups:
Face Painting Brushes for Beginners
Beginners will need a selection of round brushes (different sizes for different details), 1-2 filbert brushes, a 1-inch flat brush, a couple of angle brushes, a floral / petal brush and a blending brush.
We’ve broken down the key types of brushes, their uses and linked our favorite beginner buys for you to add to your cart and get started with the best tools in the trade!
Round Brushes
The one brush every face painter is guaranteed to use at every gig!
Round brushes come in a range of sizes, with a rounded ferrule and vary from very pointed sharp tips to blunter tips but the general shape remains the same.
Ideal for detailing, outlining, creating fine lines, dots, and intricate designs – think swirls, curls, and teardrops.
They are versatile and can be used for both thin and thick lines and dots depending on the pressure applied. They can also be used for double dip petals in place of a specialty petal or flora brush.
These are our top picks for round brushes you should add to your kit:
One brush of #1 size — for tiny details
Art Factory Studio Face Painting Brush – Round #1
Two brushes of #3 size — for girly swirly designs and thin outline (one to use only with black and one only for white)
BOLT | Face Painting Brushes by Jest Paint – Crisp Round #3
Two brushes of #4 size — for building shapes and to outline full-face signs (one to use only with black and one only for white)
BOLT | Face Painting Brushes by Jest Paint – Crisp Round #4
Alternatives (look for the same sizes as above!):
Art Factory Studio Face Painting Brush – Round #1
KingArt | Face Painting Brush – 7950 White Nylon Collection – Round #1
Paint Pal – Swirl #1 Face Painting Brush
Flat brushes
These brushes have bristles that are flat and straight across the top coming from a flat ferrule. They range in sizes (widths) and lengths of bristles.
The one that will take your basic face painting to a totally different level is the 1-inch flat brush! The brush you need to get the most from your one-stroke rainbow cakes.
Art Factory Studio Face Painting Brush – 1″ FLAT
Alternatives (in case this one is out of stock):
Prima Barton | Creative Series Face Painting Brush – Flat 1″
BOLT Face Painting Brushes by Jest Paint – 1″ Stroke
The Face Painting Shop Brush – 1″ Short Flat”
It’s a must-have in case you want to paint beautiful rainbows!
And there are SO MANY variations of how you can actually paint the rainbows!
Check out what Elodie Ternois, our School instructor created. One stroke rainbow, a stencil, white and black paint, and some basic linework and you have a neat design, even if you are just starting out!
Fusion Body Art Face Paint — Rainbow Cake | Bright Rainbow 50 gr.
Large flat brushes are also great for filling in large amounts of color though will have a blunter edge to them than a filbert.
Smaller (narrower) angle brushes 5/8 inch or 1/2 inch can be used for butterfly wings with one-strokes or for the ghosting technique popular for roses.
Filbert Brushes
These brushes have a flat ferrule and a rounded, oval-shaped tip. Filberts are excellent for creating rounded shapes, petal effects, and blending. They are perfect for covering larger areas with soft edge than a flat brush does.
As a beginner, we recommend a filbert brush size ½-inch (10 mm) for covering the eyelids with paint, building up shapes like a kitty cat, puppy or bunny ears.
We recommend:
Face Painting Brush – TAG – Filbert #6 (7/16″)
Alternatives:
Paint Pal – Big Drop Face Painting Brush
Art Factory Studio Face Painting Brush – 2/5″ Filbert
Bigger filbert brushes are better for blending colors together and filling in large areas.
Angle Brushes
Similar to flat brushes but the bristles are cut at an angle again from a flat ferrule. A set of angled brushes will make a HUGE difference in how your one-stroke roses will turn out.
We encourage you to start with this brush as this is the best size for painting roses.
Paint Pal | Face Painting Brush | Beautiful Butterfly – 3/8″ Angle
Alternatives:
The Face Painting Shop Brush – 3/8″ Medium Angled
Additionally, you may want to add a range of angled brush sizes to your kit.
Once you start practicing one stroke technique, you will notice that you will actually need various sizes for different effects.
Angle brushes are great for butterfly wings, monsters, dragons, flames, and countless cool effects to transform your customers’ faces.
You’ll probably find you will need and at least 5-6 angled brushes in your kit. Some of them may be of the same size (to reduce color transfer on busy painting days).
We recommend:
Art Factory Studio Face Painting Brush – 5/8″ Acrylic Handle Angle
Art Factory Studio Face Painting Brush – 3/4″ ANGLE
Paint Pal | Face Painting Brush | Romantic Rose – 1/2″ Angle
Petal Brushes / Flora Brushes
Petal brushes and flora brushes are similar to a round brush but with a wider base of bristles attached to the ferrule and coming to a sharp point.
A rounded ferrule petal brush will provide a more compact petal whilst a flatter ferrule flora brush provides a wider petal shape.
Most frequently loaded with white first then one to two complementing colors on the tip to represent the darker inside of a flower.
Our top recommendation for perfect petals is the: Paint Pal – Pretty Petal Face Painting Brush
Alternatives:
The Face Painting Shop Brush – Flat Pointy – Flora #8
The Face Painting Shop Brush – Rounded – Flora #4
KingArt | Face Painting Brush – Original Gold® 9930 Series – Golden Taklon Oval Floral Petal #6
Blending Brushes
Blending brushes are ideal for smoothly transitioning between colors and creating gradient effects. They are also perfect for creating effective looking fur on designs.
The best face painting brushes on the market are Cameleon blending brushes:
Cameleon Face Painting Brush – Medium Filbert # 2 (Short Green Handle)
and Cameleon Face Painting Brush – Blender # 1 (short green handle).
Alternative:
Nat’s Fancy Faces | Face Painting Brush – Gold Edition Blend Set with Mini Kabuki and Perfect Blender
Script Liners
If you are happy with the detail you are able to create with your range of round brushes then these may not be a necessary purchase.
Ideal for long, continuous lines, fine outlines, and intricate swirls. In a range of lengths from very short to long which hold more paint and allow for fluid, uninterrupted strokes.
These are our top three picks depending on the length of bristles you enjoy to work with:
Mehron Face Painting Brush – Mark Reid Signature – Round #2L – Long Script Liner
Blazin Face Painting Brush by Marcela Bustamante – Script Liner #1 LE
BOLT Face Painting Brushes by Jest Paint – FIRM Liner #3
The extra special brushes
Above are all of the base brushes you would need in your face painting journey as a beginner. But once you’ve been painting a little longer you may be looking to purchase some of the following specialist brushes.
Double Filbert
Less common than a standard filbert, a double filbert has a split up the middle creating two mini filbert brushes in one.
Use them for double dip petals or load on a rainbow cake for a pair of perfectly aligned swirls or double teardrops.
We recommend the:
Global Colours | Face Painting Brush – Springback Brush by Julie Tattam – Double Filbert
Rake / Wisp Brushes
Rake and wisp brushes are cut into so that only a proportion of the bristles are touching the skill when applying face paint. These are a great option for apply quick effects like grass, cuts, fur, streaky rainbows, manes and anything else requiring a more textured look.
Rake brushes are less spread out than a wisp brush and we recommend trying the The Face Painting Shop Brush – RAKE Brush 3/4″ for super fine lines.
For wisp brushes you can choose between angled cut, fan shaped or filbert shaped depending on what you’ll be using it for. A filbert is great for fur effects and we like the slightly smaller size: Royal Aqualon Face Painting Brush | FILBERT Wisp (R2935 – 1/2″)
Kabuki Brushes
A kabuki brush, traditionally used in makeup for applying powders and achieving a smooth, even finish, can also be utilized in face painting.
Coming in a range of sizes Kabuki brushes are gaining some popularity for their range of uses. Bigger brushes can provide a nice even coverage for bases. Smaller kaubki brushes are great for blending around the eyes, blending colors together and for stenciling.
This small kabuki brush comes in a set with a blender brush, we love a good set deal!
Nat’s Fancy Faces | Face Painting Brush -Gold Edition Blend Set with Mini Kabuki and Perfect Blender
Or for large coverage jobs this size can be used for both face and body: Royal Face Painting Brush | SMALL Synthetic Flat Top Kabuki (19) – 1 1/2″ Spread
Large kabuki brushes can be difficult to clean thoroughly on the job so this needs to be considered if painting a lot of faces.
Other specialty brushes:
There are some really funky face painting brushes that have been created for a range of needs.
Check out this range of super specialist brushes and see what they can do:
With the right skills and tuition you can create the same effects as the specialist brushes so we wouldn’t recommend beginners buying many of these until they’ve perfected the basics and discovered what they’re capable of doing the the regular brushes.
Happy practicing! 🖌🎨
Professional Face Paint Brush Extras
Additional tools to store and take care of your face paint brushes
If you don’t have a paint station that includes a department for storing brushes, the best way to store and display them are brush cases or brush wallets, especially the ones that have double level inserts and keep the bristles of each brush untouched.
We recommend this brush wallet that keeps each layer accessible and separated for both preserving brush quality and making it quicker and easier to find the brush you need on the job:
Jest Paint | Ultimate Face Painting Brush Wallet – ALL Black Version
Also, you will need to clean and sanitize your brushes after each painting. For these purposes, you will need a special brush soap.
Use to deep clean your brushes after your gigs: Lather your brushes with Brush Soap to remove all of the face paint residues.
Jest Paint | Face Body and Brush Soap
Last, but not least, if you are going PRO, we highly recommend you to get this brush tub! The holes on the sides will make it easy to store your brushes while painting.
Three separate chambers for water will help separate your clean, rinse and activation water and the rigid bottom in the bigger wash chamber will help you loosen your face paint more quickly and efficiently.
Face Painting Brush Washer | Blue Brush Tub
Now when you know exactly what brushes you need, read how to take care of them properly in our article “Brush Care: tips & tricks on care and maintenance of your face paint brushes“.
And if you want to know how to use your new brushes, check out the face painting techniques in our Ultimate Face Painting Guide for the Professionals. 😍
