Halloween Face Paint Ideas and Tips

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Lela Trock, Olga Murasev, Simona Rad — 02 October 2023 —

Halloween is just around the corner, and it’s time to start planning your spooktacular look. Whether you’re a professional preparing your menu for a booming season, an adult looking to turn heads at a costume party, or a parent getting your little ones ready for trick-or-treating, face paint can be the key to creating the perfect Halloween ensemble.

In this Halloween face paint inspiration gallery, we’ve got you covered with a wide range of designs for all ages!

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~ Quick Navigation Content Guide ~

Halloween Face Paint for Kids
Aliens
Bats
Cats
Clowns & Scary clowns
Cobweb Crowns & Dark Fairy
Ghosts
Monster
Pirate
Pumpkin
Scarecrow
Skulls
Spider
Vampire
Witch
Zombie

Halloween Face Paint for Adults
Alien
Cat
Cobwebs & Flowers & Spiders
Popular Characters:
Harley Quinn
Joker
Jack Skellington and Corpse Bride
Clown – IT Pennywise
Fairy – Elf
Ghost & Ghost Bride
Glamoween
Vampire & sexy vampire
Witch & sexy witch
Zombie

Sugar Skull face paint for Day of the Dead
Women
Men
Couples
Kids

Beginners Guide Cover
New to face painting? Our Beginner’s Guide to Face Painting has everything you need to know about supplies and techniques in one place!

Halloween Face Paint for Kids

Halloween face paint is the ultimate dress-up experience for kids. They are quite literally transformed by the art. These designs will inspire you with a range from simple to complex, giving a variety that works even for painting young or wiggly children. From cute and spooky animals to classic monsters, there’s something for every child’s taste.

Alien face paint

Let your future astronauts and space enthusiasts celebrate this Halloween with alien face paint. Bright colors, big eyes, and antennae will make them look like they’ve come from another planet.

Here are some great beginner-friendly Alien face paint designs for kids:

a woman and three children wearing different kid alien face paint designs

Have a little more time for details? These designs are next-level!

four different cartoony alien face paint designs

 

Bats face paint

Bat face paint is so classic Halloween, and it can pair with nearly any costume or Halloween outfit. Many artists love the ease of one-stroke painting for impressive results! Check out many fun bat designs using one-stroke below.

three women and three children wearing bat face paint designs

For Beginners, an easy-peasy design can include a rainbow cake and bat stenciling.

four people wearing halloween bat face paint designs

Want to learn more about one-stroke technique to paint designs that are better and faster? The One Stroke Face Painting Revolution is a game changer.

four people wearing bat face paint designs

More Bat face paint video tutorials on Youtube and Instagram:

You can also find more great ideas for Halloween face paint in our Animal Guide! Bats, and Cats, and Spiders, oh my!  So many designs to choose from.

Cat face paint

Cats are popular all year long, but why offer your same old cat when you can make it a Halloween Special with a few fun tweaks? Here are some spooky and adorable cat face paint designs that will help you create a spectacular themed menu.

four young girls wearing halloween cat face paint designs

Don’t be at all surprised when boys are asking for cat face paint too. The skull and zombie designs are especially good options for tough kids who love felines.

four different kitty cat face paint designs on two women and two young girls

 

 

More Halloween Cat Face Paint Video Tutorials on Youtube and Instagram:

Clowns & Scary Clown face paint

Kids love clowning around! Whether they want to be a friendly circus clown or a scary one, face paint can bring their vision to life.

six children wearing creepy halloween clown face paint designs

IT Clown face paint is a very particular request and should look like the character from the popular book and movies (examples by Simona Rad and Stellar Body Art in collage above).

four children all wearing different creepy clown face paint designs

For clown requests, the joy is in being creative, colorful, and fun! A white base and lots of color around the eyes is a good starting point. Use these ideas for lots more inspiration!

four girls wearing different horror clown face paint designs

 

 

Cobweb Crowns, Spider Princess, & Dark Fairy face paint

From girly to gothic, cobweb face paint designs are popular with everyone, young and old, girls and even boys!

For a face painting menu, these designs can be called so many things: Halloween Crown, Cobweb Queen, Halloween Fairy, Spider Princess, etc.

a woman and five girls wearing cobweb queen face painting designs

Many of these designs are fast and simple, especially the ones that have a simple color base with black line work. After a bit of practice, you’ll be able to whip these out quickly as an impressive linebuster!

an image of four girls wearing different halloween face paintings on them

These designs also work great for Witch face paint!

 

 

More Spider Princess face paint video tutorials on Youtube and Instagram:

Ghost face paint

For a simple yet classic look that doesn’t cover the face, transform your child into a ghost with face paint! A white sheet isn’t necessary but you can find all the tools you need to create Professional-level face paint for Halloween here…

Best Face Painting Kits

four women and two children wearing cute ghost face paint designs

four people wearing four different halloween ghost face paint designs

Ghosts can be easy or complex depending on your mastery level and the time you have to complete a design. Choose designs that you like, and adapt as necessary to fit the time you have.

four people wearing four different ghost face paint designs

 

More Ghost face paint video tutorials on Youtube and Instagram:

Monster face paint

Monster face paint can be pretty much anything you want it to be! If you’re a seasoned painter you’ll probably have some horned creations that you offer all year. If you don’t, check out this collage of wonderful monster designs you can offer in any season!

You can also add variety to the fall season by offering Halloween classics like Frankenstein’s monster, mummies, and other undead.

two women and four children wearing different frankenstein face paint design

four children wearing mummy, zombie, and other horror face paint designs

 

 

 

 

More Monster face paint video tutorials on Youtube and Instagram:

Pirate face paint

Arrr, matey! Sail the high seas with pirate-themed face paint. These ideas will take you beyond a simple eye patch and a few scars with looks that will really wow and amaze everybody at the party.

four boys with different pirate face paint designs

Want a pirate face paint design that takes the concept even further? These large designs are worth a whole loot of gold. ;)

a man and five children wearing different skull face painting designs


Want to paint highly detailed designs with realistic contours and shading? This design is taught in our Professional Course!

Our students come from every skill level, and even the total beginners are having phenomenal success with this design after our in-depth training on tools, techniques, and more.

Is everything you wish you knew about face painting here in our Professional course curriculum?

 

Pumpkin face paint

Just like a homemade jack-o-lantern can be customized to any taste, you as an artist can make these designs fit any mood. We’ve gathered ideas in this pumpkin patch of designs that are cute, scary, funny, elegant, and absolutely WOW!

six different people wearing different pumpkin face paint designs

These designs definitely make it on the list of quick offerings that work as great line-busters! But if you need to paint at supernatural speed, you can make them even faster by using stencils.

Milena Stencils are some of the best on the market. You can see how she’s used them to create fast and fun Halloween face paint designs in her artwork pictured above. Learn the best Stencils for Epic Face Painting, including must-haves for QUICK Halloween face painting!!

six women wearing different pumpking face paintings

Pumpkin face paint made our Top 8 Must-Learn Designs for Halloween Face Painting! as an absolute essential for this season. Can you guess the other seven?

six people wearing different pumpkin face paint designs

We have a great collection of full face designs that look amazing without painting over the model’s eyelids. This Pumpkin Mask design by Annabel Hoogeveen will be a great addition to your menu for the kids that are sensitive in that are!

 

 

 

More great Pumpkin Designs on Youtube and Instagram:

Scarecrow face paint

Bring the charm of the harvest season to Halloween with a scarecrow face paint. Straw details, a stitched-on smile, and rosy cheeks are perfect for this friendly look.

three children and a woman wearing different scarecrow face paint designs

 

Skulls face paint

For a spookier vibe, consider skull face paint. It doesn’t need to be gruesome to be spine-tingling. Skull face paint is a great option for older teen and tween boys who might think face paint is too young for them. It isn’t! But some designs can be. These skull designs are winners for boys and girls of all ages!

four children - one is wearing a bat skull face paint and other three are wearing skull face paintings

Want to get amazing dimension and shading on your skull designs fast? This One-Stroke Skull Mask Tutorial is perfect for Beginners and quick line work.

Don’t be limited to a classic white-and-black palette. There are ways to incorporate bright colors in your creative skulls!

One fun way to add color to skull designs is with fire! This Flaming Skull design tutorial by Kristin Olsson will show you the detailed steps to make such amazing one-stroke flames.

six children wearing different skull face paint desings on them

In Elodie Ternois’ Dead Easy Full Face Skull, she uses a shimmery blue in the deepest parts of the shadows to create depth. You can learn to create this design in our free step-by-step tutorial.

 

 

Spider face paint

Spider face paint can be a fun and simple design any time of the year, but with a little extra shading and detail you can make a super impressive 3D illusion. No need to settle for bland when you can dress up your spider face paint with these great designs and tutorials!

two women and two girls wearing different spider face paint designs

These next designs show some fun ways you can add color to spider designs.

four children with spider face paintning designs on their faces

Last, but not least, those impressive 3D illusion designs that are so popular with kids, teens, and adults too.

an image of four boys wearing different spider face paintings

 

 

More Spider face paint videot tutorials on Youtube and Instagram:

Vampire face paint

Vampires are not just for adults; kids can be pint-sized Draculas too. Sharp fangs, pale skin, and a cape will make them look positively fearsome! Or paint an animated Dracula for a fun twist on a classic.

a woman and five children wearing different vampire face paint designs

This incredible animated Dracula design by Annabel Hoogeveen (center on the right in the collage) is one of many excellent designs you can learn for free on our blog!

 

 

 

Witch face paint

Conjure up some Halloween magic with witch-themed face paint. Whether you’re looking for cute or wicked, face paint is a wonderful way to dress up any witch costume!

two women and four girls wearing different witch face paint designs

four girls wearing different witch face paint designs on them

Want more witchy designs? Our cobweb queen and spider princess section has great looks that double well as witch face paint too!

 

 

More Witch face paint videot tutorials on Youtube and Instagram:

Zombie face paint

Whether you go for green and cartoony or something more gruesome, zombies are a pop culture favorite! This is another wonderful offering to get older kids involved in the fun! Check out these zombie face paint ideas for some truly frightful transformations.

three women and a boy with different zombie face paintings

four children with different zombie face paint designs

a woman making a tough face with a green zombie unicorn face painting above her right eye
Another way to make great zombie designs is to zombify a design that is already popular for you. You can learn tips on how to zombify any of your designs in this amazing Zombie Unicorn design by Elodie Ternois!

 

 

Halloween Face Paint for Adults

Halloween face paint for adults is a time to embrace your inner creativity and indulge in more complex and sophisticated designs. These designs often feature more detailed and intricate elements that can make your Halloween costume truly stand out. From classic characters to terrifying horrors and seductive creatures, the options are endless.

Alien face paint for adults

Unleash your inner extraterrestrial with an otherworldly alien face paint. Shading can add wonderful dimension even for a simple design. Alien face paint is a great option if you want to play around with body art optical illusions!

six women wearing different alien face paint designs

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by @jezdouglasmakeup

 

More Alien face paint video tutorials on Youtube and Instagram:

Cat face paint for adults

Transform into a sleek and mysterious feline with a cat-themed face paint. Whiskers, a cute button nose, and dramatic eyes are all you need for this classic Halloween look, but you can make it even more wow by creating a dynamic base.

six women wearing different adult cat face paint designs

Lots of these cat face paint designs for adults pair well with cat ears.

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Simona Rad (@radsimona17)

Other Cat-Themed face paint Tutorials on Youtube and Instagram:

Cobwebs, Flowers & Spiders face paint for adults

For those who appreciate nature, cobwebs, flowers, and spiders can be combined to create a hauntingly beautiful face paint design. It’s both spooky and elegant.

 

 

 

More Cobweb, Flower, & Spider face paint tutorials on Youtube and Instagram:

Popular Characters face paint for adult costumes

Here are some of the most popular characters for adult face paint costumes every year! These characters are so fun to embody and face paint is essential to get the look.

Harley Quinn face paint

Get into the spirit of chaos with a Harley Quinn-inspired face paint. Red, blue, white, and black are all the colors you need for these designs, though it can be fun to trade red in for a neon pink or magenta.

four different harley quinn face paint designs

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Embla Gabríela Wigum (@emblawigum)

 

Want to add a fake wound? Our SFX Halloween Guide is a great place to learn about what tools you will need and how to create some simple special FX.

Joker face paint

The Joker face paint gets redesigned with every new actor who plays him, so there are many ways to style this insanel popular character face paint!

six different cartoony joker face paint designs

four men wearing different joker face paint designs

Joker Face Paint Tutorial
Want to take a closer look at how the Joker makeup has changed? Our world-class instructor, Elodie Ternois, put together this side-by-side The Old Joker vs. The New Joker tutorial that’ll put a smile on your face.

 

 

Jack Skellington and Corpse Bride from The Nightmare Before Christmas face paint

Bring Tim Burton’s magic to life with face paint inspired by these beloved characters. Whether you choose the Pumpkin King, the ethereal Corpse Bride, or both you’re sure to captivate.

six different Corpse Bride face paint designs

six women wearing the different Corpse Bride face paintning designs

 

 

 

 

More Nightmare Before Christmas face paint tutorials on Youtube and Instagram:

Clown & IT Pennywise face paint for adults

Clowns are always a popular design for Halloween, and a colorful clown can also be quite striking.

seven girls wearing creepy clown face paint designs

Take a trip to the circus of nightmares with a Pennywise or evil clown face paint. Blood-red accents and that infamous grin will send shivers down spines.

four women wearing four different creepy clown face paint designs

two women and two men wearing creepy clown face paintings

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Lauren Ward (@fx_freak)

 

 

Other Clown face paint tutorials on Youtube and Instagram:

Fairy & Elf face paint for adults

For a touch of enchantment, go for a fairy or elf face paint. Sparkles, contour, and whimsical colors will make you look like you stepped out of a fairy tale.

six women wearing different fairy elf face paint designs

 

 

 

More Fairy & Elf face paint tutorials on Youtube and Instagram:

Ghost & Ghost Bride face paint for adults

If you prefer a more classic Halloween look, consider the ghostly face of a ghost bride. Pale complexion, flowing veils, and dead eyes will do the trick.

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Ivona Velicu (@ivonasmagiccolors)

 

More Ghost tutorials on Youtube and Instagram:

Glamoween face paint

For those who want to blend glamour with the macabre, glamoween is the way to go. Sparkling skulls, smoky eyes, and glittering details will make you shine on Halloween night.

halloween-face-paint-designs-Adults-Glamoween-2

 

 

 

More Glamoween face paint tutorials on Youtube and Instagram:

Vampire & Sexy Vampire face paint for adults

Vampires never go out of style. Whether you opt for the classic Dracula look or a seductive vampire, sharp fangs and deep, dark eyes are essential.

The tiny vein details look best when done with a high-quality detail brush. Check out our Brush Buying Guide for recommendations on the very best face painting brushes. This is a time when the tools really make all the difference in the world.

 

 

 

 

More Vampire and Glampire face paint tutorials on Youtube and Instagram:

Witch & Sexy Witch face paint for adults

Channel your inner sorceress with a bewitching witch face paint. Whether you prefer the classic or a more alluring version, a pointed hat and a cauldron are optional.

four girls wearing different witch face painting designs

 

 

 

More Witch face paint tutorials on Youtube and Instagram:

Zombie face paint for adults

For a truly frightful transformation, turn your adult self into a gruesome zombie. Greyed-out skin, hollow eyes, and tattered clothing will have you ready for the zombie apocalypse.

Prefer the pop-art style of zombie? Colorful zombie face paint for adults is a great mix of playful and spooky. Body paint optional, but definitely gonna be a winner for the Halloween costume contest!

four images of women wearing different colorful zombie body and face paint designs

four images of women wearing different colorful zombie face paint designs

 

 

 

Love the cartoony style of Zombie? Then you’re going to LOVE this colorful and creepy Halloween Zombie face paint tutorial by Elodie Ternois!

More Zombie face paint on Youtube and Instagram:

No matter your age, Halloween face paint is a fun and creative way to transform yourself into something spooky, enchanting, or even a little bit silly. So, gather your paints, brushes, and imagination, and get ready to make this Halloween a truly unforgettable one with these fantastic face paint ideas! Happy haunting!


Want even more Halloween Face Paint Ideas?? Our Ultimate Face Paint Inspiration Guide has a whole section each on Kid and Adult Halloween designs! There are ideas you haven’t seen yet. Be sure to check it out and discover hundreds of great face paint designs for every time of year!

Sugar Skull/Catrina face paint for Day of the Dead

Sugar Skull (also called Catrina) face paint is not a Halloween face paint design like many mistake it for. It is for Day of the Dead or Día de los Muertos, which is celebrated on Nov. 1 & 2. It is a unique and colorful tradition that celebrates the memory of loved ones.

Because the holidays are so close together, we recommend that you practice both designs for both Día de los Muertos and Halloween early in the fall season so you’re prepared to help your clients celebrate whatever holiday they’re preparing for.

If Day of the Dead is not celebrated in your region of the world, you can still stick around to enjoy this exquisite artwork! This style of face paint is characterized by intricate and vibrant designs that symbolize the cycle of life and death, often with flowers. It’s a beautiful way to honor this Mexican holiday.

Sugar Skull/Catrina face paint for Women

Ladies, don’t miss the opportunity to adorn your face with stunning Day of the Dead-inspired face paint. Roses, skulls, and vibrant hues will make you a vision of beauty.

six women wearing sugar skull face painting designs

four women wearing different sugar skull face paint designs

four different sugar skull face paint designs

sugar-skull-face-paint
Stunning, right? You can learn to paint this beautiful sugar skull by Elodie Ternois for free on our blog!

 

 

 

 

 

More Day of the Dead Sugar skull face paint tutorials on Youtube and Instagram:

Sugar Skull face paint for Men

Men can embrace the intricate and colorful designs of the Day of the Dead with sugar skull face paint. Shading and contour are key to these stunning looks. Don’t be afraid to use flowers in men’s designs as well because they are a very important symbol of what is being honored during the Day of the Dead celebrations.

four men wearing different sugar skull face paint designs

 

 

Sugar Skull face paint for Couples

If you’re fortunate enough to help a couple prepare for their Day of the Dead celebration, matching face paint is a really beautiful option for a special offering. Shawna Del Real and Ronnie Mena are a face-painting extraordinaire team from LA who are a great source of inspiration for Día de los Muertos makeup.

 

Sugar Skull face paint for Kids

The Day of the Dead is a whole family gathering, much like a family reunion, and little ones will definitely want to join in the face painting fun. Bright colors and floral patterns with skull elements help honor this celebration of both life and death.

six girls wearing different designs of sugar skull face paintings

 

 

 

More Sugar Skull face paint tutorials on Youtube and Instagram:

 

We hope you feel more prepared for the fall season and all the fun celebrations you will be a part of this year! Of course, inspiration is only one portion of preparation.
You will also need to get the best tools to create these epic looks, learn the techniques essential to good face paint, and to practice, practice, practice.


Our Professional Course can take even never-painted-before students and turn them into glowing professional artists. You can enroll and learn more about becoming a certified professional face painter now!

Did you enjoy this guide? Hit “SHARE” and let your fellow face painters know about it!

 — Lela Trock, Olga Murasev, Simona Rad

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