The Best Safe Face Paint Kits for Kids
- Kaitlyn Runion
- Jun 19
- 3 min read
I meet a lot of aspiring young artists when I’m out painting. Some of them have already played around with face paints and found that it was difficult to use the supplies they bought on Amazon or at the Halloween or craft store. A lot of the face paint crayons
and markers or waxy paints that come in those kits are not what professionals use to face paint, and for good reason, they are very difficult to use. Or rather, you can use them but it will be much harder than it needs to be for a result that isn’t as good as it could be. I understand that when buying craft supplies for kids you need to work with a budget, because kids really go ham on craft supplies sometimes! But buying the right supplies will boost your kids’ confidence when they see that the paints are manageable and that it’s actually possible to create something recognizable.
As a quick aside, I’m pretty sure those paint brushes with the stiff, black plastic bristles are to blame for so many kids thinking that they are bad at art. I’m sure someone can make something awesome with those but I certainly can’t.
There are reasonably priced professional face painting kits out there that are safe on kids’ skin. Ones where the ingredients are actually listed by the manufacturer and they’re carefully sourced by people who are face painters themselves and care about creating safe and useable products. Here are my top suggestions.
I’m starting here because these are the one option available in stores that I’m going to mention. These kits currently range from $17-30. If you don’t shop at Michaels often, there is always a coupon on their website that you can scan at check out. It can be up to 40% regularly priced purchases.
Snazaroo is a safe brand that is gentle on skin. Some face painters don’t feel like it’s as good as other professional brands, but it is safe on skin, easy to use, and a favorite for some painters. Most of these kits come with a brush, and some come with small sponges. If you’d like more tools for painting to go with your kit, choose paint brushes that have soft bristles. Make-up sponges can work for kids’ face painting projects as well.
Fusion face painting kits $35
These kits are really awesome because they contain miniatures of many products that professional painters use. There are all of your basic colors, one stroke cakes for creating awesome rainbows, brushes, sponges, cosmetic glitter, and stencils. They also have white and black in a larger size than the other colors which is great because those can get used up quickly! The stencils will really help your kiddo feel like they’re making something awesome. If the shapes come out messy at first, try using paint that’s just lightly sprayed with water with one of the sponges.
These kits begin at $25 and there’s a variety of them available for different looks and occasions. The packaging is pretty and appealing to kids, and most of them come with a rainbow cake and glitter poofer. These items would be a novelty to kids who are getting into the craft.
Misc
The following palettes are bare bones and just include some basic colors, but they’re from reliable brands with great pigmentation and if you already have some brushes and sponges they’ll give you plenty to work with.
Remember that all of these face paints come in solid form, like a watercolor palette, and are activated with a wet brush or sponge. Swirling a wet brush in the paint until it's a workable consistency is key.
As a parent I feel for you that there aren't even cheaper options available, but these are great products where a little goes a long way and you can feel good about them going on your child's skin. If a product is out of stock at one of the professional websites I linked in this article, it may be available at one of the other ones. Face painters buy their supplies here so they sometimes go in and out of stock but many of them carry the same brands.
I hope that this list helps some aspiring artists get into a new way to paint!
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