How to Make Face and Body Paint for Kids
Whether it’s for a night of Halloween trick or treating, a school costume party or just playtime, children love to don costumes and makeup. The idea of transforming from a normal kid into an animal, monster or cartoon character fascinates them. While the costume usually sets the theme of the character, it’s the body and face art that completes the look. Next time your children want to supplement their costumes, create this inexpensive face and body paint, made from natural ingredients. Kids will enjoy making this makeup as much as they will wearing it.
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Things You'll Need
- Vegetable shortening
- Cornstarch
- Food coloring
- Small mixing bowls
- Tablespoons
- Storage containers with lids
- Makeup applicators
Instructions
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Spread out the ingredients on a large, washable table. Protect the workspace by spreading out newspapers or old rags on the table and nearby floor areas. To speed up the dye process and keep the paint colors from intermingling, use a separate bowl and spoon for each makeup color you’re making.
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2
Blend the shortening and cornstarch together in a small bowl until the mixture is smooth. For every 2 tbsp. of shortening, you will need 1 tbsp. of cornstarch. These measurements depend largely on the size of the area you intend to cover with paint.
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Add the food coloring to the shortening concoction. Mix the ingredients well until the color is evenly distributed throughout the body makeup. Children can experiment and learn about creating and blending colors during this part of the process.
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Transfer the blended face and body paint into a sealable container, such as a baby food jar or small plastic container. Make sure the storage container has an opening wide enough for dipping in makeup sponges during application. The unused portion of face and body paint can be stored in a sealed container at room temperature.
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Apply the face and body paint on the child with a clean makeup sponge, cotton swab or paintbrush. The paint will have a similar consistency to store-bought grease makeup and will spread on easily.
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Tips & Warnings
Remove face and body paint by simply washing the child's skin with soap and warm water.
To add extra sparkle to the face and body art, add a small amount of glitter to the paint mixture.
Be careful when applying the makeup to areas of the face and body that are near clothing. The greasy paint does not harden and may wipe off on clothing.
Resources
- Photo Credit P.J. Molinario
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Comments
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Worst project ever! I had to use dish soap to get this make-up off my preschooler. He's still greasy after two baths and a shower. This was messier than even I'm willing to tackle.
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Just in case someone wanted to, ohhhh, say paint themselves green? Just to lounge around in.
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I was always convinced that K and R (especially K) would grow up to be tattooed ALL over, however, they have since grown out of drawing all over themselves. There is hope for G. (K was the kid that wanted to be stamped all over his body with those "Great Job!" stamps you get at gymnastics/Gymboree, etc.)
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Anyone out there have any other recommendations? My 3 year old is using markers... she wants to be a tiger. While it's cute and imaginative... I hope she doesn't turn out to be the next biggest tattoo artist.
