How to Apply Army Camo Paint to the Face

Camo paint on the face should resemble these type of designs on the army clothing.

Members of the military use camo paint on their faces for camouflage in natural terrain and to hide the shiny oils of the skin. Camo paint is also used in costumes regularly. You can achieve an effective camo look with three colors of face paint. When applying camo paint, it is common to cover not only the entire face but the ears and neck too.

Things You'll Need

• Makeup sponges

Instructions

1. Use makeup sponges to apply the darkest of your three colors on the shiniest parts of your face, like the forehead, chin and nose. Soak the sponge in the makeup and pat it onto your face.

2. Use a separate makeup sponge for the next lightest color, the hue that falls in the middle. Dip the sponge into the camo face paint and pat the areas of your face that are most in shadow, like your neck, temples, side of your nose and under your eyes.

3. Apply the lightest paint color with another clean sponge all over the remaining exposed skin. Blend the colors together so there is no skin visible through the camo paint. Do not smear the paint, just pat the sponge over your face to blend as best possible.

4. Cover any other portions of exposed skin, like your hands and the bottom of your neck, with the darkest color.

Tips & Warnings

• Pick the necessary camo paint colors you need. This depends on the terrain you are trying to blend into. For example, for jungle terrain, you need brown and light and dark green. For desert terrain, choose light green, gray and sand. For snow terrain, use white and brownish green. Camo face paint can be found at craft, costume and art stores.

References

• TheFarm: Army Survival Manual Chpt 21 Camoflauge
• Olive Drab: Personal Camouflage and Face Paint