Every year it is the same scene in our house. It is the last week of October, the costume is sorted, and then someone remembers the face paint. Out comes a cracked tin from last year, or worse, a two dollar Halloween pack from the discount shop with an ingredients list nobody can actually read.
I have been making kids makeup since 2015, back when I started No Nasties Kids in my own kitchen because I could not find anything I trusted on the shelf for my own two. Eleven years on, Halloween is still the night I get the most messages from parents asking the same question: is there a safer way to do this?
There is. You do not need a tub of thick, greasy costume paint to turn your child into a witch, a fairy or a black cat this year. A few of our everyday play makeup products do the job beautifully, they are gentler on little faces, and they wash off with warm water and a soft cloth instead of three days of stubborn residue on the pillowcase.
Why cheap face paint makes me nervous
Novelty Halloween face paint is often sold once a year, cheaply, with very little on the label. It can sit on a child's skin for six or seven hours of trick or treating, through sweat, rain and the odd bit of face touching with a candy covered hand. If your child has sensitive skin or you simply like to know what is going on their face, that is a long time to be wearing something you cannot properly account for.
Our pressed makeup is made here in Queensland, is free from dairy, gluten, soy and nuts, and is designed to be washed off easily rather than scrubbed off. That is the whole point of it existing.
Building a Halloween face with everyday play makeup
The witch or fairy base
The Natural Eco Pressed Eyeshadow and Blush Pack with Accessories is the one I reach for first. It comes with four shades, party pink, poppy purple, mermaid blue and minty green, plus a pastel peach blush and its own little brushes. Poppy purple and mermaid blue swept across the eyelids and out toward the temples makes a brilliant fairy or witch look in about two minutes flat.
The cat or bunny nose and cheeks
Dab a little of the pastel peach blush on the tip of the nose and blend it out across the cheeks for a soft animal look, then use a fine brush to draw on whiskers with a touch of the purple shade. If your child wants something simpler and quicker, the Natural Shimmery Kids Play Makeup Eyeshadow on its own does a lovely shimmery finish for a fairy or unicorn without needing the full palette.
The finishing touches
A slick of Natural Lip Gloss in Strawberry Cupcake or Juicy Watermelon finishes the look, and honestly, half the appeal for my two is that it smells like dessert. For the application itself, the Twinkle Sprinkle Makeup Brush Set makes it feel like a proper makeover rather than a parent hastily dabbing at a wriggling child on the front step.
A quick patch test, always
Even with gentle, allergy friendly formulas, I always suggest a small patch test on the inside of the wrist the day before if it is your child's first time trying a new product. It takes thirty seconds and saves a Halloween night spent worrying instead of trick or treating.
Getting it off again
This is the part parents actually thank me for. No scrubbing, no makeup wipes that leave a face red and sore at ten at night. Warm water and a soft cloth, and it is gone, ready for the sugar crash and the inevitable "can we do this again tomorrow."
Halloween should be about the fun of getting dressed up, not about what is quietly sitting on your child's skin for the whole night. A safer face is still a spectacular one.
