Face paint, theatrical make-up and special effects make-up

The best place to buy face paint is a specialist shop. There you'll find face paint that is registered as a cosmetic and complies with European cosmetics regulations, made for skin, including children's. You'll also get advice on which type suits your needs, because water-based face paint, cream face paint and special effects makeup each work differently.

At SchminkenGrime.nl you'll find over 10,000 products from brands such as Superstar, Diamond FX, Mehron and Grimas, online and in our shop in Vught, the Netherlands. Not sure which type or colour you need? We're happy to help you choose.

If you're looking to buy face paint, there are a few things I always check.

• Check that it really is face paint. That may sound obvious, but there are still products out there with the word face paint printed on them in big letters, even though they're not officially registered as cosmetics and therefore not meant to be used on skin. Always choose face paint that is registered as a cosmetic and complies with European cosmetics regulations.
• Choose the right type of face paint. Painting children's faces? Then water-based face paint is usually the best choice. It's easy to apply, gives lovely bright colours and washes off easily afterwards. Need face paint that stays on longer or holds up better against heat and sweat? Then cream face paint or alcohol-activated makeup is often the better option.
• Look at the quality. Good face paint usually contains more pigment, so the colours cover better and stay vibrant for longer. Cheap face paint may look tempting, but you often need more product for the same result and the colours are less intense. In the end, that often makes it the more expensive choice.
• Do you have sensitive skin? The face paint you'll find in my shop and online store complies with European cosmetics regulations and is developed to be used safely on skin, so the risk of a skin reaction is small. Still, everyone's skin is different and anyone can be sensitive to a particular ingredient. If you have sensitive skin or know you react easily to products, always test the face paint on a small patch of skin first, for example on the inside of your wrist, to see whether a reaction occurs.

Want to know more about skin irritation, allergies and safe face painting? Have a look at my blog post 10 tips waar je jeuk van krijgt (in Dutch), where I explain everything step by step.

In my online store I only sell face paint I fully stand behind. From children's face paint to professional and special effects makeup: I only choose products I'd happily use on myself and on my children.

The biggest difference is in the base and in how you use the paint.

Water-based face paint is activated with a little water and applied with a sponge or brush. It dries on the skin and barely transfers afterwards, as long as it stays dry. When you're done, it washes off easily with water and a mild soap, such as the Diamond FX skin soap, or a mild baby shampoo. Do you have sensitive skin? Then a special remover towel is a great solution.

I almost always recommend water-based face paint for children, birthday parties and Halloween. Not just because it's easy to apply and remove, but also because it lets you work with real precision. By adding a little extra water you make the paint thinner, so you can create crisp lines and fine details with a brush. That also makes water-based face paint the best choice if you're just starting out with face painting.

Cream face paint has a cream base and doesn't dry by itself. You set it with a translucent powder, after which it stays put for hours and holds up better against heat and sweat. Cream face paint is mainly intended for stage, theatre and character makeup. Because it stays soft, it's less suitable for fine lines and detailed brushwork. To remove it, use a cleansing oil or special remover; water and soap alone won't get it off properly.

In short: painting children's faces or creating colourful designs with lots of detail? Go for water-based face paint. Need makeup that has to stay on for a long time? Then cream face paint is usually the better choice. Neither of them is waterproof. For face paint that stays on while swimming or in heavy rain, you'll need alcohol-activated makeup.

Want to learn face painting yourself? Join my free four-day mini course (in Dutch), where I show you step by step which materials you need, which techniques to use and how to create your first face painting designs.

The terms overlap, but in practice they usually refer to different applications.

Face painting usually means creating colourful designs with water-based face paint. Think of a butterfly, tiger, princess, superhero or unicorn at a children's party, festival or event.

Stage makeup (or theatrical makeup) is about transforming someone into a different character. Think of making someone look older or younger, building a stage character, creating a bald look or adding a moustache or beard, or recreating a realistic wound. This is the kind of makeup you'll mostly see in theatre, film and television, applied by professional makeup artists.

SFX makeup (special effects makeup) is often seen as a discipline of its own. It covers things like fake wounds, scars, noses and other prosthetics.

This is also where the name of my shop comes from: schminken is the Dutch word for face painting, and grime is our word for stage and character makeup. At SchminkenGrime.nl you'll find everything for all three disciplines, from colourful face paint for children and festivals to professional products for theatre, film and special effects.

There isn't one single brand that all professionals use. Professional face painters and makeup artists combine different types of makeup for different jobs, which is why a pro kit usually contains products from several brands.

For colourful face painting designs at children's parties, events and festivals, many professionals choose water-based face paint from brands such as Diamond FX, Superstar and Mehron Paradise. These paints are known for their high pigmentation and ease of use, and work beautifully for both large areas of colour and fine details.

For theatre and character makeup, artists often work with cream-based or cake makeup, for example from Grimas and Ben Nye. For film, television and special effects, many makeup artists prefer alcohol-activated makeup or airbrush makeup, such as the Encore palettes, Endura or ProAiir. These products stay put for hours, even in heat and sweat.

Professional face paint contains more pigment, blends more easily and works better with brushes and sponges. That means you get a nicely opaque result faster and the makeup stays looking good for longer. For a professional, reliability matters most: the makeup has to last through a long show or filming day.

Good to know: you don't have to be a professional to use professional face paint. In fact, beginners often notice the biggest difference, because good face paint is easier to apply and covers faster. The face paint in my online store is exactly the same as what face painters, theatres and film sets work with.

That mainly depends on what you want to create and how long the face paint needs to stay on. This is what I usually recommend.

For a children's party, choose water-based face paint, a few good face painting brushes and of course cosmetic glitter. Water-based face paint is quick to apply, gentle on children's skin and washes off easily at the end of the day with water and a mild soap. With a split cake you apply several colours in one stroke, and face painting stencils help you work quickly and neatly, especially when there's a queue of children waiting. Looking for inspiration? Have a look at my face painting examples for children (in Dutch, but the step-by-step photos speak for themselves), from butterflies to tigers.

For carnival, I usually recommend water-based face paint. Carnival days are long and often warm, but water-based paint is easy to apply and just as easy to remove afterwards with water and a mild soap. Want your design to stay looking good even longer? Use a setting spray. If you have oily skin or sweat a lot, Skin Prep Pro helps prepare the skin, so the paint adheres better and stays looking good for longer. Alcohol-activated makeup withstands water and sweat even better, but I recommend it less often for carnival: after a long day of celebrating you want to remove your makeup quickly, and that's much easier with water-based face paint. On my blog you'll also find carnival face painting examples to choose from.

For Halloween, things can get scarily realistic. You'll often combine regular face paint with special effects makeup: think fake blood, latex, wax and scars to make your look extra convincing. In my Halloween face paint category you'll find everything in one place, and my Halloween tutorials show you how to create a wound, scar or complete horror look yourself.

Not sure yet what you want to create? On my blog you'll find hundreds of free face painting examples and special effects tutorials, for every season and every skill level. They show you step by step which colours and materials you need and how to build up your design.

If you're just starting out with face painting, there's really no need to buy a cupboard full of paints straight away. I actually advise beginners to start small. That way you'll first find out whether face painting is really your thing. Enjoying it? Then you can always expand your collection later.

A small starter kit will take you surprisingly far. I would start with a face paint palette with a few basic colours, for example from Superstar. That paint is beginner-friendly and easy to remove afterwards. Add a separate pot of white and black from Diamond FX. Their firmer texture makes them ideal for lines, swirls and other fine details. Besides, you'll use these two colours in almost every design.

Beyond that, a few good face paint brushes and a sponge are all you need. With a couple of round brushes for details, a filbert brush for larger areas, a flower brush for little flowers and a face painting sponge for the base colours, you can already create a huge range of designs.

Enjoying face painting and want to work faster or more easily? Then a split cake, face painting stencils and cosmetic glitter are great additions. With a split cake you apply several colours at once, stencils help you create neat designs quickly, and a little glitter often finishes off a design perfectly.

Would you rather not work out which materials go well together? Have a look at my face paint starter kits. I've already put together the right combination of colours and materials for you.

Want to learn face painting properly from the start? Sign up for my free face painting tips (in Dutch): a four-day mini course that teaches you the basics step by step. And have a read of my 10 tips for beginner face painters (also in Dutch), which shows you the mistakes almost everyone makes at first and how to avoid them.

More important than how many brushes you own is that you paint with proper face painting brushes. That may sound like nonsense, but there really is a difference between brushes and what they're made for. I'm so picky about face painting brushes that, after more than fifteen years of face painting experience, I developed my own complete line, the FBFX face paint brushes.

A good brush sits comfortably in your hand and has synthetic bristles that hold enough paint and water, so you don't have to reload your brush for every single line. The bristles spring back into shape after cleaning. And they're soft enough to follow the movement of your hand, yet firm enough not to fly out of the curve with every swirl you paint. Real face painting brushes are also made for cosmetics and pick up water and paint better than hobby or art brushes.

Just starting out with face painting? Then you'll get a long way with a set of round brushes in different sizes, a filbert brush for larger areas, a flower brush and a good sponge. You can create dozens of designs with those, and the other shapes will follow naturally once you start trying more techniques.

My collection has grown quite a bit over the years, so let me explain what each brush in my line is for. All the brushes are named after people who matter to me, which is why every brush carries a name.

• Round brushes (the Linda): the backbone of every kit, for lines, teardrops, swirls and dots.
• Ultra liners (the Alex): extra-thin bristles for hair-fine lines and delicate details.
• Long liners (the Anna): extra-long bristles for long, sweeping lines and elegant details.
• Filbert brushes (the Jerry): oval with rounded edges, for filling areas, blending and soft transitions.
• Flower brushes (the Eva and the Poem): round or flat, made for petals using the double-dip technique.
• Dotting brushes (the Koko): a brush without bristles, with a foam tip for painting dots.
• Flat and angled brushes (the Floor and the Simone): for one-stroke work with split cakes.
• Tiger brushes (the Astrid): a tapered triangle dagger (that sounds complicated, but it simply means the metal ferrule is triangular and the bristles are cut at an angle) for tiger stripes and realistic animal designs.
• Dagger brushes (the Bram): angled bristles in a dagger shape. By pressing harder or softer you paint broad leaf shapes, grasses, teardrops and elegant lettering, anything that needs to look more organic than a straight flat brush can manage.
• Stippling brushes (the Tim): dual-fibre brushes with two different bristle lengths for dabbing colour onto the skin in layers, for freckles and realistic skin texture.
• Powder and blending brushes (the Monique): for applying setting powder, contour and highlight, and softly blending eyeshadow.

Sponges come in two main shapes. With a round face painting sponge you dab the base colour onto the skin quickly and evenly. A petal or butterfly sponge is shaped a bit like a teardrop. Thanks to that teardrop shape, this sponge is ideal for painting butterfly wings. It also works beautifully for designs where you want to work outward from the corner of a child's eye, because the sponge ends in a neat point. Painting several children? Use a clean sponge for each child.

Want to know exactly which brush suits which technique? In my ultimate brush guide (in Dutch) I go through all the shapes one by one.

One last tip: clean your brushes after every session with lukewarm water and brush soap and let them dry lying flat. That way good brushes last for years.

How long face paint stays on depends on the type of paint you use. Water-based face paint usually stays looking good for 4 to 8 hours, plenty for a children's party, a school performance or an afternoon at a festival. Cream face paint often lasts 6 to 12 hours, provided you set it properly with a translucent powder. And alcohol-activated makeup stays on all day and evening, even through sweat and water.

How long it lasts in practice mainly depends on three things:

• how much you sweat;
• how much friction the paint gets;
• how you applied the paint.

Friction is the biggest culprit. A child who keeps rubbing their face, or a scarf that keeps brushing along the chin, will often wear face paint down faster than a long day ever will.

Want your face paint to last as long as possible? Start with clean, dry, oil-free skin, work in thin layers and finish your look with a setting spray. Do you sweat quickly or have oily skin? Then Skin Prep Pro can help keep your face paint looking good for longer.

Water-based face paint comes off with lukewarm water and soap. Wet the face thoroughly first, gently massage so the paint reactivates, then rinse everything away with a soft flannel. No scrubbing: let the water do the work.

Want to make it even more comfortable, especially for children? Then use the super-soft Face Paint Remover Towel. It works perfectly with just water, and you can add a little soap if you like. It removes face paint very effectively and feels much gentler than a flannel or make-up remover wipes. And a good skin soap takes care of the last traces.

Is there still a haze of colour left after washing, for example with dark blue, dark green or turquoise? That's because strongly pigmented colours can linger briefly in the top layer of the skin. No need to worry: the haze usually disappears within a few hours. Want it gone sooner? Wash the face again a little later, or lift the last traces with some vegetable oil on a soft cloth. But whatever you do, don't scrub the skin.

I'd advise against using baby wipes or face wipes to remove face paint. They seem convenient, but they barely dissolve the paint. That makes you rub harder, and it's exactly that friction that can leave the skin red and sensitive.

Cream face paint and alcohol-activated makeup need a different approach. Remove those with a cleansing oil or special remover; water and soap alone won't get them off properly.

Face paint on clothing? Rinse the stain with cold or lukewarm water first, before the garment goes into the washing machine. Then wash at no more than 30 degrees, and don't put the garment in the dryer until the stain has completely gone, because heat can set a remaining stain.

Yes, professional face paint from brands such as Superstar, Diamond FX, Grimas and Mehron is safe. It's registered as a cosmetic and complies with European cosmetics regulations, which means it's made to be worn on the skin, including children's. As a guideline, I personally wait until a child is around 3 years old before painting their face.

Why not younger? Very young children's skin is thinner and more sensitive, and toddlers often rub their eyes or put their hands in their mouths. Still want something festive for a little one under 3? Then paint a small design on the forearm rather than the face.

Painting a child for the first time, or do you know they have sensitive skin? Do a small test first: apply a little face paint to the inside of the wrist or elbow and wait to see whether the skin stays calm. An allergy usually shows itself almost straight away. And never paint over small wounds, rashes or active eczema patches; leave damaged skin alone.

Two simple habits make a big difference: always remove face paint before a child goes to sleep, and use a clean sponge for every child. Brushes can be cleaned properly in between, but they need to be clean too, of course.

Want to know more about skin reactions, allergies and safe face painting? You'll find everything in my blog post 10 tips waar je jeuk van krijgt (in Dutch).

From a standard 16-gram pot of face paint you can paint around 50 fully painted faces, or up to about 100 smaller designs. For most hobbyists, one pot is surprisingly economical.

How many faces you get out of one pot mainly depends on the design. A full tiger or superhero uses far more paint than a small butterfly on the cheek. A sponge also uses more paint than a brush, and dark, opaque designs take more product than a few elegant lines.

Do you paint often or in large numbers, for example at school, at a club or as an entertainer? Then keep in mind that white and black always run out first: you use those in almost every design. For white and black, a bigger pot is often a smart choice.

Not sure how much face paint you need for your party, project or show? Just send me a message with what you're planning, and I'll work it out with you.

In most cases you'll have your face paint the next working day. Order on a working day before 5 PM and we'll ship your order the same day. Orders to Belgium are usually delivered the next working day as well.

Spending €65 or more? Then shipping within the Netherlands is free. For Belgium, free shipping applies from €85.

Would you rather collect your order yourself? You're very welcome to, at our shop in Vught, the Netherlands. You can drop by during opening hours. Parking is free right outside, and if you're unsure about a product, my colleagues and I are happy to help you choose the right face paint or materials.

Want all the information about delivery times, shipping costs, collection and delivery in one place? You'll find everything on our shipping and delivery page.

Yes, gladly. Giving advice is exactly why I started this shop in the first place. Whether you're painting faces at a children's party for the first time, preparing a theatre production or looking for special effects materials for a film set: I'm happy to think along with you, and so are my colleagues.

You can come to us with any question: which type of face paint suits your occasion, which colours and quantities you need for a school party, or which materials you need for a specific look. Handy tip: send a photo or example of what you want to create via WhatsApp, and I can tell you exactly which products you'll need.

The quickest way to get advice is via WhatsApp: send your question and your example photo if you have one, and you'll get a personal reply from me or one of my colleagues, not a standard response. Prefer email? You can reach us via the contact page.

Absolutely, we've been doing so for years and with great pleasure. Schools, childcare centres, drama clubs and theatre companies, haunted houses, film productions, makeup artists and training programmes order from us regularly, from a few pots of face paint to the materials for an entire production.

Ordering larger quantities for a school, club or performance? Then we'll think along with you beforehand about the right materials and quantities, so you don't end up with too much or too little. And because almost our entire range is in stock and orders placed before 5 PM ship the same day, you're also covered when a job suddenly starts sooner than planned.

For business customers with a company registration and VAT number we offer a business arrangement. Just get in touch and we'll tell you the conditions. Do you run a shop yourself and would you like to sell our FBFX face paint brushes? Reselling is possible too.

Tell us what you need via WhatsApp or by email at info@schminkengrime.nl, and we'll sort it out for you.