Red Face Paint

Red covers more ground than most painters expect: devil horns, Spider-Man webs, dragon scales, vampire lips, footy face paint on grand final day. It's also one of the trickier colours to get smooth, since a lot of reds turn patchy the moment a brush runs dry mid stroke.

Getting an even, opaque red

Load the brush or sponge properly first: enough water to move the pigment, not so much that it pools. The TAG Body Art Face Paint Cake 32g - Red and its bigger TAG Body Art Face Paint Cake 90g - Red sibling suit full cheeks or lips, while Diamond FX 30g Face Paint Cake - Essential Red carries a touch more pigment for Spider-Man webbing that needs to stay crisp over black lines.

Warm cherry versus true red

Not every design calls for the same red. A cool, true red suits superhero and devil work, while a warmer tone like the Fusion Body Art Face Paint Cake Prime - Cardinal Red 32g sits closer to a cherry and reads better on dragon scales and Christmas designs. Keep both on hand if you're painting a queue at a school fete, where requests jump between the two all afternoon.

Building a full devil or vampire face

Base the whole face in red first, let it set, then work black horns or vein detail on top once the base has stopped moving. For two tone effects, our Fusion Body Art split cakes blend red into orange or purple in one stroke. Browse TAG cakes and Diamond FX for more base colours, or head to our Spider-Man collection for matching stencils.