Face Paint Brands Stocked in Australia
The Face Paint Shop has been stocking face paint since 2006, and the range has grown to fifteen brands held in our Wantirna South warehouse in Melbourne. This page is the honest version of what each one is for, so you can spend your money on the right thing rather than the thing with the nicest packaging.
Most of these brands overlap. Several of them make a 30g split cake. What separates them is feel, colour behaviour and the shape of the range around the paint, and that is what the notes below try to describe.
Every brand we stock
TAG Body Art
Our deepest range, and the one most Australian face painters build a kit around. TAG is known for its split cakes and its 32g cakes, including the plain white and black that every painter goes through fastest. If you paint at parties and want one brand you can reorder without thinking, this is usually it.
Fusion Body Art
Split cakes with a following, particularly the Lodie Up designs, alongside body paint and foundation shades for larger work. Fusion is the range people reach for when they want a split cake that looks like an effect on its own, rather than a background to line work.
Diamond FX
Firm, high pigment cakes in 30g, with a full set of essential base colours, metallics and ready-made palettes. Diamond FX cakes hold a crisp edge, which is why line workers and stencil users like them. The Essential palettes are a sensible way to buy a working spread of colour in one go.
Heart Face Art
Our own range: stencils, brushes, sponges and adhesives designed around what we watch people run out of. The stencil library is the largest part of it. Every Heart Face Art product earns double Paint Points, so the range pays you back faster than anything else we sell.
Cameleon Professional
Base Line solid colours in 45g and 70g for painters who work through black and white in volume, plus Colourblock UV neons that read under blacklight. Useful for festival and glow work where ordinary paint disappears.
Mehron
The special effects and theatrical end of the shop. Spirit gum, rigid collodion, tattoo covering palettes, metallic powders and stage makeup. If a job involves sticking something to skin, ageing a face or hiding a tattoo, the answer is usually in this range.
Grimas
Dutch crème make-up, made at the company’s own factory in Heemstede since 1981 and used across theatre, film and television. We stock the Crème Make-up Pure palettes and the Covercream sticks. Grimas publishes a full ingredient listing for every colour it makes, which almost no one else does. Read the full Grimas guide.
Ripper FX
Pocket-sized special effects: artificial skin, blister gel and effects creams that travel in a kit bag rather than a case. Handy for on-set touch-ups and for anyone building wounds away from a bench.
Radical
Liquid face paint in 40ml bottles, including a starter set. Liquids suit airbrush-style coverage, large areas and anyone who prefers to pour rather than activate a cake. A good second format once you know how you like to work.
Mont Marte
Brushes, and the things that keep brushes alive: rounds, flats, filberts, liners and detailers, plus brush wallets and washers. An affordable way to fill the gaps in a kit without committing to a full professional set.
Craft-n-Go
We are the official and sole distributor of Craft-n-Go for Australia and New Zealand. Paint stations and carry cases for painters who work on the road, so you stop unpacking a plastic tub at every gig. Replacement parts and accessories are stocked too, which is what keeps a case usable for years.
ColourVUE
Costume contact lenses in one-day and three-month wear, from sclera lenses to white-outs and character colours. The detail that finishes a Halloween or cosplay look, and the part people forget to order until the week before.
Vivid Glitter
Gleam glitter palettes for festival and body work, where the glitter is the design rather than a finishing touch.
The Face Paint Shop
Our own label, built from the requests we hear across the counter: fake blood by the litre, practice pads and boards, loose glitter, brush collections and face painter clothing. Products we wanted to sell and could not buy anywhere else.
Kalisan
Modelling and twisting balloons for entertainers who paint and twist at the same booking. Assortments and accessories to round out a party setup.
Which brand should you start with?
Painting your first party. One split cake, one round brush, one sponge. A TAG or Diamond FX split cake does most of the work, because a single loaded stroke lays several colours and the design looks finished without any blending. Add white and black base cakes when you want line work and highlights.
Painting every weekend. Buy deep rather than wide. Two or three brands you trust, several cakes of the colours you actually run out of, and a Craft-n-Go station so setup stops eating your morning. Heart Face Art stencils earn their place fast when you have a queue.
Doing special effects. Mehron and Ripper FX for the damage, Grimas crème make-up for the skin it sits on, and a good remover. Our special FX range collects the lot, and the Grimas guide explains where crème make-up fits.
Buying for a school, a club or a fete. Kits and palettes cost less per face than buying colours individually, and they arrive ready to hand out. Our kits and set-ups are grouped by how many faces you are likely to paint.
Buying face paint brands in Australia
Everything listed here is held in stock in Melbourne, not drop-shipped from overseas, so orders leave the same day and arrive in Australian business days. Domestic shipping is free on orders over $115, and free express over $200.
If you are anywhere near Wantirna South, come and see it. Australia’s largest face paint warehouse is open to the public, and swatching a split cake on the back of your hand answers more questions in ten seconds than any product photograph. Details are on our visit the shop page.
Browse every range
Live stock and pricing, straight from the shelf.
Heart Face Art
Stencils, brushes, sponges and adhesives designed around what we watch people run out of. Every Heart Face Art product earns double Paint Points.

Every brand, on one shelf
Photographs flatten colour. A split cake swatched on the back of your hand tells you in ten seconds what a product page cannot, which is why the warehouse is open to the public six days a week.
Held here, not drop-shipped
Every brand on this page is stocked in our own warehouse, so orders leave the same day rather than waiting on an overseas supplier.
Double points on Heart Face Art
Our own range earns double Paint Points on every order, on top of the point you earn per dollar everywhere else.
Free shipping over $115
Free standard shipping within Australia on orders over $115, and free express over $200.
Grimas, now in Australia
Dutch crème make-up and Covercream sticks for theatre, film and special effects, made at the company’s own factory since 1981.
Choosing a brand
What face paint brands does The Face Paint Shop stock?
What face paint brands does The Face Paint Shop stock?
We stock TAG Body Art, Fusion Body Art, Diamond FX, Cameleon Professional, Mehron, Grimas, Ripper FX, Radical, Mont Marte, Craft-n-Go, ColourVUE, Vivid Glitter, Kalisan, our own Heart Face Art range and The Face Paint Shop label. Every range is held in our Wantirna South warehouse in Melbourne and dispatched Australia-wide.
Which face paint brand is best for a beginner?
Which face paint brand is best for a beginner?
Start with a split cake and one good brush rather than a large palette. TAG Body Art and Diamond FX split cakes are the usual first purchase because one loaded stroke lays several colours at once, which makes a design look finished without any blending skill. Add a Heart Face Art round brush and a sponge and you can paint a full party.
What is the difference between a split cake and a base colour cake?
What is the difference between a split cake and a base colour cake?
A base colour cake is one solid colour, used for filling in large areas and for line work. A split cake has several colours pressed side by side in the same pan, so a single stroke lays a blend. Most working face painters carry both: base cakes for coverage and control, split cakes for speed.
Which brand should I use for special effects makeup?
Which brand should I use for special effects makeup?
Mehron and Ripper FX cover most SFX work, between them spirit gum, rigid collodion, artificial skin, blister gel and tattoo covering. Grimas crème make-up and Covercream sticks handle the skin underneath, which is what makes a wound read as part of a face rather than a sticker on top.
Are these face paints safe to use on children?
Are these face paints safe to use on children?
The face paints we stock are cosmetic products intended for use on skin, and each brand publishes its own ingredient and safety information, which we hold as downloadable data sheets on the relevant product pages. Always read the label, patch test first, avoid broken skin and the eye area unless the product says otherwise, and follow the manufacturer instructions for removal.
Do you stock Australian brands?
Do you stock Australian brands?
Yes. Ripper FX and Radical are both part of the Australian special effects and liquid paint scene, and our own Heart Face Art range and The Face Paint Shop label are developed here in Melbourne. Heart Face Art products also earn double Paint Points on every order.
Which brands do professional face painters buy most?
Which brands do professional face painters buy most?
Across our orders the volume sits with TAG Body Art, Fusion Body Art and Diamond FX for paint, Heart Face Art for stencils and brushes, and Mehron for effects. Professionals tend to buy deep rather than wide: many cakes of a few trusted colours, rather than one of everything.
Can I see these brands in person?
Can I see these brands in person?
Yes. Australia’s largest face paint warehouse is open to the public at 1/1 Sherwood Court, Wantirna South, Melbourne. Swatching a split cake in your hand tells you more in ten seconds than any product photograph, and we would rather you bought the right one.
Ask someone who paints
We paint faces ourselves, so tell us what you are painting and how often, and we will tell you which brand is worth your money and which one is not.

