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Cosmetic face paint versus craft paint. They are not the same and the label "non-toxic" does not bridge them.

• Cosmetic face paints — Snazaroo, Mehron, Kryolan, Wolfe, Paradise, Ben Nye, TAG and similar — are formulated, tested and labelled as cosmetics, with a full ingredient list and colour additives approved for the intended use.
• Craft, poster, acrylic, tempera and watercolour paints are not cosmetics. "Non-toxic" on an art material refers to ingestion hazard under art-material labelling standards, and says nothing whatsoever about applying it to skin. They must never go on a face.

Halloween novelty kits are the recurring failure. Independent testing of cheap imported face paint sets has repeatedly found heavy metals — lead, cadmium, chromium, nickel — and colour additives with no approved cosmetic use.

1. A full ingredient list, in INCI, on the pack. Required for retail cosmetics under 21 CFR 701.3; its absence is a red flag on its own.
2. Named colour additives — CI 77491, Red 40 Lake and so on — rather than "colour".
3. A manufacturer with an address, and preferably a cosmetics business.
4. A statement of whether it is approved for use around the eyes and lips. Not all are, and the eye-area colour list is narrower.
5. Cosmetic-grade glitter if glitter is included. Craft glitter is cut plastic with edges and is a genuine corneal hazard.

• Patch test 24–48 hours ahead on the inner arm. This is the step that prevents the ruined afternoon.
• Not on broken skin, eczema, sunburn, cold sores or a rash.
• Not around the eyes or on the lips unless the product says it may be.
• Decant for each child. At an event, never return a used sponge or brush to the pot — that is how conjunctivitis and impetigo move down a queue. Disposable applicators and individual portions, always.
• Remove it the same day with a gentle cleanser or an oil-based remover; do not scrub.
• Stop at once if the child says it stings, and wash it off.

Cosmetic in the US — FDA primary categories (09) makeup preparations for children (not eye) and (04) children's eye makeup preparations. There is no premarket approval, and there is no separate stricter safety standard for children's cosmetics than for adults'.

What does bind:

• Colour additives must be approved by FDA for the intended use and certified colours must come from FDA-certified batches. Vivid neon and fluorescent shades are the ones most often non-compliant, because several are not approved for cosmetic use in the US at all.
• Under MoCRA the small-business exemption from registration and listing does not apply to products that regularly contact the mucous membrane of the eye, and serious adverse events are reportable within 15 business days.
• Toy safety law may apply in parallel. A face-painting kit presented as a toy can fall under CPSC jurisdiction and the CPSIA lead limits, which are stricter than cosmetic guidance.
• FDA's December 2022 final guidance recommends a maximum of 10 ppm lead in externally applied cosmetics.

In the EU, permitted colorants come from the Annex IV closed positive list — 153 entries — and children's cosmetics require specific attention in the safety assessment.

Water-activated cakes: two years or more unopened; replace annually once in use, and always after an event where they were used on multiple children. Cream paints: twelve months after opening. Discard anything that has changed colour or smell, and anything used near an eye infection.

• Makeup — the shelf this sits on, and the rest of it.
• Cosmetics — what the label is legally allowed to say, and the full catalogue.
• The rest of Children's makeup — Children's Makeup.
• Face Paint · Body Paint — the adult versions, and the pigment rules in full.
• Regulatory statements here follow the FDA and EU sources listed on Cosmetics, read 16 August 2026.