This Halloween get your spook swag on with some cool face painting tricks

Bruised and beaten
According to face painter Viken, one of the hottest looks this season is the dead man or an injured face look. "We get all kinds of requests. I often have youngsters, usually above the age of 15 come to me with photos of a dead man's face, when it has slightly greyed after the body being kept for a few days. These youngsters are not keen on characters. They like to focus more on enhancing certain features like the eyes, or the mouth region." Injured faces are popular too. "People love that crack on the forehead with blood dripping from it, or a tear on the skin with the skeleton exposed. Zombie faces are popular too. Usually, the customer shows us a photo of a prototype and we just try to match it, on the spot," Viken says.

Girls like it playful
Women usually don't prefer overtly scary looks, says face-painter Sikandar Pal, who is often hired at parties. "They like to keep it light and breezy, and stick to a style that does not conceal their identity completely. While men opt for more blacks, greys and blues, girls like vivid shades of pinks and reds on them. The butterfly pattern is quite popular, they also like to go for cat and spider web patterns." It does not take a professional more than five minutes to complete painting a face. "We need to be quick, as at a party there are at least 20 requests," Pal says. With children, superhero characters like Batman, Iron Man and Superman are extremely popular as are Doraemon, Mickey Mouse and Chhota Bheem.

DIY tips
Always ensure you apply a base shade of white paint on the face, on which you draw your pattern of choice, says Viken who has been a professional face painter for 15 years. It is best to opt for acrylic paint because that is washable. "Don't go for the readymade face-painting stickers available in the market. They damage the skin and don't come off easily. Paints are easily washable." It is best to avoid the eye region because as the eyes water, they dilute the paint thereby smudging the look. "There is a popular style where one paints over the eye lids. These must be done by a professional. The trick is to use minimum colour while painting over the eye lids," Pal adds.

This Halloween, you can contact:
Viken: 9324790597
Sikandar: 8879865804
Price: Rs 3,000 for three hours