3 Cat Makeup Ideas for Halloween, from ‘Easy’ to ‘Expert’

1. Start with a clean, even base. For this look, makeup artist Nini recommends applying a layer of foundation before buffing on a peach-toned blush and bronzer to add warmth to the face and subtly sharpen your features (you know, so they’re more catlike).
   
   
2. Next, using a black liquid lipstick and a fine-tipped brush, draw a smattering of dots just above the mouth on either side; then, paint on short, horizontal whiskers. Reload your brush with lipstick and color in the tip of your nose and around the nostrils. Line and fill in your upper lip with the lipstick, extending the lines just a centimeter or two from the corners of your mouth to elongate the shape.
   
   
3. Finish with a strong cat-eye flick using a liquid black eyeliner. Set it with black eyeshadow to soften any uneven lines, and practice your best smize.
   
   Pro tip: A bit of Pond's cold cream and a pointed Q-tip can clean up any mistakes or shaky lines.

Get the look: Morphe M173 Mini Buffer Brush ($6); Anastasia Beverly Hills Matte Lipstick in “Midnight” ($18); Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner ($22); It Brushes Velvet Luxe Precision Eyeliner Brush #326 ($24); Urban Decay Naked 2 Basics Palette ($29)

1. For the smoothest application, always start with fresh, well-moisturized skin. Makeup artist Nick Scalzo used a face cream, eye cream, lip balm and primer on Alex before moving on to her eyes.
   
   
2. For the eyes, prep the lids with a neutral, flesh-toned cream shadow. Then, using another eye shadow that’s two to three shades darker than your complexion, sweep it over the creases to add a soft definition to the lids. Next, apply a peachy-pink shadow over the creases and blend up toward your brows to add warmth.
   
   
3. Now that we’ve got your lids prepped, it’s time for the cat eye itself. Using a black gel eyeliner, trace all the way across your lash line starting at the inner corners and ending the flick just beyond the tails of your brows. For the inner ducts, extend the line in toward the nose and connect the lines from top to bottom. To further emphasize your feline gaze, take a white eyeliner pencil and trace over your tear ducts for a bright pop. Add a pearlescent shadow along the bottom lashline to finish.
   
   
4. Moving on to the skin. After applying your foundation, sweep a bronzing powder (or a concealer in a slightly darker shade) underneath your cheekbones and around the perimeter of your face. Then, using a waterproof black eyeliner, fill in the very tip of your nose and around your nostrils, leaving the insides clean.
   
   
5. With the same black eyeliner, trace around the upper and lower lips extending the upper corners with a tiny flick at the ends (like a smirking Cheshire Cat). Fill in the upper lip with the pencil before drawing a few whiskers in upward and outward strokes. Finish the look with a smattering of black and white freckles around the mouth.
   
   Pro tip: Apply a pink lipstick along the inner nostrils for a sweet, kitten effect.

Get the look: Ulta Gel Eyeliner Pencil in “Black Out” ($8); CoverGirl Peach Punch TruNaked Eye Shadow Palette ($14); MAC Pro Longwear Paint Pot ($22); GlamSquad Morning Glow Radiant Face Primer ($28)

1. “When applying heavy costume makeup like this, it’s important to prep the skin with a hydrating primer to create a barrier between your skin and the pigment,” advises Kelli Bartlett, artistic director at Glamsquad. Next, you want to paint a base layer of white pigment all over the face. (Kelli used MAC Chromacake in three shades to create this look, but you can get a similar effect with one of those makeup palettes from Halloween stores.)
   
   
2. Next, using an angled makeup brush and black pigment, sketch in your brows with upward strokes so they’re big and bushy.
   
   
3. Load a medium-sized brush with orange pigment and apply it where you’d normally contour (like the cheekbones, in the hollows of the cheek, along the forehead).
   
   
4. With a dual-fibered brush and black pigment, shade along the hollows of your cheekbones to create dimension. Then, using the same brush, create very deliberate brush strokes, starting near the ears and angling toward the mouth. Repeat around the forehead and along the chin.
   
   
5. Time to define. Using a black gel eyeliner, fill in the tip of the nose and just underneath the nostrils, above the center of your upper lip. Next, draw in some freckles and whiskers around the mouth. With the same eyeliner, lightly outline just above and below the lips to add more detail (and give them a more voluptuous look). Finish with a pop of red lipstick.
   
   
6. Sweep an orange pigment (or eye shadow) across both lids “using a windshield wiper motion,” says Bartlett. “And take the color all the way along the inner corners and down your nose as well.” Trace over the orange with a black liquid liner, across your upper lash lines and down the nose. Then, add a few additional whiskers around the face, forehead and chin.
   
   
7. And now, the finishing touches: Kelli created a soul patch underneath Abby’s lower lip using the same colors—black, orange, white. “Start with white, shade with orange and sculpt with black to add some contrast to your patch,” says Bartlett. Finally, sweep on a metallic, orange-toned highlighter on the apples of your cheeks and down the center of your nose.
   
   Pro Tip: To lock in your look, tap a translucent powder over your entire face, pressing it into your skin with a brush. Let it sit for 30 seconds and buff away the excess.

Get the look: Stila Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick in “Beso” ($22); Il Makiage Inkliner ($21); MAC Chromacake in “White,” “Genuine Orange” and “Black Black” ($29); Bobbi Brown Perfectly Defined Gel Eyeliner in “Pitch Black” ($27); Fenty Beauty Killawatt Foil Freestyle Highlighter in “Mimosa Sunrise/Sangria Sunset"($36); Laura Mercier Translucent Setting Powder ($39)