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Ask a room full of adults what they wore for Halloween as kids, and there’s a good chance someone says a cat. It’s the costume that turns up at school parades and last-minute party invitations alike, and it has a way of sticking around well into adulthood. A pair of ears, a little face paint and some drawn-on whiskers are often all it takes to step into another persona for the night.
But anyone who has tried to sketch a sharp feline wing minutes before a party knows the look can go sideways fast. Smudged whiskers, a lopsided nose or liner that fades before the first round of games can turn a clever costume into a frustrating one.
With Halloween coming up on Oct. 31, it’s worth knowing what the pros say matters most. In a previous Parade roundup of cat makeup looks, five makeup artists with thousands of TikTok and Instagram followers each shared tutorials for everything from a classic house cat to a snow leopard. Across those looks, one product showed up again and again: eyeliner.
Makeup artist Aurelia Mae, who created the classic cat look, explained why. “The key to any cat … is going to be a good eyeliner,” she told Parade. Below, find out how the experts used it, which formulas they reached for and the simple tricks that help keep a cat face intact all night.
Related: 15 of the Scariest Classic Halloween Monsters and Where They Come From
Why Eyeliner Does the Heavy Lifting in Cat Makeup
Eyeliner is the tool that makes a cat look read as a cat. In Mae’s classic version, she used it to draw a dramatic wing, with extra emphasis on the inner corners to create the signature cat-eye shape. She then used the same liner for a black nose, a filled-in top lip and small freckles near the corners of her mouth. For that look, she chose the Anastasia Beverly Hills Waterproof Matte Liquid Eyeliner ($22).
The good news for beginners is that the technique is flexible. Mae said the cat look is achievable even for novices or anyone who needs a quick costume, and that it can be as intricate or as simple as you like.
She isn’t the only artist who treats liner as a must-have. Hope Landre, who also contributed looks to the cat roundup, told Parade in a separate story on witch makeup that easy, affordable Halloween looks call for a colorful eyeshadow palette, liquid eyeliner and pencil eyeliner. If you’re building a Halloween makeup kit on a budget, those three items go a long way.
Related: 22 Halloween Activities That Will Make Your Holiday Traditions Frightfully Memorable
How Makeup Artists Used Eyeliner Across Different Cat Looks
Nearly every look in the roundup leaned on liner in a slightly different way:
Cheshire Cat: Landre drew triangles on the inner eye corners with NYX Epic Ink liner ($10), after lining her eyes in white with the NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil ($6) to make them look larger. Leopard: Landre created a dramatic wing with NYX Epic Ink, then brought the inner-corner line down along the nose with black cream paint. Tiger: Makeup artist Amber Pitkin used Inglot AMC Eyeliner Gel ($19) for a dramatic cat eye with extended inner corners. Cheetah: Soph, a creator who goes by @contentbysoph, drew her spots with Mary Kay Gel Eyeliner ($20). Scratched Cat: Soph drew whiskers with Rare Beauty’s Perfect Strokes Matte Liquid Liner ($22). Last-Minute Cat: Soph used Estée Lauder Long Wear 24H Eyeliner ($32) for an exaggerated cat eye, plus a nose, top lip and whiskers.Even the snow leopard and white tiger looks from Britney Saenz finished with dramatic black liner, with the inner corners drawn slightly down along the nose.
Related: The Best Way to Smudge Eyeliner for a Smoky Look, According to a Makeup Artist
Pro Tips for Making Cat Eyeliner Last All Night
A great liner only helps if it stays put. Pitkin’s trick for her tiger stripes was to mix her gel eyeliner with Inglot Duraline ($19), a liquid base that can be added to makeup products. She said the combination makes the liner glide on more smoothly and makes it waterproof, so it doesn’t budge all night.
A few more expert shortcuts can help you avoid mistakes:
Trace a guide for the nose. Soph dipped the circular cap of her setting powder into the powder, pressed it onto her nose to leave a heart outline and traced over it. It’s much easier than drawing the shape freehand. Stamp the spots. For a cheetah look, Soph wrapped a powder puff in plastic wrap, drew spots on it and stamped the pattern onto her skin, then retraced any lines that needed more definition. Map it out first. In the witch story, Landre said she sketches designs in a nude lip liner before outlining them in black, so any slip-ups are easy to fix. Keep a reference photo handy. Landre said reference photos are your best friend when recreating a look. Go the extra step with whiskers. Mae attached black fishing line, colored with a Sharpie, using eyelash glue for 3D whiskers, then stacked two sets of half lashes.Halloween is a rare night when you get to become someone, or something, else entirely. With the right eyeliner and a few pro tricks, your cat costume can look sharp from the first party to the last.
Adapted from Parade’s “The 10 Best Cat Makeup Looks for Halloween, According to Makeup Artists” and “How To Create 10 Spellbinding Witch Makeup Looks, According to Makeup Artists,” both by Martha Sorren
Related: Have a Spooky Night in With the 52 Best Halloween Movies of All Time
Sources
Aurelia Mae: @aureliamaemakeup on TikTok and Instagram Hope Landre: @hoperenee_mua on TikTok and Instagram Amber Pitkin: @amberpitkin on TikTok and Instagram Britney Saenz: @britneyydoesmakeup on TikTok and Instagram Soph: @contentbysoph on TikTok and InstagramHence then, the article about the one product every cat costume depends on according to a makeup artist was published today ( ) and is available on Parade ( Saudi Arabia ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
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