One of the best things about being a cat for Halloween is that it’s the perfect costume for any age. It’s versatile – as a feline, your look can be dressed up or dressed down. You can be scary or beautiful or both. And playing the cat is always bewitching: just look at some of our favorite Halloween cat makeup of 2018 found on Instagram!

80’s Glam Cat Makeup

If there are three things you can say the 80s were all about, they were big hair, big dreams, and big colors. Which also happen to be great aesthetics for a fantasy cat look! Seriously, who can say that Lisa Frank’s palette of rainbow neon-colored delight isn’t the perfect basis for a break-out beauty look?

Jessika Patten, a makeup artist and hairstylist, based her “not your average feline” on Lisa Frank’s fantastic leopards. Robyn Medved, makeup Designory graduate, drew on another side of the 80’s glam properties, using black and gold to create her incredible cat diva look.

Cheshire Cat Makeup

Quick: name 3 cats from popular culture. I’m willing to bet that at least one of those fantasy felines was the Cheshire Cat with his persistent grin that stays on even when the rest of him has disappeared. You probably even thought of the Cheshire Cat in his famous hot pink and fluorescent purple made iconic by Walt Disney’s animated Alice in Wonderland.

It’s no surprise that more than a few people would use the Cheshire Cat to inspire their own Halloween looks – from actress and makeup artist Danielle René Green’s gorgeous ensemble to Ellie’s frighteningly captivating makeup art.

Transformation Makeup

One enticing Halloween costume concept is transformation – on this one spooky night of the year, we get to shuck off our everyday mundane exteriors and become something shocking and otherworldly. Some folks love to go a step further and try to capture that moment of change in striking special effects makeup.

Marlene Theo of the TV & Cinema Academy created this bewitching half-face feline in ghostly shades of black, grey, and white with warm startling eyes. Nami, a bodypaint and makeup artist from Germany, covered more face with her cat makeup: she captured the feel of fur and grounded her fantasy in breathtakingly deep eyes.

Pretty Kitties

Sometimes, you just want to play a pretty kitty – just slightly over-the-top makeup, maybe paired with a bodysuit and some headband ears. Basically a cat costume you can wear to the office! (We definitely wouldn’t complain.)

That’s what makeup artist Chante did with her black cat look – glamorous cat-eye makeup paired with an elegant lip and stylized whiskers on her cheeks. Saby T. did a variation on this look with her infusion of purple and adorably fluffy ears.

Combination Cat Makeup

Halloween isn’t just about treats – it’s about tricks as well. There’s no need to stick with beautiful when you can make your costume ghoulish, too. Just check out Poline Rodrigues’ makeup – she did a wonderfully stylized cat face, and took it all the way to Creepytown with special effects stitchery – her cat’s face has been sliced and stitched up, still livid and bloody. Then Jessica Kelly decided to make herself a walking Schrödinger’s Cat with half her face a reserved slit-eyed feline and the other half a bone-white cat’s skull.

Fierce Felines

Of course, sometimes you just need to get FIERCE. Houston’s premiere makeup artist Sheila Ybarra took the Halloween cat makeup game to a whole new level with her perfectly-coiffed and elegantly put-together Cheetah Woman. Her SFX eyes deliver just the right amount of punch and her cascading spots are magnificent. On the other hand, Ashleigh Jane’s intense kitty breathes feline fancy… of the mouse serial killer kind! At least she’s not quite wearing her food.

 Did you dress up as your favorite four-footed friend this Halloween? We’d love to see photos! Post them in the comments or share them on our Facebook.