Halloween Makeup How-To: A Sweet Kitty

Via realbeauty.com

MUD recently teamed up with RealBeauty.com to create a Halloween how-to series. In the first part, MUD instructor Jennifer Suarez created a versatile vampire look. In the second, she showed how to create a sexy smoky eye and gorgeous red lip, perfect for simple costumes such as a she-devil. In this tutorial, MUD Director of Education Paul Thompson will show you how to create a sweet kitty look with foundation, a strong winged eyeliner, and a pink nose.

Below, RealBeauty writer Ariana Finlayson and Paul will show you how to get this look!

Creating Your Base
"For foundation that stays all day and night, a cream formula is your best bet," says Thompson. (Try Make-up Designory Cream Foundation, $26; mudshop.com.) "Be sure to blend it into the hairline and down your neck so it doesn't look like the color is just sitting on your skin."

Eyes
First, Thompson loaded up our model Elyse's eyelashes with black mascara. Since the prominent cat-eye effect is the focal point of the look, Thompson wanted to ensure that it would be dramatic, but still have a ton of staying power. "Gel liner could end up flaking, so we used a cake liner because of the formula's versatility and ability to stay put," says Thompson. Using a Make-up Designory Angled Liner Brush ($16, mudshop.com), he wet the bristles before dipping it into Make-up Designory Cake Eyeliner in Black ($13, mudshop.com). The trick to bold liner is to draw it on in short, even strokes focusing on one area at a time, then repeating on the opposite eye. That way, you can go back and forth on perfecting it, rather than trying to copy the whole look all at once while trying to get identical results. Watch the how to below:

Neutralize the Mouth
Since you've never seen a cat with a full, plushy pout à la Kim Kardashian, Thompson chose to color out Elyse's top lip with foundation so that it would blend in with her face. He goes through the steps here:

Drawing the Lines
Using a Make-up Designory Eye Pencil in Taupe ($13, mudshop.com), Thompson sketched out the face lines along her cheeks and mouth before going back over them with black cake liner. This method is great when you're unsure of where to draw, plus the neutral pencil color is easy to erase.

Nose
Thompson used Make-up Designory Sweet Cheeks Color Cream ($17, mudshop.com) on the underside of Elyse's nose around her nostrils instead of painting the tip of it. (Great news for those who are worried about clogging their pores with tons of makeup.) Watch the steps here:

Lips
Thompson used a light pink lipstick topped with Make-up Designory Bubble Gum Cheek Color ($16.50, mudshop.com) to create a pretty pink pout. He added this powder blush on top to prevent any bleeding into the black liner that sits along her upper lip. (Stila Cosmetics also used this powder-on-lipstick technique backstage at Lela Rose. Check it out here.)

Final Look
Now that we've taken you through making up each area of the face, click below to see it all come together.

Just try to avoid hissing and tearing up your neighbor's couch when he runs out of Halloween candy.

Want to learn more? Sign up for our free Halloween workshop at our stores in Los Angeles and New York.