17 Celebs Winning The Halloween Makeup Game

Fall's most festivity-filled weekend of sweets, chic costumes and merriment is here, and if you're not convinced, you only have to look to your favorite celebrities for proof. Celebrities love Halloween, flooding Instagram with costumes ranging from ghoulish ghosts to sultry sirens, and every creative character in between. Perhaps put to shame in years past by Halloween zealots like Heidi Klum who spend hours in the makeup chair to create the perfect look, the stars are on an innovation bender this year.

The most dedicated devotees have committed to cosmetic makeovers so intricate that they could easily be mistaken for a cast member of The Walking Dead, or a yet-unknown member of the Kardashian family. Celebrities seem to comprehend that there is but one day a year on which you'll receive unadulterated respect from your peers for covering your face in fake blood or glittering butterfly appliqués, much to the glee of their many Instagram followers. So take a moment to savor a piece of Halloween candy from the stash in your desk drawer, and scroll through the most impressive displays of cosmetic prowess from your favorite celebrity Instagram accounts. Perhaps those of you searching for last-minute Halloween costume inspiration will finally find your muse.

1. KELLY RIPA

Ripa's intricate zombie makeup earns bonus points for realism.

2. SOFIA VERGARA

Though Vergara's Modern Family costume is store-bought, it perfectly fits her character's glamorous persona.

3. LUCY HALE

If you're looking for fashion, function, and warmth, Lucy Hale's wolf getup has you covered on all fronts.

4. QUEEN LATIFAH

Queen Latifah knows how to make a bewitching statement, and from wings to winged eyeliner, this Malificent costume does just that.

5. PARIS HILTON

This Instagram snap may be a 2013 throwback, but the vampy cosmetics and costume encapsulated Madonna's '80s-era look perfectly.

6. NAYA RIVERA

The newlywed wasn't quite ready to let go of her status, and so shrewdly selected this Mail Order Bride costume — complete with postage and a smokey eye.

7. JESSICA LOWNDES

Jessica Lowndes adores a dramatic eye and a corset, as evidenced by her throwback Halloween Instagram posts. What's that saying about not fixing what isn't broken...?

8. JULIANNE HOUGH

A shagadelic Julianne Hough boogied in style with her Halloween date in an on-trend Austin Powers-inspired look.

9. HEIDI KLUM

The world has yet to see what Heidi Klum's costume will be this year, but 15 years of brilliant ideas suggest her look is bound to be a winner.

10. TAYLOR SWIFT

Taylor Swift's appropriately endearing Pegacorn costume is both sartorially innovative and totally twee.

11. KATE HUDSON

The award for best face paint surely belongs to Kate Hudson, whose fuchsia skeleton makeover reads both incredibly feminine and spooky.

12. MOLLY SIMS

How does one dress fashionably for Halloween when pregnant? Go big or go home, as Molly Sims does in this brilliant '70s getup, complete with matching eye makeup.

13. JESSICA ALBA

Rock on, Jessica Alba.

14. KIM KARDASHIAN

Kim Kardashian may have embodied the most glamorous Cat Woman in 2012, at least until Anne Hathaway stole the title in The Dark Knight Rises.

15. LADY GAGA

Speaking of glamorous makeup, Lady Gaga's 2014 Halloween look was all elegance and theatrics, minus her customary element of insanity.

16. ASHLEY BENSON

If you thought Pretty Little Liars was eery, sneak a peek at Ashley Benson's doll costume and makeup—it's downright spooky.

17. ASHLEY TISDALE

A skeleton costume-clad Ashley Tisdale may not have had the most creative costume on the block, but she certainly is the most sultry skeleton I've seen yet.