How to apply Lip Liner

Lip liner has regained its popularity in recent years with our new-found fascination with bigger lips, thanks to Kylie Jenner’s Instagram. The world was on her back for the longest time, trying to figure out how she achieved such a plump pout. One contributing factor was lip liner.

Lip liner is fantastic for faking the illusion of fuller lips. This can be done by slightly overdrawing the natural lip line or creating a gradient by using a darker lip liner and topping it off with a lighter lip colour.

Although lip enlargement is what these lining pencils are now famous for, lip liners do a lot more than you’d think.

Lining and filling in your lips provides a base for lip colour which prolongs its wear time. It also enhances lip colour and prevents lipstick from feathering or bleeding. If you want that sharp and defined pout, you need to be investing in lip liners.

Lip liner can also adapt the colour of your lipstick. For example, darkening a red lipstick by lining and filling with a brown pencil, or muting a bold colour by lining and filling with a nude liner.

Makeup artists have every matching lipstick/liner duo under the sun, but we spend enough of our hard-earned money on lipsticks to have to worry about buying a matching lip liner. As long as the general colour matches and your lip liner is not too much darker than your lipstick, you should be fine.

Now that you know exactly why lip liner is the bee’s knees, let’s get into some tips and tricks to get you started on your path to lining victory.

- You might struggle to achieve a smooth application if your lips are dry and chapped. Make sure you moisturise your lips with a good lip balm regularly so that when it comes time to line, your lips are soft, supple and ready to go.

- Make sure your lip liner pencil is sharp before you begin. A blunt tip will prevent you achieving sharp, precise lines.

- Warm up your lip liner by drawing on the back of your hand. If your pencil is tugging at your lips, it’s too hard. Warming up your pencil will ensure an effortlessly smooth application.

- Part your lips slightly to keep to the natural shape and line in short strokes before filling in your lips. Take your time with it!

- After lining, fill your lips in and finish it off with a matching lipstick.

- You also have the choice to just wear lip liner on its own without a lipstick for a natural matte colour wash. I would personally finish it off with a touch of lip balm as lip liner alone can be drying. 

- If you must overdraw, don’t line too far off of the natural lip line, and make sure that you return back to the natural line as you reach the corners, or else you’ll be looking less like Angelina Jolie and more like Pennywise – you’ve been warned!

Check out our full selection of available lip liners here