Lip liners are beauty tools that enhance the shape of your lips, contour the lips, sharpen, darken, or brighten them. A lip liner is applied to the outline of the lips to prevent an unwanted spreading of your lipstick or lip gloss, but it can be worn as a lip colour too. It’s an extremely handy tool and a great addition to your makeup kit. A lip pencil can define and plump your lips, making them appear fuller without any invasive cosmetic treatments. The following are a few different types of lip liners you can find out there.
Lip Pencils – A lip liner pencil is the most popular lip liner option. Its creamy texture adds a sharp definition to the lips and you can easily outline the edge of your lips and use the side of the lip pencil to colour the outline.
Retractable Lip Liner Pens – A retractable pen comes with a twistable plastic end that raises and retracts, so there’s no need of sharpening. However, too much pressure can end up breaking the liner, so make sure to use it carefully. It’s softer than a lip pencil and gives a heavy outline.
Crayon Lip Liners – A crayon lip liner is similar to lip pencil, it gives a natural look and can be worn as a lip colour, too. You can find smaller and bolder crayon lip liners, as well as bigger types that cover more volume.
How to Choose Your Lip Liner(s) and Why
Lip liners are available in a wide variety of shades, from red, purple to black, brown and many more. You can easily achieve different looks with quality lip pencils by choosing the shade that works best for you. The main purpose of using a lip pencil is to add definition to your lips in your everyday makeup routine.
For a beautiful effect, choose shades that match your lipstick. If you want to try different shades, that’s alright as long as you make sure not to overdo it. The best thing to do when choosing lip liners that are a shade darker or lighter than your lipstick is to stick to the same colour family. For a more natural look and smoother lips, pick a nude shade that is closer to your natural lip colour.
Create Perfect Pout – If you have thin or uneven lips, you can outline your lips with a pencil that’s one or two shades darker than the natural colour of your lips. That way you can get fuller and more defined look instantly. Contouring outside the lines is not a good idea, however, you can build up your Cupid’s bow (the top centre of your lips) slightly and tap highlighter over to achieve a bolder effect easily.
Long-Lasting Effect – Fill in your lips completely with a lip pencil before applying your lipstick. The lip liner will maximise your lipstick’s hold and prevent it from fading. Even more, the texture of the liner holds the pigments and stops your lipstick from bleeding into the fine lines of your mouth and creating the annoying ring of colour around the outside of the mouth.
Replace Lipstick – Lip pencils can be used as a lipstick, too. Thicker lip pencil with a soft tip can perfectly work as a matte lipstick, you may use a smudge brush to blend it and that’s it.
How to Apply Lip Liner like a Professional Makeup Artist
The liner application is quite simple and here are the basic steps and some additional tips you may find helpful while learning how to use it properly.
Step 1 – Before you begin with the application process, you must hydrate your lips. You can use balm, blot with a tissue, and then proceed.
Step 2 – Always start from the Cupid’s bow, apply a little ‘x’ on it and a centimetre line in the center of your bottom lip line. Consider it as a map for drawing the shape of your lips. The best way is to do it in stages, and it’s up to you if you want to make your lips look bigger or you want to keep their natural shape.
Step 3 – Start with the tip pointing up and push the side of the lip pencil down at the same time. Hold your lip liner at a 45-degree angle and apply it with short- and light-handed strokes. That’s how you can draw a perfect outline and fill it all in. When it comes to this step of your application, it’s important to remember not to press hard or draw a hard line. It needs to be done softly and carefully.
Move your chin up and down to get a better look at all the angles of your lips. To make sure it’s done, put your chin to your neck and look in the mirror. This way you can see the top line form a different perspective, which can help you even out any edges. To check the bottom line, lift your chin and take another look in the mirror.
Step 4 – Once you’re done filling in, you can apply your lipstick and clean up the edges gently. If needed, you can touch up lines with the lip liner.
Avoid sharpening your lip pencil too much and for more precision, you can wrap the tip of the pencil in tissue and squeeze it into a flat tip. Also, remember to wipe clean the pencil after every use, especially if you’ve put lipstick or lip gloss and you went over it again for some touch up lines.
