A couple of weeks ago I did a guest post for my pal Jamie over at Blonde Mom Blog (she’s Nashville’s finest, y’all!) Check her out!) on how to use lip liner. And the whole time I was writing it I was like, I really need to share this with MY readers too!
Now, the Google gods don’t like it when you duplicate a post, so I am going to give you the same information in a different way. And without all the background info I gave Jamie’s readers about how awesome I am, since you already know that.
I think lip liner is the one cosmetics essential that is most overlooked by the ladies! I always, always, always wear it under my lipstick, but there is a right and a wrong way to do so. The right way to wear lip liner is to fill your lips in completely with the liner and then put the lipstick on top of it. If you do this, it will make your lipstick last all day (if it’s a half-decent lipstick, and I’ve tested quite a few so next post is going to be a brand comparison, I think!) Behold this explanatory visual:
Trust me ladies, lip liner is your friend! Not only does it help your lipstick stay on all day, but it can also change the color of your lipstick. You can get different looks out of one lipstick tube by using a different liner underneath. See?
Here I’ve chosen one of my very favorite go-to lipsticks, Copper Star by Mary Kay (who, sadly, does not seem interested in paying me to say so) and two liners – netural on the left and cappucino on the right.
Before I go on, let me just say that it is not necessary to be shamefully well liner-endowed like myself. One or two colors is really plenty. If you’re going to do just one, get a neutral! You’ll be sooo happy you did. I have yet to buy any drugstore lip liners to try, but Revlon’s “nude” and “natural” are on my list of good potential neutrals.
Below you can see how using the same lipstick color atop a different liner color really changes the look.
Special thanks to my clone for helping me with this photoshoot
So now you know how to use it and some fun benefits of using lip liner, but I have one last rule of lip liner to share with you. That rule is this: Don’t buy the pencil kind! Get a retractable lip liner that you don’t have to sharpen. The wood shavings, finding a sharpener, and accidentally stabbing yourself in the mouth with a splintery liner make pencil liners more trouble than they’re worth. Please trust me.
Well, that’s my sermonette on lip liner. Are you a lip liner girl? If so, what’s your favorite kind! If not, go out and treat yourself to a neutral today!
To see what makeup I’m wearing every day (and how I’m wearing it), don’t forget to follow my #doyourmakeup hashtag on Twitter and Instagram!
I LOVE lip liner. Aside from concealer and mascara, it’s my very favorite and makes a HUGE difference!
Best of luck finding a neutral lip liner that a) goes on as smoothly, and b) is an good neutral match to Mary Kay. I keep going back to MK and throwing away the other brands that I try because they pull at my lips or they are too dark or too light. I’ve tried 3 different Sonia Kashiuk shades (from Target), 2 Cover Girl shades and a Maybelline shade. Thrown them all out.
I’m setting my expectations low!
Haha I used to just put lip liner only around the edges of my lips when I was much younger – looks a bit strange when your lipstick wears off 😉
Seems that Copper Star is now discontinued. Have you found a similar one you like since then?