RSSLIPLINER IS SO EASY…EXCEPT FOR ONE THING
May 20, 2008
I know what you’re picturing : the awful dark line after the lipstick has worn off.
No, no. Don’t go there. Those are memories from another decade. If that happens anymore, it must be intentional. There is no other reason to look that way.
Linked to source
Get to know lipliner
Lipliner is great for a lot of reasons. The first one, we all know already, is the shape the lips. If your lips are thin or thick, you can run the line a little inside or outside your natural line.
A great lipliner allows lipstick or lip gloss to last a whole lot longer, hours longer. It also prevents the lip color from bleeding into lines around the mouth that tend to appear after the age of 40 or so.
Cheap is always good. I also prefer retractable. The ones that need sharpening can have a tendency to dry out, and the expensive ones are no different. You never know which they will be when you buy them. I get around that by not buying this variety of lipliner or eyeliner.
Tips for a natural look
There are 2 secrets that make this product so much friendlier to use. The first is to apply it using the side of the pencil, not the tip. The line is more blurred, more real. The end result is softer. A mouth, an eye, anything surrounded by a defined line is certainly more noticeable but it can look cartoonish. We’re after diffused colors that blend into one another in a natural way to develop your great features a little more.
The second secret is to find a real-skin color.
The only problem with lipliner
The color !! It always gets back to the color. You want a product with some color or you can’t redesign the lip shape. There are clear lipliners (like The Body Shop Lip Line Fixer, shown here) and they work well to extend lipcolor duration and prevent migration into lines, but you can get more effect for the money.
The Body Shop Lip Line Fixer
The most common advice is to use a product that’s the same color as the lipstick. This makes poor sense unless your lipstick color is a great neutral. If the lipcolor fades, you’ve got the dreaded dark line around your mouth. Talk about looking in the mirror and seeing your mother.
The color you want is the same color as the lips ! Where are the great neutral lipliners ? Good question. Basically, we’re looking for a peachy beige for the warms and a pink beige for the women of cool coloring. The deeper the pigmentation, the deeper the lipliner (usually by adding more real-flesh brown – think of the color of deeper foundations).
You have to stick to your guns as salespeople try to sell you colors that are too dark and too colorful, all the while telling you how well they suit you. What you are looking for is a flesh colored pencil, meaning the color of the lips themselves.
L’Oreal USED to be great
L’Oreal used to make their Rouge Pulp Anti-Feathering Lipliner in The Sexy Beiges and it was fabulous. This was a color anyone with a warm complexion could wear. On skin with pink/blue undertones, the color was a little too peachy. It had a little shimmer, but not enough to get in the way.
Well, didn’t they go and discontinue it, the buggers. The cosmeticians at Shoppers Drug Mart knew of this ahead of time, so I was able to buy 5 or 6 of these pencils. Sadly, I’m down to my last 2. If you find some, buy them. If you don’t care for them, I’ll buy them from you.
They have a line called Crayon Petite, with Warm Coral and Barely Pink but I have not tried them. They don’t look right on my monitor. The Coral is too orange. The pink might work. The other L’Oreal lipliner is the Rouge Pulp liner but the colors all look too dark to me. At a time when a nude mouth is so popular, you really would think great nude liners would be a cinch.
Here’s a video from L’Oreal on creating a nude mouth:
Did any of you learn anything?? NO!!!! What colors did he use??? What is the point of saying you can create so many looks with liner+color+gloss? We know that. That is the problem we are trying to solve.
So, Loreal, please listen. Don’t discontinue The Sexy Beiges. You had this product locked up. It works well and is one of the few flesh-colored, affordable, retractable, effective lipliners in existence. If you’re going to keep it unavailable, but you still have some hanging around in a back room, please send it to me. And while I have you on the line, would you consider making some unscented lipsticks? The present ones smell strongly of hand lotion.
From top: Mac Spice, L\Oreal Les Sexy Beiges, Clarins 03 Naturel Just Nude
Clarins
Clarins makes Retractable Lip Definer, the red pencil in the picture above. The 03 Naturel Just Nude is excellent if your lips have a medium amount of pigmentation. This is a very good flesh- tone color that could probably suit most women, cool or warm, of medium coloring intensity.
The lipliner wears incredibly well. Draw a line of it on your hand and it will still be there a few hours later. The texture and application are perfect. I’d happily pay the price if there were a lighter color available. If you have medium pigmentation, you’ll like it a lot.
MAC
MAC’s Lip Pencil in Spice is one of those cult colors that you hear about. There are those who think it’s the one color anyone can wear, but I’m not one of them. It’s too dark on me (I would be a light-medium person) . Though the color looks the same as the Clarins product in the picture above, Spice is more orange. It also does not last particularly as well as the Clarins product, but it’s better than many.
Clarins Lipliner in 03 Naturel
Color of MAC Spice lipliner on my skin.
Rimmel, Clinique
Rimmel makes 1000 Kisses lipliner in Tiramisu and Exaggerate Full Colour Lip Liner in Addiction. They’re fine for the money. Clinique makes Quickliner For Lips in Baby Buff, a decent color, slightly on the pink side. Neither has much staying power.
The Lipliner Mission is in full swing.
Comments
7 Responses to “LIPLINER IS SO EASY…EXCEPT FOR ONE THING”
Got something to say? I hope so.
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A Greener Tea
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Try Rimmek 1000 Kisses in “cappucino” inexpensive, and a great shade for those of us whose shade of lips are darker, it is a true brown but a soft shade of brown….not chocolaty at all. it works well with natural pinks, beige and mauve and dark berry coloured lippies…
The best beauty finds so often come from other women. I’m going to look at this today. It sounds like a truly versatile real-skin shade. I’d probably bypass it if the color of the pencil looks dark. Thanks, Christina, for the recommendation.
Interesting article, and I agree. It’s very difficult to find lip-neutral liners, and that famous spice? it really is too orange. I’m a makeup artist and hear these concerns all the time. I’ve recently loaded my kit with a new line of lip liners from Kimiko that have collagen boosting ingredients and a very smooth application. All four colors are lip-neutral, particularly ‘nikki’ - i’m loving these because so far, 1 of the 4 has always been a match on my clients- here’s the site: http://www.kimikobeauty.com - go to shop, lips, and precision plumping lip liner…
Hi, Bev,
I love it when makeup artists chime in. I learn a lot. This is almost always how I’ve come across my favorite products.
That is an impressive makeup line you’ve linked to. I see what you mean about the color “nikki”. It’s a beautiful beige-pink color.
Thanks so much for the info.
Hi,
I love the Body Shop No 2 Beech lipliner, its the most beautiful soft brown colour. Would like to know what others think?
Hi, Julie,
Soft brown sounds ideal to me. What about the lasting ability? I wear a lot of gloss so I look for liners that stay for hours. I test it by swiping it on my hand, waiting for 10 seconds, then trying to wipe it off. If it vanishes with almost no trace, I don’t buy it.
Thanks for this. It’ s on my list of products to check out.
Almost embarrassed to admit what I use, but will pass it on anyway. Wet n Wild Lipliner (about a buck at drugstores) in the “Devil’s Own” color. It’s not actually called that—there are no color names on the pencils, just numbers. The color I use is 666. Read about it years ago as a cheap alternative to the famous MAC Spice.
I apply it allover my lips with the side of the point, top it with gloss. Right now, it’s Neutrogena Moisture Sheers Lipbalm (comes in a silvery-gray tube like Chapstick) in the Clean shade. Company makes several nice, natural shades. The balm doesn’t stay on long—-what balm does?—but it’s easy to reapply as needed w/o a mirror. The pencil wears pretty well (although the consistency is not as good as pricier options.)