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Lip liner is like lipstick's little helper - it helps color last longer while also defining the contours of your mouth.
A liner in a neutral-to-you color also allows you to slightly overline while still looking natural so you can fake the appearance of fuller lips.
The Lip Pencil from Bite Beauty earns our top spot because of its comfortable, creamy formula with good-for-you ingredients and an impressive color selection.
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Lip liner might not be considered essential in the same way as mascara or lip balm for some, but nonetheless, it's a fantastic addition to any makeup lover's routine.
There are myriad benefits to the stuff, especially for frequent lipstick wearers. Pencils like the ones on this list can help define the contours of your mouth, making it much harder to apply color outside your natural lip line, as well as serving as a foundation for longer wear.
I gravitate toward liners when I'm wearing dramatic lip colors to prevent them from looking patchy. Matching liner to your lipstick also helps ensure that the color fades evenly throughout the day, and prevents it from disappearing the second your lips touch your coffee cup.
Lip liner can even be used in place of a lipstick or a stain for those who prefer a lightweight feel; they're drier than traditional lipsticks so they can cling to lips like second skin.
These five top lip liners range from bold and colorful to subtle and nude; there's even a plumping option for those looking to amp up their pout without fillers.
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Bite Beauty makes some of my absolute favorite lip products, including the best cream lipsticks I've ever tried. The Lip Pencil is the brand's take on liner, made with attention to comfort and good-for-you, high-performance ingredients.
Shea butter helps these soft, creamy pencils glide on smoothly and prevents the liner from drying out lips, making for what the brand calls "Bite Beauty's lightest formula yet." Which is saying something, because all of Bite's products are heaven for chapped lips.
The color selection is similarly impressive — 22 shades ranging from pale nude to deep navy and green, so there's a Bite Beauty Lip Pencil to match every lipstick in your collection. Though honestly, they're pigmented enough to wear on their own.
"I use 082, a brick red, by itself when I want to make a softer statement," writes Khalea Underwood at Refinery29. Editors from Cosmopolitan and Best Products are also fans, and Sephora shoppers give The Lip Pencil an average rating of 4.5 stars out of 5 based on more than 2,000 reviews.
Pros: Clean at Sephora seal, very pigmented, comfortable on lips, beautiful and extensive color selection
Cons: not as many "nude" options as other lines
The best plumping lip liner
Buxom Plumpline Lip Liner gives your mouth a plumping boost thanks to an invigorating formula full of peptides and hyaluronic acid.
Lip liner on its own can be used to enhance your mouth and make lips appear larger, so why not combine it with a plumping formula? That's exactly what Buxom has done with the Plumpline Lip Liner, which is infused with peptides and hyaluronic acid.
These collagen-boosting pencils have color on on one side and a brush on the other to help distribute and blend the color evenly on your lips. Use them alone or layer them underneath a gloss or lipstick.
According to shoppers, the plumping effect isn't quite as intense as it would be with a more traditional lip plumper, but that might actually be far more comfortable to wear.
"I love how pigmented and smooth this liner is! And the color is so beautiful, the perfect natural liner. My favorite feature is that it's larger than your average liner so it just makes lining the lips so easy as opposed to trying to get a thin line just right," writes one Ulta shopper.
Overall, Plumpline Lip Liner has an average 4.3-star rating out of 5 based on 350 review on Ulta. It's also been featured on Cosmo, Rank and Style, The Zoe Report, and Refinery29, whose beauty director calls it "one of the only lip liners that doesn't dry the sh*t out of my lips."
Pros: thick tip, built-in brush, plumps without burning, 20 colors
Cons: plumping effect is not super dramatic
The best drugstore lip liner
The NYX Slim Lip Pencil is so affordable you can collect all 32 colors without breaking the bank.
Drugstore makeup is no longer the underdog when it comes to quality. Some of the best products on the market are available at Target, Duane Reade, Rite Aid, and at prices that won't hurt your head or your wallet either.
Experts and shoppers seem to agree that the NYX Slim Lip Pencil is the absolute best drugstore lip liner for your money. Available in 32 shades at only $4 each, this is an affordable pencil in a wide range of shades covering all the typical color families, from plums to reds. The formula is nothing to shake a stick at either, infused with coconut oil for a hydrating finish.
"This lip pencil compares to a $20 pencil EASILY. Blends well, great color and pigment. Glides and sharpens easily," writes one Ulta shopper. More than 3,300 customers have reviewed these lip pencils on the retailer's site, for an average rating of 4.4 stars out of 5.
An editor at Byrdie writes, "The teeny-tiny tip will create the finest line to give you that sharp definition you're looking for." Rank and Style and StyleCraze have also featured the Slim Lip Pencil.
Now, you may not be performing an underwater dance routine, but you do drink liquids, right? These waterproof liners claim to last for up to five hours even when submerged, which means your three cups of coffee are no match.
The formula will also help prevent your lipstick from fading or feathering as you eat, drink, talk, and swim laps. Vitamin E and jojoba seed oil give the liners a creamy, hydrating feel that's unique for something so longlasting.
Sephora shoppers rate these pencils 4.4 stars out of 5 based on more than 2,000 reviews. "Love this lip liner! I am usually pretty hesitant about pencil liners, as they can be dry, but not this one. It is really creamy and lasts on my lips for hours," writes one shopper. The Zoe Report, Best Products, and Rank and Style give the pencils high marks as well.
Pros: waterproof, pigmented, contains vitamin E and jojoba for hydration
Cons: color selection is fairly limited compared to others, expensive
The best neutral lip liner
Charlotte Tilbury Lip Cheat is a comfortable lip liner in a slew of neutral colors designed to suit a variety of skin tones.
Charlotte Tilbury Lip Cheat in "Pillow Talk" is probably the most famous lip liner of them all. It's a soft, dusty pink nude — a great "your lips but better" shade. But if "Pillow Talk" isn't the right color for you, the brand's entire color range is full of beautiful skin tone-inspired shades.
Nude lip liner is super versatile, arguable more so than one that matches your lipstick. If you have a pencil that closely matches your lip's color and not your lipstick's, you don't need one for every lipstick in your collection. Charlotte Tilbury carries an array of neutrals, with a few pops of color for those who still want a red or plum pencil.
The texture is a comfortable velvety matte. Lip Cheat has a 4.2-star rating based on more than 200 Sephora reviews. One shopper writes, "These liners are fantastic, especially for mature skin. They do not tug and stay well all day."
"Charlotte Tilbury's Lip Cheats do exactly that: fake an amazing pout without looking phony or clown-like," writes The Zoe Report. Rank and Style and Refinery29 have also featured these lip liners as top favorites.