Most lip liners are made to match well with most skin tones. But to successfully highlight your lips, experts recommend considering your skin tone as well as your undertone.
Lip Liners
Finding the perfect lip liner can be as challenging as matching foundation or finding the right sunscreen. After testing various products, I've discovered lip liners that go on easily, last long, and rarely need sharpening. Matching lip liners and lip glosses can enhance your look, but it's crucial to choose shades that complement your skin tone. Mastering this beauty trick can elevate your makeup game effortlessly.
Skin Tone + Undertone
Choosing the right lip liner for your skin tone involves understanding your undertone, which can be warm or cool. To determine your undertone, try holding silver and gold jewelry against your skin to see which complements you better. If silver looks better, you likely have a cool undertone, while gold suggests a warmer undertone. For cool undertones, opt for lip liners with blue or purple undertones and darker shades. Warm undertones look great with reds, oranges, peachy tones, or browns.
Fair Skin + Warm Undertone | Rare Beauty Kind Words Lip Liner
The Rare Beauty Kind Words Lip Liner, priced at $15 and exclusive to Sephora, offers a creamy, waterproof formula that glides on smoothly to define lips. The rose mauve shade Humble is a match for fair skin with warm undertones. This Rare Beauty product hydrates and lasts long. The liner is free of various harsh chemicals and comes in recyclable packaging.
To use it, twist it up to reveal the product, outline your lips, and fill them in with a matching lipstick shade for a soft matte finish.
Medium Skin + Warm Undertone | Charlotte Tilbury Lip Cheat Lip Liner
The $25 Charlotte Tilbury Lip Cheat Lip Liner in the cool pink nude shade Pillow Talk Fair features a velvety, transfer-proof, waterproof formula that lasts up to six hours without smudging or feathering. It creates a smooth, seamless line to resize and reshape lips for a fuller pout. The rich texture is comfortable to layer, and it can be worn alone or with a gloss for a lighter finish.
Melanin-Rich Skin + Warm Undertone | One/Size Lip Snatcher Waterproof Precision Lip Liner
The One/Size Lip Snatcher Waterproof Precision Lip Liner in the shade Outta Line, sold at $14, is a waterproof, ultra-pigmented pencil that defines, sculpts, and fills lips. Enriched with vitamins C and E, cottonseed, and olive oils, as well as carnauba and candelilla waxes, this liner provides antioxidant protection while conditioning lips.
Experts recommend using a freshly sharpened pencil to create your desired lip shape.
Fair Skin + Cool Undertone | Hourglass Shape and Sculpt Lip Liner
The Hourglass Shape and Sculpt Lip Liner in the shade Tempt 3, going for $29, is an ultra-creamy, transfer-resistant lip liner that defines, shapes, and sculpts lips for full-coverage color that lasts all day. With nourishing jojoba oil, you can easily apply this lip liner smoothly to your lips just by letting it glide without getting skips or tugs. Experts recommend outlining your lips with the Hourglass lip liner and then filling them in lightly. Follow up with a matching lipstick or gloss to enhance the dimension of your lips.
Medium Skin + Cool Undertone | Sephora Collection Retractable Rouge Gel Lip Liner
The Sephora Collection Retractable Rouge Gel Lip Liner in the shade 11 It's Cherry features an innovative gel-cream formula that enhances the lip contour for a long-lasting, softer appearance. Priced at $13, this creamy-gel lip liner boasts a distinctive soft texture that effortlessly glides onto lips, enhancing their fullness. It also serves as a color-matched base for Sephora's popular #Lipstories and Cream lipsticks.
This gel lip liner works better if applied first to the outer lines of the lips to create the perfect contour, then used to gradually fill in color all over the lips for the perfect lip base for any Sephora Collection cream lipstick.
Melanin-Rich Skin + Cool Undertone | Natasha Denona My Dream Lip Crayon
The Natasha Denona My Dream Lip Crayon in the shade Nude offers an ultra-creamy, matte formula with long-lasting pigments for all-day wear. Infused with a mix of silky ester oils, this lip liner provides comfortable wear without smudging or transfer. It comes in a sharpen-able pencil form for precise application. You can take home this product by Natasha Denona for $24.
Define your lips with this lip crayon alone or layer it with other lip products for added dimension and moisture throughout the day.