Line 'em Up

Is it me or do lip liners have a sort of stigma connecting them to more mature ladies and bad past beauty trends? When I hear lip liner I picture a grandma shakily applying it on a stool at her vanity before she puts on her favourite lippy. That's some vivid imagery for you right there that is; but really, lip liners can completely change how your lipstick looks for the better!

Lip liners not only prevent your lip colour from bleeding into any fine lines around your lips but also make everything look a lot more crisp and clean. If you want to go one step further, of course you can take some concealer around the edges of your mouth but for today we're just talking liners! Like an eyeliner, lip liner defines, preps and finishes off a bold or neutral lip beautifully. It wasn't until I thought of doing this post and then laid out all of my liners that I realised how many I actually have.. Standard blogger problem I think. I've got mostly drugstore brands with one or two mid-range brands thrown in. Liners are great on their own for a more matte and long wearing option or underneath lipstick or gloss as a prep step. 

If I'm donning a bold lip then I always, always line my lips and most of the time fill them in as well just to give a good base and even out the colour. With a more natural lip colour I don't necessarily wear liner unless I want to do a sneaky overdraw of my lips to make them look a little more full. (I'm not talking Kardashian/Jenner overdraw here ladies) To do this I generally opt for Maybelline's SuperStay liner in Rosewood which is the closest shade to my lip colour that I've found; Without looking like I've had bad lip injections, I just slightly, ever so slightly shade under the middle part of my bottom lip to create a shadow. This is the most natural way for your lips to appear larger and with a pencil shade close to your own, no one will be any the wiser! 

For me, a red lip isn't a red lip without a clean cut edge with liner! Matching the undertones is also important because you don't want an orange line around the edge of your mouth with a deeper, warm red lip colour unless of course that's what you were intending which actually could be an interesting ombré look! My choice for affordable liners would definitely have to be from NYX- they're easily accessible, great shade range and you can afford one of every bold lip that you tend to wear. If you have a Kiko near you, then hit it up. I bought a few of their lip liners amongst other bits in Europe last year and they're fab. You can't really go wrong with any drugstore lip liners I don't think unless they're smudgey or so rough that they pull on your lips. 

I've pushed the image of an old lady applying shaky lip liner out of my head and I am officially a convert. If you don't usually use lip liner or had the same thought process as me, give it a go! Your lips will look all the better and everything will just look that little bit more polished.