How to Apply Lip Liner for a Plump, Long-Lasting Lip Look (2024)

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  • Makeup
  • Lips

By

Ashley Rebecca

How to Apply Lip Liner for a Plump, Long-Lasting Lip Look (1)

Ashley Rebecca

Ashley Rebecca is an NYC-based makeup artist and a regular contributor for Byrdie covering makeup, skincare, and haircare.

Byrdie's Editorial Guidelines

Updated on December 11, 2023 01:03PM

Reviewed by

Ashley Rebecca

How to Apply Lip Liner for a Plump, Long-Lasting Lip Look (2)

Reviewed byAshley Rebecca

Ashley Rebecca is an NYC-based makeup artist and a regular contributor for Byrdie covering makeup, skincare, and haircare.

Contributing Writer and Makeup Artist

How to Apply Lip Liner for a Plump, Long-Lasting Lip Look (3)

In This Article

How to Prep Your LipsHow to Apply Lip LinerAssess Your Lip ShapeChoose a ColorTrace Your Shape

Create a Small ShadowApply LipstickClean Up the Edges and Add Some GlossThe Final Look

Have you ever asked yourself: What is lip liner for, anyway? If you feel seen right now, you are not alone! Though lip liner is a common makeup-bag staple, not everyone knows how to use the handy tool to its fullest advantage. That's why we called in the pros. Below, makeup artist and Byrdie contributor Ashley Rebecca has written a step-to-step guide to applying lip liner like a pro. Keep reading for her guidance, along with other lip-lining tips from top makeup artists.

Meet the Experts

  • Ashley Rebecca is an NY-based makeup artist and Byrdie contributor.
  • Sam Kyle is a makeup artist who works in creative development and design at Mirabella.
  • Tim Quinn is a celebrity makeup artist and the founder of Halo42 Skin & Wellness.

How to Apply Lip Liner for a Plump, Long-Lasting Lip Look (4)

How to Prep Your Lips

First things first: Don't neglect your lips. It's common to have chapped lips from time to time and to experience dry, flaky skin. Yet focusing on keeping your lips smooth and hydrated will go a long way. There are some simple ways to ensure your lips look and feel hydrated. Start by exfoliating to rid yourself of any excess dead skin, and follow up with a hydrating lip balm (we love Sun Bum's Lip Balm SPF 30). If you're in need of a gentle lip exfoliant that still gets the job done, check out Fresh Beauty's Sugar Lip Polish Exfoliator.

Prepping your lips at night is also an incredibly easy way to ensure your lips are on point 24/7. Slather on a lip mask before bed so you wake in the morning to a super-soft pout. (Check out some of our favorites here.) And a great thing about lip masks is that you can wear them at any time of day to give yourself a nice hydrating treatment. If you apply too much, just blot away the excess with a tissue or your finger.

How to Apply Lip Liner

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Assess Your Lip Shape

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Everyone has their own unique lip shape, so the best thing you can do is to assess your own and really understand the shape before applying lip liner. Look in the mirror and ask yourself a few questions. "What do I love about my lips?" and "What would I like to change about them?" are two great places to start. You might have a fuller bottom lip and want to enhance the top lip shape, or you might want to create more fullness all around. Identifying what you already like, and what you'd like to tweak, is key when understanding how to get the most out of your liner.

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Choose a Color

A great general rule of thumb is that nude lip liner goes with any lipstick color you're going to wear and can be a great base to kick off enhancing your lip shape. If a nude liner isn't your thing, you can go for a liner that matches your chosen lipstick shade to ensure there are no obvious lines. And don't count out clear lip liner!

"A true makeup multitasker, clear lip liners, like Mirabella's Perfecting Lip Definer, complement every lipstick in your makeup arsenal, eliminating the stress of finding a perfect shade match," raves makeup artist and Mirabella creative Sam Kyle. "In addition to creating a barrier around the lip line to prevent lipstick from bleeding, feathering, and fading during wear, a clear liner also doubles as a phenomenal lip primer to aid in prolonging the wearability of lipstick, especially in bold, pigmented shades. I love lining and filling the lips with a clear liner to ensure lipstick glides on for the smoothest, most flawless application. And, while it may seem obvious, it's worth noting that an application of a rich red or poppy pink lip liner can quickly go southwithone slip of your hand, a clear lip liner's virtually undetectable nature means you can apply without the pressure of a costly mistake!"

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Trace Your Shape

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Once you've figured out what lip liner formula fits you best, it's time to subtly trace the areas around the lips that you want to focus on. For instance, if a fuller top lip is what you want, lightly trace around the top lip, exaggerating the lips ever so slightly to create a fullness that looks realistic.

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Create a Small Shadow

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To complete filling your lips out with liner, create a small shadow in the center of the bottom lip with your pencil. This creates the illusion of a much fuller bottom lip. It is a trick I often use to enhance the shape of lips for photoshoots. Exaggerate the color here ever so slightly to mimic the effect of a shadow, which helps lips look much fuller.

Want to know another great trick? Celebrity makeup artist Tim Quinn loves to use a barely-there toned lip pencil to outline the lip slightly, and then fill in the inner corners of the lips with a deeper colored pencil. "This is great to do before lipstick application, as it adds contour and shape to lips and is a creative way to use your lip liners," says Quinn. Something else he loves to do is to use nude lip liner along the lash line on top of a dark liner to soften it up a bit. Genius.

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Apply Lipstick

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It's important that your lip shape is balanced, so take note of where you need to tweak the shape and balance everything out once you've identified how you want your lips to look.

Now it's time to apply your lipstick. Though we went with the lipstick that matches our lip liner, you can choose any shade you want—don't be afraid to make it fun.

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Clean Up the Edges and Add Some Gloss

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If you overdraw your line or find that you need to clean up the edges a bit, that's perfectly okay. There are a few ways you can clean up your lip's shape. You can use your finger to lightly smooth everything so that it looks cohesive, or apply concealer lightly around the lips and blend it with a brush to highlight the shape. You can also take a thin, precise cotton swab and lightly shave off any excess liner for a pristine shape.

After you've tidied up your liner and lipstick, you can go in with a gloss to add a little shine and even more dimension to your lip look.

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The Final Look

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Congratulations, you're now a lip liner pro. You've mastered the technique of shaping your lips, and things will only get better as you become more comfortable with using lip liners of all kinds. Whether you're wearing a neutral tone or a bright power lip, we have faith that you'll slay your lip liner application each and every time from here on out.

How to Apply Lip Liner for a Plump, Long-Lasting Lip Look (2024)
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