Honest Lip Liner Ranking | Find the Right Formula for You! January 19, 2020
In the beauty community, lip liners are the unsung heroes of any look. A good lip liner won’t just keep lipstick and gloss it place, but it has the power to completely transform a look by adding depth or changing the undertones of any product worn over top. In today’s post, I’ll be sharing my honest lip liner ranking. Keep reading for honest thoughts and swatches!
A Little Disclaimer About the Ranking
Unlike my previous ranking posts, I will only be ranking my lip liners by the brand as opposed to color. Ultimately, if color were taken into account, all of my nude and brown liners would be ranked at the top. Then, the bolder colors would live towards the bottom of my lip liner ranking.
I tend to use a nude lip pencil every day. However, it is handy to always have some deep or bright shades for the days I wear a bolder color.

A lip liner for every mood
Lip Liner Ranking
6 | bareMinerals Marvelous Moxie Lip Liner in Electrified ($14.00 USD)
My bareMinerals Marvelous Moxie Lip Liner in Electrified might be the oldest in my collection. This vampy plum was my go-to lip liner to pair with my vampy lipsticks. However, this lip liner has been discontinued for some time.
[Edit – 6/22/20: Also, I decluttered this lip liner shortly after this post went up. It clearly went bad.]
5 | Maybelline Color Sensational Creamy Lip Liner in Rich Brown ($6.99)
Maybelline makes some of the best, affordable lip products at the drugstore. Therefore, the Color Sensational Creamy Lip Liners are no exception to that rule. The shade Rich Brown is an opaque, easy to apply deep brown color that I use to add depth to certain lipsticks.
4 | Sephora Lip Liners to Go ($2.00 – $6.00)
I own three shades of Sephora’s mini Lip Liners to Go. I really like that these are classic lip liner pencils that can be sharpened. The formula is creamy, pigmented, and long-lasting. However, these lip pencils are ranked lower within my lip liner ranking due to the colors. I just don’t wear these colors very often anymore.
I own the shades: Deep Aubergine, Fresh Berry, Classic Red
3 | ColourPop Lippie Pencil in the shade Pitch ($5.00, CF)
Unfortunately, ColourPop no longer sells the Pitch Lippie Pencil. Nevertheless, this is a badass deep brown lip pencil. I love to pair Pitch with my deep brown lip products.
2 | Il Makiage x Carli Bybel Waterproof Lip Liners
I purchased the Il Makiage x Carli Bybel Waterproof Lip Liners in the shades Luna and Ablaze immediately after the collection launched. Luna is a deep brown-toned nude while Ablaze is a fiery-red. Both colors pair beautifully with their matching Il Makiage x Carli Bybel Lipstick.
While I do enjoy the colors and the formula of these lip liners, they move throughout the day. In fact, these lip liners border on being ‘too creamy.’ Unfortunately, these collaboration lip liners are no longer for sale.
1 | Kylie Cosmetics Lip Liners ($12.00, CF)
It should come to no surprise that my Kylie Cosmetics lip liners are at the top of my lip liner collection ranking. These liners have a creamy formula that makes them easy to apply. Plus, the formula feels ultra comfortable on the lips. However, they still last a long time on the lips. Also, they pair well with other lip products.
I own the shades: Dolce K, Coconut, 22, Mary Jo K, Koko K (listed from most favorite to least).
In general, I enjoy the formula of Kylie’s lip products. Check out this dedicated review on the High Glosses or see where her glosses ranked in my ultimate gloss ranking.
Final Thoughts on My Lip Pencil & Liner Collection
As a whole, I don’t own a ton of lip liners. Contrary to the trend that emerged with Kylie’s infamous lip kits, I don’t feel the need to match my lip liners exactly to my lipstick colors.
In fact, I tend to use lip liners to transform my lip looks. My favorite way to transform my lips is to use a darker lip liner with a lighter lipstick or gloss. Not only does this add dimension, but it makes my lips look fuller. 90s babes rejoice that this trend is back on!
Also, from a color perspective, brown-toned nudes, for lip liners and bullet lipsticks, are my favorite color. However, brighter reds or purples are a necessity for pairing with bold lipsticks in my collection.
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Do you own any of the lip liners included in my lip liner collection ranking? Do you use lip liner? Please let me know in the comments below.
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Oooh great collection! I’ve heard great things about Colourpop and they’re so affordable! Kylie Cosmetics liners seem vibrant. Thanks for sharing your collection doll!!
Des | https://www.itsbetterinheels.com
Posts like this make me want to go shopping, you put my tiny make up collection to shame! 😂🙈 I love the red shades but don’t think I can pull off a red lip x
I love the look and pricetag of the sephora one! I’ll be honest, I don’t know how to use lip liners. But I bet you have a tutorial on here 🙂 I’ll go look!
Aw I just use mine to line the edges of my lips – it helps to keep lipstick or lip gloss in place without sliding around the face. 💜
Interesting!! I’ve never tried any of these formulas. The Charlotte Tilbury lip liners are my favourite and I tend to reach for the same few shades I have in that formula the most. I really want to try some of the Kylie lip stuff but the international shipping is so expensive! x
Sophie
I’m loving the Sephora Deep Aubergine one! Lovely color ♡
—Athena Christy
https://athenachristy.wordpress.com/
I agree – its such a pretty color!
I absolutely adore your collection. I’m going to upgrade mine soon x
Also, Kylie are my favorites.
I’m so glad that you love Kylie, too!!
I only own a handful of lip liners so this collection is totally impressive to me. I love that you don’t try to match your lipsticks exactly to the shade. I could see how that could transform the look but I don’t know if I could pull it off!
I just bought a Colourpop lipliner and I’m loving it!
ooo which shade?? They’re really good dupes for the Kylie ones!