Could someone explain lip liners to me please.

[Houseplanter]

I am a huge lipstick fan and have far too many, but I have never used a lip liner and would like to. So..

Is it supposed to match my lips or the lipstick?
Do you need one for every lipstick or just in the vague colour group?

I don't want it to be noticeable but I would like a more defined look.

Any advice?

I use a nude lip liner (pillow talk) to give my lips more of a shape and definition. The top lip is ever so slightly uneven in shape so I can build on it with the liner. The shade I use goes well with the nude/pink lipsticks I wear. I sometimes also use the liner all over the lips and put a tinted balm over the top which gives a nice colour and makes the balm last longer I find!

You have options- if you find a neutral/ nude lip liner, you can use it with pretty much any lipstick colour for definition and to stop your lipstick bleeding. A lot of people swear by the Charlotte Tilbury Pillow Talk, and MAC Spice is also a good catchall neutral too.

When it comes to budget, YMMV- Rimmel make excellent lip pencils in lots of good colours, including neutrals and reds. Inexpensive and good lasting power. Barry M is very good too.

MAC Cherry is a great red lipliner that will go with all your reds if your are a red lipstick person.

Some brands also make a transparent lipliner- Kiko make a good cheap one you can get on Amazon. It just forms a waxy clear barrier that locks your lipstick in place and stops it from feathering out into fine lines/ across your face.

I use lipliner a lot to keep the lines nice and crisp and not wobbly or smeary. I also like to use lipliner to even out my naturally slightly uneven lips and correct the shape.

This video might be helpful :

The makeup artist largely recommends expensive ones, which you don't need to run out and buy- she just explains the technique pretty well, and you can use it with any pencil you prefer.

@sadsack78 thank you so much, what a brilliant reply.

I was looking at the Mac website earlier as that's where most of my lipsticks are from and wondered if Spice would be my best bet. I tend to wear corals and bricks more than reds, Devoted to Chilli being about as bold as I go.

Thanks again.

No worries 🤗always happy to help a fellow lipstick lady!

And yes, Spice sounds like a good match for those colours. MAC also make a bricky red liner called Brick that would also be a good match for those reds in particular but Spice will work with most anything ! xx

I like Barry M lip liner. I've got CT Pillow Talk too. I tend to go for a neutral pinky shade, similar to my lips. I've got a red and a darker pink for the rare occasions I wear a stronger lip colour.
I feel lip liner makes more sense as I get older. I had it when I was younger (that 90s/00s fashion for very noticeably lined lips in Spice) but I didn't really get the point of it. Now my lip line is less defined, I feel I look better if I put concealer round my lip line and then create a sharp, neat outline with a liner before applying lippy.
I don't think you need to spend much. Get a Rimmel or NYX to try it out before committing to a pricier one.

You can use clear so it matches everything. You can use a color that matches your lip and fully fill them in so it acts like a primer, or just line with a color matching the lipstick. It's really up to you.