Todays post is dedicated to one of my favourite addictions. Nude liners.
Over the years testing various brands, i’ve managed to find a few keepers and they are my everyday staples.
Here’re my top favourites, my babies <3
Kevyn Aucoin – Medium
MAC – Whirl
No.7 – Nude
NYX – Nude
Bite – Cashew
Some swatches to get started.
No.7 Nude – Is a medium nude with the perfect mix of pink & peach. The undertone leans slightly warm making it easy to pair with most medium nude lipsticks.
Kevyn Aucoin Medium – As the name suggests is a mid tone brown nude. This too is a neutral shade. Pairs well with your typical 90’s style lip.
MAC Whirl – An oldie but goodie! This is a dusty mauve rose with a neutral undertone. A good nude shade for slightly deeper skin tones.
NYX Nude – A nude for fairer skin with more pink tones.
Bite Cashew – Is a very light, almost beige nude with a tinge of yellow. The undertone is warm and pairs well with most light nude lipsticks such as MAC Honey Love.
Formula & Texture
When it comes to lip liners, I prefer them to be weightless, just defining the lips and evening out any discolouration without feeling heavy. For this, the best suited are the pencil types that need sharpening. They aren’t overly creamy and don’t deposit too much product.
The Kevyn Aucoin pencil is the perfect example. And as far as formula goes, this is what i’d consider the gold standard in lip pencils. This pencil has the right density. smooth enough so it glides on without any discomfort and stays put all day preventing lipsticks from migrating. Personally I just wish they had more shades. But I guess this one in itself is quite universal as far as nude liners go.
The No.7 Nude is a holy grail find for me. After being declared by pro makeup artist Lisa Eldridge as her favourite liner (a colour she designed herself), I had to get one too. Without a doubt, this is probably my most used. It goes with anything and everything and the peach tones in this make for a very flattering nude base (nothing like the Walking Dead, corpse lip we see occasionally). If you are fair to medium in colour. I highly recommend you try this!
For days when I crave a more defined or contrasting lip liner, I choose MAC Whirl. It’s deep enough to carve out the lip and redraw the shape to give the illusion of lips fuller. Using a slightly darker lip liner also adds dimension to the lips making them look pouty! Hence why the Kardashian that shan’t be named finds this an essential ;-) On the downside I find some MAC lip pencils a bit dry and a little uncomfortable to use once sharpened. They aren’t as soft as the Kevyn Aucoin lip liners, but come in a myriad of colours and it wont be hard picking one to suit your needs!
NYX Nude is a great find. It may not be my favourite formula (slightly on the drier, thicker side), but it does have it’s days. This pairs well with my pink toned matte nudes and to be honest, it’s a good pencil for the price. I like that these are a twist up formula, no sharpening and very easy to use. And again, THE PRICE!
Whenever I go for light nude lips, I choose Cashew by Bite. It’s for days when I brave a deep smokey eye and want the lips to look lighter than my own. I pair it with either Tom Ford Sable Smoke (for which this is a perfect match) or Laura Mercier Coy. The formula of these are as lovely as KA. What makes them special though is that it’s made with 99% natural, food grade ingredients. Good enough to eat!
For comparison purposes I picked out 10 nudes lipsticks from my collection. These are pretty much my most used. (Click image for a closer view)
On a completely different note, In case you were wondering, Lipstick Queen You Kid, Laura Mercier Coy and Rouge Bunny Rouge Prey of Lust are my most used. They’re all a very hydrating formula and extra comfortable for day to day use.
The final verdict
If you are looking for great lip liners to add to your stash, the Kevyn Aucoin and No.7 ones are lovely. No.7 being the more cheaper option, although my first choice as far as the perfect nude goes.
NYX is a great brand to try if you are on a budget. The pencils are creamy with very good pay off. The only reason I don’t luuurve them is because they feel slightly heavier and cakey on the lips. Other than that, they are awesome for the price and come in a bunch of different shades to suit all skin tones!
For those of you who like overdrawing the lips, either Whirl or Spice would be my recommendation. Spice is a warmer, more brown toned liner in comparison to Whirl and goes beautifully with richer brown shades such as MAC Mocha. Perfect for women of colour.
