Budget Faves: Essence Lip Liners

As a child of the nineties, brown-rimmed lips with a porn-star pink centres were always the first things that sprung to mind whenever lip liner was mentioned. It’s taken some time to shake that aesthetic from my mind, and I’m now a huge fan of subtle lining.

You’re missing a trick if you’re skipping lip liner. It increases colour impact, makes for longer wear-time and adds volume to even the smallest of lips. To give it a go without splashing the cash, I recommend Essence lip liners, €1.29.

My favourite use for liners is slightly exaggerating my lip line. A little less on top and a little more on the bottom creates symmetry and fullness that I’m not naturally blessed with. For this, I use In The Nude, a warm beige with a matte finish.

Femme Fatal is my go-to shade for making a bold edge on a red lip. I often apply a glossy red over a base layer of this to make sure it lasts and doesn’t smudge out of place.

Satin Mauve is my trick for lightening berry shades. Its tone is purple enough to match, while bright enough to reduce the gothic effect of a statement lip.

Unlike the highlighting pearls that I fussed over, these are all part of the permanent collection and available on an Essence stand near you and a pack of vicious tweens who will ram you with their prams if you try to get in the way of their lipstick testing.