Long associated with the overly marked contours of the 1990s, the
lip pencil is making a massive comeback in beauty tutorials and on TikTok. Many dream of a fuller mouth, without injections or clown effect. This is exactly the promise of a new technique ofoverlining
ultra discreet, based on only four mini-lines placed in the right place.
Behind this express micro-lining is British makeup artist Katie Jane Hughes, who has already worked with Dua Lipa and Hailey Bieber. In Vogue US, she describes a simple tip: trace only 4 lines of lip liner around the mouth, then blend them to achieve natural, almost undetectable volume. The novelty lies as much in the precise placement as in the blurred finish, in line with the trend for blurred lips. Here’s how to reproduce this gesture at home, without transforming your face.
4 lip liner strokes: Katie Jane Hughes’ step-by-step method
To create this effect, Katie Jane Hughes recommends choosing a pencil one shade darker than your skin tone, never too light, to imitate a shadow around the mouth. She then makes small marks just beyond the natural edge on four areas:
- The left corner;
- The right corner;
- Cupid’s bow;
- The center of the lower lip.
With an eyeshadow brush, she then diffuses the line inwards: “This allows you to obtain a soft, blurred finish without removing the material,” says Katie Jane Hughes.
Celebrity makeup artist Kasey Spickard also emphasizes the meaning of the gesture when you go slightly beyond the natural line.
“I blend the contour downward to create depth and the illusion of deeper shadow, which will give the impression of fuller lips,” she explains in Who What Wear.
Once this shadow is in place, Kasey Spickard recommends applying your lipstick, colored pencil or gloss
“by blending it slightly into the lip contour”. Brands like Clinique or Make Up For Ever recommend the same strategic points: corners, Cupid’s bow and center of the lower lip.
Discreet overlining and blurred lips: why these 4 traits work
In reality, these four lines apply the principle of contouring to the lips: by reinforcing the natural shadows, the relief appears more marked and the mouth more plump. Makeup artists recommend a pencil with cool undertones for this, a tone darker than the skin, which imitates shadow better. This play of light sticks to the fashion of blurred lipswhere the color diffuses in a halo, more intense in the center, like a bitten mouth. For makeup artist Joseph Carillo, “blurred lips give a more natural and authentic appearance, deciphers makeup artist Joseph Carillo in Allure. It’s like the difference between candlelight and a ring light.”
Lip liner: the right ally: For this gesture, we favor a creamy but long-lasting pencil, like Line + Fill from Milk Makeup or Blurfiller from L’Oréal Paris.