Take ’90s Lipliner Into The 21st Century

I recently rewatched Isaac Mizrahi's Unzipped and was incredibly inspired by Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington, and Kate Moss's looks throughout the film, which heavily featured lipliner. It also took me back to my high-school days in central California, when I would sport the darkest of brown liners with the lightest of frosted, pink lipstick.

I'm not the only one taking a trip down memory lane. Lipliner is back from the '90s — in a big way. With a new, modern approach to color and finish, liner has become a go-to staple for many makeup artists. So, now’s the perfect time to take note of its transformation over the last 20 years, and add it to your beauty armory if you haven’t already. Plus, it’s a great tool if you want to get in on the matte-lipstick trend: Cover a filled, lined lip with a bit of balm, and voilà — your perfectly colored pout’s not going anywhere.

Sarah Lucero, Stila pro makeup artist, shared her favorite application tips with me. “When I use matte or velvet-finish lipsticks, I always apply [them] with a lip brush before adding the liner,” she says. “I sketch the liner along the corners of the mouth and perfect the edge. It’s best to hold the pencil [at] an angle, so it’s not just the tip or point drawing a line around your lips. It almost locks in the lipstick, but [sketches a soft] edge.”

Click through for more tips on how to modernize your liner so it looks anything but dated.