21 Best Lip Pencils for Pillowy, Plumper-Looking Lips

As its name suggests, the One/Size Lip Snatcher Waterproof Precision Lip Liner is totally resistant to water, so feel free to live life without fear of your liner smearing. It comes in 10 nudes, reds, and berry shades to mix, match, or wear independently.

The Tower 28 Beauty OneLiner Lip Liner + Eyeliner + Cheek Pencil is basically three products in one formula. This nifty pencil comes in three neutral shades that can be used on lids, lips, and even cheeks as a cream blush for a natural-looking flush.

Commerce editor Sarah Han calls 2022 Best of Beauty winner Merle Norman Cosmetics Plush Lipliner precise, creamy, and easy to use. It comes in 12 shades that are each super long-wearing, so there's no smudging happening throughout the day.

"Leave it to Mario Dedivanovic to create the perfect lip liner," says senior commerce writer Angela Trakoshis. This dual-ended lip liner comes in 19 versatile shades and has a brush to blend and blur the pigment.

Similar to the viral Maracuja Juicy Lip Plumper, the Tarte Maracuja Juicy Lip Liner contains hyaluronic acid to plump up lips and keep them hydrated for hours on end. Our only complaint? It comes in just seven shades, so Tarte, if you're reading this, please extend the range.

For only $5, add the Nyx Professional Makeup Slim Lip Pencil Creamy Long-Lasting Lip Liner to your routine. It comes in 29 shades with a creamy texture that glides onto lips, thanks to the coconut oil in the formula.

You know a product is good when it's in a makeup artist's kit and their own personal makeup bag, as is the case for Robin Black and the Victoria Beckham Beauty Lip Definer. "The smooth, intensely pigmented formula of this liner is ideal for creating precise lip looks and can be used under lipstick or alone," she tells Allure. In addition to the variety of nude shades — like No. 5, the gorgeous darker one seen here — Black says the Red is also brilliant: "Bright, but with a neutral undertone that works under many different shades of red lipstick."

For a formula that glides on so smoothly, it's genuinely shocking that this Matte Fix Lip Pencil actually stays in place for hours. The formula's vitamin E and hyaluronic acid ensure the wear feels comfortable — not like dehydrated shrink-wrap — which means it also looks great, even if you don't top it off with lipstick or gloss. Because it's part of Halsey's playful About-Face line, the 10 shades include some bright, bold options, but we also love this soft, plummy mauve called Little Little.

You'd be hard-pressed to find a makeup artist who doesn't sing the praises of Lip Cheat Lip Liner by Charlotte Tilbury, the eponymous brand that has more than proven its lip-product prowess. "Velvety texture and long-lasting pigment make this a go-to for makeup pros," Black says. "When I want to overdraw or reshape lips using liner, this is the product I reach for."

Black especially loves the shades Iconic Nude, Foxy Brown, Hollywood Honey, and the legendary Pillow Talk, seen here, which is also one of makeup artist Joseph Carillo's favorites. "It not only whispers sweet nothings as you put it on, but it's the perfect shade for most light to medium skin tones. It's 100 percent like your lips, but better," he tells Allure, adding that it glides on, yet stays matte and in place.

It may be on the pricy side, but Black assures Allure that Dior Contour Lip Liner is totally worth it. "This is one of my favorite pencils for filling in the entire lip under lipstick. It stays put and increases both the wear time and the color intensity of the lipstick on top," she says, adding that the formula is remarkably smooth and doesn't drag on the lips. And if you're really ready to splurge, you'll be pleased to know that all 20 shades, like Actrice (seen here), have a matching Dior lipstick. 

Urban Decay's 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil is an absolute legend, so it should come as no surprise that its lip pencil counterpart deserves equal adoration. "I have used the Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Lip Pencil in Venom for every single pink lip I've worn in the past five-plus years," says Allure news editor Nicola Dall'Asen. "I'm not sure if it's the creamy consistency or the not-too-dark and not-too-light plum tone, but I simply refuse to use another." And if she ever strays from Venom, there's an ample array of vibrant and neutral shades to choose from in this beloved formula.

Behold, the gold-standard drugstore lip liner. The twist-up, no-sharpener-required format of Revlon ColorStay Lip Liner has made it a favorite for years due to sheer convenience, but we'd be remiss if we didn't applaud its anti-feathering formula, impressively long-wearing color, precision application, and a selection of truly useful shades. This one, simply called Red, gives any classic red lip even more oomph.

MAC's Lip Pencil has seen it all, including those ’90s makeup trends that have come and gone and come again. "Since the ’90s are back and here to stay, MAC's Spice is the perfect shade," says Carrillo. "It's long-wearing, and I love to line the lips and blend it out."

For Allure editor in chief Jessica Cruel, the shade of the moment — and every moment — is Chestnut, seen here. "It was the first lip liner that ever touched my lips back when my mother did my makeup for Halloween," she says. "Now that my love of brown lipstick has persisted past 1999, I use it with every brown lip look I wear." It's worth noting that the classic pencil comes in nearly 30 colors.

Makeup artist Rose Siard loves the Huda Beauty Lip Contour 2.0 liners, seen here in Vivid Pink, because they're so creamy and pigmented. "They never skip, and they blend into lipstick seamlessly," she tells Allure, offering an interesting trick for defining your lips with a pencil like this one — which just so happens to come with a built-in sharpener. "I like to apply my lipstick first and then line the lips. You have more control if you line after and you can blend it into the lipstick easier."

Juvia's Place Bronzed Lip Liner, which currently comes only in one shade called Brownie, is so good it needed to be its own separate entity from the brand's existing Luxe Lip Liners. The deep brown is made undeniably bold by intense pigments that pledge to stay put — and that means no bleeding — with velvety comfort for hours after application.

You could argue that the default finish of most lip pencils is matte, but when you want to ensure you're getting a truly no-shine yet creamy look, L'Oréal Paris Colour Riche Matte Lip Liner is a sure thing. Each shade — this terra-cotta is unforgivably yet brilliantly named Matte-Stermind — pairs perfectly with a Colour Riche Matte Lipstick, though they can absolutely be worn alone for a well-defined lip look.

Kevyn Aucoin was all about matching your lip pencil not to your lipstick but to your natural lip color, which is why Unforgettable Lip Definer comes in six stunning nude shades. And in another rule-bending move, the brand clearly doesn't see the act of defining lips as creating a harsh border because it topped off this sophisticated, water-resistant pencil with a built-in blending brush for a more diffused yet still delineated effect. 

If you've heard the phrase "Endless Cacao," then there's a decent chance you regularly tune into makeup artist Katie Jane Hughes's tutorials. She has worked the Make Up For Ever Artist Color Pencil shade into countless looks over the years. "It's my go-to for just a soft, nude, kind of shaded, natural, pouty lip," she tells Allure of the pencil, which can also be used as eyeliner or even a brow pencil. "But all of the nudes and browns in that whole range are incredible — super soft, blendable, and just really easy to use."

Siard adores Colourpop Lippie Pencils, which provide feathering-free definition for the cleanest color you ever did see. One of the most affordable options on our list, this liner makes it almost impossible to resist buying multiple hues, which act like an incredible primer for any lipstick you may want to layer on top. A brilliant brick shade like Love Bug, seen here, needs no help being eye-catching, so feel free to wear it on its own.