Beauty Bible Loves... Merit Beauty Sheer Lip Liner

This is so ‘why-didn’t-anyone-think-of-this-before’ as to be utterly genius. And we’re so glad that Merit Beauty – who haven’t put a foot wrong with any of the products of theirs that we’ve tried – had the inventiveness to dream up Sheer Lip Liner.

It’s is a lipliner, yes. So, it does all the things that lipliners are meant to do, including creating a slightly waxy barrier that prevents lipstick bleeding. It also defines lips, the edges of which tend to blur as we age. (As we know only too well.) But it’s the least obvious lipliner that we’ve ever tried – because it’s sheer, making for a much subtler look. (Even the most naturally-toned conventional lipliner can look – well, quite lipliner-y, and we’re personally not huge fans.)

You can also use it to draw all over the lips, as we like to do, to create a grippy base for lipstick that is applied over the top. It can also be worn like this on its own, for a sheer but tinted lip look.

We tried Coupé (cool pink) and Tabac (neutral brown), and they’re both very natural-looking. They’ve landed on Merit Beauty’s site – and also at Sephora, both online and in their branches, where the brand was just unveiled.

We’ll definitely be headed there for a mooch, to see Merit Beauty’s other products with our own eyes, and swatch them on our skin. Sephora is the first UK bricks and mortar outlet for this innovative brand – which should be on every beauty-hound’s radar, for its incredibly wearable creations.

£23 – buy here

Prize Draws