What Nobody is Saying About the Maybelline Lifter Liners
The new Maybelline Lifter Liners have been the most requested drugstore makeup product my followers have asked me to review. Based on the hype and virality, I went into testing expecting them to blow my socks off… and for the most part, they did. They are probably the best lip liner I’ve tried from the drugstore in years, with a creamy formula and smooth matte look.
But, they also have a major flaw that I’m not seeing many other influencers talk about that needs to be addressed.
The Positives: A creamy, smooth, long lasting drugstore lip liner.
These creamy lip liners are formulated with hyaluronic acid and jojoba oil, which my dry lips love. They glide on for easy application with no tugging at all, and are easy to layer up and blend. They do set quickly though, and give a more matte lip liner finish once they dry down. I’d suggest doing your top lip and bottom lip one at a time if you’re planning on creating a blended look for maximum working time.
Despite these drying down matte, they don’t feel dry and they don’t look crackly! I have never gotten filler and have quite a few lip lines that can be accentuated by matte formulas. These actually smooth over my lip lines for a more plump look, with the help of the hydrating ingredients. They really do feel like a goldilocks lip liner formula I haven’t tried from the drugstore before.
Plus, the matte finish becomes transfer-proof and smudge proof almost immediately. These actually aren’t claims Maybelline makes, but what I found within my own testing. You can watch the video at the top of the post to see the full wear test.
Maybelline Lifter Liners Lip Swatches from Top to Bottom:
04 – Out of Line
02 – Let’s Bounce
08 – Fine Line
10 – Main Character
01 – Cross the Line
Another thing that stood out to me with this lip liner collection was the shade range. They have a good mix of light and deep neutrals, pinks, and a statement red that’s neutral enough to work for most skin tones. (The brand describes it as a warm red, but I disagree).
As far as wear time, the brand claims they’re “long lasting” lip liners, but don’t make any hard and fast promises about how many hours they’ll last. I paired Fine Line with the Maybelline Lifter Gloss in Brass for the above lip combo. I lined my lips with a solid line, then blended the color softly in the outer edges for a gradient look.
After one meal, most of the color from the center portion had worn off, but I still had a lot of color left. I just topped off my gloss and went on about my day.
After 9 hours and two total meals, I was left with the solid outline still hanging in there with no smudging or smearing. Since I had only blended a very thin layer to fill in the edges, I’m confident if you were to fill in your lips completely, you would get a longer full-lip look. But either way, worn as a true lip liner, these will last you nearly all day.
The Major Flaw: Sharpening the Maybelline Lifter Liners
The Maybelline Lifter Liners are a traditional pencil that you’ll need to use a sharpener on. Typically, I prefer retractable pencils but there are some benefits to a sharpenable liner: you can get a very precise point again with a quick twist.
My pencil in Cross the Line actually broke immediately when using for the first time. When I went to sharpen it, though, the tip wouldn’t get longer. The liner kept getting shorter, and I was sharpening the casing, but the tip kept crumbling inside the sharpener and falling out again. Since all of my other shades sharpened as expected, I assumed this was a fluke and exchanged it for a new one at Ulta.
But upon further research, a lot of people are having this issue. I’ve read numerous reviews on Ulta.com and Amazon where customers complain about having this or similar issues sharpening, often giving up on the product altogether. When I mentioned this in my YouTube review, many commenters shared my experience and even threw away the pencil after sharpening it all the way down without getting the tip to stay intact.
On the other hand, there were also comments from people who didn’t have this issue, or put their liner in the freezer before sharpening with good results. It does seem like there’s mixed experience when it comes to sharpening the Maybelline Lifter Liners, and without a specific shade causing the issues.
But is the risk of getting an un-sharpenable pencil worth it for the formula? At the moment, I’d say yes. These truly do offer something unique for the price, and I absolutely love how smooth they made my lips looked on top of staying on for so long. If you end up with a defective pencil that doesn’t sharpen, I would suggest exchanging or returning it. I had no issues at Ulta when I showed them what happened. I’m also eager to try the freezing technique my followers recommended.
You can find the Maybelline Lifter Liners at Ulta Beauty, Target, and Amazon.