Lip Filler Is Officially Dead—Here’s How To Fake a Perfect Pout With Lip Liner
No more pillow lips
Duck face, move over—the Gen Z pout is here to stay. Ahead, we round up the secret ingredient to the perfect pair of lips.
One gift from 2026? The death of the filler craze. Fillers exploded in popularity in 2012 with the debut of then-15-year-old Kylie Jenner’s newly Juvederm’d pout, and the rise in face-modifying Instagram and Snapchat filters. Suddenly, the public was privy to a highly accessible, non-surgical alternative to cosmetic procedures, and for the first time, it meant that anyone could achieve the new beauty standard of a pillowy (oft-overfilled) pout—at the right price.
For almost a decade, the popularity of fillers continued to climb, and with it came a market that was becoming less and less regulated. Instead of trained medical professionals, suddenly, beauty therapists with no medical background were offering filler treatments en masse, and—to no one’s surprise—with it came a stark increase in the cases of botched filler procedures in the years following. It was soon after that a paper by Dr Mobin Master was published, challenging the conventional belief that hyaluronic acid (HA) fillers only last three to 12 months. In the paper, MRI scans found that fillers remained present in the body for at least two years, and up to 15 years in one patient.
It’s safe to say that we’ve now hit a ceiling—at least with regards to filler. Unfortunately, there are now far riskier and permanent cosmetic procedures to worry about (but that’s a topic for another time). Risks aside, the pillow-lip trend has almost become too homogenous now, and it seems we are collectively turning to what’s “natural” in response to the fatigue. The proof is in the pudding—Courteney Cox, Ariana Grande, and Lip Kit queen Kylie Jenner herself are just three of many celebrities to dissolve their lip fillers in recent years. ICYMI: The definition of the “perfect” pair of lips has once again changed, and this time, it favours a natural pout with a slight and subtle overline. Sure, lip fillers probably aren’t ever going to go away completely, but we’re definitely seeing a marked uptick in the popularity of a natural, albeit makeup-enhanced pout.
The trend is sweeping our favourite It-girls, from Dua Lipa to Ariana Greenblatt to Olivia Rodrigo. It’s a subtle difference between their au natural and their done up, but it’s there. Their lips are full, but not puffy; defined and ever-so-slightly overlined, but never overdone. And, with it, lip liners are on the up and up. To recreate it, it’s simple: First, use a lip liner to fill in your natural lip line as normal, making sure not to colour outside the borders. Then, overline just the centre of your top and bottom lips, making sure to connect the overlined border to your original lip line. Fill in the lips with your lip liner, set with a translucent powder, and follow up with a little lippy to complete the look. Finally, pout away!
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To help you get the look, we’ve rounded up our favourite long-wearing lip liner formulations to sport this summer season:
La Beaute Louis Vuitton LV Crayon, RM270
Created by La Beaute Creative Director Dame Pat McGrath, the latest product to join the Maison’s beauty category is the LV Crayon. Designed to deliver a luxurious, sensorial lip lining experience, the new lip pencil comes in 10 shades of the finest nudes and rosewoods, each one inspired by iconic LV reds. Best paired with the LV rouge and LV baume, it’s certainly going to be a new essential in your makeup routine.
YSL Beauty Lovenude Kiss Shaper, RM125
Sculpted definition meets blurred sensuality in YSL Beauty’s Lovenude Kiss Shaper Lip Pencil. This creamy, blendable lip pencil glides onto your pout beautifully, filling in your lips with eight second-skin shades and nourishing them with its blend of coffee oil extract and nigella sativa seed. Formulated to last for up to 12 hours, it’s your new everyday go-to for fuller-looking lips.
Fenty Beauty Trace’d Out Pencil Lip Liner, RM119
Enjoy up to eight hours of true-cast colour with this long-wear, creamy lip pencil. Each of the 16 shades of the Trace’d Out Pencil Lip Liner is designed to be universal for every complexion, made with pure pigments, and delivers a smooth, velvet-matte finish that never looks ashy. PS: it also has a sharpenable tip that allows you to keep your pout as defined as possible.
Sisley Phyto-Lèvres Perfect, RM270
Sisley’s latest lip creation is a nourishing lip pencil formula infused with Kokum butter, aloe vera, and jojoba oil. The smooth, easy-to-glide pencil hydrates and nourishes the lips, enveloping your pout in 12 delightful shades (including two new shades). Better yet, the lip pencil comes with a built-in brush for easier blending!
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