How to sharpen lip liners is a good question since there are many different types of liners on the market now. Think about wooden, plastic, or twist-up lip liners.
A lip liner is one of the essential tools in your makeup bag. It can help define your lips, shape them, and make them look fuller. But, just like eye pencils, it needs to be sharpened from time to time. In this post, you’ll learn how to sharpen lip liner, with and without a sharpener, so it’s always ready to use.
If you’re here to learn how to sharpen Kylie Lip Liners, jump to the step-by-step guide immediately.
How To Sharpen Lip Liner: General Rules
First, we’re covering how to sharpen lip liners generally, but keep reading if you’re looking for instructions on how to sharpen lip liners that are plastic or how to sharpen your lip liner without a sharpener.
1. Good-Quality Sharpener
First, you’ll need a good-quality sharpener that can handle the task. If you pick up a sharpener explicitly designed for lip liners, you’re sure it will fit. These sharpeners have a small hole that’s the perfect size for lip liner pencils.
Select the right size for your lip liner if you’re using just a general sharpener, especially one with two sides.
2. Put It In A Fridge
Wait, what? A lip liner in a beauty fridge – Why? I know it sounds a bit ridiculous but trusts me, if you have a creamy lip liner in a humid environment, it’ll be harder to sharpen it without breaking.
If you put it in your fridge for a bit, it will harden and thus making it easier to sharpen because it’s less sensitive to breaking. Plus, it helps the creamy lip liner glide onto your lips just as much as it wouldn’t without the fridge. It is just a bit more steady!
3. Sharpen Gentle
Place the sharpener on a stable surface, or keep it in your hands, and insert the pencil into the hole. Apply gentle pressure and twist the pencil around until it’s sharpened to your desired point.
When sharpening, go slowly and be careful not to over-sharpen. Get the lip liner out of the sharpener now and then to see how far you’ve come instead of over-sharpening it. This can cause the lip liner to break and become unusable, or you have to sharper it again, which is a product waste.
Be sure to sharpen your lip liner before each use. This will help with applying the lip liner smoothly.
How To Sharpen Plastic Lip Liner
Sharpening a plastic lip liner is the same as sharpening a wooden lip liner, but I can imagine it’s not familiar to you if it’s your first time using a creamy, plastic lip liner. Let’s get over the proper steps so you won’t ruin your lip liner.
1. Put It In A Fridge
This is the most crucial step with plastic lip liners because, most of the time, these lip liners are also the most creamy of them all. On top of that, they’re pretty sensitive, too, so putting them in the fridge to make sure they’re a bit hardened before you start using them is the smartest thing to do.
2. Get The Brand’s Sharpener
If you decide to purchase a lip liner, let’s say from Kylie Cosmetics, I recommend also purchasing their lip liner sharpener too. This way, you’re sure the sharpener is working correctly with your lip liner. This doesn’t mean you have to purchase every brand’s lip sharpener if you own multiple brands’ lip liners, by the way.
If you get the sharpener from Kylie Cosmetics, you know it works with plastic lip liners, so it’ll work with other brands’ sharpeners.
3. Test Before Sharpening
Mind you; some plastic-looking lip liners aren’t supposed to get sharpened. Some of them have a twist function so that you can twist the pencil up, or they have a mini sharpener on the back of the pencil, or they have both so you can twist and sharpen the pencil’s point.
I made this mistake with the Huda Beauty Lip Contour 2.0 Lip Liners; I thought I had to sharpen them and didn’t do any research because I was sure this was the right way. Until I started sharpening… and wholly ruined my lip liner – ouch, these Huda Lip Liners come with a twist-up and sharpener on the back. I had to find it out the hard way, but I’m here to prevent you from making the same mistake!
Before you want to sharpen your pencil, check how to sharpen lip liners of the specific brand you’re using. Most of the time, it’s mentioned on the website. If it’s not, you can test it out by softly pulling or twisting the back to see if it is a twist-up version, has a tiny sharpener, or has to get sharpened with an actual sharpener.
4. Again, Sharpen Gentle
Place the sharpener on a stable surface, or keep it in your hands, and insert the pencil into the hole. Apply gentle pressure and twist the pencil around until it’s sharpened to your desired point.
Get the lip liner out of the sharpener now and then to see how far you’ve come instead of over-sharpening it. This can cause the lip liner to break and become unusable, especially a plastic lip liner, or you have to sharper it again, which is a product waste.
How To Sharpen Kylie Lip Liners
The Kylie Cosmetics Lip Liners are still quite confusing, which I understand. Luckily for you, I own almost all Kylie Cosmetics Lip Kits, so I know exactly how to sharpen them!
An optional extra step is to put the Kylie Lip Liners in the fridge for a minute or two. Putting it in your fridge will harden it and thus making it easier to sharpen because it’s less sensitive to breaking. Plus, it helps the creamy lip liner glide onto your lips just as much as it wouldn’t without the fridge. It is just a bit more steady!
Does Kylie Lip Liner Twist Up
First of all, the Kylie Cosmetics Lip Liners do not twist up and don’t contain a little sharpener on the back of the pencil. The only way to get a sharp tip is to sharpen them.
How To Sharpen Lip Liner Without Sharpener
1. A Sharpening Stone
Not everyone will have this in their houses, but it’s worth mentioning. Use a small sharpening stone to grind away the excess product gently. This will help create a fine point on the pencil, making it easier to apply to the lips. Be sure to go slowly and not press too hard, as you don’t want to damage the stone or break the lip liner.
2. A Scissor
This is an item everyone has in their house, so it’s the easiest to grab alternative if you don’t have a sharpener handy. Place the pencil head between the scissors’ blades and gently apply upward pressure to create a pointed tip.
3. A Knife/Pocket Knife
A knife or a pocket knife is irreplaceable. Whether you use it to eat food or handle beauty problems when on the go, a knife – especially a pocket knife – comes in handy. Use the blade, put it on the top of your lip liner, and move away from your body, so you don’t cut yourself.
4. A General Pencil Sharpener
You may have a general pencil sharpener lying around in the house, and thankfully, most of the time, this will work too! However, only do this in case of emergency. Experts still recommend keeping writing supplies and makeup sharpeners separated because they have different purposes, and it’s best to use a sharpener for the product you want to sharpen.
If it’s your only option to use a regular sharpener this time, I recommend cleaning it before you use it to sharpen your lip liner; otherwise, you may end up with a mix of the color of the previous pencil and the one you’re sharpening.
Great Lip Liner Sharpeners
I’ve purchased a couple of lip liner sharpeners – I didn’t even know how many brands have their own sharpeners, so there are like 100 options – and found a couple that I liked and would repurchase. Next time you’re shopping, throw one of the following lip sharpeners into your (online) cart:
I like the ones with a cap the most, so I don’t have pieces of pencil sharps everywhere. Obviously, the ones without caps work just as well! It’s just a bit messier – or wait, I’m a bit messier. Maybe you can sharpen without a mess; if so, please teach me lol.
Lip Liners That Come With A Lip Sharpener
I mean, how handy that a couple of brands included lip liner sharpeners with the lip liner you buy. It is pretty wasteful if you’re, like me, buying multiple lip liners from the same brand and ending up with three sharpeners… of each brand.. oops – ANYWAY, if you’re an average person that buys just one lip liner, this is super helpful!
Here are some of the brands I love & include a sharpener when you purchase their lip liners, so you never have to worry about how to sharpen lip liner ever again:
- Makeup By Mario – Ultra Suede Sculpting Lip Pencils
- Pat McGrath Labs – Permagel Ultra Lip Pencils
- Nudestix – Magnetic Matte Lip Color Lip Liners
How to sharpen Kylie eye liner?!!!
Hi Amalia, you can also sharpen the Kylie eyeliners with a pencil sharpener!