Although you won’t find them in a basic makeup routine, lip liners are perfect for getting those full-on lips that celebrity makeup ads are always banging on about. Giving your lips a proper shape or just filling them in does wonders for your pucker, and everyone deserves a little kiss-up from time to time. And the good news is that you can swap out- or just opt out of- synthetic lip liners and head straight to the all-natural.
But then we get to the age-old question; what liner should be gracing your lips in the near future? Thankfully, we’ve done most of the work for you. All you have to do is sit back and look at some words as we go through some notable eye liners that are 100% natural!
…Or are they (cue dramatic music)? Find out after the line break!
Jane Iredale Lip Definer
Jane Iredale’s line of lip pencils contains various oils to condition the skin around your lips. It also has some shea butter for some added moisture, so this is the perfect natural lip liner for dry or chapped lips. Vitamin E has those anti-oxidants that we all know and love for a good layer of protection.
The whole range only contains about 12 shades, which is pretty great as far as natural lip liners go. The amount of pigment you get depends on what shade you buy. For those looking for a more understated, everyday look that will shape and fill behind the scenes, Spice is your man. If you’re looking to wow, we’d suggest opting for the bolder colors, like Nude or Nutmeg.
The line contains carmine in most of its pencils – not just the red-tinted ones- so we’re afraid to say it’s not suitable for vegans. They’re essentially natural aside from some inorganic compounds on the ‘may contain’ side. Jane Iredale pride themselves on being cruelty-free and are not only certified by the CCIC’s Leaping Bunny program, but also by PETA. Those guys are pretty tough nuts to crack, so you know that a real effort was made to ensure cruelty-free testing.
Price: $15 for each color
Ingredients: Hydrogenated Jojoba Oil, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Silica, Limnanthes Alba (Meadowfoam) Seed Oil, Mangifera Indica (Mango) Seed Oil, Euphorbia Cerifera (Candelilla) Wax, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Macadamia Ternifolia Seed Oil, Copernicia Cerifera Cera, Tocopherol, Ascorbyl Palmitate. [+/- (May Contain) Iron Oxides (Ci 77491, Ci 77492, Ci 77499), Titanium Dioxide (Ci 77891), Manganese Violet (Ci 77742), Mica, Carmine (Ci 75470)]
Honeybee Gardens Lip Liner
This lip liner goes back to the roots of natural makeup and uses things you’d actually find in nature, like beeswax and jojoba oil. It has a number of different organic moisturizers in there, so it’s perfect for sensitive lips. The lasting power on this one is fairly generous, so as long as you’re not bungee jumping there won’t be much need to re-apply during the day. This range only has five shades, but all the essentials are there.
There’s something for both your everyday, subtle face and your inner socialite across the range. For a more understated look, we’d suggest the Zen shade, but for full-on luscious lips, go for the aptly named Charisma.
Across the whole ingredients list, the only thing that isn’t 100% natural and organic is iron oxide, which is a compound made from other naturally occurring minerals like iron and clay, so we can let that slide for now. It’s completely safe for vegetarians and free from any kind of animal testing.
Price: $9 for each color
Ingredients: ricinus communis (castor) seed oil, ozokerite wax, simmondsia chinensis (jojoba) seed oil, ethylhexyl palmitate (vegetarian), lanolin oil, beeswax, theobroma cacao (cocoa) seed butter, cetearyl alcohol (vegetarian), copernicia cerifera (carnauba) wax. May Contain: iron oxides, mica
Zuzu Luxe Lip Liner
Zuzu Luxe’s lip liners give you just the right amount of pigment you need for going about your day, despite being largely neutral. Application is ridiculously easy with the smooth, gliding tip, and the texture is good enough to eat. All in all, there are eight shades in their lip liner range, but what we noticed right off the bat is how unique each shade is. Each shade has its own personality and character, so even although there aren’t many it’s more than likely that you’re going to find something that suits your character.
This range is well-trusted within the vegan makeup community, so you have a good foundation of respectable people vouching for the purity of these lip liners. The formula is mostly made out of wax and naturally occurring oils with very few inorganic compounds to speak of. Zuzu also get the approval of the CCIC’s Leaping Bunny program which basically just ensures that the products haven’t been tested on animals in any way, shape or form.
Price: $13.80 for each color
Ingredients: Copernicia Cerifera (Carnauba) Wax, Euphorbia Cerifera (Candelilla) Wax*, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil*, Tocopheryl Acetate, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Crithmum Maritimum (Sea Fennel) Extract*, Hectorite, Lecithin, Iron Oxides, Titanium Dioxide
Ecco Bella Lip Liner
Ecco Bella’s ntural lip liners are mostly in the business of helping your lipstick to stay on longer. The bad news is that it can’t really be worn on its own, but the good news is that it is really good at what it does. By lining and shaping your lips, it just about doubles the time that you can expect your lipstick to start rubbing off.
Provided you don’t accidentally make a snack out of your lipstick, Ecco Bella’s lip liners will ensure that your lipstick lasts all day and then some. The texture and consistency on these mean that you might forget you even put it on until you look in the mirror!
Ecco Bella is a seriously respectable company that started out as a stand against cosmetics being tested on animals. Their lip liners definitely follow in this spirit, with a vegetable wax-based formula that’s entirely gluten free. Despite this, only two shades in the range are suitable for vegans; Terracotta and Plum. But then again, there are only three shades available, so that’s really the majority when you think about it.
With only three shades, you might be a little stripped for choice but the plus side is that there’s less to get your head around 🙂
Price: $12 to $14 per color
Ingredients: Hydrogenated palm kernel glycerides, hydrogenated palm glycerides, hydrogenated coconut oil, microcrystalline wax, japan wax, carnauba wax, hydrogenated castor oil, titanium dioxide, sorbitan palmitate, stearalkonium hectorite, ultramarines, iron oxides. Mauve contains carmine
Inika Certified Organic Lip Liner
Inika lip liner’s excellent pigment goes with your lipstick like a dream. Containing only natural colorants, this range goes a long way towards that no-makeup, natural look that nobody will shut up about. No matter what you’re wanting it for, these lip liners are like tiny little ninjas working to plump up your lips in plain sight.
The texture can be a little dry at times, so we don’t recommend this range for people with dry or easily cracked lips. This line in particular gets some heat because the colors shown are fairly amped up and more vibrant than you’d actually get in your palette.
Inika’s lip liners scream ‘ethical’ right off the bat. They have more badges and certificates than an Ivy League football player and they’re not afraid to shout about it. They’re certified for being vegan, cruelty free, organic and for our Muslim readers, you’ll be happy to know that these liners also comply with halal standards.
Price: $20.75 per color
Ingredients: Octyldodecyl Stearoyl Stearate; Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil*; C10-18 Triglycerides; Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil; Copernicia Cerifera (Carnauba) Wax*; Euphorbia Cerifera (Candelilla) Wax; Mica; Polyglyceryl-3 Diisostearate; Oryzanol; Tocopherol (Vitamin E); Glyceryl Caprylate; Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891); May Contain (+/-): Iron Oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499), Silicon Dioxide Certified Organic*
Honorable Mention: BareMinerals Lip Liner
‘Though we’re not too thrilled about their ingredients list (and their lip liner’s rating of 2 from EWG), BareMinerals from the UK is popular and deserves mention. Their matte Marvellous Moxie range only has 10 shades to its name, but it’s a great palette to get if you’re looking to add more color to your routine.
From their electric pink shade Jazzed to the deeper royal plum color Electrified, BareMineral’s Lip Liner is great if you’re looking to rock the boat and experiment a little. The easy-flowing, bubbly tip makes application simple whether you’re filling in or just re-shaping. It’ll last you around about six hours, but with re-application being so effortless, you won’t be too inconvenienced.
The ingredients list will definitely lose you by the second line. They clearly mark their beeswax and their humdrum everyday wax as being ‘synthetic’, but a few other less-than-natural ingredients go unnoticed with seemingly never-ending, scientific sounding names. There’s a bit of controversy about whether BareMinerals’ products are actually cruelty-free- we know that these lip liners in particular have not been tested on animals, but with some questions surrounding the testing of their makeup brushes, their brand isn’t exactly the most ethical.
Price: $20 per color
Ingredients: Bis-Diglyceryl Polyacyladipate-2, Hydrogenated Poly (C6-14 Olefin), Hydrogenated Polydecene, Hydrogenated Polyisobutene, Euphorbia Cerifera (Candelilla) Wax (Candelilla Cera/Cire De Candelilla), Copernicia Cerifera (Carnauba) Wax (Cera Carnauba/Cire De Carnauba), Silica Silylate, Synthetic Wax, Hydrogenated Olive Oil Stearyl Esters, Coco-Caprylate/Caprate, Hydrogenated Jojoba Oil, Synthetic Beeswax, Panthenyl Triacetate, Pentaerythrityl Tetraisostearate, Octyldodecanol, Pentaerythrityl Tetra-Di-T-Butyl Hydroxyhydrocinnamate, Tocopheryl Nicotinate, Salicyloyl Phytosphingosine, Ceramide 3, Zinc Gluconate, Silica Dimethyl Silylate, Calcium Sulfate, Sodium Hyaluronate, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Butylene Glycol, Caprylyl Glycol,Water (Aqua/Eau), Hexylene Glycol, Phenoxyethanol. May Contain (+/-): Mica, Carmine (Ci 75470), Titanium Dioxide (Ci 77891), Iron Oxides (Ci 77491, Ci 77492, Ci 77499), Ultramarines (Ci 77007), Red 6 (Ci 15850), Red 7 (Ci 15850), Red 7 Lake (Ci 15850), Red 28 Lake (Ci 45410), Red 30 (Ci 73360), Yellow 5 Lake (Ci 19140), Yellow 6 Lake (Ci 15985), Blue 1 Lake (Ci 42090)
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