There are some things the current generation just missed out on. Discos. The grunge look. Lip liner. The oft ignored lip product, lip liner has been mostly forgotten and overlooked by twenty-somethings reared on Bonne Bell and the glossiest of glosses. It’s misunderstood and regarded as a product only appropriate for trashy girls that wear big hoops and tight ponytails.

I was surprised to receive some recently and figured, as any good beauty adventuress should, that I might as well try it. My experimental shade was a warm mauve that matched my own lip color well. On a naked lip the liner was slightly visible and I scrubbed at the area with the sponge tip on the other end of the pencil in an attempt to blend, blend, blend (a big annoyance is the inclusion of some beauty tools with no explanation, like girls are just supposed to know what to do naturally with every pencil and brush and sponge around.)

A layer of lip balm applied first gives lips the right amount of natural sheen and makes blending the lip liner much easier. All of a sudden, lip liner makes sense!

My lips look defined in a way that gloss never managed and by outlining them over-so-gently, they’re a little shapelier than normal. For a plumper look, liner exaggerates ever so slightly and naturally luscious lips get the tiniest bit of a boost.

Pairing dark liners with lipstick is a beauty trend that should stay firmly rooted in the yesteryears of the early 90s and fly girl days. Natural colored liners with simple balm? Very modern.