The 90s Lip Liner Is Back, But With A Little Twist This Time

It feels like yesterday when we were all collectively obsessed with the “clean girl” aesthetic, embracing all things minimal and natural when it came to beauty. The era of the “no-makeup makeup look” brought with itself the era of seamless base, nude lips, natural lashes, and effortlessness in general (although, that too, would take a lot of effort, ngl). Much to the relief of all the maximalist girlies, we are over that now. Not only have we moved past understated beauty, we have gone far into the other end of the spectrum, where we’re loving all things OTT right now. From body shimmer and smokey eyes to glossy lids and graphic eyeliner, beauty is in its more is more era right now. What’s interesting about the beauty landscape this season is the references to the past. From the Y2K lip gloss to blue eyeshadow, we’re seeing a revival of trends from the past decades. One such trend that’s making a comeback this season is the 90s lip liner. The 90s trend of wearing lipstick paired with a lip liner in a deeper shade is back in all its glory, except this time, we’re going for a blurry, lived-in look by smudging the edges a little. The blurry lip liner is cool, sexy, and offers a fuller, pump look!

Celebrities Have Loved It

Back in the 90s, lip liners were everywhere. From Naomi Campbell to Cindy Crawford and Victoria Bekham, all the It girls were wearing them. And they weren’t just any lip liners, but lip liners in a shade much deeper than their lipstick—chocolate brown lip liner with a beige lipstick, red lip liner with a nude pink lipstick, black lip liner with brown lipstick. Slowly, the trend died down, and a lip liner in any shade other than the shade of your lipstick became a thing of the past. Fast forward to 2026, the lip liner is jumping back into the league of being one of the coolest beauty trends of the season. Except this time there’s a change—it’s now about a blurred look as opposed to a neat line around the lips. Pop culture and celebritydom has definitely taken to it.  

You can also look no further than the new season of Euphoria that was released recently. The TV show has a reputation for delivering iconic beauty looks and one look we loved this season is where the character Magick is seen wearing a blurred lip; she chose a black lip liner and paired that with a lighter shade of lipstick! 

The blurred lip liner also happens to be one of Hailey Bieber’s signature beauty looks. She is often seen wearing a blurred lip liner paired with a slightly lighter shade of lipstick. Take a cure from Hailey Bieber and wear a pinkish-nude lipstick paired with a brown-nude lip liner.

There’s no strict code for wearing the fad; if you want to embrace the blurred lip liner you can just go in for any lipstick of your choice and then pair it with a lip liner and a deeper shade. Or even outline your lips a little for a plumpier appearance. Next, blend the lip liner with the lipstick just a little bit with the help of a Q-tip or your fingers, for a blurred, lived-in effect. 

So, embrace the blurred lip liner this season, not only because it’s hot right now, but also because it’ll make your lips look super plump.