Lip liners – a shade comparison of MAC and Lisa Eldridge

When decluttering my old MAC liners I did a swatch comparison between them and the similar shades from my more recently purchased liners by Lisa Eldridge (LE). I started purchasing LE liners to replace my old MAC ones but discovered that most of them were not colour dupes as I had initially anticipated. But some are functional dupes i.e close enough in colour to provide the same function. In this post I want to share swatch comparisons of the similar shades from the two brands but also share swatches of all of my Lisa Eldridge liners. All with the hope of providing some picture guidance if anyone else is considering purchasing any of these liners and could be helped by seeing them swatched side by side on my skin tone.

Morning did not replace Redd as anticipated. Morning is brighter and more vividly warm. Redd is more subtle overall and I could see myself purchasing it again in the future if I notice a need for it. I’m a sporadic liner wearer but usually use liners specifically with reds and darker shades when I want a more precise or impactful look. They are therefore useful but not a necessary part of my everyday makeup usage. The purpose filled by Cherry and Beet is now occupied by Ribbon, Duchess and even Myth. Burgundy is a shade that nothing really compares to but I included swatches of Decade and Midnight for reference. I do like Burgundy a lot and will consider picking it up again in the near future. It is stunning on its own but it also plays well with many of my more muted lip shades. Brick is also in a league of its own but I’m not sure I currently need a shade like it. I was sure that Midnight would replace Nightmoth but the are more cousins, Nightmoth being more muted and grungy. I have recently repurchased Nightmoth though. It is great for deep and dramatic looks and I wanted it in my life again.

The formula differ between the two as well. The MAC liner in its classic wooden pencil format is drier and harder formula. But not hard to use mind you. It does not glide on the way the LE liners do but I have never found them difficult to apply. Both liners have great longevity on me and if I had to choose I do prefer the sturdier MAC liners. I feel like I have even more control and find it easier to be precise with them on my thinner lips. But since I do not have to choose and gladly enjoy both brands and the shades they offer.

My most used liner by Lisa Eldridge is Muse and it is because it is my oldest. You can even see that the packaging is shinier than the rest of the pencils. I purchased it as part of a Muse-set and thought it would be a great neutral lip liner for me. In truth it is just ok. Muse as a shade of liner is a tad too light and peachy for my taste. When I compare swatches of the Velvet Muse lipstick side by side with the liner, the liner is visibly warmer in tone and the lipstick is more rosy. I prefer to wear Velvet Muse without a liner anyway so I will not repurchase the Muse liner when it goes off. I hope Lisa creates a neutral to cool mid brown liner in the future that I can use as my base line for ‘my lips but better’ looks but until then I manage just fine without. Affair and Sorcery are also too warm for me. The Velvet Affair lipstick was a poor purchase on my part but I love the Velvet Sorcery lipstick, but the Sorcery liner is not a winner. The same is true for Sorcery as with Muse, the liner is warmer than the lipstick. And for me that is not great. All of the other liner shades works great for me with their respective lipstick and I use them in conjunction with those shades mainly. Blush is a shade that I also enjoy using to push shades that feel too warm in a cooler direction. But alas, I am a sparse liner wearer and I am sure these liners are capable of more than I currently use them for. But they are fairly new and I look forward to flexing their abilities in the coming years.

I hope this post was helpful and that it aided someone in their decision to buy or not to buy any of these liners.

Thanks for reading!