I Apply This Silky, Blendable Lip Liner in Seconds — and It Was Used on Cameron Diaz (2025)

I’m a Type B gal, so my makeup is always a last-minute effort.

And unfortunately, my lips always get the absolute shortest end of the stick since they go on well, last, and routinely, as I’m rushing out the door. As a result, my pout always looks messy with uneven lines that are impossible to buff out with quick-drying, unbudgeable lip liners.

And most formulas are the same song and dance — but not Merit Beauty’s new Signature Sheer Lip Liner, which I was sent to try. While I used to keep my lip pencils at home, it’s not left my purse once since I put it there. It’s also only been out in the world for a few weeks (it launched in March!), has already been used on Cameron Diaz, and was sold once every minute during the very first week it hit virtual shelves, per the brand.

Merit Beauty Signature Sheer Lip Liner in Capricorn

The best way I can describe the consistency of the Merit Beauty Sheer Signature Lip Liner, which comes in eight shades, is this: Have you ever used a really juicy pen that just skates like silk along a piece of paper? Well, it’s a lot like that. The buttery gel formula practically floats up, down, or wherever I want it to go without the need for precision, and the jojoba complex prevents my lips from drying out or feeling gritty or crusty like they do with other products.

Something else you should know is that I grew up in a lipstick-positive household. My mom always had some color on her lips, and she taught me to do the same. Why am I telling you this? I was anxious that the “Sheer Liner” would be so sheer that the color would barely register on my lips.

In the end, I found that to only be half-true. Capricorn, which appears to be the darkest shade, and one I’d normally stay as far away as possible from, is somehow my favorite of the bunch. It gives me a nice contoured outline and the illusion of bigger lips, but it somehow still looks fairly natural on fair-ish complexion. TL;DR: The color payoff is there, but it’s definitely sheerer than others on the market.

I often touch up my lip liner at stop lights or even at the dinner table, so I’m quick with it and truthfully, almost always mess up to a certain degree. Thankfully, any imperfect lines can be diffused with a few gentle dabs of a finger, meaning it’s a godsend for inexperienced, on-the-go, or just other Type B makeup users like myself.

Merit Beauty Signature Sheer Lip Liner in Mayfair

Other shoppers are happy with it, too: One five-star reviewer wrote, “That consistency is so rich and creamy and smooth. It actually feels like it’s a spa day for my lips.” The packaging is also twistable, so there’s “no need to worry about having a sharpener handy,” they added.

“Creamy and long-lasting are not usually the words I would put together, but this lip liner does just that,” said a second shopper. “Once it’s on there, it’s on.”

Head to Merit Beauty to snap up the Signature Sheer Lip Liner, then keep scrolling to score more products from the brand.

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