Lip Stain is the New Beauty Brand Must Have

Five years ago, “lip stain” were words hardly uttered by beauty gurus. Now, the beauty industry has taken to the product with everyone from Givenchy to Revlon producing their own lip stain lines.

Lip color certainly has undergone a revolution in the past decade. Previously, there were usually only two options for lip color: a lipstick or lip gloss. Both were limited available technology and were decidedly unnatural looking due the heavy pigmentation and drying effects of lipstick and the stickiness of lip gloss. But a huge boom in the industry with the founding of stores like Sephora marked a turn of events for many makeup products. Many companies began to combine the idea of a lipstick and a gloss while adding durability in the form of long lasting lip colors. Products like Covergirl Outlast Lip Color combined the color intensity of a lipstick, the durability of a lip pencil, and the shine and hydration of a gloss. While the product was a hit, it still left something to be desired.

Thus, the sudden popularity of the lip stain. Benetint, which also doubles as a cheek stain, has been around for a while now, but for many years was the only option for shoppers looking for something in between a gloss and a lipstick. While it’s still a solid – and popular, option for those looking for the perfect stain, 2010 seems to be the year that cosmetic makers all got into the stain game. That means more color choices, which is great for those who may want more options than Benetint’s one color offering. Most often sold in a marker like container, many lip stains are easy to apply, color rich yet still sheer, hydrating, and not sticky. Best of all, once a lip stain dries, many wearers can’t even feel the color on their lips, making it one of the most comfortable lip products to date.

We love this new product for so many reasons, mostly for how natural it looks while still providing color. Here are a few of our favorites:

Revlon Just Bitten Lip Stain + Balm, $9 {Revlon}

Tarte Natural Lip Stain with LipSurgence Technology, $24 {Sephora}

mark Kissink Lip Tintmarker, $7 {meetmark}

CoverGirl Outlast Lipstain, $9 {CVS}

Stila Yumberry Crush Lip and Cheek Stain, $24 {Sephora}