My top tip to stop lipstick bleeding

Try a transparent lip pencil if, like me, you are loathe to retire your bold reds to avoid ‘feathering’ into the surrounding skin

It’s always assumed that women engage in lip-filler injections to look younger or poutier, but I’m convinced many are simply trying to hang on to their lipstick.

I’m OK with the inevitable cosmetic outcome of 48 years of chatting and laughter, less cheery about the prospect of retiring my beloved bold reds to avoid “feathering” through fine lines and into the surrounding skin. If you feel similarly but are torn on anything involving needles and their associated cost, I urge you to consider a transparent lip pencil.

I’ll admit that their marketing is misleading and bound to disappoint – if you’re looking for a precise, enlarged or “corrected” (in my case, made less lopsided) lip line to wear with your lipsticks, then these are a poor substitute. A traditional coloured lip pencil is better. But used as a waxy dam for bolder colour, a clear pencil drawn immediately outside the natural lip line can stem the bleed of lipstick pretty well.

There are good examples available across price points. Dior’s Universal Contour lipliner (£25) is completely clear and glides especially smoothly without scratching (it also features an integrated lip brush that doubles nicely as an eyeliner brush, I discovered accidentally), meaning it can be applied all over lips to add grip to bold reds and more mobile glosses.

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Kiko Milano’s Invisible Lip Liner (£5.99) gives a similarly smooth ride. It’s softer, so needs more regular sharpening than the Dior, but at almost 20 quid cheaper, that’s easy to live with and, besides, it does its main job well.

My own pick is Urban Decay’s Glide On Lip Pencil in Ozone (£19) because as with everything in its 24/7 line, it has great staying power and a firm texture that stays sharpish for longer.

If you have neither the time nor the skill for line drawing and are able to accommodate little more than a swipe of something pre-lipstick, then I recommend Guerlain’s KissKiss Liplift (£32) which I keep on standby. This is applied as you would a lipbalm, but somehow manages to give a grippy, matte finish without drying out the lips (and don’t be alarmed by the pale flesh tone of the bullet – it looks as though it’ll work only on white women, but goes on almost clear). It gives a smooth surface that stops even satiny lipstick from drifting outwards and smells deliciously like a pot of my nana’s best rouge.