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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Lipstick put on around the lips

95 replies

CruCru · 14/06/2026 17:46

I’ve started noticed more and more women who have drawn their lipstick around their lips, rather than just on them. AIBU to find this quite weird? I think it is meant to make their lips look fuller but it usually looks as though they missed their lips and decided that it would do. One of the contestants on Race Across the World used to do it.

Is this a new make up trend that has just passed me by? It’s rather unnerving.

OP posts:
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6
DopamineDeficient · 14/06/2026 17:48

It's called over lining suppose to make lips look bigger but I have never seen it look good in real life, can look ok on Instagram or whatever.

Ineffable23 · 14/06/2026 17:49

I have also been noticing this and also find it quite odd.

Overtheatlantic · 14/06/2026 17:50

This isn’t a new trend. Women were doing it in the 90s and it went away and now it’s back. Unfortunately.

XenoBitch · 14/06/2026 17:50

It is like being shit at colouring in, except it is on your face. It looks sloppy to me.

TwoLeftSocksWithHoles · 14/06/2026 17:50

It was Coco the Clown who started this...

Apopos · 14/06/2026 17:51

Yeah, it’s just a trend. It went away, it’s come back, it’ll go away again…

Sidebeforeself · 14/06/2026 17:51

I can just imagine my family’s reactions if I did this. They would think I’d gone quite mad!

joyava · 14/06/2026 17:53

It looks ridiculous. Is it a Kardashian trend?

Foundress · 14/06/2026 17:53

TwoLeftSocksWithHoles · 14/06/2026 17:50

It was Coco the Clown who started this...

😂I thought it was Hilda Ogden.

meganorks · 14/06/2026 17:53

I think increasingly some women are doing their make up for photos. But in real life often end up looking slightly terrifying! Mad contouring might work in a photo but seeing someone with the sides of their nose dark with a light blob on the end is just weird!

Then again, I'm generally bloody useless with make up 🤷‍♀️

beadystar · 14/06/2026 18:07

It’s overlining. It can look ok in a picture or if it’s very subtly done. Most people are shit at it and it looks ridiculous.

TheContoursALittleMisunderstandingNsoul · 14/06/2026 18:11

Foundress · 14/06/2026 17:53

😂I thought it was Hilda Ogden.

It's woman Stanley💋

JulietteHasAGun · 14/06/2026 18:13

Poor person’s lip filler. 😀

Monty36 · 14/06/2026 18:20

Yes, makeup for photos and film is not the same as makeup in person.
In person it will look a bit daft.
For a professional photo they can make it look okay.

Mad to try to do it as a regular bod.

FastFood · 14/06/2026 18:22

It looks like they drank chocomel.

XenoBitch · 14/06/2026 18:26

Monty36 · 14/06/2026 18:20

Yes, makeup for photos and film is not the same as makeup in person.
In person it will look a bit daft.
For a professional photo they can make it look okay.

Mad to try to do it as a regular bod.

I always wonder how contouring looks out in the world. Like you said, looks great on camera and at a specific angle.
Probably like a clown in real life.

CruCru · 14/06/2026 18:27

Overtheatlantic · 14/06/2026 17:50

This isn’t a new trend. Women were doing it in the 90s and it went away and now it’s back. Unfortunately.

Oh crumbs - I remember the 90s being a pared-down, jeans with a shrunken cardigan and converse sort of time. I never noticed the hell that is overlining.

OP posts:
shutmumsclub · 14/06/2026 18:29

Us black women do it

CruCru · 14/06/2026 18:35

shutmumsclub · 14/06/2026 18:29

Us black women do it

So far I’ve only noticed it on a few white women.

OP posts:
PonyPatter44 · 14/06/2026 18:38

Contouring looks amazing in photos. In real life, it just looks like you need to wash your face. Overlining is much the same - looks stunning in photos but on real women who are talking and laughing and moving their faces, it looks a bit daft.

Why do it anyway? If your lips are thinner, they are thinner.

vladimirVsvolodymr · 14/06/2026 18:42

shutmumsclub · 14/06/2026 18:29

Us black women do it

Do you mean “us” black women or US (American) black women? Most (not all) black women usually have full lips so it makes no sense to make it look fuller.

Ladybyrd · 14/06/2026 18:53

It looks daft. Not keen on the blusher on under eye area either. And heavy angular eyebrows. Must be getting old.

darkothemoon · 14/06/2026 18:55

Isn't this where you draw with lipliner just outside your lips rather than lipstick? I'm sure that's how it used to be done.

TamarindCottage · 14/06/2026 18:57

Overtheatlantic · 14/06/2026 17:50

This isn’t a new trend. Women were doing it in the 90s and it went away and now it’s back. Unfortunately.

Overpainting lip lines has been going on since the 1940s!

trainedopossum · 14/06/2026 19:00

TamarindCottage · 14/06/2026 18:57

Overpainting lip lines has been going on since the 1940s!

Since the 20s if you count Clara Bow