The $8 Lip Liner Shoppers Call a ‘Holy Grail’ Gives the Soft ’90s Nude Everyone’s Chasing Again

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While blurred lips and high-shine glosses keep popping up in TikTok beauty influencers’ routines, one nostalgic lip trend doesn’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon: the ’90s nude lip. Not the super-contrasted, brown-outlined version that can look sultry but tip into costume with too heavy a hand, but the softer, pinkier, peach-brown one that looked polished on actual mid-’90s faces — the kind of lip color ER’s Carol Hathaway made look especially good.

This is also why Maybelline’s Lifter Liner in Out of Line is winning over so many fans — even those of us who have, shall we say, a complicated history with lip liner, whether that means overlining mishaps or simply feeling a little clownish. The shade lands in a very specific sweet spot: peachy-brown, softly rosy, not too orange, not too deep, and not trying to turn your whole mouth into a statement. Shoppers say that it gives lips that mid-’90s defined softness without makng it feel like you are over-lining.

One reviewer called it “the perfect peachy brown nude liner,” which really gets at why this one is landing. The same shopper said it’s “similar to MAC’s Spice but not as orange,” and that feels like a useful distinction. A lot of people want that ’90s nude effect back, but in a way that still works in daylight, with a balm, a gloss, or nothing else at all. Out of Line has enough warmth to define the lips, but it does not go muddy or harsh.

The creamy lip liner’s formula seems to be a big part of the appeal. Maybelline made it with hyaluronic acid and jojoba oil, and you can kind of hear that in the reviews. “They define my lips really nicely,” one shopper wrote. “I’ve never been able to line my lips to where they actually look right but with these, it’s so effortless & easily blendable.” Another reviewer called it “very buttery and easy to apply,” adding that it goes on “very smooth” without feeling thick or sticky.

That glide matters, especially with a lip liner that is supposed to shape, soften, and blend instead of just drawing a hard ring around your mouth. One Reddit user wrote, “Maybelline Lifter Liners at the best lip liners I’ve ever tried! Smooth glide and solid stay.” Another shopper went even bigger, calling it “Holy Grail” and saying it’s “easily a better liner than 90% of high end lipliners,” especially for dry and mature lips.

And yes, people are very psyched about the long wear time. “This liner lives up to the hype! Once it sets it does not budge!” one reviewer wrote. Another said it was the longest-lasting liner they had tried across both high-end and drugstore, but still emphasized that it “doesn’t dry my lips.”

If the soft ’90s nude has been living in your head again, Maybelline’s Lifter Liner Lip Liner in Out of Line is the kind of under-$10 pencil that makes the case for itself pretty quickly. Why not grab a pencil or two — the shade Player offers a slightly deeper take on the hue — and try them with a satin lipstick, a balm, or just on their own? At $8 a pop, it is an easy way to test out the mid-’90s lip look and find the shade you will actually reach for.

Read more for iconic 90s lipstick shades you can buy today.