Sharpening your favorite lip liner is no less than a heartbreak. Watching it disappear little by little while the product breaks into fragments, and in the end, you’re left with nothing. But you also wouldn’t want an improper application with a blunt lip liner.
Plastic liners are different from wooden liners, and you might need different tools and techniques to sharpen them. If you want to know how to sharpen a plastic liner with minimum product wastage, we have some tricks to help you.
Contents
Quick Answer
Most drugstore sharpeners for lip liner and eyeliner are made for wood. For plastic pencils, these aren’t the best option. Sharpening plastic lip liner would be the same as sharpening any other beauty pencil once you have the right sharpener or sharpener for soft liners.
You would probably be curious about plastic lip liners and everything about them. Continue reading for some useful tips for sharpening plastic lip liner and alternate approaches, and bid farewell to boring lip liner days.
What are the Tools Used to Sharpen Plastic Lip Liner?
A standard sharpener isn’t always enough for a plastic lip liner to get a clean, sharp tip. Let’s take a look at the greatest types of sharpeners, as well as some tips for making the procedure go more smoothly.
1. Single-blade sharpener
A single-blade sharpener high in quality with a strong and sharp blade can sharpen a plastic pencil. However, the blade should be sharp enough to peel the plastic, yet it shouldn’t waste much product.
Single-blade sharpeners should only be used when double-blade sharpeners are not available.
2. Double-blade sharpener
Sharpening plastic is much more difficult than sharpening wood. You should get yourself a double-blade pencil sharpener for plastic lip liners if you don’t have one.
Plastics may be stronger, but they are softer than wood. Strong blades are made for cutting wood, but they can also rip apart plastic pencils. Sharpening plastic is easier with two sharp blades rather than one strong blade.
A main and secondary blade mechanism is used in these twin-blade sharpeners. Sharpening is improved with the secondary blade, resulting in cleaner tips and smoother edges.
Once you are done sharpening your pencils, clean the sharpeners right after the use. The residues of the product can ruin the blade and affect its sharpness. Wipe off the blades with some makeup oil to prevent them from rusting.
Useful Hacks for Effective Sharpening of Plastic Lip Liners
To get the most out of your liners, you should sharpen your pencil regularly. Try to sharpen your pencil without chipping the product too much; the eyeliner tips will be hard.
Now that you know what tools you need to sharpen your lip liner, follow these useful tips to ease the sharpening process without excessive product wastage.
- Freeze your Eye Liner
Don’t be too surprised. Putting your eyeliner in the freezer a few minutes before sharpening it can work wonders for you. While sharpening, the freezing effects might keep your eyeliner from cracking. The harder pencil is easier to sharpen.
You are supposed to keep a thicker eyeliner pencil in the freezer for a long period if you have one (10 to 15 minutes or leave it for a long time until it gets harder).
- Wipe Your Sharpener With Alcohol
It is recommended to decontaminate your sharpener before and after every use. Use a cotton swab and soak in rubbing alcohol. Now you can wipe off the blades to eliminate any residual makeup from the outside and inside of the sharpener.
- Don’t Sharpen it too much.
You don’t need a very sharp tip of your lip liner. You can apply the lip pencil to your hand during the sharpening process to check for the desired tip.
Too sharp lip liner tip can hurt your lip and is sometimes too brittle that it breaks immediately.
Alternative Methods to Sharpen a Plastic Lip Liner
If you don’t have a plastic lip liner sharpener, don’t worry. There are some viable alternative approaches to sharpen your favorite lip liner in time of need.
- A knife is a dangerous yet useful alternative for sharpening hard objects. In a downward motion, apply pressure to the pencil’s tip. Make sure the blade is facing away from you. Take extreme caution.
- Regular sharpeners can be helpful in times of emergency. However, regular sharpeners can waste the product; therefore, it’s not recommended to be used regularly.
- Pair of scissors can also work for you when you don’t have a sharpener. Place the pencil between the blades and, without applying too much force, move it in the direction of the pencil tip.
How to Differentiate between Plastic and Wooden Lip Liner?
The lip liners available would be encased in a plastic or a wooden pencil. Lip liners wrapped in plastic are called plastic lip liners.
Lip liners made of both wood and plastic have a similar appearance. If you’re out shopping and buying a new liner, you might not notice it’s a plastic liner at one glance.
Not even a picture can tell if the liner is enclosed in a plastic case unless you fully research the liner you want to buy. You might even mistake it for a wooden liner pencil until you sharpen it with your regular sharpener and ruin your lip liner.
Can lip liner work as lipsticks?
Yes! Lip liners have often been used as lipsticks.
To begin, apply the liner as usual. Then dab a little quantity on your lips and press it in with your finger to blend the liner. This will result in a soft matte finish.
Lip liners can also be paired with clear gloss for luscious ombre’ lips. Pick your favorite liner shade, apply it over your lip outline and then draw some lines towards the centre of your lips. Next, pick a complementing lip gloss and generously brush it through your lips, and voila!
How to revive an old Lip Liner?
If you have a bunch of lip liners that have dried up and you don’t want to use them anymore, hang in there. Follow these simple tips to revive them back to new.
- Sharpen the dried layer away. Make sure you don’t over-sharpen it to avoid wasting excessive product.
- Warm up the tip by gently rubbing it between your palms. You can also place it over a low flame.
- Brush some oil-based moisturizer on the tip. Petroleum jelly can be useful here. Let it sit for a while. Apply it on your hand to check if it’s ready to use.
How to protect lips from darkening due to lip cosmetics?
Regular cosmetics can suck out the moisture from your lip, creating an unpleasant dark layer. Here’s what you can do to maintain the natural pink shade of your lips.
- Never sleep with the lipstick on.
- Always scrub off the cosmetic with a lip scrub. If you don’t have any, take some granulated sugar, add some coconut oil in it and use it to scrub off the deposition on your lips.
- Keep your lips hydrated. Always keep a nourishing lip balm in your bag.
Wrap up
Now that you know which sharpening tools can be used to sharpen a plastic lip liner, you can save your lip liners from the heartbreaking wastage at the hands of regular sharpeners.
Use these tips and tricks to prolong the life of your lip liners, and let us know in the comments which one did you pick to sharpen your plastic lip liner?