The Easy Lip Liner Hack That Mimics A Lip Flip Without The Botox

Our culture is all about enhancing our appearance. Granted, not everyone has a desire to change how they look — nor should they — but for those of us who want to cosmetically tweak what we have, procedures like Botox and fillers have become more and more common. One procedure in particular that's been getting a lot of traction is lip injections. According to a report by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), over 34,000 lip augmentation procedures were performed in 2020, a figure that's up by 84% since 2000. 

But for those who don't want to get into filler injections, the Botox lip flip has become an alternative to that. "For a lip flip to work, you must ensure Botox only affects the superficial layer of the orbicularis oris muscle," Dr. Tijion Esho told Glamour UK. "If it enters the deeper layer (which I've seen many times) it can lead to weakening of the lip and in some cases full paralysis, losing the ability to smile, speak, and difficulty in eating and drinking." Yikes. That's where a lip liner hack that mimics the lip flip look comes into play as an option worth considering. It's far less expensive, doesn't involve needles, and can easily be done at home.

Whether we attribute the desire for the "perfect" pout to those we know with natural lips or people like the Kardashians who don't shy away from cosmetic procedures, the search for fuller lips is alive and well. But because not everyone wants to — or can afford — the procedures out there, makeup artists have come up with ways to recreate the look with lip liner.

According to Kim Kardashian's makeup artist, Mario Dedivanovic, you can get this appearance by slightly overlining the center of the upper lip, then narrowing that overlining as you make your way to the corners of the mouth. "This step makes lips appear fuller, more enhanced, and shortens the space between nose and lip," Dedivanovic shared with Glamour. "Next, slightly overline the center of the bottom lip line, then extend the liner upwards toward the outer corners of the mouth, moving the liner inside the lip line. This creates the illusion of a lifted lip."

Once your lip liner is in place, blend it with a brush from the outside of the mouth inward. If need be, you can clean up the edges of your mouth by putting concealer on the brush, so "liner is crisp," said Dedivanovic. "This creates an even greater lifted effect. Set the concealer with translucent powder for extended wear." À voila!

The best thing to come with this hack is that there are no drawbacks, only benefits. For starters, a lip flip requires four to six units of Botox, or as many as eight if you have what's known as a gummy smile, according to the American Board of Facial Cosmetic Surgery. Depending on where you live, a unit of Botox can cost as low as $10 or as much as $25, which means a lip flip could set you back anywhere from $40 to $200 give or take, per Cosmopolitan. On the other hand, you can get a really great lip liner for under $30 and dozens of applications out of it, depending on how often use this hack.

There's also the fact that this is a low-commitment "lip flip," meaning you can easily ditch the look with makeup remover. The Botox method, however, isn't going anywhere for three to four months, so if you don't like what you see you'll have to wait it out. And when you don't like something, everything feels like it takes much longer than it actually does.

If you love the lip flip look but aren't sure you want to go all-in just yet, this hack can be the bridge you might need to Botox. Or it can remain a lip liner hack forever. It's your face and your body, so embrace that autonomy and do whatever you want — no matter what unrealistic beauty standards get thrown your way.