Who’s Winning the Lip Liner Wars?

Noor Lobad

Tue, April 15, 2025 at 4:00 AM UTC

3 min read

Lip liners have experienced a resurgence in popularity driven by social media, particularly TikTok, with the rise of the "lip combo" trend.
NYX Professional Makeup is the dominant brand in the lip liner market, with the most monthly Google searches and the number-one position in the mass market according to NielsenIQ.
Other notable brands in the lip liner game include Nars Cosmetics, Urban Decay, Kylie Cosmetics, and Morphe, with newer entrants like Refy, Merit, and Rhode also making waves on TikTok.

Just as lip treatments , oils and glosses have exploded in recent years, their lip liner counterparts have also seen a surge — or rather, a resurgence.

Data from Spate shows that since September 2022, lip liners have seen sustained growth by social media buzz and Google searches, with conversation surrounding the '90s-era staple driven, this time, primarily by — no surprise — TikTok.

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This rise coincides with that of the "lip combo," a trend designating multistep lip makeup routines (product pairings vary, but commonly entail a liner), which has seen lasting popularity. Spate reports views of "lip combos" on TikTok have grown 97 percent since last year, while the #Lipcombo hashtag is a key driver of view growth for lip liner products on TikTok, seeing a 9.9 million year-over-year view increase.

There's a clear brand dominating demand, too: NYX Professional Makeup .

NYX nets an average 101,300 monthly Google searches alongside "lip liner" — more than twice that of MAC Cosmetics , the number-two brand by searches. Said Yarden Horwitz, Spate cofounder: "Searches on Google often indicate buying intent, and based on volume of searches, NYX is converting well from its online conversation to purchase intent."

Indeed, the L'Oréal-owned brand is the number-one lip liner brand in the mass market according to NielsenIQ. It is best known for its $5 Slim Lip Pencil Liner, which comes in 31 shades, though it recently added a $10 Duck Plump Retractable Lip Liner as a counterpart to its cult-favorite lip gloss of the same franchise.

Other heavy hitters in the lip liner game include Nars Cosmetics, Urban Decay, Kylie Cosmetics and Morphe, though it remains to be seen whether more recent indie entrants — Refy, Merit and Hailey Bieber's Rhode among them — can crack the top 10.

Spate reports that in February, Rhode was the third most-viewed brand hashtag alongside "lip liners" on TikTok following the January launch of its $24 Peptide Lip Shape liners, netting 5.5 million weekly views mainly driven by reviews from big content creators like Mikayla Noguiera and Jeffree Star.

The top 10 brands by Google searches alongside "lip liner" from March 2024 to February 2025, per Spate.