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Beauty buffs are ditching lip liner for permanent marker in a jaw-dropping new TikTok trend that’s got the internet doing a double-take.
Makeup influencers across the globe are lining their lips with Sharpies — yes, the same ones you’d find in a school supply drawer — leaving viewers both mesmerized and mortified.
The bizarre beauty hack started making the rounds this month, with TikTokkers swiping on the bold, inked-up look (rather than lip liner like the rest of us) and sparking a viral frenzy.
One gutsy glam gal, Rachel Carlisle (@rachelmadisoncarlisle), took to TikTok and casually traced her pout with a pink Sharpie from the brand’s “precious gemstones” collection — like it was just another drugstore lip liner.
“Sharpies are non-toxic — at least, this one is,” she said in the clip and added that her pout looked “super, super pretty” afterwards.
Many users in her comments section agreed. “It looks so good!!” one wrote beneath the video that showed Carlisle blending in the Sharpie marks and adding a similarly colored lip gloss over it to top it all off.
Another added that the hack was “honestly genius” as someone else commented, “looks stunning on u babe.”
Other detractors weighed in as one advised, “Get that offf your face girl” and someone else urged, due to a Sharpie’s permanent nature, “just don’t make a mistake.”
Another TikTokter, Kaitlyn Curtis (@kaitlyn.curtis2), gave the off-the-wall trick a whirl — claiming she reached for the Sharpie because she was considering getting her lips “blushed.”
Her recent video shows Curtis coloring in her pout with the marker as a DIY test run for lip blushing — a semi-permanent tattooing procedure that adds a tinted flush using pigment and a cosmetic tattoo gun.
Before going under the needle, Curtis wanted to see if the marker method could do the trick.
Just like Carlisle, she smudged the marker like a lip liner, slicked on some gloss to seal the deal — and shockingly, she was “actually impressed” with the results, according to her caption.
Others in the comments weren’t as dazzled.
“Abbbbbbbsolutely naht. With a damn Sharpie?!?” one asked as another replied, “I fear that is dangerous.”
One other inquired, “Is this rage bait?” as someone else wrote, “omg. So bad.”
Regarding the trend’s popularity, one wrote, “@Sharpie this is like the 5th video I’ve seen of people using your markers as a lip liner…. I think this might be your moment to move on over to beauty.”
So, is scribbling on your smoocher with a Sharpie actually safe? Skincare pros have some thoughts.
Jamie Alan, PhD — a pharmacology and toxicology pro at Michigan State — told Well+Good the appeal is simple: Sharpies don’t smudge and they stick around.
However, the expert warned that doctors “have no idea” what happens when you regularly use Sharpie on your skin — and anything on your lips can easily end up in your mouth.
“We have no idea what can happen if you constantly ingest small amounts of this daily,” she explained.
And don’t be fooled by the “non-toxic” label — Dr. Ife J. Rodney, a derm and founder of Eternal Dermatology + Aesthetics, told the outlet that claim doesn’t hold up when you’re using a Sharpie as lip liner.
It’s only “non-toxic” when used “correctly, like on paper, not on your skin,” the doctor said.
Dr. Joshua Zeichner, head of Cosmetic & Clinical Research at Mount Sinai, told the publication a Sharpie probably won’t kill you — but that doesn’t mean it’s a great idea.
He stressed that the ink from Sharpie markers is “generally considered to be safe if it comes in contact with the skin and relatively non-toxic if ingested.”
Experts are pretty clear: stick to actual lip liner — not your office Sharpies — if you want a flawless pout.
Looking for a legit hack? As previously reported by The Post, celebrity makeup artist Kathie Janes Hughes revealed that the secret to a perfect line is using the lipstick bullet backward for “more control.”
She explained in a viral TikTok clip that the flat part of the applicator makes for a messier, “cumbersome” swipe, while the backward method keeps things neat with “reduced visibility.”
Because when it comes to beauty hacks, it’s better to draw the line — not with a Sharpie.
English (US)