Why I Sadly Have to Give This Viral Lip Liner Stain a Thumbs Down
Main image – Courtesy of writer
If you’re a makeup follower and you’re on social media, you’ll probably have seen videos on *that* peel-off lip liner trend. Users line their lips and minutes later, peel it off to reveal a subtle liner stain that lasts all day. To say it’s satisfying to watch is an understatement.
The Sacheu Lip Liner Stay-N Peel-Off Lip Stain (£14 from Boots UK /$12.95 from Sacheu UK) is one of the cheaper of these liners on the market – and certainly the most famous.
The brand was created by influencer Sarah Cheung in 2021 to solve common beauty problems, before the liner was catapulted to the viral spotlight when Billie Eilish famously included it in a GRWM video.
@billieeilish leave me alone i barely know what im doing but heres what works for me & what i do before every show on tour ???????????? love you guys
If it’s good enough for Billie then, it’s good enough for me so I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. My lips aren’t my favourite feature anyway – they’re small and thin – so I don’t ever wear lip liner as I feel it’s too harsh and overly highlights my mouth.
I also can’t stand drying matte formulas, so I usually stick to pale pink balms instead and the odd hydrating rose pink lipstick in the evenings.
But perhaps this liner would give my lips more of a natural outline than other lip liners and make them look less small, more plumped? Or would it dry out my lips and accentuate exactly what I don’t want accentuating? Keep scrolling to find out.
The product details
Stay-N contains hyaluronic acid and vitamin E to keep lips hydrated, which I initially found promising since a lot of the peel off formulas are notoriously drying. However there is also the inclusion of polyvinyl alcohol to create the stain effect, which can be irritating.
There are ten shades in total (including mine – 03 P-Inked), and the product can be used as both a liner and an all-over lip stain. Sacheu also promises 12 hours’ wear (“or even longer”) so you shouldn’t need to reapply for an entire day.
@sacheubeautyusa What shade should we make next…? ? #sacheu #sacheubeauty #staynpower #liplinerstain
For best results though, the brand recommends not using it on chapped lips and to apply the product onto clean, dry lips after exfoliating. It shouldn’t be applied on top of lip balm or the pigment won’t last.
How I tested Sacheu’s Lip Liner Stay-N
I tested Stay-N on clean, bare lips which I had lightly exfoliated beforehand. I tried it first as a liner and then as an all over colour.
First impressions
When I pulled out the applicator, I was surprised at how dark the formula was. Sacheu describe P-Inked as a rose pink but this looked more like a deep berry colour.
Definitely not my shade – more on that later – but perhaps once it had peeled off it would be more natural. The applicator is like one you’d find in a lip gloss and, bar from being a bit clinical, the scent is pretty much non-existent.
In simpler times, before applying the liner. Image – Courtesy of writer
You’re meant to trace your lip line evenly before letting the product set for 10-15 minutes so, thinking this sounded straightforward, I went for it. As soon as the applicator touched my lips, I was met with an almost-black gloss on the bottom corner of my top lip. Woah. It felt like I was getting ready for Halloween.
The main thing I noticed though was that the applicator is super thick so to ‘trace your lip line evenly’ and with any kind of elegance is pretty much impossible. The line it reveals is so thick, it may as well just be an all over lip stain rather than a lip liner as I could have covered my whole lip if I’d changed the angle a bit.
I persevered but found it extremely tricky to draw an even line (I may not usually wear liner, but I do know how to line my lips neatly.) Also, you can’t draw all the way around your lip in one go as the product runs out so I had to keep dipping the applicator in to gather more which ruined the flow. It dried really quickly too so I had to be quick which made being neat even harder.
Image – Courtesy of writer
By the time I had got round one lip line, it looked like a child had done it. “Doesn’t matter,” I thought. “Once it’s peeled off the mistakes won’t show, this is going to look so natural.”
I then lined my bottom lip and was predictably left with the same messiness. Now I just looked stupid. And had 10-15 minutes of praying no one rang the doorbell.
I noticed it was quite sticky too while I waited for it to set as whenever I opened my mouth, I could feel the top and bottom corners cling to each other. But remembering the videos I’d seen online, I had faith in the results.
My results
Finally it came to peeling it off. Other peel-off lip stains/liners allow far less time to set so it’s worth bearing in mind that this one recommends you wait a lot longer. But if you’ve got the time, it’s not a huge issue.
When I went to grab the corner of one of the lines it was thankfully easy to do although unfortunately it didn’t come off all in one line and I had to keep going back to peel off separate bits. It sort of crumbled off – definitely not what you see in the reels. Once it was all removed, I stood back to admire the results. And I was sorely disappointed.
Image – Courtesy of writer
You know The Joker? Yeah – that. But also, the wiggly line I was hoping would just blend in after peeling was scarily plain to see.
And the line was really thick and harsh too. It didn’t seamlessly blend into my lips, give them a natural plumped effect or bring out the best in my lips. It brought out exactly what I don’t like about them, with a side of toddler’s artwork. I looked awful.
So awful in fact that I couldn’t bring myself to share any ‘after’ photos of the liner for this article as I was so embarrassed. You’ll just have to use your imagination and read the above Joker/toddler references again. Not chic. Not the one.
I don’t think the shade I chose helped matters either, although in my opinion even the right shade would have shown even the slightest application mistake.
I had chosen one far too dark for my taste and skin tone, however I take absolutely zero accountability for that since the brand describes it so differently on their site. Even the swatch photos on Sacheu’s site make 03 P-Inked look like a pale, neutral rose. But newsflash: This shade could not be further from ‘rose pink’. It’s not even pink. It’s red wine.
By this point I felt pretty defeated, but the one glimmer of hope I had left was to try it as an all over lip stain. I gave myself 24 hours for my lips to recover (they were pretty dry and sore after frantically removing the stain with micellar water) and reluctantly had a second go.
This was not a pleasant experience. As soon as I applied it all over my lips, my teeth went completely red (note: Not rose pink) and while I was waiting for it to dry, I had to keep spitting out red. My bathroom, quite frankly, looked like a crime scene and my fingers made it look like I’d committed a murder.
My stained hand after application. Image – Courtesy of writer
I discovered the best way to avoid the red teeth getting worse was to keep my mouth wide open while I waited but at this point, frankly, things were getting ridiculous. So I peeled it off after four minutes.
To be fair, my lips were notably stained, even after the shorter wait time, and it did look quite effective, but the red wine shade made my lips look even thinner. I dread to think what they would have looked like if I’d left it on for the full 10-15.
I can at least see how the stain would last all day – it very much clung to my lips. However, this is because it is so horribly drying. Hyaluronic acid and vitamin E – really? My lips felt like they’d been robbed of hydration for days and I couldn’t wait to slather them in lip balm.
After using as an all over lip colour. Image – Courtesy of writer
I had a drink of water with it on just to see if it would stay put – it did – but I was so scarred by the red saliva thing that, admittedly, I wiped it off with some micellar water pretty soon afterwards. Never to be worn again.
What other users are saying
There are mixed reviews online about this product. Some love it: “As an older woman, it’s nice to give some more natural color and definition to my lips without full on lip stick. I love them,” writes Educational_Gold_293 on Reddit.
While Aloeveraa9 says, “I have every single color and love them!” However, they also write, “there is a learning curve. You have to apply it evenly or it won’t come out looking good or patchy.”
Others said it was too much effort. “I don’t get the hype around it,” says Illustrious-Guess408. “I’m just gonna stick to my regular pencil liners that stay on and don’t require wait time for it to dry.
In my opinion, Riaxuez couldn’t have summed it up any better. “I did not like it at all and it didn’t feel good either. Was not fun to use.” And TerribleAwareness158 said filling in the whole lip made the results patchy. “For me I can’t use it to fill in my lips because of how dry my lips are made the pigment absorb unevenly.”
Overall value for money
I’m afraid I wouldn’t spend £1 on this, let alone £14. I know some people really love it, but for me it was such a disappointment.
It is one of the cheapest of its kind though so if you fancy giving it a go despite my experience then this one won’t break the bank.
If you’re looking for an alternative though, for just a few quid more Wonderskin’s lip stain actually does live up to the hype IMHO. You can check out our honest review of their Wonder Blading Lip Stain Masque here.
The takeaway
Sorry Sacheu, but it’s a pretty sizeable no from me. I really wanted it to work but it failed me on all levels – the dry lips, the red teeth, the wrong shade, not to mention the fact that it looked terrible as a liner.
I couldn’t possibly recommend it to friends, family or readers. But given its popularity online and in the spirit of not wanting to dash anyone’s peel-off liner dreams…maybe it’s just me…
Get Glowing!
