- Lip stains are a comfortable, low-maintenance way to get a wash of color on your lips without needing to constantly reapply like traditional lipstick.
- The Sephora Cream Lipstain Liquid Lipstick is our top choice and is well-rated for its fusion of comfort, longevity, and intense pigmentation.
- We also like ones from YSL, Revlon, Benefit, and Glossier.
I love the look of bold lip color, but I can't stand the feeling of many traditional lipsticks. Unless it's a long-wearing formula, they can often feel heavy or drying, plus they tend to smudge everywhere while I'm doing normal life things like eating, drinking, and talking.
But lip stains are an ideal compromise. They tend to be lightweight and long-lasting, though not in that cakey, clay-like way of a thick liquid lipstick. Even though the word "stain" calls to mind subtle permanence, a range of formulas can fall under the umbrella. Some are sheer while others are more pigmented, but all of them are supposed to cling to your lips for hours while remaining comfortable to wear and fade evenly to a more subtle flush of color, making them easy to reapply after you've eaten or had your 12th cup of coffee for the day.
We researched the most popular lip stains and tested a handful ourselves to curate the best lip stains to buy in 2019.
The best lip stains you can buy:
- Best overall: Sephora Cream Lipstain Liquid Lipstick
- Best luxury: YSL Vinyl Cream Lip Stain
- Best drugstore: Revlon Balm Stain
- Best multitasking: Benefit BeneTint Cheek & Lip Stain
- Best stain-like lipstick: Glossier Generation G
The best lip stain overall
Sephora Cream Lipstain Liquid Lipstickis long-lasting and more pigmented than your average lip stain. And it comes in 90 different colors.
Sephora Cream Lipstain Liquid Lipstick is a long-lasting, pigmented lip stain that goes on smooth and won't leave your lips feeling cracked and dry. As the name suggests, it's a liquid lipstick and lip stain fusion that dries matte and stays put all day.
This is one of the most popular lip products on the market, with a 4.4 Sephora rating based on more than 9,500 reviews, and 16,600+ reviews on Influenster. Even more impressive is the staying power and color range; there are 90 shades to match any mood, vibe, outfit, or even coffee mug.
It's a bit more pigmented than other lip stains and has a creamy texture that feels mousse-like. For an even more subtle appearance, you can blot the product with a tissue or paper towel before it dries to sheer the color out. Avocado oil gives the formula a hydrating quality to counteract the dryness that often comes with lip stains that dry down for staying power.
"This is my new (and all time) favorite stain!! It is thicker and creamier than a traditional stain which is really nice, because it goes on smooth and STAYS!!" writes one Sephora shopper.
INSIDER writer Chloe Pantazi says, "I only really need to reapply if I've been eating something super messy, like a taco."Refinery29 and Harper's Bazaar also give the Sephora Cream Lipstain Liquid Lipstick rave reviews.
Pros: 90 colors, long-lasting formula, matte and metallic finishes, affordable
Cons: Some reviewers report inconsistencies in the formula depending on color
The best luxury lip stain
YSL Vinyl Cream Lip Stainhas a comfortable mousse-like texture and a shiny finish, making it look and feel more like a balm than a stain.
High-end makeup can be overpriced for no good reason, but the YSL Vinyl Cream Lip Stain is unique and worth the price tag. This is a mousse-like formula with a slightly shiny finish that's very different from most lip stains. In fact, it acts more like a balm than a stain because of the finish and texture.
It goes on creamy, offers full-coverage color, and boasts a 10-hour wear-time, which is rare for any lip product with shine. The glossiness will start to fade a bit if you smack or lick your lips, but it'll still have a slight sheen to it. An angled, diamond-tipped applicator helps give you a crisp line with no extra lip liner required.
"This applies beautifully, moisturizes, wears comfortably, fades gracefully, and maintains a soft sheen yet still lasts hours through talking and drinking water. This is by far my favorite tinted lip product," writes one Sephora shopper.
An Insider Picks editor who tested the lip stain said it was one of her favorite lip stains because it was moisturizing and didn't make her lips look pruney. The soft glossy finish also made her lips look more dimensional and plump, as opposed to watery stains that leave behind a wash of color but no shine.
Overall, the product has a 4.4-star rating based on 543 Sephora reviews. It's also been featured as the top lip stain pick by Byrdie Beauty, whose editor writes, "For a lip stain, it boasts impressive coverage."
Pros: Slightly glossy finish, up to 10 hours of wear time, precise applicator
Cons: Expensive
The best drugstore lip stain
The Revlon Balm Stain is an affordable and easy-to-use lip crayon available in eight wearable shades.
For an inexpensive and easy-to-use lip stain, look no further than the Revlon Balm Stain. These under-$10 lip crayons are easy to apply and comfortable to wear.
Available in eight wearable colors, these moisturizing balms are perfect for everyday wear. They contain what the brand calls a "Triple Butter Complex" of shea, mango, and coconut butters, making the formula feel more like a tinted lip balm that happens to contain long-lasting color.
The pointed chubby crayon makes them easy to apply without running over the lip line. You'll probably need to reapply these if you plan on eating and drinking a lot while you wear them, but reviewers say they're much more pigmented than your typical balm, with far superior staying power.
The product has been recommended by experts at Byrdie, Harper's Bazaar, Elle, and StyleCraze. A writer at The Strategist even says it has been "my go-to lip product every single day for the last three years."
Pros: Lightweight, moisturizing, easy to apply, affordable
Cons: Only available in eight shades
The best multitasking lip stain
The Benefit BeneTint Cheek & Lip Stain is a multi-use liquid lip and cheek stain that provides a long-wearing sheer finish.
One of the OG lip stains on the market, this little bottle of Benefit BeneTint Cheek & Lip Stain can be blended onto the lips and cheeks for a naturally flushed look.
The original BeneTint has been around for more than 15 years and it's still a versatile rosy shade that suits a variety of skin tones. The formula is quite sheer with a liquidy, slightly gel-like texture that blends like a dream and dries matte. You can definitely layer it up depending on the finish you want, but blend it out and let it dry down before adding more.
The nail polish brush-style applicator makes it easy to paint the tint onto your lips without overdrawing the line, or dotting it onto your cheeks before blending out with your fingertips. You can really control the amount of product you get by brushing on just a small layer at a time, which makes it great for building up for more color. The formula will dry down after a few seconds to ensure staying power.
The product has an average 4.3-star rating on the Sephora website based on almost 3,000 reviews. It's also been featured on Byrdie, Elle, Harper's Bazaar, StyleCraze, and Rank and Style.
"I've purchased maybe 6 [BeneTints] in my lifetime. It's one of the few products I go back to again and again. I love that the color is buildable and it's good for cheeks and lips! Also, it's a truly universal color! It looks gorgeous on my deep skin," writes one Sephora shopper.
Pros: Can be used on cheeks and lips, blendable, nail polish-like applicator to easy to use
Cons: Expensive, only comes in one shade
The best stain-like lipstick
Glossier Generation Gis an ultra-sheer matte lipstick that wears like a stain, gives you a soft wash of color.
Although Glossier's Generation G is officially marketed as a lipstick, it behaves more like a stain in my experience and the subtle color stays put forever.
The color is buildable, low-maintenance, and long-lasting. There's no smudging and the fade-down is elegant — no patchy color, no weird ring around your lips. And the formula is so comfortable you'll forget you're wearing anything. This ultra-sheer, ultra-matte formula has no trace of gloss or shimmer.
Available in six shades, the range is paired-down to the essentials, including a red and a '90s-inspired brown. I personally love Cake, a terracotta peach, and Crush, a raspberry pink that gives you the perfect popsicle lip stain. All the shades are subtle but buildable, and they allow your natural lip color to show through.
This is my go-to everyday lip product. I find that I can comfortably wear and reapply these without drying out my lips, thanks to oils like sunflower, beeswax, and safflower. I do recommend applying lip balm first if your lips are easily chapped. The color has such great staying power that if I only apply once in the morning, I'll still see the color when I go to remove my makeup at night.
Generation G has a 3.8 rating on Glossier.com based on 863 reviews, though many of the negative responses seem to be from customers who expected a more traditional lipstick pigmentation.
The product has been recommended by editors at Elle, Allure, and Byrdie, among other publications. WhoWhatWear's Mica Ricketts calls Gen G"one lip product I recommend above all others to my friends who don't do lipstick."
Pros: Very sheer and natural, easy to layer, colors fade nicely over time, long-wearing color
Cons: Can emphasize dry flakes if lips aren't moisturized
What else we considered
E.l.f. Aqua Beauty Radiant Gel Lip Tint ($4): This is another Byrdie and StyleCraze favorite lip tint, but it's not as well-reviewed by shoppers as our top budget pick from Revlon and there are only three shades available.
Revlon Cushion Lip Tint ($9.99): Another great pick from Revlon, but not quite as universally renowned as the Balm Stain featured in the top five. This lip stain uses a cushion applicator to gently pat on the nourishing, coconut oil-infused formula for a sheer, slightly glossy finish.
Dior Addict Lip Tattoo ($30): This luxury pick is featured on a few lists of best lip stains, but it isn't as well-reviewed by Sephora customers as our YSL pick. Some shoppers found the formula a bit drying, especially for the high price tag.