There’s nothing more heartbreaking than having to send your favorite lip liner to an early grave after a bad sharpening session, but a surprisingly cold hack could rid you of that feeling forever.
It’s true, the answer to your prayers could have been in your kitchen this entire time in the shape of your freezer.
In a viral video shared to Instagram by @syndeydianelly, she places her makeup with frozen food for a few minutes before sharpening, resulting in the perfect point to define your pout.
By placing the liners into the freezer, the wax hardens meaning it’s less likely to crumble or break in the sharpener.
To find out more about exactly why the hack works, Newsweek spoke to product development expert and one half of The Lipstick Lesbians, Alexis Androulakis, who explained about the three categories of lip pencil forms.
“The classic form is called wood-clenched–these sharpenable pencils are made with a variety of different waxes and pigments,” explains Androulakis.
Wood clenched pencils are the form she most recommends, as the other two types (faux wood, which is sharpenable, and propel-repel, which isn’t) have risk of formula separation as she adds, “These have much more volatile materials in them and are much more sensitive.”
The hack is one Androulakis knows works, although not for ever liner, as she explains, “You’re definitely able to put a classic wood clenched sharpenable pencil in the freezer. I wouldn’t do it for an extend period of time, but in theory it’s going to make the wax harder, inevitably making it less prone to breakage.
When it comes to recognising the right formula, award winning makeup artist Aarti Pal, who is a fan of the hack, shares that, “this hack is particularly effective for creamy or soft formulas. However, it might not be suitable for very dry or brittle formulas, as freezing could make the pencils susceptible to breaking.”
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Androulakis expands on the formulation side, explaining that, “There’s something (in product development) called a freeze-thaw cycle when you’re running stability testing. It’s to see how well the formula stays intact and prevents things you don’t want to happen.”
A constant cycle of freezing and thawing the product can still lead to separation in wood-clenched pencils, as she adds, “You can only really run a freeze-thaw cycle up to three times, so I wouldn’t not encourage using this hack on a consistent basis.”
It’s not just the freeze-thaw cycle to be aware of – putting the product into the freeze consistently could alter how it applies to the lips.
“It’s really important to note that if you do actually harden the wax, you’re going to have a different experience on the release,” says Androulakis, continuing, “Yes, it’s easier to sharpen, but it is going to be harder in terms of how it applies, so you want to be mindful of that pro and con.
Lip Liner Sharpening Hacks
Freeze your sharpener.
For those worried about jeopardizing the formula and release of their favorite liner, Pal recommend placing your sharpener in the freezer instead: “Instead of freezing the lipliner, try freezing the sharpener for a few minutes before sharpening. This can help create a colder environment for the lipliner during sharpening, which may prevent it from becoming too soft and prone to breaking.
Warm up hard lip liners.
For lip liners on the harder, more brittle side of the spectrum, Pal likes to warm them to reduce the chance of breakage and splintering.
“You can do this by gently rolling the lipliner between your palms or holding it close to a heat source (like a hairdryer on low heat) for a few seconds,” she shares.
“This softens the formula just enough to make sharpening easier without jeopardizing its quality.”
Get the right sharpener.
The lip liner is only 50% of the battle, and a good pencil sharpener could be make or break (literally). Putting your liner in a hole too big or small will also impact the sharpening quality.
“I invested in a multi -diameter pencil sharpener from Ulta and I was really excited to see this because it’s not common,” says Androulakis.
“It’s multi -diameter, meaning you can sharpen any size of pencil in inside of this sharpener.”
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.