If you’ve spent even a few minutes watching GRWM TikToks lately, you’ve likely scrolled past at least one creator sporting a bold, inky outline around their lips, as if they’d used a Sharpie. The interesting product in question? Sacheu Beauty’s Stay-N Lip Liner, $12, a viral favorite that has been making waves ever since Billie Eilish casually name-dropped it in her backstage beauty routine.
The concept is pretty straightforward: Unlike your average lip pencil, this liner works like a temporary tattoo. You paint it on, let the liquid sit for a few minutes and change color, then peel off the dried layer to reveal a stain that claims to resist all kinds of smudging and transferring. Anyone who’s tired of redoing their lip combo throughout the day will immediately understand the appeal.
Naturally, we had to see if the hype for the product, which has racked up millions of views on TikTok, was justified. Ahead, our beauty editors tested a handful of Sacheu’s most talked-about lip liner shades, exclusively available at Ulta. Here are our unfiltered thoughts.
Venus Wong, senior writer
She tried: Sacheu Lip Liner Stay-N (in Noohde), $12
“My lip makeup rarely survives a meal — I’m constantly wiping my mouth with a napkin — so I’m the ideal candidate to test this product. Upon first application, the product felt a little tight and tingly on my lips (like I was wearing a clay mask), but that sensation faded away in a few minutes. For me, just under nine minutes was more than enough to dye the edge of my lips a nudish-pink that looks way more wearable than I expected. I will say that because it’s a stain, the lines are a bit more harsh and defined than a regular lip pencil, so it’s worth keeping that in mind if you prefer a more blurred effect.
“Thanks to conditioning ingredients like vitamin E and hyaluronic acid in the formula, it didn’t leave my lips feeling parched or cracked. Most importantly, the pigment had remarkable staying power and didn’t budge even with my relentless rubbing. My go-to ‘90s-inspired lip combo has been pairing this stain with a shiny nude gloss (I can’t get enough of Laneige’s Glaze Craze Tinted Lip Serum in Sugar Glaze lately). At $12, it’s a few dollars cheaper than many lip liners on the market. The best part? You’ll get tons of wear from it, since there’s very little reapplication required.”
Vanese Maddix, contributing beauty writer
She tried: Sacheu Lip Liner Stay-N (in HEY-zel), $12
“My lips can get pretty dry, so I only use liners that are hydrating and moisturising. Right off the bat, I noticed a gluey kind of smell from the formula. The texture also felt slightly sticky as it began to dry down. I left this on for the full 15 minutes, and my lips didn’t feel uncomfortable, tingly, or dry, which was a good sign. It came off in one go rather than in clumps.
“My lips already have a brown hue to them, and I found this stain was just a touch darker than my usual lip shade. I’d hoped it would be much darker, especially since the formula looks really dark. However, HEY-zel is already the darkest available. I found the overall longevity really impressive: it lasted all day and didn’t budge for anything I ate. While this product won’t be replacing my beloved Rhode Peptide Lip Shape or Charlotte Tilbury Lip Cheat anytime soon, I can definitely see why it’s gone viral and why people keep coming back to it. It looks great with a clear lip balm as a top coat, but I’d like darker shades from Sacheu in the future.”
Jacqueline Kilikita, beauty director
She tried: Sacheu Lip Liner Stay-N (in CoReal), $12
“My first experience with peel-off lip stains was with Wonderskin. Despite the many glowing reviews, I didn’t have a great time with it, so I approached Sacheu’s version with a fair bit of scepticism. The application is fairly straightforward, but the product dries quickly — you have to move fast. I struggled to layer it for more intensity; once it set, going back over it didn’t quite work. Using too much is a no-go, too, as it can seep into the lines of your lips in a way that a traditional pencil liner wouldn’t.
“Peeling it off was quick and totally painless, but the pigment clung to my dry patches, creating an uneven finish. I’m not a red lip person, so I might not be the best judge of the shade, but once I added a bit of lip oil, it evened out and looked much better! As a habitual lip licker (and picker), it didn’t last very long on me — just smushing my lips together and eating breakfast was enough to wear most of it, so I ended up removing the rest with a little micellar water on a cotton bud. It’s safe to say, it won’t be replacing my trusty Laura Mercier Perfecting Lip Liner anytime soon, but it is pretty fun.”
Karina Hoshikawa, senior writer
She tried: Sacheu Lip Liner Stay-N (in getREADy), $12
“I love the idea of red lipstick, but more often than not, I decide against it purely due to the high maintenance of it all. Choosing to rock a red lip means you’re signing up for careful sips and bites, constant touchups and generally avoiding it getting everywhere if you’re as prone to touching your face as I am. Sacheu has solved this problem with its getREADy shade of long-lasting lip liner. I actually like to apply this as both a liner or all-over, and either apply a red lipstick on top for maximum staying power, or a tinted lip balm for a more muted red. I ate and drank as normal after applying this in the morning, and it lasted nearly all day. I refreshed my lipstick throughout the day, but the defined shape from the liner didn’t budge at all. Best of all, it felt comfortable and the undertones are neutral enough that I could wear pretty much any red lipstick, ranging from warm, orange-y ones to my most vivid, blue-toned hues like MAC Ruby Woo.”
She also tried: Sacheu Lip Liner Stay-N (in MUAH-ve), $12
“This shade is utterly gorgeous. On my olive skin, it’s the perfect ‘my lips, but better’ warm, rosy nude. I’ve almost found these lip liners too pigmented. I leave it on for five minutes tops, and that’s more than enough to achieve a stain that lasts all day. With MUAH-ve, I like to apply it on freshly exfoliated lips (to remove any dry, flaky patches) so that they are soft but not too moisturized that the product won’t adhere properly.
“As you’ve likely seen in countless TikToks, the best part of Sacheu’s lip liner is the peel-and-reveal step, but a pro tip: Make sure you have a tissue nearby since the removal process can be a little messy. Even with a careful, even application, removing the delicate layer of lip stain resulted in me getting it on my fingers and nails. I wear a nude lip almost every day, and my favorite way to wear MUAH-ve is with a tinted balm on top to lock in moisture and pigment. I’ve been pairing it with the Burt’s Bees tinted lip balm in Red Dahlia nonstop ever since recently testing it for another review.”
Tanyel Mustafa, senior writer
She tried: Sacheu Lip Liner Stay-N (in P-Inked), $12
“This lip stain is easy enough to use. It’s quite stiff and sticky in texture, making it simple to shape the lines compared to a more fluid one. After 10 minutes, it peeled off with only a couple of flakes left. The pigment was a bit too strong for my liking, as I prefer my lip liner to look more subtle, but with some lipstick dabbed over top, I liked the final effect a lot more. It did, however, leave my lips feeling irritated for the first hour or two after applying. They didn’t look irritated, but I could feel that my skin wasn’t too happy. Thankfully, this did settle after a while.
“Having eaten a burger and drank a couple of pints, the stain had faded by the end of the night. It was still there, but it was actually how I wished it had looked at the start of the night, like a natural enhancement over an obvious line. If it weren’t for the irritating sensation I experienced, I’d use it again and try a softer application to begin with because it really did look pretty a few hours into my evening (as you can see above).”
This story was originally published on Refinery29 UK.
Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
We Tested 16 Tinted Lip Balms To Find The Best
