Meet the Purrr-fect Barbie Pink Lip Pencil

My beloved MAC Pink Nouveau stub.

 You guys know I love my hot pinks and bright pinks. But just awhile back, it suddenly hit me that I couldn't find a good strong, bright medium pink liner to match these lipsticks.

Most pink lip liners on the market are either too pale, too nude, too beige, too red, too coral, or too deep.

MAC Pink Nouveau swatched beside liners (R-to-L): NYX Dolly Pink (pale blue-pink), Rimmel 018 Addiction (nude-pink),  Rimmel 005 Pure (coral), NYX Fuchsia (blue-based magenta), MAC Chromagraphic in Process Magenta (true fuchsia)

To illustrate it, I lined up the pink pencils I own and swatched them all beside Pink Nouveau. No go.

After searching high and low through high- and low-end brands, I was amazed that all these companies (MAC, Make Up Store, NYX, etc,) with huge color ranges didn't cater for this particular color tone when it was so popular.

And then I found it.

Barry M has a lip pencil called #12 Fuchsia, which I had dismissed time and time again because the color representation online was totally inaccurate, and because I associate the word "Fuchsia" with a much deeper pink.

Shown here: Barry M #12 Fuchsia Lip Pencil (and China Glaze Sea Spray Nail Polish)

Now let me tell you, this is not a perfect match. But it is the closest to perfect that I have EVER found.

Lip match: MAC Pink Nouveau lipstick swatched with Barry M #12 Fuchsia Lip Pencil

If you own Pink Nouveau, you will know it's a bright pink, but it's not quite neon. The real perfect matches with Barry M #12 Fuchsia Lip Pencil are the more fluorescent pinks such as Lime Crime Countessa Fluorescent and Barry M 62 Vibrant Pink. If you're wearing it with a slightly softer shade like Pink Nouveau or Dolly Pink, make sure to fill in your lips rather than just outlining them, as you don't want it to catch the light when a camera flashes and give you a neon ring around your mouth (tried and tested by yours truly).

Texture wise, it's smooth and pigmented to apply, and when you color in your lip with it, the color is not streaky or clumpy. It's also vegan-friendly, and costs a very fabulous £2.99. I totally stocked up on it.