The huda lip stain is a stain and liner hybrid from a brand that began with false lashes and a loan from a sister. This edit puts the Lip Contour shades next to Huda Beauty's pencils, mousse and jelly oil, then four very different stains from other labels.
How the Huda Lip Stain Grew Out of a Lash Line and a Loan
Before Huda Beauty was a lip brand, it was a lash brand, and before that it was a blog. Huda Kattan started the blog in 2010, then in 2013 launched false lashes with her sisters Mona and Alya, funded by a loan from Alya. Sephora Dubai expected to sell 7,000 pairs in a year and sold them in a week. Lips came next, and Kattan has said the lip liner was the first thing they made after the lashes. That is the lineage of the huda lip stain in this edit: the Lip Contour, a liner and stain hybrid that the brand says is smudge-proof, kiss-proof and transfer-proof for 12 hours. I like it because it is easy. There is no lining and filling, just one pencil that colors the whole mouth. The four here are Rosy Mauve, Baby Pink, Toasty Brown and a blue-toned Cherry Red, and the brand notes that the huda beauty lip contour comes in eight colors in all. The brand's own tip is to store it tip down.
The pencil that came before the stain
Huda Beauty made the lip liner first, so it is no surprise the pencils are the most confident part of the range. The Lip Contour 2.0 is retractable, matte and, per the brand, water-proof and transfer-proof for up to nine hours, with soybean and licorice in the formula to keep it creamy. Pinky Brown and Muted Pink are the two here, and they sit in the same neutral zone as the stain shades. The Liquid Matte Mousse is the softer counterpart, a whipped soft blur in a pinky brown that I would pat on with a fingertip. Faux Filler is a tinted jelly oil in Juicy Pink Lady, with peptides and shea butter, and it is the one that makes the other three look sharper by contrast. If you like your lip edges blurred, use the mousse. If you like them drawn, use the pencil and skip the gloss.
Four more Huda Beauty formats
Stains that behave differently
The rest of the edit shows how far the word stain has stretched. Kulfi, founded by Priyanka Ganjoo in 2021 and named for a South Asian dessert, makes Lassi Lips, a blurring matte stain with squalane. Rare Beauty's Soft Pinch is a gel that turns into an oil and leaves a tint, and Selena Gomez has said it took two years to get right. The Urban Decay Lip Toy is a pH-reactive lip oil stain, from a brand that debuted in 1996 with ten lipsticks. Gucci's Oil-In-Water Tint in Rosewood has cranberry biopeptides and hyaluronic acid. What I would skip is swatching any of these on the back of your hand. A pH stain in particular needs a couple of minutes on real lips to show its color.
Start with the lip liner shade
If you are new to stains, start with the Lip Contour in the shade closest to your own lip color. It forgives a wobbly hand, and the pencil edge means you can build up the center with a fingertip. Move to an oil stain when you want more shine and less commitment. I keep a mauve in my bag for exactly the days I forget to look in a mirror before leaving the house. That is the case for a good stain: it does the remembering for you. If you want to keep browsing, I also put together How Nars Afterglow Lip Balm Grew Out of a 1999 Blush and Brown Mascara for a Softer Lash Line, Plus Brown Liners to Match.
