'I tried the 'oval liner' trick for plumper lips, minus the injectables. Here's how it went.'

Mamamia’s Tried and Tested series is your weekly review of the latest to hit our desks in beauty, health and wellness. You won’t find any #sponsored content here, just honest, relatable and independent advice. This week, Senior Lifestyle Writer Erin Docherty reviews the viral oval-lining hack to see if it’s worth the hype.

If you find lining your lips tricky or you feel like it always ends up looking weird (hello, this is me), then there's a new hack we need to talk about, immediately.

It’s called 'oval lip lining' and you may have seen the hack doing the rounds on TikTok — the hashtag #ovallininglips has racked up millions upon millions of views, with people touting it as the easiest way to achieve fuller, plumper lips.

Yes! Apparently, we're all over-lining our lips the wrong way?? Awkward.

@katiahaek ⚠️ New technique alert ⚠️ #ovallining#ovalliningtechnique#liplinerhack#beautyhacks#makeuptutorial ♬ original sound - Katia Haek

*Literally* everyone with a face is trying it.

Not only does it look really easy (you pretty much just need a lip liner and a lip product), but the results look really good too, right?

@helinndoski Fuller Lips Hack using! Stop OVER-lining and start OVAL-lining! Using the @makeuprevolution IRL Lip Creme & Definer #IRLLip #makeuprevolution ♬ original sound - Helin Doski

As someone who tries a lot of different trends and hacks (ahem... the 10-pump foundation hack and the lube primer trick), I was keen to see how this shaped up.

Watch: You know what you look like you want to see? Me putting 10 pumps of foundation on my face. Here's how it went. Post continues below.

So, I put the viral trend to the test.

Here are my honest thoughts.

What is the 'oval lip liner' technique?

Oh, yes. Good question. Important question.

The viral 'oval-lining' makeup technique is supposed to help you create rounded, plumper-looking lips by accentuating the natural curve of your lips.

The technique itself is actually really simple (we love to see it) and basically involves grabbing a lip liner and drawing a point or dot in the centre of your top lip (the cupid's bow) and at the centre of your bottom lip. 

@nvneeta Oval lip lining trend💋 ib @bexcxmpbell ♬ original sound - Notfrmco

Using this as a guide, you're then supposed to draw an oval connecting the points on your bottom and top lip. You can use a cotton tip to remove any excess lip liner and keep things looking clean and sharp.

Easy as pie.

You’re then supposed to apply gloss or lipstick on top and — that's it! Fuller plumper-looking lips in seconds. No filler. No over-lining. No fuss.

How did you go with it?

First things first, I had to find the correct lip liner — because it's honestly the key to nailing this trend. 

When I first tried the hack on the You Beauty podcast, the results were good, but not great. 

I originally used Mecca Max Pout Pencil in 'Plush', $16, but found it was a little too dark on my lips for a 'natural' look. I also used Holme Beauty Lip Gloss in 'Devine', $36, but the line was still pretty visible underneath, as it's more of a gloss than a lipstick.

My sparkly guest co-host Lucy Neville used a creamy Rare Beauty Kind Words Matte Lip Liner, $26, and a swanky Glossier lipstick you can't get here — and her lips looked AMAZING.

So, I decided to change tack and switch to using different lip products.

For a more natural look, I decided to use a pink-coloured lip liner shade that was a little closer to my natural lip colour with similar undertones. 

I opted for Kylie Lip Liner in 305 'Harmony', $26, which is a super creamy formula that blends well. For the lip product, I reached for one of my all-time fave lip products — Charlotte Tilbury Hyaluronic Happikiss in 'Enchanting Kiss', $36. It's still quite glossy but has a good colour payoff.

Gang's all here.

Upon trying it the second time, my 'oval' looked more like a circle (it's weirdly hard to draw a perfect oval, though), but I also noticed a lot of the TikTok videos weren't perfect ovals and still looked great. 

Plus, I still felt like it emphasised the curve of my lips — so went with it! 

That's definitely a circle, but okay.

Next, the lip product. This Charlotte Tilbury formula in combination with the creamy lip pencil definitely blended everything out better and left my lips feeling super hydrated. 

I tend to have really dry lips, especially coming up to winter, so I usually veer away from lipstick and always have something like Blistex Ultra Lip Balm on heavy rotation. 

But, I have to say I was pretty surprised to find my lips felt moisturised and comfy (although, she still has Blistex on hand jussst in case!).

Here's what my lips looked like before trying the hack (left) and after trying the hack (right).

Before and after the 'oval lining' hack.

Pretty subtle, right?

It's nothing crazy, but I just feel like they look... better. And way more natural than what I usually do if I'm 'going out' (over-lining).

The verdict.

Okay, I was really sceptical to try this after my first attempt failed — I try so many different 'viral' hacks that often end up being total poo, so I didn't have high hopes. 

However, once I had the right kind of products in hand, the hack turned out to be a really simple way to make my lips look a little fuller and plumper without making them look weird/like you've just over-lined the s**t outta them.

As someone with quite thin lips (like, they're literally the size of a shoelace), I often find that wearing lipstick or over-lining them looks a little.. too much... on my face. But I think this nifty technique makes it all look really natural. 

I loved how simple and easy this was, and I'll definitely be using the technique again. Here's to ditching over-lining for oval-lining!

Would you try oval-lining your lips? What are your thoughts on the hack? Share with us in the comment section below.

Feature image: TikTok; @KatiaHaek, Erin Docherty, Canva.