We hope you love our recommendations! While every product is independently chosen by our editors, BuzzFeed and our publishing partners may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. You can read more about how our affiliate partnerships work in our Editorial Standards & Ethics Guide.

We tried out the lipstick on its own, and with the lipliner. Here's what we found.By

The Almost Lipstick is a tinted lip balm that’s sheer but buildable, and meant to be more hydrating than your average lipstick (hence the name), somewhere between a traditional lipstick and a balm. It’s made with emollients like seed oils to nourish the lips for comfortable everyday wear.

It’s primarily known for the always iconic shade Black Honey, which has deeper berry tones, but it also comes in two others, Pink Honey (a rosy pink) and Nude Honey (a brownish nude with a “your lips but better” effect). Black Honey in particular is a social media star, perhaps due to the brand’s claim that it “looks incredible (and different) on everyone,” and apparently Clinique sells seven tubes every minute.

The Quickliner is Clinique’s pencil lipliner, which is similarly meant to be non-drying, with the added benefit of preventing lipstick from feathering to make sure it stays in place. It was already available in a variety of shades, but you can now grab it in Black Honey, Pink Honey and Nude Honey to complete your lip look (the brand launched these three new shades in January 2026). The Quickliner claims to be long-wearing, too, which piqued our interest. At the same price as the balm on its own, we were curious whether its benefits made it worth the extra purchase.

“My favorite part about the Almost Lipstick is how comfortable it feels on the lips,” said senior shopping writer Tessa Flores. “It really does strike the perfect balance between feeling like a nourishing balm that gives a perfect sheen, without feeling sticky like a gloss. The color... is incredibly customizable and can be built up to look more obvious.”

As someone who usually only wears lip gloss or a true lip balm, I appreciated the ease of application but the feel took some getting used to. It’s true that it’s more nourishing than a traditional lipstick, but I still usually preferred to wear wearing lip balm underneath for my always-chapped lips.

Senior wellness reporter Jillian Wilson said, “I think these lipsticks look best when worn with the lipliner. They pop more with the lipliner!” Shopping analytics editor Lily Alig said that for her, it depended on the color. “The Black Honey balm plus liner was too intense (I rarely wear more than a lightly tinted lip balm), but I loved how the Pink Honey liner enhanced the balm color.”

It may come down to personal preference and situational context, something senior shopping writer Lourdes Uribe pointed out. “The balm on its own [offers] a little slick of color and hydration... while the addition of the liner makes it perfect for... anytime I want a more dramatic, emphasized lip combo,” she said.

For one thing, I liked the swivel design. Unlike a traditional pencil liner, you don’t have to worry about sharpening it to get all of the product.

Alig, who said she’d never used lipliner before this, called the Quickliner “super easy to use.” Wilson echoed this sentiment for both the Quickliner and Almost Lipstick: “They glide on evenly without much effort on my end.”

The smooth application, Uribe said, could make the Quickliner a good option for mature skin. “Liners can also be really drying, but I feel like this one only adds to the hydrating effect of the balm.”

For Flores, however, the products in combination fell a little flat. “The liner doesn’t last long under the Almost Lipstick formula, nor was it the easiest to work with together, because the lipstick is so emollient-rich,” she said. “I much prefer to use this liner with other lipsticks that are less hydrating, or just wearing the Almost Lipstick completely on its own for an everyday look.”

Our consensus about the balm on its own was that reapplication was definitely needed, but that wasn’t a dealbreaker. “I love that it’s fortified with humectants and seed oils, but because of this, you will sacrifice a bit in terms of longevity and transfer during eating and drinking,” Flores explained. “This doesn’t really bother me since this is such a low-maintenance product that fades unobtrusively, unlike traditional lipsticks that can look patchy and need constant retouching.”

Eating was definitely the main disruptor to the balm’s staying power; as Alig put it, “If I applied Black Honey before coming into the office, it would survive the commute but immediately transfer to my coffee cup.” I wore Black Honey on its own to a party, and upon seeing photos afterward, I could tell it was nearly gone after eating.

“I find that the liner definitely adds to the longevity,” Uribe said. If you don’t feel like constantly worrying about reapplication, the liner is worth the buy.

Black Honey purports to look great on everyone, but I found it pretty intense on my paler, neutral-to-cool skin, especially with the liner. Not that it looked bad, but it was just more intense than I was used to for an everyday look. Meanwhile, Uribe said that for her olive skin tone, Pink Honey was her least favorite. Flores said the coffee-brown Nude Honey was also a miss for her pink and cool-toned skin, but Wilson, who has warmer yellow undertones, ranked it in first place.

As we noted earlier, the liner affects the look of each shade to a sometimes startling degree. “I was shocked at how much the lip liner changed the overall look of the balm,” said Alig, finding it could take a color “from subtle to super noticeable” in a few swipes.

Marquaysa Battle, HuffPost managing editor of shopping and sales strategy, also briefly tested out the Quickliners in Pink Honey and Nude Honey but found that the colors didn’t work well with her skin tone, which she describes as deep with warm, red undertones. “I would need to wear them as traditional lip colors and give them a brown liner to make them work for me,” she said, but added, “Despite the colors not being the best, the actual formula slid on easily and felt good and moisturizing on my lips. I’d be willing to try other shades.”

Still, whether you complete the lip duo or just opt for the Almost Lipstick on its own, it’s pretty clear why this product has gained such a cult following. It goes on smooth, adds a buildable wash of color and won’t dry out your lips. Personally, I would buy this again and again, and I could see some of my fellow testers doing the same.