Artist Color Pencil
Summary of Reviews
Make Up For Ever's Artist Color Pencil is a versatile, creamy multi-purpose pencil that works on lips, eyes, and cheeks, with professional makeup artist Nikki La Rose calling it a "ride or die" staple in her kit. The shade range includes unique cool-toned browns like Endless Cacao, which Haley Kim says is rare and creates a natural lip contour. However, one creator notes that as a lip liner, it's not very long-wearing, especially with gloss on top, fading within a few hours.
Full Reviews
Positive
Variant: Extreme
- “These are staples in my pro kit”
- “They're complete no fail option if you ask me”21:35–21:39
- Source: 15 no fail makeup products - Jan 10, 2026
Variant: Extreme
- “These are very versatile and multifunctional”54:51–54:54
- “You could apply to your eyes and your lips”
- “I love those pencils so so much”
- Source: Allure Best of Beauty according to me - Oct 11, 2025
Variant: Wherever Walnut
- “All of the shades are so beautiful, super wearable”4:40–4:44
- “I also find this formula to be very long lasting and easy to work with”4:42–4:47
- “It's just such a good neutral like nude shade lip liner”4:51–4:56
- “I love it”4:54–4:58
- “I wear it all the time”4:56–5:00
- “I feel like you can pair it with so many different lip colors because it really is more of just like a your lips but better type shade”4:56–5:01
- “If you've been eyeing one of these in any shade, I highly recommend picking this up”5:03–5:07
- Source: The only products worth your money at the Sephora sale 2025 - Nov 4, 2025
Variant: Extreme / Wherever Walnut
- “I feel like I talk about this every time I do the video”20:10–20:18
- “I like the extreme more than the original Artist Color pencil, which tends to work really well all over the face, but it just doesn't have the longevity”20:15–20:23
- Source: Holy Grails 2025/2026: Best Beauty Products of the Year - Dec 28, 2025
- “My MAKE UP FOR EVER color pencils are going to be my absolute favorite”47:41–47:45
- “I love the original formulas. I love the extreme formulas”47:45–47:49
- “This one is supposed to be a little longwearing. To me, it just feels a little creamier and a little bit more emollient”47:47–47:52
- Source: Best makeup of 2025 awards - Jan 4, 2026
Variant: Anywhere Caffeine
- “This lip combo alone is just perfect”
- “This has been one of my go-tos. I need it every second of the day”20:52–21:02
- Source: Sweat-Proof Drugstore Glam for My National Anthem Performance - Apr 27, 2026
- “Ride or die. Ride or die pencil”
- “Cannot go wrong”
- “They're so. They're like when I'm doing makeup on a client I'm not quite sure I haven't like decided what I want to do for the lips. That's like my go-to because I know it's like the safest bet”
- “So worth it”
- Source: 50 of the best sellers at Sephora: buy or skip? - Apr 4, 2026
Variant: Extreme
- “I'm always going back and forth between my Dior lip liners and my Make Up For Ever lip liners”13:16–13:20
- “I really like this new Wherever Walnut Light lip liner. This is gorgeous. I've used this so many times recently since I first unboxed it”13:25–13:33
- “This is much cooler in undertone and much more pink than the original Wherever Walnut, but these are two great everyday pencils”13:35–13:39
- Source: Sephora savings event recommendations spring 2026 - Apr 8, 2026
Variant: Extreme / Wherever Walnut Light
- “This is really the perfect kind of mauvy nude, especially with the eye look that we have”21:52–21:57
- “I think it's a beautiful shade”22:03–22:06
- Source: New Holy Grail and Gimmick at Sephora - Mar 11, 2026
Variant: Extreme / Anywhere Caffeine
- “This is still definitely one of my go-to lip liners in the sense that I know it's not going to fail me, and it's pretty much universal with all of my lip combinations”22:27–22:35
- “Still a really beautiful, very easy, no-fuss type of lip liner”23:12–23:17
- “It's also a shade that I think looks really good all over the lips and not just to define the outer lip lines”23:17–23:22
- Source: 21 months of project pan update - Apr 24, 2026
Variant: Extreme / Wear Walnut
- “A classic, you guys”
- “I recently reached for this again and wow it's beautiful”25:39–25:44
- “On my lips, it translates more as a warm rose shade. And it really blends into my lips so well”25:51–25:56
- “I've been loving it as a slightly deeper warm rose for my more pinky shades”25:59–26:05
- Source: My current favorite beauty products I can't stop using - May 25, 2026
Variant: Extreme / Limitless Brown
- “And then for this lighter color, I'll work it more into the center of my lips”12:45–12:49
- “This is in Limitless Brown”12:51–12:53
- “Trust me guys, I've gotten so many compliments every time I wear this lip combo”13:03–13:06
- Source: How to apply makeup for beginners: in depth step by step - May 26, 2025
Variant: 610 Versatile Chestnut
- “I think this is most versatile lip liner that I own, and also just a variation on the MAC Chestnut”11:22–11:31
- “They apply beautifully, blend nicely, stay on for quite a good amount of time”11:51–11:57
- “I've been using this one a lot with my combinations, either with a gloss or with a lipstick, like very versatile”11:57–12:04
- “It literally the name also says it, versatile chestnut, but it is actually versatile, like legit versatile”12:04–12:10
- Source: March 2026 Beauty Favorites - Mar 22, 2026
Variant: Extreme / 506 Endless Cacao
- “This one specific shade is very unique and you can only find from this brand at Sephora”19:41–19:50
- “This shade is more like cool tone brown color that you can't really find from other drugstore brand, and I never seen this type of color from other Sephora brands as well”19:54–20:02
- “This is very unique cool tone lip liner that's so rare to find”20:03–20:10
- “I found that most of brown lip liner or brown base lip liners are warm tone base, so sometimes they look super warm or too super orange on my lips, but I found it this creates most natural looking shadow or contour my lips”20:08–20:15
- “This is like multi-purpose pencil, so you can actually use this as a eyeliner or eyeshadow as well”20:23–20:29
- “Even if you put it as a eyeliner, it looks also very unique and very pretty, and looks pretty chic compared to other brown base eyeliner”20:31–20:39
- “I think this shade Endless Cacao and this specific liner is just perfect multi-purpose pencil”
- Source: Sephora Sale Recommendations: What's Actually Worth Buying - Apr 11, 2026
Variant: Extreme / Anywhere Caffeine
- “The shade Anywhere Caffeine has been a favorite for years of mine”14:41–14:46
- “This one still leans more cool tone but is darker than honey beige”14:54–15:00
- Source: 2025 favorites: best makeup, hair, beauty and perfumes of the year - Dec 17, 2025
Variant: Extreme / Endless Cacao
- “This is the only cool tone brown liner I found that is worth the money, which I couldn't really find from the drug stores”22:21–22:27
- Source: My updated everyday makeup look (no foundation) - Apr 25, 2026
Variant: Extreme / Anywhere Caffeine
- “It's like multi-use matte pencil. So you can use it as a eyeliner, lip liner, blush everywhere”41:07–41:14
- “This one is more pigmented and more matte”41:20–41:25
- Source: Best of beauty 2025: Skincare and makeup - Dec 13, 2025
Variant: Extreme / Anywhere Caffeine
Variant: Wherever Walnut
- “I think this is a universally flattering shade”
- “She looks beautiful, stays on all day”
- “So creamy”
- Source: K-beauty and J-beauty makeup routine for everyday glow - May 16, 2026
Variant: Extreme / 606 Wherever Walnut
- “I also really like Forever Walnut”
- Source: Sephora sale favorites, recommendations and what's in my cart - Oct 31, 2025
Variant: Anywhere Caffeine
- “It does make your lips look a whole lot juicier. You can almost contour your lips with them”13:28–13:36
- Source: My Favorite Makeup as a Dermatologist - Nov 22, 2024
Variant: Extreme / 600 Anywhere Caffeine
- “I've been using this one for years”10:46–10:50
- “Just good everyday kind of shade”10:56–10:59
- “This stays on very well. Like, I do think this stays on a little bit better than the Huda Beauty one”10:57–11:02
- “Again, goes on nice and easy”11:02–11:05
- Source: Sephora sale favorites, recommendations and what's in my cart - Oct 31, 2025
Variant: Extreme / Wherever Walnut Light
- “This is such a perfect everyday shade”26:08–26:13
- “I love Wherever Walnut, the original, but this light version is so pretty, too”26:12–26:16
- Source: Sephora Sale 2026: Worth It or Not? - Mar 31, 2026
Variant: Extreme / Anywhere Caffeine
- “Anywhere Caffeine seems to be the it brown”7:40–7:45
- “I personally like using this multitasking pencil as a super soft caramel eyeliner”7:52–8:00
- “It's a lot less noticeable and intense than traditional deeper browns, so it creates nice sneaky definition along the lash line”8:00–8:05
- “I can always smudge it up a bit higher on my lids and treat it as a shadow, too”8:07–8:11
- Source: Reviewing bestselling beauty products from Sephora - Feb 17, 2026
Variant: Extreme / Wherever Walnut
Variant: 608 Limitless Brown
- “I often use Limitless brown by Make Up For Ever”15:06–15:12
- Source: Heat-proof makeup that lasts all day - Jul 26, 2026
Variant: Extreme / Total Taupe
- “I'll use Total Taupe from MAKE UP FOR EVER”17:03–17:08
- Source: Morphe rebrand review: swatching all palettes - Jun 16, 2026
Variant: Extreme
- “For the lip, it's looking a lot like Anywhere Caffeine from Makeup Forever”
- Source: Madison Beer Makeup Tutorial - Jan 19, 2026
Variant: Extreme / Anywhere Caffeine - Warm Caramel Nude
Mixed / Negative
Variant: Wherever Walnut
- “The Wherever Walnut shade is beautiful”12:26–12:26
- “I can't say that they are very longwearing as lip products they are not very longwearing at all”12:30–12:33
- “When you apply a gloss over the top in a span of 2-3 hours I find that the lip liner is just all gone”12:37–12:39
- “The Maybelline lifter liners are not only cheaper they're also more longwearing than the Make Up For Ever ones”12:41–12:45
- “The pencil is designed for all over the face which is why it's a lot creamier and it's easier to blend”12:48–12:52
- Source: Ranking TikTok viral products unsponsored - Dec 29, 2024
What creators say
- Consensus
- 4.5 / 5 from 16 creator reviewsGrailPeople ratings based on creator reviews.
- Features
- Long-wearing (8) · Easy to use (6) · Blendable (4) · Creamy (3) · Natural / everyday (5)
- Value
- Value for money (2)
- ⚠ doesn't last / fades through the day (1)
Product details
Details
- Type
- lip liner
- Finish
- matte
- Shade
- Extreme / Anywhere Caffeine
- Key ingredients
- MICA, CAPRYLIC/CAPRIC TRIGLYCERIDE, STEARYL DIMETHICONE, CI 77742 (MANGANESE VIOLET), CI 77891 (TITANIUM DIOXIDE), TALC, HYDROGENATED PALM GLYCERIDES, POLYGLYCERYL-3 METHYLGLUCOSE DISTEARATE, CERA MICROCRISTALLINA (MICROCRYSTALLINE WAX), CI 77491 (IRON OXIDES)
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