Beaut.ie How To: Wearing Bright Lippie for Beginners

Up until about a month ago, I was a bit of a lipstick virgin. Oh sure, there had been the occassional flirtation with a red lip under the watchful eye of a total pro, but when push came to shove and I was doing my own slap I would reach for the gloss rather than the lipstick every time.

Then I became rather enamoured with Cheryl Cole's X-Factor make-up. (I can neither confirm nor deny that this was an attempt to distract myself from her increasingly wreck-the-head diva-ish tendencies.) Her go-to look seems to be a copper eye teamed with a bright pink, quite matte lip and bright pink-peach blush, so as soon as Simon's put-downs and Louis' crazy Jedward stunts had wound up for the evening I meandered off upstairs to try and recreate the look.

The copper eye was no problem-o: regardless of whether it's declared to be in or out, it's something that makes my hazel eyes pop green and there was a more than daycent selection of shades and formulations to choose from in the bathroom cabinet. The bright pink-peach blush was similarly tried and tested: out came my pot of MAC Peachykeen, which is rather more pink than the name might suggest.

But when it came to the bright pink lippie... well, I dithered in a big way.

Bright lippie usually ends up either looking wicked garish on me or disappears from everywhere but the outlines of my lips with a strange swiftness. I decided to throw caution to the wind and go wild altogether with a tube of Smashbox "Stunning". And even though I hadn't been arsed to look for a co-ordinating lip pencil or go rooting for my Benefit D'finer D'Liner, I found that it stayed put pretty well through a cinema trip (with associated popcorn munching and Ben & Jerry's consumption) and faded off fairly evenly to leave lips with a still-nice pink stain.

The key is not to apply directly from the bullet. Instead, use a short-bristled, stiff lipstick brush (or your finger if you're caught short) to push and press colour onto the lips, a little at a time, taking care to stay within the natural line of your lips.

I've gone from being practically a lipstick virgin to an almost lipstick whore with this one wee trick, so you have been warned.

Mwah!