As many of you know by now, despite a few disastrous forays into make-up land...where an urge for smokey eyes suddenly become a question of "who hit you?"...I tend towards the minimal when it comes to face paint. Not that there aren't a lot of looks that I love...I just don't love them on me.

Take red lips...sensuous, sexy, very "I am woman, hear me roar"...yet too bright a red against my pale skin and I look deranged. I won't even go into the whole re-application thing...surely it's enough that I remembered to put it on in the morning? I'm expected to keep checking the damned stuff throughout the day...isn't that a little needy?

Which is why...much as I love a good "limited edition" novelty item...I will not be attempting to get my grubby little hands on one of Lancome's black and red luxe lip sets when it hits stores (all two of them...Bloomingdale's in New York and one of Lancome's five boutiques) this November. The red...which matches Louboutin's soles...falls under the "searingly red equates to me looking deranged" category...and can be worn by itself or with a layer of sheer, glossy black on top. Actually, with the addition of the black topcoat, I find myself strangely attracted to the goth meets femme fatale result but the knowledge that if I can't handle the maintenance on one layer of lippie two would push me over the edge saves me from doing anything stupid (like trying to actually find...and buy...one of these kits).