Top Shop? Not so much

You'd be hard-pushed to find a bigger Topshop fan than I. My hard-earned dollar is sent straight to the bank of Toppers. Lunch breaks are spent eagerly perusing the website. And it's my first (and more often than not, my only) port of call on the high street. So when the brand's new cosmetic line promised to combine my two greatest loves, my excitement was palpable.

The monochrome packaging is suitably chic, while the streaky stripes and crayon-scrawled text are laidback and nonchalant, suitably befitting of the Topshop girl about town. I just tried the Lipstick in Vamp, £8 (topshop.com) and I must say, I am pretty disappointed.

Let's first start off with the positives, of which it does have a few. The colour, for one, is a gorgeously gothic, reddy-plum. Not too dark for colour-phobes but vampy enough for those who relish their lip-wear. The texture, creamy to apply, gives a lovely semi-matte finish and left my lips feel soft and hydrated. It has a decent enough staying power (the boyfriend test didn't go exactly to plan but any colour this dark will rarely leave him unscathed).

On the downside, it did bleed very easily. And before you cry, "You should have worn lip liner"...I did. So no excuse there. When I went to touch up, it seemed to wipe off existing colour so I had to resort to dabbing on the bullet to restore an even finish. The biggest of its faux-pas though was an annoying flakiness. Again, this I can't take credit for, since I buffed my lips beforehand.

Perhaps I'm just super-fussy when it comes to lipstick. But if I'm going to wear a colour for a good 6-8 hours, then it has to feel comfortable and look AMAZING. Sadly, Topshop didn't deliver on this one. Sx