Like most people, I find it a bit of a pain having to touch up my make-up during the day, and lipstick is always one of the first things to go. This is partly my fault- during the morning I drink about ten gallons of tea because I'm, frankly, a complete tea addict- but I also like to think that a decent lipstick should be able to stay in place for at least the first cup of tea of the day. Or the second. Or the third. And so on...

With this in mind, I was tempted to try the L'Oreal Infallible lipstick, mainly because years and years ago I'd had a very good L'Oreal lipstick that once applied didn't budge til lunchtime. I'd also read a few good things about this lipstick on the internet and in magazines, so even though it looked a little weird I decided to give it a go.

This is a very strange looking lipstick. Basically, the lipstick and a finishing balm are contained in a silver coloured rectangular case. The idea is that you apply the lip colour first, leave it for at least a minute then apply the balm, which has a glossy sheen. You can then re-apply the balm as often as you like, whilst in theory the lipstick itself should stay put.

I wanted a shade just a little darker than my natural lip colour and with pinkish tones, but the closest colour I could find from the available offerings was shade 201 Stay Ultraviolet- not as bright or vivid as it might sound, but not quite what I was after. Although there are nine shades on offer in Boots (I was using my Advantage card points) they all looked a bit same-y. The colour I chose looked nice enough, so the lack of variety wasn't too distressing.

This lipstick is in the range I consider to be a little pricey (£11.29) so if it hadn't been a) on offer and if b) I hadn't been using my Advantage card points, I might not have bothered. I like to use offers though to get something a little more expensive than I would normally buy and see if it's worth the difference.

I tried out my lipstick for work next day- always a good test of how long-lasting a make-up product will prove to be. I applied the colour first (after a little experimentation, I figured out that you need to slide the lipstick up the side of the metal casing so you can pop it out and apply it- it doesn't sound hard, I know, but I find even putting on socks difficult first thing in the morning), let it set or dry or whatever it needed to do for a minute and then applied the balm. The lipstick itself felt ok- not too drying on the lips as some long-lasting colours can be- and the colour was true to the packaging and quite nice. The balm had a soft, moisturising feel and a subtly glossy finish. So far, so good.

I touched up the balm a couple of times during the morning but left my lipstick alone and drank tea with wild abandon. i noticed there was hardly any traces of lipstick on my mug, which was encouraging. My lunchtime, my lipstick was still in place. Hurray! By mid-way through the afternoon, it had started to rub off from the middle of my lips but given that I'd had numerous cups of tea, eaten lunch and that it was over six hours since I'd first applied it, I was happy with that as a result.

On the whole, I was happy with the performance of this lipstick, but I would have loved a better choice of colours. I use this lipstick for work, and it's great for that, but I find despite the convenience of a long lasting lipstick I don't always plump for this one in the morning because other lipsticks suit me better. If you're listening, L'Oreal, this is a good lipstick but we need a better range of shades. We girls like a bit of choice!