I've been using L'Oreal Invincible Platinum Lipsticks for quite a few years now, in fact, so many years that I can't actually say if it's 8 years or 12, I just don't remember! What I do know is that I've never before or since found such a decent lipstick that does exactly what it claims to do and more that I've wanted to keep using for as long as I continue to use lipstick.

L'Oreal Invincible Platinum Lipstick claims to give you 8 hours of intense colour with a shimmering finish with no dryness. From my personal experience over many years of use I can categorically state that this claim is 100% true. I've applied this lippie in the morning before going to work, had breakfast and lunch during the day and come home without needing to re-apply, in many cases even after 10 hours.

I've never particularly had a problem with dry lips but this lipstick keeps my lips moist and supple and I've found since using this brand that I've never suffered with dry lips issues. Now it's not that I have greasy lips or anything weird like that but I do sincerely believe that this particular "make" and "model" of lipstick is a huge contributory factor to me not having to worry about using lip salve or lip balm.

There is a big negative side to this lipstick though and that is that it's not widely available anymore. How annoying is it when you find a fabulous product that suits you so well and the company discontinues the colours you were most fond of?

When L'Oreal Invincible Platinum Lipstick first came out there was an abundance of colours available. Unfortunately my absolute favourite shade which was 920 - Platinum Crimson (a deep colour) is not widely available anymore. In fact, the last time I managed to track it down, I had the foresight to order all 4 of them that were available and the other day when I tried to source it again I saw it for £30 on ebay (the justification for the price was that it was such a rare shade now). My next favourite shade is 907 - Platinum Cherry which I use mostly for work as it's not too bright a colour for the workplace. I also use shade 930 once in while when going out as this is a bright red shade.

I have noticed that shades 916 - Platinum Topaz, 900 - Platinum Candy and 909 - Platinum Coffee seem to be easily available but they're not shades I've tried personally (yet). Who knows? When I run out of my current stock of a dozen or so of my favourite colours, I might try out these different shades and get as attached to them as I have the ones I've already been using for years.

I would add here that all of the Platinum range have a shimmery effect, so as well as looking good and moisturising your lips, it also gives the effect that you're wearing lip gloss. The one advantage this has over standard lip gloss is that it doesn't leave tell tale marks over drinks glasses as much as lip gloss does.

These lipsticks come in a silver casing, nothing spectacular about the packaging. It holds the 18g of lipstick perfectly well and works as most other lipsticks do, remove the lid and twist the base of the lipstick to use. I'm not going to insult anyone here by explaining how lipstick should be applied to the lips nor am I going to invent any other uses for this lipstick as it's meant pure and simply to be used as a lipstick.

L'Oreal Invincible Platinum Lipsticks are available online on various sites and at the time of writing they can be purchased from as little as £2.00 each (when they originally came out, I seem to recall they were about £7 or £8 each and I have paid up to £10 for my favourite shades from ebay stores in the past). I would advise you to be careful when purchasing these online unless you know exactly which shade you're after as the photos of the shades do not always match exactly the colour you're going to get. On some sites for example they just seem to use a stock photo of the actual lipstick and the colour in no way represents the actual shade you'll end up with.

L'Oreal Invincible Platinum Lipsticks are currently available at: http://www.cosmetics4less.net/acatalog/info_3419.h tml or http://www.blushcosmetics.com/lipstick/l-39-oreal- lipstick/l-39-oreal- invincible-platinum-lipstick-520-forever-berry/pro d_5061.html or http://www.cosmeticdiva.co.uk/ourshop/prod_663499- LOreal- Invincible-Platinum-Lipstick-Prune-515.html or http://www.selinascosmetics.co.uk/selinascosmetics shop/ prod_1081114-LOreal-Invincible-Platinum-Lipstick-R ose-901.html although I haven't purchased from any of these sites personally (spaces have been inserted in these URLs over 80 characters in total which will need to be removed if you want to check the sites).