“From wintry winds to the winds of time, echoing melancholy’ s mire, beauty emerges so sublime, painting a landscape of desire. At conformity, the mind rebels, yields to emotions running raw, in romantic dreams, elatedly dwells; why live, if not under passion’s law?

According to Nicolas Degennes, the creator of the Givenchy Poetique range, his inspiration is a fantasy that recreates visions of the fragile beauty of Gothic novel heroines; wide eyes, ethereal gowns, silken strands of hair flying wildly. The thread of poetry runs throughout the collection, conjuring images of Byron, Shelley, Keats and the like, lounging under trees in a poet’s utopia, writing verses, and falling in love every 20 minutes. It will take much less time for you to fall head over heels for this little cosmetic chameleon which makes up in glamour what it lacks in size. Its 5 x 5 x 1 cm frame fits snugly between phone and credit card in your sequinned clutch; and while the gloss effect doesn’t last forever, the regular reapplication is so intensely enjoyable that it doesn’t matter. Particularly pleasing are the seethingly envious glances from every female in the loos when you produce, as if by magic, this sexy black box. And magic it is: the beautifully scented black gel becomes clear when applied, and gradually turns a warm sugary pink on the lips. It’s a perfectly muted shade that works well for balancing out the new deco-glam messy eyes and hair, and even long after wearing off, its moisturising agents are hard at work making my lips feel rose-petal soft.

In a second compartment of the Mary-Poppins-esque pot is a tiny space with an applicator pad and two divinely soft lip brushes. The Givenchy Poetique gloss can be worn both over and under lipstick, as well as alone. The two lip colours in the Poetique range (Rouge Interdit and Rouge Interdit Shine) are, needless to say, vastly improved by the addition of the non-sticky gloss, but it flies much better solo. The pink that it morphs into is a beautifully natural colour that would suit most complexions, even those with an enviable olive colouring, and especially the paler skinned English roses. The honey-textured gel glides on so smoothly that it’s all I can do not to permanently sweep the brush across my puckered lips, like some kind of weird nervous tic. We have also been informed that the gloss works as a blush. Not true. Unless you’re going for the shiny-faced plastic-doll look, which isn’t a style we think Gothic heroines would approve of.

You can buy Givenchy gloss Poetique online here.