My Favourite Festive Lipstick: NARS Audacious Annabella

All tucked up in a roll-neck sweater, I'm feeling festively cliche in shades of snowflake white and spicy redcurrant. If there's one thing that I cannot live without this season (or any season for that matter) it's a good red lipstick. What I love most about red lipstick is its ability to change your look almost instantly - and often your mood with it - in just a few precise swipes. Feeling sniffly? Red lipstick will brighten you up. Feeling hungover? Red lipstick will make you look less like a dishevelled zombie. It demands attention and is the easiest way to inject a bit of classic glamour into any look.

Flitting between summer favourites Mac So Chaud (the ultimate matte fiery red-orange colour) and Nars Heatwave, I felt as though my winter lipstick palette was lacking and needed a real festive twist. As the days have turned cooler (so cold recently it feels like the air is trying to kill me) the shades of reds have intensely heated up. After picking up Nars Audacious Annabella lipstick from my Sunday Service experience at Urban Retreat at Harrods, I felt like I'd been given the perfect early Christmas present. Described as a 'Bold Poppy Red', Nars Audacious Annabella is a deep warm red, perfect for the festive season.

Bold, bright and heavily pigmented, the colour is entirely opaque in just one stroke, eliminating any need to layer up. For such a strongly pigmented lipstick the finish has a surprisingly soft sheen without looking overly glossy, as opposed to a matte finish which often has the tendency to dry out your lips. The texture is total lipstick bliss: it applies to the lips like soft and delicious (red) butter.

And the staying power? You get about six hours wear providing there's no serious eating, drinking, or kissing involved (it should come with a warning that it is HIGHLY transferrable...) It also has a slight tendency to bleed, but for the head-turning colour it's well worth making a few double-checks in your iPhone camera.

As a lipstick fanatic (I love soft nudes, bold reds, fiery oranges and moody berry colours) I'd love to know what your favourite festive lipsticks are!