Push me, pull me lipstick

Back in the days before we twisted, remember push-up lipsticks?  Guerlain’s Creative Director Olivier Echaudemaison certainly does.  The story goes, he was poking about in the company archives when he dusted off an Art Deco  lippie from 1936 called Rouge Automatique. So far, so nostalgic. But the crafty thing about the fully automatic remake that’s just hit the counters, is you don’t even have to take the cap  off - because there isn’t one.  With the single-thumbed dexterity you’d apply to a cigarette lighter (to light your scented candle, of course….) just slide down the tab. The top folds back and the lippie pops up like a Jack-in-the-Box. This of course had CC in stitches at the press launch. Endless entertainment - you could evolve an entire repertoire of one-hand gestures with this slick little baby. ‘I love the game of makeup, so flirty, so seductive when a woman applies lipstick in public,’ effuses Ollie E. Quite so. But I suspect the main advantage is to facilitate multi-tasking - makes you wonder, in fact, why twist-ups were ever invented. The 25-strong shade palette is pretty fine, too - the fiery lacquer red below is called Nahema after Guerlain’s fulsomely spicy-oriental scent from 1979. Best of all, the sheer, vibrant colours have a non-oily finish that won’t creep into your crinkles.

• Guerlain Rouge Automatique, £24.50, available exclusively at Selfridges from 3^rd April and nationwide from 1^st May.