Goodness me. Can we just take a moment to appreciate the effort that’s gone into designing these Guerlain Rouge G lipstick cases" Rouge G has always been a favourite of mine, with the slide-out lip colour and pop-up mirror. It weighs about the same as a four-oven AGA, which means that you can’t take it with you if you fly EasyJet (it only leaves enough carry-on weight allowance for one pair of trainer socks and a silk headscarf, an outfit that would get you banned from just about every bar, beach and restaurant in the world) but for daily handbag adornment it’s just fabulous.

I have a few older versions of the Guerlain Rouge G, but it’s had a complete makeover and the changes to the packaging are actually rather brilliant. I didn’t think that a heavy, mirror-laden case containing a beautiful, smoothing lipstick could be improved upon but there you go – life is full of surprises. The new Rouge G has not one but two mirrors in the lid – slide the lipstick out and HOOPLA! One mirror to see your lips in, the other to see, er, the ceiling with.
But the best change to the Rouge G de Guerlain is that the case and the lipstick are now separate entities, which means that you can refill your heavyweight, mirrored, (possibly) bulletproof case once your lipstick has run out.

Take note, luxury brands: if you are making an item with casing that weighs the same as small planet, whether it’s a compact or a lipstick or a body cream,...