Katherine Moncrieff takes on the world of beauty, one lipstick at a time.

Over the centuries, artists, writers and philosophers have continually returned to the classics for inspiration. Aristotle's deliberations about the world, the Greek columns and Raphael's brush stroke have continually come in and out of fashion, reinvented and revamped to suit the contemporary context. In the beauty world, this is seen in the form of red lips. Red lips whisper elegance, seduction and glamour. They are the Shakespeare and Tiffany of the beauty world – timeless, sexy and always in style.

For a look so classic, then, it recently dawned on me how strange it was that I (being a self-confessed beauty addict who will try anything and everything that lands on her desk) has somehow along the way never quite mastered the art of the perfect crimson pout. Don't get me wrong, it's not that I haven't given it due consideration. I admire it on those lucky ladies that can wear it so well. I always flick twice past a red lip photo shoot and I even line different red lippies up in front of my computer for writing inspiration. But every morning with a pink gloss in one hand and red in the other, I almost always opt for the easy route.

This week, I decide to commit (hell, where would the English language be if Shakespeare had put down his pen at the first sign of writer's block?) and give red a real run.

My first dilemma is what type of red to go for. Should I opt for a stain as seen on the catwalk of Donna Karan and Caroline Herrera or should I go for the bright classic hues that stole the show at Zac Posen? Being a firm believer that if you are going to do something you should do it right, I decide that the stain would be just plain cheating and I go for the classic red. Since nobody speaks the classical language quite like Dior, my lipstick of choice for the week is Rouge Dior by Dior.

I start by conditioning my lips with Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream (another beauty classic) which hydrates the surface allowing smooth application. I then use a lip brush to carefully paint on the colour, blotting with tissue paper. I repeat this step for extra staying power. My mirror face is feeling very pleased at this point and I head off to work with a slight smug strut in my step knowing that my lips are ever-so-perfect.

However, my meticulous application evaporated somewhere over the Harbour Bridge and I am forced to repeat this time-consuming process in the car, in the bathroom after the walk to the office, and at my desk post-morning coffee...and it's still only ten o'clock! By the end of the day, the re-applications total at twenty...slightly more than my gloss requirements, which is looking remarkably like a smarter choice for a busy working lady like myself.

My other note for the week concerning red is that despite what some people think, red is indeed suitable at every age. Once, at a beauty function, a very fashionable and elegant PR lady who was wearing red told me that her husband had commented that he thought she was too old to pull it off. I thought she looked great in it, so great that she shouldn't wear anything else and I told her so. At the other end of the age scale, we have Rachel McAdams in the most romantic of films, "The Notebook". Every time I watch it I am so in awe of her sense of life and laughter – all of which is lived through the presence of red lips that I instantly desire, feeling like my life will take on this sense of fun (this is what I call "the Notebook effect"). So halfway through the week, when red lips are really feeling like too much work, I watch this film for a dose of McAdam's red sexy, sophisticated, and free-spirited pout which all at once entices me to keep going along the crimson path. I even wear the red lips to drinks with friends on Friday night. "The Notebook effect" seems to work and I'm super talkative, happy and excited until the wee hours of the morning.

After a week of commitment to the red lipstick, I have come to the conclusion that red is a colour you have to deserve to wear. Anyone can do pink lip gloss but to do red takes time, passion and dedication. They say Rome wasn't built in a day, the Greek columns certainly took a bit of work and I'm sure Shakespeare had a few restless nights getting his verses just right – red lips, just like those great works of art from the past takes perseverance...making me wonder, is it this quality that makes it a classic?

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