Sorting through some old make-up, I noticed there were a few things I've been wearing pretty much from the start - black mascara, black eye shadow and black eyeliner of some description. These are the tinned tomatoes of my make-up kit. I don't think I've ever actually run out of any of them, not because I rarely use them, but because, if I'm in the vicinity of a make-up counter, I'll always stock up, "just in case". I've yet to have any sort of emergency that left me thinking, "if only I had my black mascara", but you can't be too careful.

If it isn't already, black should be one of your staples for the coming season. Like the proverbial little black dress, black make-up seldom dates. It also looks great on dark skin. But just because it's an old favourite, doesn't mean it hasn't changed, and there are some fantastic new products to have fun with. Black nail varnish, for example, once strictly the preserve of the class goth, suddenly looks elegant and chic. Try Perversion by Urban Decay, or Dark Night by Christian Breton.

For an alternative to black mascara, try the duo mascaras from Passport, which come with a black brush at one end and a matching metallic colour at the other. The dark green (Madison Avenue) and purple (Bond Street) are my favourites. Apply the black first, let it dry, then add the colour over the top.

Instead of having to choose between kohl pencil or liquid eyeliner, there are some fantastic hybrids, such as the eyeliners from Nars, which come in a dinky paint pot with an even dinkier brush, or the twist-up eye colour pens from Ruby & Millie.

Even black eye shadow has undergone a transformation. New textures, such as the i-paint from Ruby & Millie and the war paint from Fudge, mean that long gone are the days when black eye shadow meant panda eyes by three in the afternoon. Improved pigment also means that black now shows up much better against dark skin than it used to, so no one will ever again confuse your handiwork for a black eye.