I have never understood why so many black women use a dark lip-liner around their mouths. It is often several shades darker than their natural lip colour, or a shade completely different from the lipstick they are wearing - latte lips with a purple liner, or perhaps damson lips with a thick black line around the edges. I'm sorry, but when has that ever been a good look? As far as I'm concerned, it's up there with tooth jewellery in the list of crimes against fashion. It's harsh, it's far from flattering and it makes even the prettiest of faces look like the back end of a bus.

Lip-liners aren't meant to be obvious. If you can tell you've got one on, it's probably the wrong shade, trust me. Liners serve a dual function: they stop lipstick bleeding and, by lining the lips, they give the illusion of a perfect pout. The best liner is one that is either the same shade (or, at a push, one shade darker) than your natural lip colour, and can be worn under clear or tinted glosses, or one that is the exact match of your lipstick. It's relatively easy to find a liner to match a shade of lipstick; the tricky thing is finding a good neutral liner for black lips. Maybe that's why so many women don't bother trying.

If you're at the lighter end of the scale, the Precision Lip Definer in natural from Chanel is a good match. It comes with a lip brush attached, blends well and is darker than many of the other supposedly natural shades. The pencils from Iman (Naked) and Hardy Candy (Fresh) are both a reddish brown, and work well on those with red hues. For those with very dark lips, the lip pencil from Urban Decay (Fur) is a wonderfully rich brown, darker than most other shades but still a soft brown, rather than a black. In fact, it was such a good match that I've been wearing it under a clear gloss pretty much on a daily basis. Not only is the pencil exactly the same colour as my skin tone, but it is enriched with vitamin E, so it doesn't dry the lips.

To apply, make sure the pencil is sharp (a blunt pencil will drag and create lumps). Outline the lips first, then blend, rather than fill in. A good-quality liner will blend well using fingers, but if you are serious about having luscious lips, it is still worth investing in a lip brush.