I felt it would be remiss of me to go through another week without writing about the new Juicy Shaker lip gloss/oils from Lancome. I did include them in my March Favourites, but they deserve a bit more applause than that, for the concept and packaging at the very least. I love it when a beauty product launches that’s just completely and utterly crackers, especially when it’s as fun to use as this. Who would have thought that Lancome would be the ones to bring out a miniature cocktail shaker filled with a bi-phase, glossy-finish, juicy-coloured lip oil? Who would have thought that Lancome would provide us with an applicator that looks – and feels – like one of those foam strawberry sweets? It’s like applying lipgloss with a marshmallow or a teddy bear’s nose.

As you can see from the photograph above, I took the opportunity to use some of the objects from my dolls house to “bring the products to life”, but I’m not quite sure that even the very best cocktail shaker could make a decent tipple from milk, Evian, Pepsi, San Pellegrino and a dodgy-looking bottle of red wine. Sorry, it’s a very random photo, but I’ve been desperate to put some of my miniatures into a still life for ages, so. There you go.

I’d say that Lancome’s Juicy Shakers are most definitely beauty things that you want rather than need; none of them have a particularly bright pigment and you do have to shake-shake-shake and dab-dab-dab quite a lot if you want to achieve any depth of colour. But I think that they’re supposed to be far more frivolous than that, anyway – each has a different flavour (reminiscent of the Juicy Tube glosses of my late teen years) and because the applicator is so soft, it’s actually a joy to reapply the lip oil frequently throughout the day. The finish is glossy but non-sticky, oily but non-greasy – sort of the perfect shine, really. Very plumptious and flattering.

There are thirteen shades in the shaker line-up as well as a limited edition in minty blue. My favourite is Freedom of Peach, pictured above – I find that it gives a lovely pastel sheen. Not so keen on the “juicier” pink and red shades, ironically, but then that’s just personal preference. Lots of them are so sheer that they look quite similar anyway, so it may be a case of resorting to trying out the different flavours and seeing which one you like best! It’s all very juvenile, but a nice change from the more serious collections and launches with their long-lasting this and twelve-decades-in-the-making that. And the bi-phase formula really does feel moisturising, so it’s not at all a silly purchase, if you’re after a non-sticky lip sheen.

Lancome’s Juicy Shakers cost £18 – you can find them at Boots.com

*the melon wrapping paper in the background of the photograph is from Ohh Deer.