If you take one thing from the pool of new season beauty trends, make it this: lipstick rules them all. Never has there been a more aggressive stake for beauty territory than that of autumn’s lipstick tidal wave. Never have we seen such a kaleidoscopic approach to lip colour on the catwalk. And never have we been as ready, willing and able to rise to its challenge.

On the a/w 2016 catwalks, the conventional palette of blood-red and merlot was met with a series of unexpected blues, rich yellows, biscuity tones, terracottas, deep purples, murky browns and the always-perky Pepto-Bismol pink. After endless seasons of identikit scrubbed-clean complexions, it was a technicolour feast for the eyes.

From canary yellow lips at Fendi, to matte magenta at Topshop Unique, ice blue at Paco Rabanne, vampish high-shine black cherry at Christian Dior and glossed Titian orange at Maison Margiela, the message was simple: when it comes to the lips, anything goes.

Graphic, linear – almost like a logo for the face – freshly painted lips are a trend born straight from the social media age. They demand attention on Instagram in a way no eyeliner flick or dishevelled curl could. Now, lipstick – in all its nuances, textures and shades – is set to replace nail polish as the weapon of choice for beauty self-expression. Global lipstick sales are growing at a rate of 3.76% each year and are set to reach $8.6billion by 2019, while the term ‘liquid lipstick’ is one of Google’s most searched terms for lips this year.

Colour me happy

This new era of lipstick confidence neatly dovetails with an explosion in technology: micro-pigments that appear like spray paint, skincare-hewn ingredients that meld colour to the lips and an extended shade spectrum, all of which have made the possibilities truly endless. All of this pleases me greatly. Why? Because I am a hopeless lipstick nerd. A slave to the stuff. I’m aware of every bend and shift of the lipstick world, rendering me a teensy bit biased. But I’ve also long known the power a great lipstick can yield. As nature’s blessing and curse, I have a vampiric pallor which cries out for the humanising effect of a brightly painted lip.

Read my lips: Stylist pays homage to the high-impact lip trend