For the home stretch, I heed Hanna’s words and opt for colours I never usually would. Think a deep shimmering indigo, a translucent black number (my inner teen goth is thrilled, although editor-in-chief Lisa Smsoarski informs me that the look will haunt her dreams forever), and I even attempt an ombre lip using two different shades of purple. Essentially, I have a lot of fun with it, and I make sure to keep up my intense moisturising treatments overnight, too.

The result?

I admit that I did, occasionally, fall into bad habits: on one particularly awful day, I ended up with bright blue lipstick smeared all over my face and fingers. Most of the time, though, I’d feel my fingers creeping towards my face and immediately withdraw them before any picking whatsoever, because I didn’t want to disturb the bold lip I’d spent hours painting on that morning.

I’ve learned that matte lipsticks prove exacerbations when it comes to excoriation: they have an instant drying effect and make the skin feel… well, incredibly tempting to pull away at. You need very, very healthy lips to pull it off, and a lot more willpower than I. Lip glosses and moisturising lipsticks, though, are amazing. They add a pop to my outfits and they really do make me more aware of my lips, so I’m able to catch myself in the act (rather than three hours later, surrounded by flakes of bloody skin).

Bright lipsticks: “I wore 21 bold lip colours in 21 days, and this is what happened”