Christmas Gifts

I am the Queen of Christmas shopping. If ever I'm entered into Who's Who, I will be listing it as a hobby. (I have even been known to start as early as February!) As usual, this Christmas, I will be bestowing beauty (and grooming) gifts on my nearest and dearest. So I am pleading with them to look away now, in order not to ruin the surprise, while I share with the rest of you the best of what I've seen this fabulously festive season: the ‘smellies', the bath indulgences, the make-up swag and beauty bounty that will be nestling under my tree, this year.

Perfect for a best friend… For the past few years, I have been presenting girlfriends with Aromatherapy Associates Bath & Shower Oils. Now, compared to the average bath oils, these are expensive (£34 for 55 ml.), but unlike all other versions (the labels tell you to use one cap and then you have to pour in a half a bottleful to get any effect), one capful fills the whole house with fragrance and is guaranteed to bust even the blackest mood. This gift has been so successful that now all the people I give it to give the oils (especially Deep Relax and Revive Morning) to other people, like some kind of aromatherapeutic chain letter. (As an alternative to one big bottle, the Essentials kit contains Relax, De-Stress and Revive oils, and is £20.)

Perfect for a teenager… Destined to be a big seasonal hit (and definitely appearing in a Christmas stocking near me): BeneFit's Crescent Row fragrances, in cute flacons inspired by cocktail shakers, and adorable dollshouse-esque boxes. The (famously kooky) BeneFit creators imagined three girls who are neighbours and confected fragrances to suit: fruitily playful Laugh With Me Leelee, dreamily soft Oriental Something About Sofia, and woodily sexy My Place or Yours Gina, all £29.50 each for 30 ml. Another hot fragrance tip for this festive season: Harajuku Lovers Snow Bunnies, £12.50 for 10 ml. eau de toilette - girls go crazy for the ‘doll-design' packaging. Frankly, anything from the exclusive-to-Boots Soap & Glory range is guaranteed to please, too: their Christmas gift sets are astonishingly good value, and come in covetable pink-and-chocolate packaging, ranging from the £18 Soap & Glory Plane Jane (everything for travel gorgeousness from an inflatable flight pillow to body butter, hand cream etc.), to Soap & Glory The Big Thrill, £50: a whopping hat box packed with 11 full-sized products whose catchily witty names belie their effectiveness.

Perfect for your mum/ma-in-law… Truly the best pressie I ever gave my mother-in-law was a make-up lesson at Cosmetics a la Carte, in London's Belgravia: she felt that as her face aged, she just didn't know how to apply foundation, blusher, lipstick in a flattering way. (The key: less is more, after un certain age.) CALC offer make-up lessons from a Make-up MOT, £45 for 30 minutes (refundable against any purchases) right up to a Starting Again Make-up Lesson, £180 for two hours (which is what I gave to Margie, and for which she was eternally grateful). Alternatively, take her along for a makeover at a counter like Bobbi Brown or Laura Mercier, where they're very good at making women (of all ages) look like themselves - only prettier. (No scare-the-horses eyeshadows at those counters.) If she's the wardrobe-of-fragrances type, she'll thrill to Guerlain Idylle, £38 for 35 ml. eau de parfum (Debenhams is a good source), which is packed with sensual flowers including Bulgarian rose, with white musk and patchouli whispers. Lovely, lovely. For me, though, the scent-of-the-year has to be Narciso Rodriguez Essence, £50 for 50 ml. eau de parfum, with its mercury-glass-like bottle: a green, fresh fragrance with echoes of Balmain's Vent Vert - a scent that many a mum loved and wore, once upon a time. If your ma's a Mercedes-driver with a ‘bling' streak, why not a limited edition Swarovski Crystal embedded tin of suits-all-skintypes Steam Cream, £99.95, (www.steamcream.co.uk), which would - once empty - make a lovely dressing table accessory? By contrast, if she's one of those ‘You- shouldn't-have-been-so-extravagant' types, go for a can't-fail duo of Jurlique Love Lip Balm and Rose Hand Cream, £28. Practical, but pretty too.

For a teacher… All soap is not created equal: Mor's Emporium Triple Milled Soaps, £16 each at Space NK, will turn your offspring instantly into teacher's pet. If that seems downright extravagant (the soaps have to be tried to be believed), support the local economy - and communities in Burkina Faso, the Dominican Republic and Sri Lanka - by buying a set of three soaps from Hastings-based Visionary Soap, (www.visionarysoap.co.uk / 01424 460022), who are now Fairtrade-certified, or sign teacher up for their ‘Soap of the Month Club'.

For your brother… Tricky, brothers. (I should know: I have three.) However, even those who are grooming-phobic are in my experience converted to cleansing and moisturising with Liz Earle for Men, who offer a great Men's Travel Kit, £33.75, featuring Liz Earle for Men Cleanse & Polish (and all the men I've given it to get just as addicted to the chaps' version as women do to the original, pale-blue-packaged, award-winning cleansing classic). Neal's Yard Remedies Groom Men's Face & Body Collection is another tried-and-trusted men's skincare option: a trio of products in deep blue bottles with grey labels which will please even the straightest, non-metrosexual type (and would also do the trick for your dad, too.)

For the love of your life… If you want something delicious to nuzzle, introduce him to Hermès Eau d'Orange Verte, £36.50 for 30 ml. eau de toilette: a classic eau de Cologne with a green-and-spicy twist which smells great on literally everyone (and if he really doesn't get on with it, it's beautifully unisex). If he's up for something sexier, YSL L'Homme Nuit should get your pulse racing: warm, Oriental, seductive (with notes of cardamom, vetiver and cedar), £39 for 60 ml. eau de Cologne. Fans of Davidoff Cool Water, meanwhile, will want to know about the smouldering Hot Water version: at first fresh, it transforms on the skin with a sexy, smouldering intensity. Or if he's just not the fragrance-wearing type, slip a bottle of The Body Shop Sensual Massage Oil, £9.75 for 150 ml., in his Christmas stocking, with a hand-calligraphed voucher for a massage from you. And I can absolutely guarantee that you'll be getting gold star for gift-giving, too…

Jo Fairley's latest book Beauty Steals, co-written with Sarah Stacey (Kyle Cathie, £8.99), is also the perfect stocking-filler!