Hannah Betts Better… Not Younger: The beauty gifts I’d love to find under the tree

• UK beauty expert shares her ultimate beauty gift list for the festive season 
• READ MORE: How to dazzle during the party season even if you dread it – like I used to! By Trinny Woodall

For truly gorgeous gifting, what is required is some combination of reality and fantasy.

By reality, I mean something they will actually use. By fantasy, I refer to a concoction so fabulous they would never dream of purchasing it for themselves.

A small dose of the former and a great splash of the latter and you’re away. This isn’t about the price you’re willing to pay, but the thought you’re prepared to put in.

Take hand cream. Proffer someone ghastly, generic gunk and they will feel hard done by. Engage your brain by discovering an incredibly lovely one and they will be giddy with gratitude. 

The salve that’s making me swoon is L’Occitane Sparkling Leaves Light Hand Cream (from £9, uk.loccitane.com), with a grassy green citrus-scent that leaves hands subtly, yet pleasantly, tingling, housed in a chic design.

The holy grail of beauty gifts is something they will use but would never have dreamed of purchasing for themselves 

Were someone to bestow a Buly Baume des Muses (£44, in-store at Selfridges in London, or at buly1803.com) on me, I would weep with joy. It’s a fetching lip soother, in a personalised case embossed by a sales assistant, sleeved in velvet, then wrapped in Japanese paper.

Regular readers will know how much I admire Andrea Garland’s glorious balms, set in rings, vintage tins and compacts of her design — Elizabeth I, Liberty prints, flappers, dogs and cats (from £16.50, andreagarland.co.uk). 

A beloved pal gave me one of her Hartley Hare Lip Balm Rings (£24) last Christmas and I have been sporting it ever since.

This is not the moment for age-combatting creams, implying: ‘Goodness, you’re a haggard old bag!’ However, you could award an ally Beauty Pie Membership (£59 a year, beautypie.com/bp/join). Henceforth, she will be able to acquire state-of-the-art products without the hefty mark-ups.

Cosmetics are so subjective, one must tread cautiously. Exceptions might be where a brand is known for excellence in a given field. If your recipient is a lash fiend, go for Lancome Lash Idole (£25, lancome.co.uk), a sterling eye-shaper.

Should they be a kohl obsessive, opt for a Victoria Beckham Satin Kajal Liner (£30, victoriabeckhambeauty.com).

If your loved one always sports the same shade of lipstick, unearth them a sublimely glamorous take on that hue, in a flatteringly sheered-out texture. Chanel Rouge Coco Balm (£34, chanel.com) comes in nine colours, and Chanel Les Beiges Lip Balm (£34) in four rosy intensities.

Or, should your darling be more of a diorling, seek out a Dior Addict Lip Glow Oil (£32, dior.com), or Dior Addict Lip Glow (£32) in 14 tones. And a pot of Guerlain Meterorites Fierce Glow Light-Revealing Pearls of Powder (£54, guerlain.com) will only ever induce sighs.

Palette-wise, Charlotte Tilbury is a zillionaire for a reason, and Dame Pat McGrath’s boast strong pigment presence. Kiko’s make excellent High Street finds, while cheaper still is Relove’s fab Dancing Queen Shadow Palette (£3.20, revolutionbeauty.com): nine pinks, purples and a silver. Less disco combos can be had from £3 for six shadows.

Two brush sets to base a collection around are Boots A Little Something Brush Set (was £16, now £8) featuring seven brushes and two blenders, or Eco Tools Start The Day Beautifully Kit (£13, both at boots.com) with five brushes. Then add some (retractable) lip brushes from Amazon, and find a beautiful object to array them in.

Hannah Betts (pictured) admires Andrea Garland’s glorious balms, set in rings, vintage tins and compacts of her design — Elizabeth I, Liberty prints, flappers, dogs and cats

Nails Inc’s gift sets have twinkling appeal (from £8, nailsinc.com). And its Mani Marker Nail Pens (£5) in silver and gold make for Christmas Day distractions.

I’ve raved in the past about the aromas I long to find under the tree, be it Chanel, Guerlain, or Diptyque. For those of a less fixed persuasion, Escentric Molecules Discovery Set (£35, escentric.com) is the dream. Behold, five 8.5ml phials of molecular magic: the sensually cocooning Escentric 01, amber and green jasmine 02, vetiver-dense 03, suggestively sandalwood-rich 04, and cashmere-like 05.

At the more luxe end, Covent Garden’s Experimental Perfume Club has a Winter Blends Edition (£120, experimentalperfumeclub.com) of four 10ml eau de parfums created around its sultry Cedarwood Absinth.

Otherwise, Byredo Unnamed Eau de Parfum (£200, spacenk.com) will intrigue: an elusive, woody scent, its label is left blank to allow owners to christen it with the accompanying letter set. Top notes are pink pepper and gin, set on an iris and violet heart, on a bed of moss and fir balsam. It’s Christmas, if Christmas were cool.

RACE YOU TO IT! 

Shiseido Revitalessence Skin Glow Foundation (£49, shiseido.co.uk) hit the shelves in August, and has become a sensation. It boasts a serum-like yet long-lasting formula, leaving skin with an incredible radiance. This is make-up as skincare — within a week, fine lines are reduced and bare skin rendered smoother and brighter. 

MY ICON OF THE WEEK

Natalie Portman

Natalie Portman, 42, wears Dior Rouge Dior Forever Lipstick in 999 and relies on the brand’s Creme Abricot Strengthening Nail Care 

The Thor star, 42, is a fan of Embryolisse Lait-Creme Fluide (from £17.99, cultbeauty.co.uk), a silky, light, multi-tasker for face and body. 

Dior Rouge Dior Forever Lipstick in 999 (£37, johnlewis.com) is her ‘go-to red’. Of Dior Creme Abricot Strengthening Nail Care (£27), she says: ‘Without this my cuticles go to hell.’

INSTANT HAIR HEROES 

(amazon. co.uk)

Overnight conditioner promising polished locks by morning.

(superdrug.com)

Budget dupe for bond-repairing.

(boots.com)

No leave-in time, no problem — intense nurturing without the wait.

(superdrug.com)

Macadamia nut oil transforms brittle, damaged hair from zero to hero.

(lookfantastic.com)

Lightweight frizz eliminator instilling gloss and bounce.

 COSMETIC CRAVING

‘Why would I spend £29.95 for 180ml of micellar water when I can get the same amount with change from a fiver?’ I hear you cry.

However, micellar cleansers can be irritating, especially around eyes — even the sensitive stuff. I was initially drawn to Monu Micellar Water (£29.95, monushop.co.uk) by the spray nozzle — a quick cinch to have by the bed during party season. Still, what made me fall in love was its beautifully nourishing formula born of the multi-mineral and oligosaccharide ingredients (the latter, a sugar complex with a prebiotic action for nurturing the skin microbiome). Far from aggressing your complexion, it emerges boosted. I’m hooked.

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