Chantecaille metallic eyeliner

I bought this last year on India Knight's recommendation. Mine is gold and they don't seem to have gold anymore which is a shame but there is a divine looking green. Anyway, it's perfect for sparkly festive eyes without looking like you've gone mad in the glitter pot.

It's elegant and very fine but you can build up to make it thicker. It's easy peasy to apply and if you get the silver, then I reckon, like the gold any mistakes are easily forgiven. It lasts for hours and hours. I layer it with black or dark brown eyeliner and lashings of mascara and it's party eyes in seconds.

It is expensive but it lasts for ages. That's my festive make-up tip for you.

Jo Malone for Zara

Did you hear? Jo Malone has created scents for Zara! Beside myself I am. I placed a Zara order this week (the kids clothes make incredible presents) and threw in a 40ml perfume in Vetiver Pampelmousse. I can never resist grapefruit.

It cost £15 and it arrived today. I sprayed it on at about 10.30am. It's now 9.20pm and I can still smell it. Actual Jo Malone perfumes don't last like that. I am very impressed. It smells gorgeous, the bottle is lovely. The packaging is nice but a bit over the top in these planet-watching times.

Run don't walk.

New bathroom #2

When you're a beauty obsessive, you need a good bathroom. I've been waiting to renovate our main bathroom for five long years. Finally, in October, it happened. Not without drama, we had leaks into the kitchen a fitter who had a heart attack, a basin with a hole in it (not where it was meant to be), and my normally stoic project manager was heard cursing and saying, what is it about THIS house?

An excellent question and I wish I knew. If something can go wrong, it will. Followed by 20 other things. But now I have my bathroom of heavenly delights. We ripped out the bath because after all, I have my bathing boudoir now. So, it's a shower room. It's really hard to plan a bathroom no matter how much you pore over Instagram and interiors blogs. I planned this all myself and am now considering a new career. But it took me months of looking at plans, researching shower trays, tiles, basin fittings etc. Basically I find myself with free evenings and at a loose end because this was what I did with 80% of my spare time.

The fun and reward is in the details. Picking out the bathmat (made.com) and the storage (controversially I have no cabinet, instead a vanity unit and two sleek black units I bought from amazon) and the plant.

And of course, the products! I didn't buy much at all (because, it may astound you to learn, I have quite a lot already) but I did get some new Function of beauty shampoo and conditioner. Why? Because you can choose the colour of course! I went with hot pink and it gives me joy to see those bottles. I was also gifted the delightful Ortiga shower gel which is a real treat.

I have one more bathroom to do. Again, I feel the need to explain I don't live in a mansion. The house is badly planned so there is a tiny ensuite shower room to the guest room. I've started a pinterest board because that 80% of time can't solely be filled with watching old episodes of The OC.