December Favourites

1. A beautiful coffee table book by Soho House, charting breakfast, lunch and cocktail hour at its various houses and everything that makes it the experience it is. Recipes, interiors and general all-round lifestyle inspo with the added bonus of a beautiful grosgrain cover that looks beautiful on a coffee table.

2. My skin has been having real ups and downs lately. Stress, insomnia and central heating have all contribute to a bumpier-than-usual forehead and chin so when I have the time, I’m trying to put more effort into look after my face.

Dr. Hauschka’s toner and day cream are my current go-tos (although weirdly the day cream in the small tube feels thicker and richer than this one) and I’m using a good mask at least once a week. This Sisley one is all about getting that glow back which is, let’s face it, what we’re all after at this time of year. Ila’s Glowing Radiance Serum is light and botanical and feels amazing in the morning. I’m finishing off with a few sprays of James Read’s tanning face spray to try and counteract the lack of freckles and vitamin D for the forseeable future.

3. Downtime on the new sofa. This time of year calls for alternating between one night on (the sofa) and one night off it if you ask me. And when I’m on it, I’ve been watching The Night Of (John Stone is my new hero), This Is Us (loved how the first episode pieced itself together) and Gilmore Girls Year In A Life (loved having them back in my life but was disappointed with the amount of fluff and frustrated with those little three words that ended it).

Sofa | Loaf 
Monochrome stripe cushion | Wood Grey 
Grey throw | John Lewis 

4. Winter for me means cramming in as many baths as I possibly can without being even later than I usually am. And right now, my current bath time potion of choice consists of Herbivore Botanicals Calm salts, Le Labo Rose bath oil and Sister & Co coconut bath soak. More is more when it comes to bath time if you ask me. Throw in a re-run of Gavin & Stacey or Modern Family on the ipad or a chapter of a great book, and you’re well on your way to zoning out of everything going on outside the bathroom door.

5. It’s no secret I love delicate jewellery. And side note, thanks so much to all of you that have been snapping up my latest limited edition designs for Missoma. And some of my talented friends have been creating magic too… This ring by Natalie Marie Jewellery is my new favourite piece; I have a real weakness for dark stones too so this is perfect.

After my recent trip to Botswana and close encounters with elephants of every size, I’m wearing this rose gold bracelet that Kelly designed for Auree Jewellery to raise money for the charity For Rangers with pride. Born and raised in Kenya, Kelly has a passionate love and interest in animal conservation and the design of this softly beaded bracelet is based upon the traditional beaded Masai jewellery. 100% of the profits go to the charity to help fight against elephant poaching which, amazingly, is still a huge problem in Africa with an elephant being slaughtered for it’s tusks every 15 minutes. Buy one for you or an ellie-loving friend this Christmas, and do your bit for these beautiful giants of the African bush.

6. This Gucci tee is FINALLY in my clutches and it’s not coming off anytime soon. If you were wondering what to wear under all those velvet jackets at this time of year, this is it. Red lipstick and levis or velvet trousers and strappy sandals; it just works with everything. Logos come and go for me, but this immediately felt like something I’d wanted in my subconscious since the 90s.

Tee | Gucci 
Boots | Sandro 
Jeans | Redone
Necklace | Lucy Williams X Missoma 

7. The ultimate present for just about any woman I know. My friends over at Not Another Bill teamed up with Harpers Bazaar for a serious hamper of treats. Normally with these kind of things, there’s one or two duds you’r not really that into but this has not one weak link in it. From the candy stripe robe to the sorbet-coloured notebooks, the Harpers’ subscription and Rosie Sudgen cashmere fingerless gloves, there’s not one prize inside this box I’m not in love with. For the person who has everything, this is everything they’re after.

8. Aoloha to my kitchen. This new Bxxlight is sitting pride of place on the new floating shelf in my kicthen. I was planning on keeping glasses and bowels and stuff on here but it just morphed into a place to keep small pieces of art and the odd mug. I’ve always just thought Aloha means hi and goodbye, but it actually means love, peace and compassion. Which we could all do with a little bit more of in this life, both for those around us and ourselves. I love this as little daily reminder of just that.

9.Makeup to make you look like you’ve actually woken up…. Glossier’s skin tint gives even light coverage with looking cakey on paler skin and Clinique’s chubby foundation skin is super easy for touching up around your nose, chin and eyelids. The thing I’ve been most obsessed with recently is the Bobbi Brown cream blush in Coral. Dabbed and blended onto cheeks, this makes even the sallowest of days that bit rosier. Having been struggling with sleep, this has been a life saver for making me look alive and kicking for those 9 A.M meetings. Elsewhere my fave mascara brand Eyeko has teamed up with cult Parisian store Colette for a bespoke mascara. Subtle, spidery and jet black, just how I like it.