Xmas Christmas wouldn’t be without a multitude of beauty joys – certainly not a Betts Christmas.

My parents had five children, three of them daughters, making the holiday season a great riot.

When I was eight, I received my first real perfume – a discreet bottle of Houbigant’s Some Flowers – and a hairbrush with my name on it, funded by my Victorian great-grandmother so I could do my hundred strokes by. day.

Later, following Uma Thurman’s star turn in Pulp Fiction, my college dad stood in line for Chanel’s Rouge Noir, while my mom chose Bath Oil # 5.

To this day, I can’t think of a more sublime twin offer.

For where thoughtless beauty presents can be a dreadful platitude – a rash-causing bubble bath tub, say, or a cookie-scented candle – then the prettiest one will be remembered forever.

What should you buy this year for the woman you want to delight, or what clues could you yourself drop?

Let’s put beauty in its place: as “main thing” (“main thing” being a Betts family term for your big ticket item.)

I know what my choice would be this Christmas, if money and emotional blackmail to my boyfriend, no problem. Here’s Aromatherapy Associates Moments To Treasure (£ 225, aromatherapyassociates.com), a “personal care chest,” as essential oil gurus call it.

Not everyone likes aromatherapy. Those who are not wrong.

Nothing like it to soothe your face, body and brain. And here’s the top of the tree: a cornucopia of 20 award-winning potions and tools worth over £ 360. I challenge you not to cry with pleasure when you see the content.

Or maybe you’re a high-tech grooming enthusiast, looking for a state-of-the-art kit: for example, a Shani Darden Face Sculpting Wand (£ 345, cultbeauty.com) with the sound wave technology to firm muscles and boost circulation?

Or the multi-award-winning The Light Salon Boost LED Facial Mask (£ 395, thelight-salon.com), clinically proven to increase the production of collagen, elastin and hyaluronic acid? It reduces the depth of wrinkles by 36% in four weeks. It’s not cheap, but neither is Botox.

On the hair side, it must be a Dyson. The Supersonic tumble dryer is both super fast and super protective (£ 299.99, dyson.co.uk). I’m also intrigued by the sound of the GHD Rise Hot Brush doubling the volume (£ 169, ghdhair.com). You just hold it in place in the areas you want to give a punch, like the roots.

If you are buying for someone obsessed with skin, could I recommend beautypie.com’s Pie Plus gift subscription (£ 59 for one year which allows them unlimited monthly spend)?

Or, hit them with an ever-luxurious jar of creme de la mer (£ 70 for 15ml, cremede lamer.co.uk), or cult-brand Augustinus Bader serum (£ 260, augustinusbader.com), creme for eyes (£ 150) or hand treatment (£ 40).

I would love a large bottle of Therapie’s multi-purpose pacifier, Cherish Skin Repair Serum (£ 68 for 200ml, cultbeauty.co.uk). Votary’s Fresh Face Glow Kit is also a winner (reduced from £ 143 to £ 95, votary.co.uk).

When it comes to make-up, Guerlain’s Celestial Meteorites illuminating powder balls are available in gold this Christmas (£ 49, guerlain.com). Ditto for the limited edition Poudre d’Orfevre illuminating powder for face and eyes from Hermès (£ 75, hermes.com). And I have yet to meet a woman who does not succumb to Hermès lipsticks (£ 58).

Pallet enthusiasts should seek the riches of Pat McGrath. I fancy Pat’s relatively low-key Backstage kit (£ 165, patmcgrath.com), but pros should head straight for her Celestial Odyssey Everything six-pallet kit (reduced from £ 230 to £ 150).

And Huda has so many eye shadow collections it fry my little mind. Try Mercury Retrograde (£ 58, hudabeauty.com) with its 18 cosmic shades, or the Rose Quartz eyeshadow palette (£ 58), which is quieter but no less flirty.

If the eyeliner floats on your boat, you’ll need VB’s Kajal Wardrobe (reduced from £ 142 to £ 128, victoriabeckhambeauty.com): seven creamy, highly pigmented pencils that dry into a waterproof formula, enclosed in a pouch very chic black and gold. Merry Christmas!

RUN FOR HIM

MY ICN OF THE WEEK

GEORGE CLOONEY

Gorgeous George reached the Big 6-0, saying: “It’s a disappointment to be 60, but it’s either that or it’s dead.” Last year, Clooney made headlines when he revealed that he himself had cut his Caesar hairstyle with a clipper and vacuum device called the Flowbee (£ 151, flowbee.com), causing the crash of the product website. The Silver Fox also champions soap from Procter & Gamble’s heritage brand, Ivory.

DESIRE FOR COSMETICS

PARTY HAIR ACCESSORIES