Just when we thought the French couldn’t get more chic…Lanvin made them stamps. Yes, this coming year, French mail will be adorned with beautifully illustrated, colorful stamps designed by Alber Elbaz himself, in celebration of the fashion house’s 120^th birthday.

The stamps will go on sale alongside a collection of pencils, paperweights and notebooks embossed with the classic Lanvin mother-and-child emblem, which is also splashed across the glamorous totes on sale at net-a-porter. Three limited edition ceramic hearts will also be on sale, to send a little bit of love to your favourite people through the post.

Although only physically available at the post office on Rue des Mathurins in Paris, the French postal service La Poste will be putting all things Lanvin online come the new year, so that global fans can indulge their Elbaz fantasies without the hassle of Eurostarring, etcetera. But should you be looking for a jaunt abroad, this may well be a good excuse!

www.laposte.com

Gorgeous girlie brand Soap & Glory has just launched a new collection of five fabulous skincare items jam packed with hero ingredients and hard working formulations set to see the most hardcore of party animals right through the season – with bells on! 

There’s the Fab Pore Hot Cloth Cleanser, a 3-in-1 deep-purifying formula with a natural blend of revitalising aromatic essential oils which cleans, smoothes and melts away makeup; No Clogs Allowed Deep Pore Detox Mask, a self heating, colour changing,  5-minute deep pore detox face mask; You Wont Believe Your Eyes , an amazing tired-eye brightening moisture serum with INSTANTIGHT™ and PUFFEASE-360™ technology; Night In Shining Armour Cream, an amazing gravity-battling face cream with proven WRINKLE-REDUCING SUPERPEPTIDE COMPLEX™ with oxygen boosters and EFA antioxidants and then our personal favourite – Bright Here Bright Now, an instant radiance energy balm specially formulated to give you beautiful luminous skin in a flash!

Acting like a silky soft veil, this skin-brightening and energy boosting balm, peps up partied out skin in no time.  Apricot kernel oil conditions, aloe vera soothes away redness and the active INSTANTIGHT2™ has an instant firming and lifting effect.  In addition Ronaspheres and Timeron Pearls, special micro-illuminating spheres, give skin a smooth, radiant glow.  Your face will even feel tingly fresh thanks to cool Mintango fragrance real orange essential oils will lift flagging festive spirit.

Either use it on top of your regular moisturizer in the morning or blend it into your foundation during the day to stave off that 4pm slump. 

It certainly gives old favourite, Clarins Beauty Flash Balm a run for its money – and better still, it’s half the price!
All £9-£12
www.soapandglory.com
Available from leading retailers including Boots The Chemist.

Meg Mathews the bespoke wallpaper designer whose signature design involves an electric combination of skulls, micro-floral and pineapple designs – has created an exclusive range of 9 scarves at Liberty’s.  Delving into the extensive fabric archives Meg selected the cutest of poppy prints and micro-florals.

Meg has reworked these feminine prints to give her unique rocker stamp on the exclusive range, juxtaposing the girly florals with her trade mark snakes and skulls.  These rocking scarves range from pink and black skull patterns to pink and grey snake skin scarves along with many others intricate designs, which are one meter in length and 140 cm in width.

The scarfs are priced from £87 to £105 and are available online at: http://www.liberty.co.uk or in store at Liberty’s.  Also, if there are any X-factor fans out there envious of Cheryl’s skull scarf these scarves are a chic solution.

If you ask any girl about town in London where they go to get their nails done nine out of ten will answer Sophy Robson. This is because once discovered it’s impossible to go anywhere else. Situated on the second floor of Fortnum and Mason, Robson has her own salon opposite Fortnum’s Beauty a la Carte. Perfectionist doesn’t even describe half of what Robson’s treatment involves. Combining both chiropody, polish and good conversation, Robson is leading the way in the nails world.

Her speciality, the Medi-pedi, begins with the removal of dead skins and rough edges of your feet using various miracle working tools. Robson is incredibly thorough, scrubbing, moisturizing, buffing, clipping, filing and then finally soaking your feet in warm rose petal-filled water. The whole treatment is so enjoyable and it’s clear Robson is not only hands on but passionate about her work. After soaking, your feet are dried and then it’s the polish. Robson has, I am told, over a thousand different colours and does not swear by any brand in particular.  Like most of the products she uses she hasn’t conformed to simply one brand, but just what works.

The red carpet manicure which Robson does after the medi pedi is applied with the same care and attention. Robson emphasizes that good manicures should last one week and pedicures three weeks, the secret is base coat and top coat. Finally when polish has been perfectly applied to both hands and feet, it’s all over and the stopwatch brain of Robson has timed it so that feet are dry enough to slip into boots and you’re good to go.

The only minor problem about Robson is that she’s so good she’s very hard to book an appointment with.  But if Robson is not available her assistant, Carrie Davis, has been trained by Robson to give the same flawless results, so if all else fails a duplicate is at hand.

Fortnum and Mason
181 Piccadilly
London, W1J 9
020 7734 8040

http://www.sophyrobson.com/

Rococo Nails has been around for 15 years and although it has managed to achieve an enthusiastic following from the inside professionals, it has only just started to receive the same accolade from the public.  Finally everyone is beginning to see why Rococo has remained so highly respected in the industry.

London based sister duo have incorporated both salon experience and fashion knowledge to produce a nail varnish which is hard wearing, glossy, quick to dry and also solvent free. At last there’s a nail varnish which is good for your nails. Coming in a huge range of bright and sophisticated colours, Rococo have struck gold, literally, with their latest best seller Rococo Gold Leaf Nail Varnish.  All over the catwalks, people were going wild for this and it is perfect for the Christmas season.  While this lacquer can be painted over other colours leaving a glittery finish to any nails, other Rococo colours have a higher level of pigment and after two coats, not only have staying power but also give a bold finish.

Ideal for all ages, Rococo has amongst its collection, Brocade, a chic, vampish dark red, Blu Skywalker, which comes in bright blue with sparks of glitter and also Bright Young Things, an elegant bright red which will give your feet and hands a statement.  The Rococo nail varnish is beautifully packaged and no stocking should be without one of these this year.

www.spacenk.co.uk/