Sparkle Through the New Year.

Christmas might be over, but the celebrations are definitely not. Don’t return to your dull, bland make-up just yet, and make the most of the final few days of 2010. Add a bit of sparkle to your style to ensure this year really does go out in glitz and glamour.

Helen E does a great range of glitter which can applied wherever you wish. Simply paint the fixing gel onto your skin and apply the glitter over the top, for a shimmer that stays put all day, and all night too. For the best dressed eyes, apply your favourite glitter to your lids before heading out to town. Or for a more subtle look, just line your peepers with Urban Decay glitter eyeliner.

Add the finishing sparkling touches to your nails. Apply two coats of Barry M Glitter nail paint for the ultimate New Year look.

Make Your Hands Smell Good Enough to Eat.

Hand moisturisers needn’t be packaged in boring tubes anymore! These cute little Naughty but Nice cupcake hand cream’s are perfect for adding a sweet touch to any dressing table. The cream itself smells gorgeous, coming in a choice of four different scrummy flavours; cherry, strawberry, chocolate and coconut. They leave hands feeling super soft and nourished. Great for curing dry, chapped winter hands.

To purchase these yummy little hand treats visit www.npw.co.uk.

Sleep really does make you beautiful.

It is a well known myth that getting in a full eight hours of sleep each night improves our appearance. However, most of didn’t believe it to be true. But now new research from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm has proved that it very well could be. The researchers took 23 young men and women and took photographs of them after an eight hours rest, and then again after they volunteers had remained awake for 31 hours. Untrained observers were then asked to rate the faces, and who would have guessed it, the results showed that after a normal nights kip the volunteers looked more attractive and healthier.

The authors wrote in their paper published in the British Medical Journal: "Sleep deprived people are perceived as less attractive, less healthy and more tired compared with when they are well rested."

So what more of an excuse do you need to jump into bed early?

Look Lush This Christmas.

It’s that time of year again – the snow is gently falling, settling prettily on the treetops, and Santa’s bells are jangling away somewhere in the distance. Almost everyone is in the festive spirit, and it can be difficult to remember that all the frost and wet weather causes havoc to hands, nails, elbows and sensitive faces.

Lush has the answer to ward off any unwanted dry skin and help remain cosily warm this winter.

Run a hot bath before bedtime and pop in a Bearded Lady bubble bar (£2.50) whilst the water is still filling up your bath. This cute festive face dissolves in the water creating masses of bubbles and releasing vital moisturisers into your bathtub, leaving you with soft, super smooth skin.

Use Glogg shower gel (£3.90) to wash away the stresses of the day. This warming gel contains orange, lemon, red wine, brandy, cinnamon and clove, leaving you with a wonderful spicy fragrance about you.

Remember that moisturising is essential in the winter months to ensure you are not riddled with dry skin. Lush have created two Charity Pots (£9.95) which contain gorgeous hand and body lotion, leaving your skin silky and crack free. What’s more, all the proceeds go to animal welfare, environmental and humanitarian charities, so you can sleep easy knowing you are well moisturised and have helped a good cause.

Lips are also important to look after during the cold weather. Sore, chapped lips are not only painful but wont leave your crush wanting to kiss you under the mistletoe either. Exfoliate away the dryness with Lip Dip lip scrub (£4.25). After they have been primed, smother them with Snow Fairy tinted lip balm. This extra moisturising balm is tinted pink, meaning lips will look luscious and kissable all winter long.

Lush products are eco-friendly, with 100% of products being suitable for vegetarians and not tested on animals, 76% suitable for vegans and organic ingredients are used where possible. So not only will you look fabulous, but you will feel fabulous knowing you haven’t harmed the environment.

All products are available in Lush stores nationwide, or visit www.lush.co.uk.

To Epilate or Not to Epilate.

Two of my friends and I decided that it would be a good idea to purchase an epilator. We figured, like most females, we could handle the pain of a few hairs being tweeked from our legs, after all, there are more painful places us girls remove hair from.

I got home and eagerly charged it up, excited at the concept of a whole new realm of leg smoothness. When it was done I turned it on to reveal a loud, terrifying whizz of the blade. Needless to say I ensued and put the tool to my ankle, even after my mothers knowing glances at the epilator, I was still determined to experience it.

OUCH!

The little machine tugged and tore at my hair follicles, and it took actual inner strength to run it up my leg.

However, after the initial shock of the hairs being ripped from me, the pain became bearable, so I proceeded onto the next leg.

The results?

Well, my legs had what only can be described as shaving rash, for the first few hours. After they had calmed down and returned to their normal, irritation-free way, they felt extraordinarily smooth, and stayed that way for two weeks without the need of another shave.

Now I think that’s worth the pain of a bit of epilating, don’t you?