The ultimate Christmas gift guide for teenage girls

What can you possibly buy a girl who has everything? We’ve got the ultimate gift guide to help you find the perfect gift for your friend, daughter or sister. Whether they prefer fashion, animals, tech or staying healthy, we’ve got you covered.

For tech lovers

If you know someone who would love the idea of turning off the lights, playing music and ordering take away without having to move from the sofa, then a smart speaker is the perfect gift. With Google, Amazon and Sonos all offering their own version, there’s a smart speaker for every gadget lover.

For animal lovers

If buying your animal mad friend their own furry companion is not an option, then consider sponsoring an animal on their behalf. You could choose an animal close to home that your friend could visit, such as a donkey in a sanctuary, or look further afield and sponsor an orangutan or a dolphin who needs their help. Most sponsor schemes send updates on your animal and show you exactly how much difference you are making.

For fashion lovers

It’s always the right time of year to buy a pair of luxury sunglasses. Whether she’d prefer Tom Ford, Jimmy Choo or Wildfox, cat-eye, aviator or round, there’s a brand and a style to suit everyone on those sunny, crisp winter days.

For health lovers

Does your exercise mad friend have all the latest gym kit and equipment? Why not buy her a smoothie maker to keep her healthy and happy on the go? You could accompany the gift with a book of the best smoothie recipes to give her some inspiration.

For bath lovers

For those that love a relaxing soak in the tub after a long day, why not give them the ultimate relaxing experience by kitting them out with all the bath accessories they will ever need. You could present all their gifts in a basket so they can keep them tidy when they’re not using them. Think bubbles, bath bombs, a neck pillow, a book holder, a shower cap, bath salts, candles, a drink holder, and of course a rubber duck!

For travel lovers

What better way to help your travel mad friend document all her adventures than by buying her a scratch map and a travel journal. This will remind them to take a step back from their adventures and document all the best moments, ensuring their memories last a lifetime.

For Instagram lovers

An instant photo printer is the perfect gift for your friend who is always uploading their pictures of their brunch to Instagram. Instax, HP and Canon all offer portable printers allowing you to print Polaroid sized pictures straight from your phone.

There you have it – our ultimate guide to finding your friend the perfect gift this Christmas. Remember personal gifts are the best kind. Happy shopping!

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Eat wisely and well

It is the party season, so do indulge in tasty treats at parties, especially if they are serving your favourite nibbles, but try to eat healthily the rest of the time. This will make sure that you look and feel your best during this busy time of year. Sip plenty of water in between alcoholic drinks to stay hydrated and help you feel fuller when faced with too much temptation.

Get home safe

Find out about taxi services in your area and use them to make sure you get home safely after parties and nights out. Public transport services do not run as regularly during the holiday season and waiting for infrequent, overcrowded buses and trains can be very unappealing. A taxi service can ensure your safe and prompt arrival at an event and see you home safely afterwards. Just be sure to always use an approved taxi company, as the Metropolitan Police’s recent campaign said, “getting into an unlicensed mini-cab is getting into a strangers car”.

 Dress to impress

Choose dresses that suit your style and look, the wonderful metallic micro-minis are superb for showing long beautiful legs, severely tailored dresses can display a neat waistline and highly textured and embellished shift-style dresses can skim over figure flaws in a most flattering way. Very slim ladies can get away with the beautiful asymmetrical one-shoulder dresses that float ethereally as they move. The classic Little Black Dress is still with us, there is no beating this archetypal wardrobe staple! The beauty of the LBD is that is can be entirely transformed with the addition of various accessories and by the way you are made-up – from sultry sex-bomb to demure Miss, a little black dress can be endlessly made over to suit every possible occasion.

If the weather outside is frightful

Dress appropriately for the weather, even a fabulous designer dress cannot enhance the gaunt, blue-with-cold look! There are masses of beautiful coats and jackets out there and you are sure to find one that enhances your style, from the military-tailored full-length coats of Nicole Farhi to the elegantly fitted but oh-so warm padded Burberry that wowed the critics at the recent London Fashion Week. Highly textured and detailed cable and Fairisle knits are highly fashionable too, so stay warm and set the trends at all the parties you attend!

Love your feet this winter

Stilettoes, platforms and strappy sandals can make a woman feel fabulous, emphasising long legs, beautiful ankles and dainty feet but if overused they can take their toll. Blisters, bunions and corns are just some of the common foot problems that can occur when fashion shoes are worn too often for too long. Every few days take the time to pamper your feet, apply a soothing foot-cream, use a pumice stone and check your feet for problem areas. Take advantage of this check-up to freshen up your pedicure and make sure that your toes sparkle, ready for dancing the night away at the next party.

This is the season for goodwill and merriment, as well as proving that you are the reigning fashionista of your family, neighbourhood, or office and that you can shine through the whole Christmas party season!

Sources: stylist.co.uk; telegraph.co.uk; bbc.co.uk; graziadaily.co.uk; lifestyle.com

This Christmas party guide is brought to you by Transport Innovation, the freephone taxi group who specialise in offering safe, vetted taxis throughout the UK.

The post The Fashionista’s Guide to The Christmas Party Season in 2012 appeared first on Fashion and Lifestyle Trends for Men & Women.

I will personally be having a rather large contingent of my family coming over this Christmas, which will be the first time I have hosted so many people. This has already got me in a bit of a panic due to a variety of reasons, one is the fact that I badly need to redecorate the dining room which I have put off for about three years.

The other many reasons for panic are the logistics of it all, how do I cook for so many? How do I keep everybody entertained?  How am I going to clear up once everybody has eaten and drank everything in the house and then finally left?

I get cold sweats just thinking about it, however if everybody else manages to do it, surely I can too, right? Well if I can’t I will certainly not be volunteering for it again, that is for sure.

My Plan Of Action So Far

Ok, so after some serious discussions with the wife, we think we can handle the cooking between us and I am going to be responsible for the redecorating. Also with regards to the entertainment I have a few tricks up my sleeve to change up the traditional family game of secret Santa. My secret Santa ideas should really get them thinking just before Christmas that is for certain.

Christmas Entertainment!

For any of you that have played secret Santa, it brings a great extra element of fun to family occasions such as Christmas. Everybody picks a random name out of the hat and has to buy that person a Christmas gift, without the recipient ever knowing who bought it for them.

There is usually a maximum price that each gift can cost and some people like to throw different twists on the game, such as offering bonus prizes for originality. This ensures a little bit of thought going into the gifts.

If you work in an office you may already be familiar with games such as this, though in this setting they can be a little bit naughtier than in family games for the obvious reasons that there are no children involved. Let’s just say that some of the gifts can be a little risky.

The gifts will mainly be of a comedic or sexual nature, which is all in good fun. Just be careful if you are responsible for buying the boss a gift, something too offensive might postpone that promotion for a year or two.

Though it is in a party setting, try not to be too offensive otherwise you may be labelled the office pervert, which really is not a good look, especially if there is a certain office crush you are trying to impress.

My Secret Santa Twist!

My own personal ideas are going to involve a particular theme, involving purchasing fancy dress costumes. Whoever buys the most outlandish fancy dress costume for their particular recipient will get a bonus prize from me…oh and each person has to wear the costume that is bought for them or they get no Christmas dinner or alcohol!

I think my idea will be hilarious, though I am not so sure some of the family will enjoy it so much! I think I will set a new trend with this variation and wonder just what my family will come up with next year to try and better my idea.

Well until then I had better get started on that dining room, it hasn’t been used in years mainly because I just haven’t had the time to decorate it (honestly!). I have had more important things to do like watching football!

Think you can come up with some equally good secret Santa ideas? Put them to the test on your family and friends this Christmas.

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