Sumptuous rose infused beauty products are top of our Christmas wish list this year, and luckily there’s a rose-based gift set out there to suit every budget. Our favourites are by natural brand Korres and ayurvedic, organic brand Ila who have both put together a collection of their cult rose products for a deliciously indulgent pampering experience that will leave you feeling like a modern-day Cleopatra.

Lessons in luxury: Ila Rose Bliss Gift Collection will inspire a radiant, healthy glow with the famous Face Oil, Face Mask, Bath Salts and Body Balm. £47.10

VS

Heaven scent: Korres Rose Wishes Box Set is the perfect gift be she 19 or 90 with a shower gel, body butter and tinted lip balm. £14.00

She’s the most important woman in your life, so choosing the perfect gift for mum should come top of your priorities this Christmas. Remind her how fabulous she is with an indulgent gift she can use for some much-deserved at-home pampering. Here’s our pick of the most luxurious treats that’ll make her Christmas extra-special.

Ying Yu Double Roller, £43.00

Tone facial muscles with the coveted Jade facial roller. Used in Chinese medicine for centuries, Jade is a cleansing stone that helps the lymph system expel toxins. By using the larger roller on your face and neck and the small one around the eye area one increases blood flow, reduces puffiness, tones facial muscles and plumps out wrinkles. Every woman should have one.

Silkskin Silk Pillowcase, £35.00

Put a little luxury into bedtime with this hypoallergenic, organic silk pillowcase that helps protect your skin form wrinkles as you sleep. The smooth surface prevents the skin from developing lines or creases as you sleep and magically prolongs the life of a blow-dry. Cotton pillowcases can break hair caught in the fibres and cause the dreaded ‘bed head’, but with Silkskin you really can be a Sleeping Beauty.

Ila Face Oil for Glowing Radiance, £52.00

Skin will see instant effects with this divine argan oil and rose face oil, we defy any woman not to fall in love with it. Beautiful under make up and ideal as a moisturiser or night cream, even for acne prone skin, it’s the sumptuous blend of Rose Otto and Sandlewood that make this Ila oil truly special.

Margaret Dabbs Intensive Hydrating Foot Lotion, £25.00

Developed by Cult Beauty expert and celebrity podiatrist Margaret Dabbs, this multi-award winning foot moisturiser owes most of its amazing results to the high content of Emu Oil, an ancient Aboriginal ingredient. Feet are softened, replenished, and ready to put on show, making this lotion a year round must-use.

Korres Rose Wishes Box Set, £14.00

A beautiful gift for women of any age, this lush little box set combines the delicate scents of Japanese and English roses in three irresistible skin care products. Containing a lather-some shower gel, hydrating body butter, and the famous Korres tinted Lip Butter, it makes for a fresh and feminine gift.

Neom Organic Bath Oil, £32.00

This seriously luxurious bath oil is made using aromatherapeutic principles and the finest organic ingredients for the most indulgent bath time you’ll ever have. We love the Complete Bliss blend, which contains Moroccan Blush Rose Essence perfect for a spot of at-home pampering and romantic treats.

For dads, brothers, husbands and uncles, Christmas can be a rather monotonous time of year. Gathered round the tree on Christmas morn, the men of the family often lack the usual feelings of excitement and apprehension we females share in abundance. After all, they know what they’re getting: socks and a bottle of whiskey. But what do they expect? It’s not our fault they’re so difficult to buy for. This Christmas, why not put a sincere smile on his face and give him something a little unexpected? Here’s the Cult Beauty guide to softening up the men in your life.

The Refinery Shave Oil, £23.00

The Refinery is the first port of call for London’s well-groomed men, and this opulent shave oil is their bathroom shelf essential. Packed full of vitamins and essential oils it can be used as both a non-greasy shaving oil and as an after-shave balm to reduce sensitivity, heal small cuts, and soften and re-balance the skin. A must for Mr Modern Sophistication.

Escentric Molecules Molecule 02, £69.00

Give your man instant appeal this Christmas with Escentric Molecules’ Molecule 02, the unisex fragrance sweeping the globe with its pheromonic effect. Based on Ambroxan, the synthetic substitute for Ambergris, it harnesses a sweet, earthy and musky aroma that waxes and wanes throughout the day, fading only to resurface just when you’ve forgotten you’re wearing it. The best bit? You can pinch it whenever takes your fancy.

COMO Shambhala Gift Box, £30.00

A favourite of busy men in high-pressured jobs, this shower gel and lotion gift set combines the two original and best-loved products from the COMO Shambhala resort. The invigorate range is a must for men with early starts; nothing will leave them more awakened or refreshed after the Monday morning shower.

Jack Black Core Collection, £46.00

This grooming kit is a bathroom-essential for men who want to look good without prompting suspicions of vanity. The perfect gift-set for a man’s man, Jack Black’s facial cleanser, shaving formula, and moisturiser are used by Hollywood tough guys including Bruce Willis and Robert De Niro.

Korres Mens Travel Kit, £14.50

The compact grooming solution for men-on-the-go, this travel kit is the ideal gift for those who find themselves on frequent business trips, or who just like taking their lady away for the weekend (Hey, a girl can dream!). Containing miniature versions of what will soon be his wash bag essentials ( including shampoo, aftershave balm, and eye cream), it’s also the perfect starter kit for fellas who’ve not quite grasped the term ‘metro-sexual’.

Rubis Tweezer Leather Wallet Set, £60.00

Rubis’ stylish manicure and tweezing set is the slick answer to every man’s plucking and trimming needs. Containing handmade Swiss tweezers, nail scissors and a nail file, all wrapped up in a portable leather roll, it’s the ultimate in luxury grooming made by the company that made their name crafting precision tools for the Swiss watch industry. If he questions such metrosexuality, tell him you specifically heard him ask for a great pluck!

Natural beauty products have developed a cult following in recent years, a response to growing concern over the effects of harsh chemicals in both skin care and make up products. Korres, the brand du-jour for the all-natural gal, is once again ahead of the pack with on-trend product development having just launched its new natural fragrance range.

Of course, once upon a time all perfumes boasted an organic makeup, but by the turn of the twentieth century even the most luxurious of perfumeries were synthesising scents to reduce costs and ensure uniformity. The Korres fragrance concept has eliminated exposure to polycyclic musk (PCM), nitro-musk and phthalates, synthetic, non-biodegradable compounds that are widely used as fragrance fixatives and known to cause irritations and bioaccumulation. The fragrance formula is instead preserved with a natural food-grade antioxidant – Rosmarinus officinalis (that’s Rosemary to you and me).

The packaging is also typically Korres. Individual, yet understated. Simple, but still elegant. The glass moulded bottles with pure white soft-touch lids are a quirky take on vintage design and were created to symbolise the old pharmacies and laboratories from where the brand grew its roots. A retro-chic statement on any bathroom shelf.

As a young girl, following my bath, my mother would oil my skin with cocoa butter and olive oil. She always felt that if you were not properly moisturised you looked ‘poor’ and didn’t come from a ‘good home’, (Go figure). Needless to say, by the time she finished, you could literally fry an egg on me. Oh yes, parents are so reasonable.

Nowadays, I still feel the same way about not wanting to be so greasy. At the same time, I would like a body moisturiser that is oily enough to really moisturise black skin. I have searched and searched and it’s actually quite difficult. Lots of black girls I know have reverted, in their frustration, to the old school classic – Palmers Cocoa Butter. This is deemed to be the original and the best and I do love it too but it can make me feel quite hot (not in a good way) and also after a while the sweet smell that I loved as a child starts to make me nauseous.

I’ve tried the Body Shop Body Butters which are pretty good but strangely not always heavy enough in the winter. So what to do? I’ve discovered the joys of Body Oils – they definitely bridge the gap.

Abahna’s version in Frangipani and Orange Blossom is the first one I discovered and it has been an absolute godsend. It smells delicious and comes in gorgeous packaging. Also with the spray format, you don’t end up with more oil than you actually need. I also love the Miller Harris body oil in Fleur Oriental and Ila Body Oil for Vital Energy. They are a fabulous way to wear a pretty fragrance in the summer. Korres’ Coriander Body Oil was also impressive – particularly since I thought I’d hate it – the African in me thought ‘Why would I put coriander on my skin?’ But hey what can I say, I can’t explain it but it just works.

Read the musings of an anonymous beauty writer who happens to be a black woman with a thing or two to say about the state of beauty for women of colour every week on Cult Beauty.