Christmas With John Lewis

Christmas stock is upon us and the highlight of my festive shopping season beginning is always seeing what John Lewis come up with. With inspired ranges every year it's always an aesthetic surprise so when I was invited to the Christmas press event last night I jumped at the chance to see everything close up in the way it was designed to be. As usual, John Lewis didn't disappoint with the classic Scandanavian influence of reds and whites to elegant silvers against greens and purples in the home section, delicious Christmas inspired treats from gingerbread houses to infused alcohols and jams, soft knits faux fur and tall boots in clothing and dazzling offerings from Laura Mercier, NARS and Liz Earle.

After a flute of champagne, a taste of marmalade vodka (which is actually tolerable even for someone like me who doesn't like marmalade) and a glass of deliciously sweet pink cocktail that I didn't quite catch the name of in my festive haze I wandered upstairs to find the beauty section and none other than a haberdashery area where we could make our own Christmas card. After spending what felt like ten minutes sewing an eye onto my fabric owl and being rescued no less than three times from myself and a needle I delved into the make up and I feel it's going to be an expensive trip to John Lewis this November. The new Laura Mercier products had me by the tongue instantly with shimmery baked eyeshadows in purples, jade, turquoise and blacks, a new compact foundation and a candle that really does smell entirely of roasted chestnuts. Liz Earle's hand treatments left me thoroughly pampered and longing to get my hands on more products than their rather famous cleanser and NARS? Well NARS never disappoint. With the new collection inspired by Guy Bourdin seeming like a real collectors dream to the cream eyeshadows which I am definitely picking up this winter it was a beautifully coloured tally in my head of how much I could spend without my bank manager yelling at me.

I wore a Clements Ribeiro Swan collection dress with sequin shoulder detail with a deep red lipstick to feel a little more Christmassy in October and I had such a lovely time mentally totalling up the expense of Christmas. In fact I came home to make a tiny order to get myself prepared for the influx of products in store by next week. I'm looking forward to the window decoration which while it may not get as much buzz as Harrods is still ever so lovely and as if I wasn't feeling festive enough before during inappropriate months, I've just got the wrapping paper out.

Merry October!