When it comes to party make-up, we love this advice from our friend Kathleen Baird-Murray in the Financial Times, drawing on wisdom from Tom Pecheux. Basically, ‘take whichever look you do best – be that the smoky eye or bare eye and red lip – and throw a little glitter at it.’ So: a smidgen of sparkly shadow on brow or lid or the inner corner of the eye, or a glimmery gloss over lipstick. You’ll look like you. Only ‘partier’. (To paraphrase Bobbi Brown.)

With the canapé season fast approaching, it can be tempting to skip lunch to make room for those tidbits. Much healthier is to have a proper lunch, with protein, carbohydrates and vegetables. (If you don’t have a kitchen at work, take in your leftovers.) That way you can be sure of getting one good, balanced meal (since few of us want to go out to dinner after a few rounds of snacks). It certainly stops us attacking the canapé tray like a crazed hyena when it hoves into sight…

With good hairdressers, organising an appointment can sometimes feel harder than co-ordinating a G20 summit. We like to schedule appointments two or three in advance – that might mean every five weeks for a cut, every two months for colour – and work our diaries around those appointments. (So much more elegant than begging on bended knees for a last-minute slot…)

The festive season is almost upon us. Which means: so is the washing-up season. We keep a pair of rubber gloves in our luggage when we visit friends. Then if we find they don’t have a pair to hand, we can still muck in with the chores without drying out hands and nails.

We’ve learned never to let manicurists use a file on nail tips to get rid of flakes. Gentle buffing is fine – but files weaken and thin nails, in our experience, compromising their strength.

Facialist Debbie Thomas prescribes salicylic acid products to her red carpet clients who can’t be seen with a zit. ‘Salicylic acid is great for acne,’ she notes. ‘It helps unblock pores, reduce oil production and is anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial.’

Saunas are back in style. But if you're prone to broken veins, keep a limit of just a few minutes on time spent in there; prolonged exposure to excessive heat can cause broken capillaries (and actually braek down collagen and elastin, too).

We’d far rather give someone a Christmas beauty gift they really want than something destined for the nearest charity shop or to gather dust in the bathroom. With the gift season upon us, we recommend asking someone for three things they’d love – and buy one of them. That way, it’ll still be a surprise.

Fingers or tools? Kay Montano starts with a sponge, but advises: ‘Ultimately, you’ll always need to use your fingers to blend any product. Nothing beats that final “hands-on” touch. It’s the only way to feel how much product is actually on the skin.’

Got an important meeting or a VIP event? We never recommend trying a new face mask, exfoliator or indeed pretty much any new product on the day (or the night before). You’re never going to be 100% sure it won’t trigger a reaction – and you don’t want to have that panicked feeling that you’d rather venture out with a paper bag over your head…

Feel a cold sore coming on? Sometimes placing an ice cube or a pack of frozen peas on the area as soon as you feel that familiar tingle can stop the blister in its tracks. (Raised body heat activates the herpes virus.)

Don’t plonk your handbag down on the kitchen counters. The bottoms of most handbags harbor tens of thousands of bacteria, potentially including staph, pseudomonas, salmonella, E.coli and MRSA. If it’s possible to do without damaging the bag, swipe the bottom of your bag regularly with anti-bacterial wipes.

If you’re stuck in a cycle of daily hair-washing, try to break it. Every 2-3 days is plenty, according to many hairdressers we speak to. Over-washing strips hair of its natural oils and is especially damaging if you have coloured hair, as it shortens the life of the colour.

For soothing and restful sleep, feng shui experts suggest positioning your bed diagonally facing the door, and never under a sloping ceiling as it creates stagnant energy to build up. They also recommend ditching mirrors in the bedroom, as they can cause insomnia. (Worth a shot, if you’re still finding it hard to slumber despite our regular recommendations for sleep-beckoning products!)

We totally agree with this comment from Trish McEvoy: 'If you're looking for one product that makes a huge difference to older women, it's foundation. Skintone naturally becomes more uneven, as we age. Perfectly applied, foundation smooths the complexion – so making it look younger and fresher again.' (We love the new serum-style foundations – if you haven't tried one, set some time aside to check these out.)

When you sit down to eat, take a minute before you start on your meal. Eating when stressed is a common cause of bloating. It can really help if you calm your system before eating; taking a few deep breaths replaces the arousal-based nervous system associated with stress with the calming parasympathetic nervous system. When this is activated, digestion can work again.

Planning to travel long-haul? We always kick off our shoes and circle feet as often as we remember, to keep ankles suffer and avoid puffiness building up around them. But we also heard that if you don't put your shoes back on until the doors have opened and the cabin pressure returns to normal. It seemed to help, on a recent transatlantic flight.

Bought a lipstick you don't like? Instead of throwing it out, mix it with another that you own.

If you find that legs feel dry after shaving, try shaving straight after a bath (which encourages hairs to swell), using body lotion to help with razor glide and leave them silky-soft and comforted.

Eat at the same time every day, recommends David B. Agus, author of A Short Guide to a Long Life. The body likes a strict routine. Eat erratically or go to bed and get up at inconsistent times day in, day out, and you'll negatively affect hormone levels.