Lisa Butcher's fashion files

Join model, fashion designer and TV presenter Lisa Butcher each week for her views on the wonderful world of fashion and beauty. Find out what's going on in her life as a working mum of two and how to dress for the week ahead, whatever your lifestyle or budget, with her gorgeous style guide

Get some winter colour on your cheeks

By Lisa Butcher on 21 Dec 2010 1 comment

It’s so hectic in the run up to Christmas! I've been running from one meeting to the next. I've just seen the latest bits of all my jewellery and am making up the models so I can get a collection together. My love of jewellery goes back to my childhood; my mum always had big, chunky bits of jewellery which I thought were just wonderful. My new collection is high end with an ethical slant, I'm using fair trade gold and looking into the traceability of the gemstones. The theme is ancient symbols so everything from the designs on each piece to the gemstones used is significant. I'm really enjoying the creative process, it's so nice not to have the pressure of working for someone else, I'm just just doing it for me.

In rather different news; I was at The Quest Institute over the weekend - learning how to put people in trances! It's all part of my NLP training and incredibly interesting, I learnt so much. I'll see my brother and his wife over Christmas and because they've been moving - not only house, but country - they're very stressed, so I’m going to practice putting them in a trance! Quest's director Trevor Silvester is a brilliant teacher. And as I keep telling my kids - if you get on with your teacher you’re half way there. I've known Trevor for years, he helped me out when I was doing What Not To Wear. I had to do a piece to camera, as a model that's fine but actually delivering lines down the barrel of a lense is a different matter, I felt a bit fake. So he put me in a trance and since then I’ve had no problems! He even has a method which speeds up your metabolism! You may see a lot of Trevor next year as he’s got lots of TV things coming up so keep your eyes peeled...

Also, last week I met the very inspiring Christina noble and I've got to say I was blown away by her energy. I’ve been doing work for her children's charity this past year and meeting someone like that is so unbelievably rare, it just reminds you that there are some really good people in this world. After 20 dedicated years of working with children in Vietnam she now wants to set somewhere up in England so I'll be keeping very close ties with her well into the new year.

Oh, and on top of all my rushing about between meetings... my house move has fallen through! So it’s back to the drawing board. But who knows, maybe it's for the best. Bring on Christmas in Bali...

Product of the week: Triumph's fabulous new Retro Sensation, a shape-loving range featuring very tight petticoats, slips, bras and knickers which suck in all your flabby bits. There are some really interesting colours, including a shocking pink. I particularly like the high waisted knickers, you don’t want look like Bridget Jones all the time and these figure-flatterers are so much more feminine, not so grannyish - as you can see. -->

In festive spirit I’ve been stocking up on mince pies, my new favourites are from Le Pain Quotidien - they are the yummiest mince pies with a really crumbly pastry. Served warm with a little brandy butter they’re out of this world! Also, if you make yule log at home, instead of fondant you can buy all these different spreads - praline, white chocolate, nutella. Rolled up with the chocolate sponge base they are absolutely delicious!

On the subject of festive chocolate, I was trying to get the kids’ teachers presents and discovered Hotel Chocolat's truffle tree - a massive chocolate Christmas tree with truffles in it. The chocolate is just out of this world! I'm sure the teachers will love it. Well worth looking up.

<-- I'm really on a roll with the Christmas buys this week - I found a sweet little make-up set from RMK. It consists of a palette full of all sorts of eye shadow colours, cheek colours, lip gloss, and comes in a nice silver package. You can get it on Beautybay.com for £45.

And finally, my present to myself. My skin’s been getting really dry in this weather but I made a recent and very exciting discovery - Skinceuticals' Retexturing Activator. You put on a few drops before your moisturiser and it hydrates your skin. Because I'm a bit spot-prone I want hydration without spottiness and this serum really works for me. At around £58 for 30ml it is, admittedly, a luxury buy - but what better time to treat yourself than Christmas? -->