Buying presents for people is easy: you just give them what you'd like yourself. Admittedly, this can lead to some unlikely combinations, but I'm sure my father will hugely appreciate the Twin Peaks boxset he's getting for his 75th birthday this summer.
This is why getting presents for girlfriends' birthdays should be especially easy. Not only is giving them something you want pretty much a guaranteed winner – they're your friends so chances are you have vaguely similar tastes – but it also, more importantly, lets them know what you would like for your birthday so they can then reciprocate in kind. They say that to give is better than to receive; I say to give is great, but if it ensures you'll also receive, everybody wins.
Beauty products are some of the easiest presents to give, and the most fun to receive, because they feel like a treat. I agree that makeup is a bit tricky, and can feel weirdly intimate, but the most successful presents I've given this year have all come from Charlotte Tilbury's brilliant new makeup line. I know I bang on about these products all the flipping time, but that's honestly because they're brilliant, and that is why God put me on this planet, folks: to impart to you good people my honest opinions about beauty products. I'm like the beagle going down the mineshaft of Space NK.
These cosmetics make especially great presents because Tilbury has cleverly categorised all of her products into seven different looks: if you know your friend would like to look like Sophia Loren, you buy her products from the Dolce Vita look; if she would like to look like Jennifer Lopez, you buy her ones from Golden Goddess. I'm not really into dividing women up by types – partly because I've never met someone who is entirely one type, partly because I'm not the human embodiment of a woman's magazine – but I have to admit these categories are quite handy when it comes to present-buying. The best products to buy as gifts are my favourite thing in the whole range: the Colour Chameleons. These clever little eye-colour sticks are not only excellent, they're also labelled by which eye colour they suit and whether they're for day or night, making them especially easy gift-wise. These have become my standby birthday present for my favourite female friends.
Moving to beauty products in general, avoid hair products, moisturisers or perfumes. Hair products insinuate that the giftee has a bird's nest nightmare that needs taking in hand; moisturisers suggest that the person looks ancient (especially if it has tedious, nonsensical phrases like 'anti-ageing' all over the packaging), which no one needs to learn on their birthday; and perfumes are just too subjective and personal to give to someone else.
But bath products are always good birthday presents, mainly because they will probably come in handy the next day when the birthday lady is recovering from her party hangover. Ren's body scrubs are my favourite products from the brand: the Moroccan Rose Otto Sugar Body Polish is perfect for the friend who sees self-indulgence as a human right, while the Guérande Salt Exfoliating Body Balm is for your more ascetic friend, whose idea of a luxury holiday is a refreshing hike through the Austrian Alps.
Bath oils are great, too, because they're lovely, but people rarely think of buying them for themselves, unless they've got almost painfully dry skin like me. Jo Malone's look and smell the most luxurious, but they're slightly more than £30. For cheaper but still really nice ones, go to Origins and Burt's Bees. Laura Mercier's bath products smell so delicious it's hard to resist eating them, and I'd recommend getting the bubble bath or body scrub over the scented body creams, as the latter verge on being perfumes.
Finally, I know scented candles have become a bit of a cliché, but when they're good, they're great, and Diptyque ones are great. The mini ones are only £20 and they last for yonks and I've never met anyone who wasn't pleased to get a Baies Diptyque candle. If you want Diptyque but want to be more original than a candle, the brand's solid perfumes look charmingly vintage, although their appeal lies more in how they look than their actual efficacy. (Diptyque's Smoothing Body Polish, incidentally, is not only out of your price range but completely rubbish. Walk straight past that, ideally towards the Laura Mercier counter.)
Ultimately, Fiona, I would say just don't worry about it too much. In my recent birthday experience, what the birthday woman remembers is that you turned up to her party and were awesome, not what present you gave her. In fact, I've heard it told that some birthday women get so, shall we say, carried away with the birthday spirit that they mix up all their cards and thank everyone for the wrong present the next day. So, really, you could give her a bottle of Radox and claim the Chanel handbag came from you and she'll be none the wiser. Then she'll think about what a great friend you are as she spends the next day soaking in her Radox bubbles.
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