Moisturiser has to be the most important product to have for winter - skin and cold weather are sworn enemies. Carrying a pot of moisturiser around in your handbag with you is the best way to stop skin drying out by applying it when you need it rather than just once or twice a day.

Nivea have an all purpose Soft Intensive Moisturising Cream that’s perfect. It comes in a 200ml tub that’ll fit into your handbag and means there’s no possibility of it squirting out accidentally. The cream contains Jojoba Oil and Vitamin E to inject some nourishment back into your skin. Most importantly though, you can use it on any part of your body - including face and hands, so you don’t need to fill your handbag with three different creams as this one will do the trick.

This magic in a pot costs the bargain price of £4.49 and you can get it from from Boots, Superdrug and probably even the supermarket.

The approach of Christmas always sees cosmetic companies bring out travel size products all packaged up in a cute gift set. Whilst of course it’s always nice to buy your friends one of these, they’re also a great way of trying out different products without spending a fortune.

Urban Decay have just launched their Holiday 08 range, which includes some great sets and kits. Their Glide-on Eye Pencils are, as we already know, pretty brilliant. choosing the right colour can be pretty tricky, but now you can try all of them for just £16. The 24/7 Pencil Set features five mini Glide-on Eye Pencils in Zero (black), Lucky (bronzey-gold) Covet (turquoise) Electric (bright blue) and Lust (deep purple). That works out as under £4 each for endless possibilities and combinations of colours and ideas.

You can get your hands on this brilliant set from Urban Decay counters in Boots, Debenhams and House of Fraser.

Black feline flicks around the eyes have to be the most worn make up trend at the moment, but let’s face it, they’re damn fiddly to do, even with the tiny, precise brushes on the end of liquid eyeliners or a sharp point on the end of the pencil. And I’m not even going to mention what happens when you smudge it.

The clever people at Pixi, however, might just’ve created a perfect and easy to apply eyeliner formula. Their Gel Liner comes in a pot in a gel like consistency with a separate ‘fool proof’ application brush. And it’s smudge free. It also contains some rather lovely ingredients, including Vitamin E, which helps prevent aging.

It’s available in three shades - black, navy blue and a deep green and costs £16.

I’m still loving the purple theme this season, especially in make up, so here’s another great product for capturing this trend. butter LONDON is a company that only makes for hands and feet including special manicure and pedicure treatments and, of course, nail varnish that are free from nasty toxic ingredients.

They have a deep purple shade perfect for this season, called Prince’s Plums. Just paint a bit of this on your nails and you’ll be wearing this seasons hottest colour no matter what colour your clothes are! This colour will off set purple accessories perfectly and will stand out really well if you’re wearing dark colours. As well as it’s dark purple-y colour it also has a metallic finish to catch the light and draw attention to your lovely digits!

You can have a look Prince’s Plums, which costs £10, and the other shades available from butter LONDON at their website.

Purple is most definitely the buzz colour for this season and it applies to everything - clothes, jewellery, accessories, and yes make up. If you want to do the purple trend with a bit of subtely and in an unusual way, the check out Benefit’s new BadGal masacra in, you’ve gussed it, plum.

The tried and tested BadGal formula will add volume and separate your lashes, and the plum colour will give them a nice warm look, so it’s perfect for everyday wear and evening wear. If you don’t want to completely indulge in plum, then why not try just adding it it to the tips of your lashes for a subtle hint of colour, or just use on lower lashes combined with a plum eyeliner.

Benefit’s BadGal Mascara in Plum costs £14.50 and is available at Benefit counters nationwide.

Anyone who bought the most recent (and last, sob) edition of eve magazine will have been lucky enough to get their hands on a No 7 Lash 360 Mascara. Personally I find most mascaras never live up to the hype, and the only one I’ve found that really separates and curls lashes is Chanel’s Inimitable. However, I thought I’d give the No7 one a go - it was free after all. I’m happy to say it’s not half bad! It separates lashes really well and spreads them out evenly without any unsightly clumps. The mascara isn’t particularly thick -it gives more of a natural day look than a dramatic evening one, so it’s great for everyday wear.

At £11.50 it’s not a bad price considering it actually does what it says on the tin, and if you buy eve magazine then you’ll get it for the cost of the magazine - £3.60! The entire No7 range is available from Boots.

The Body Shop’s Shimmer Cubes are great - four individual cubes of eyeshadow to blend any which way you want, or just wear by themselves- there’s no limit to the amount of shades you can make! They also work really well if you use a damp brush to apply them - a bit of water makes the colour more vibrant and stand-out.

Their summer edition was great, but the time for subtle golds and pinks is definitely over. The newly released Autumn/Winter edition is spot on though. It’s called Deadly Night Shades and features Silver Crest, Blue Horizon, Deep Down Blue and Ocean Rock Grey. As the names suggests, you can create great dramatic dark and stormy eyes with these colours, all with a metallic shimmer finish.

At £16 it works out at only £4 per eyeshadow cube, not including how ever many different colours you come up with! And because it’s The Body Shop, you can guarantee it’s doing you good - the eye shadows contain Marula Oil that will moisturise and condition your skin!

Order online at The Body Shop’s website or find it instore.

If you’re one of those rather refreshing people who ignores trends and stands out in their own individual way then this is definitely a product you’ll want in your make-up bag. The Lid Neon Eyeshadow from Pop is guaranteed to make your eyes stand out - just look at those colours! The intense pigment means you just need one sweep to transform your eyes for a perfect matte finish. The palette contains six shades - pretty pink, ripe orange, juicy yellow, bright blue, pastel turquoise and apple green, as well as a duo applicator and some great hints and tips for creating unique eyes.

Stand out eyes are the perfect accessories and much cheaper than splashing out on loads of bling! You can get the Lid Neon Eyeshadow Palette for £15 from the Pop Beauty website, or have a look at their more subtle shades!

Midnight blue eyeshadow is a great new twist on last season’s smoky eyes, and far easier to achieve. Simply sweep it along the upper lids plus a little on the lower lash line, and you’re there.

However, be careful when choosing your shade - too purple and you’ll look like you’ve been in a fight, too dark and it’ll look black, and make sure it’s metallic to bring out the blue. Bobbi Brown have 2 shades that a perfect for this. Their Shimmer Wash Eyeshadow is specifically designed to illuminate eyelids, and also for using as an eyeliner. The Sapphire shade, is a dark blue colour with a hint of gray, so it won’t come out too dark. There’s also a Metallic Eyeshadow in Midnight which is very similar but slightly more shimmery. Both cost £14 each.

If you can, pop into a Bobbi Brown store to try the shades out, but if not then head over to their website.