It seems to be there are unwritten rules associated with occasions like Birthdays, Valentines and Christmas well here’s my top rule for Christmas: LuxFactor

Of course, you must work on your Thoughtfulness Score, but gifts at this time of year tend to stick to one of the main Christmas Categories, but we’ll get to that later.

Lux Factor is the luxury rating that you can apply to any product. Like with cars: a BMW Series 1 can cost less than a Renault Espace but the BMW has the LuxFactor.

We’re looking for gifts that ooze luxury. Important note: this doesn’t always mean expensive, just the best-of-breed or the most decadent in its class e.g. chocolate- choose a luxury (organic) brand with a high percentage of cocoa solids, for a scarf we want cashmere or silk.

High LuxFactor items are generally those that she would never normally buy for herself, as they’re too luxe for every day.

Plus for high LuxFactor you need suitable wrapping materials, you can cheapen a wonderful LuxFactor by using rubbishy wrapping paper but on the other hand score loads more points with an lower LuxFactor gift by dressing it up with some quality finishing materials.

Christmas gifts fall into a few well-defined categories:

• Personal Grooming (stuff for face, body, hair, nails)
• Hobbies & Interests (sports, books, cooking, gadgets, photography)
• Clothing & Accessories (underwear, outerwear, shoes, accessories, jewellery)
• Food & Drink (Chocolate, Booze, gourmet)
• Christmassy Things (Candles, diaries, pens)

This is fantastic news as it means you don’t have to wrack your brain thinking about the wackiest/most unexpected present, instead you can zero-in on the areas you know your partner likes (thanks to those questions in Part I) and just make sure your get the LuxFactor right.

Note on recommendations. All the things I recommend are from brands I know and love or brands that my mother, sisters or female friends know and love! I’m including some links to make life easier but above all because I, hand on heart, believe that these products are fantastic and will make well received gifts. My aim is to help you pick out the gems that will hit the mark.

Good luck and don’t leave it until the last minute!

Although if you do, Amazon vouchers must surely be the best way to instantly save face: redeemable against millions of products and you can even print your own certificate to give her.