WordPress has summarized the year of this news section, and told us something we know already: that our story on Marine Lorphelin being crowned Miss France 2013 was the biggest of the year. This also correlates with our Facebook fan page numbers.
   It also put France as one of the top countries accessing Lucire during December, though the United States remains number-one for our entire website. New Zealand, the UK and Australia were consistently in the top five each month.
   Last year, we did some quick arithmetic on the interest in Miss France versus its rival pageant, Miss Prestige National. In 2010, the ratio of readers for our Miss France story versus our Miss Nationale one was 2·7: that means, of Lucire readers, nearly three times as many were interested in Miss France than Miss Nationale. Last year, the ratio rose to 8·6. This year, however, the ratio is at 35·6 for Miss France versus Miss Prestige National—not great news for Geneviève de Fontenay and her committee, though if their online viewing numbers are healthy, then their sponsors will continue backing them.
   Our second most-read article was on We’ll Take Manhattan, and the interest in Bailey and Jean Shrimpton because of the BBC TV movie starring Karen Gillan and Aneurin Barnard earlier this year.
   The passing of Whitney Houston netted a lot of interest globally, and our article on celebrities paying tribute to her came in at number three.
   Interestingly, our Miss France 2012 article came in the top 10, as did a story on the Duchess of Cambridge wearing a dress by New Zealand-born designer Emilia Wickstead in May. A 2011 story on Keira Knightley modelling for Chanel Coco Mademoiselle also showed up in our top 10, making Knightley our most searched-for celebrity this year. Oscar winners Meryl Streep and Jean Dujardin appear after our top 10, in 13th place.
   The formula remains similar, with pageants, celebrity and royalty gaining the most public interest.
   As noted on our Tumblr, a number of countries were absent from our readership this year. This includes numerous African states such as South Sudan, Liberia and Lesotho, where fashion is hardly a priority with daily struggles, and Turkmenistan, where the state still has a say on what is and what is not permitted. One reader pointed out that in our map, Kosovo was also missing from our reader countries.
   As to our latest articles, pop to the main part of the site, where our Paris editor Lola Saab has her spring 2013 must-haves from New York.

A few quick snippets this weekend—at least in musical terms.
   Twilight’s Nikki Reed and her husband Paul McDonald have released an EP, entitled ‘The Best Part’. Reed, with a crystal-clear voice—with no autotune and overproduction—talks about performing as being the next step in her life.
   Reed and McDonald co-wrote the song over a six-month period, and it was produced by former Wilco drummer Ken Coomer.
   With the Les Misérables buzz at the moment, star Anne Hathaway discusses her performance in a separate video, calling the production ‘daunting’ and how the singing—which the actors trained for separately—came together. ‘We were all kind of this mixture of anxiety, gratitude, excitement and nerves.
   ‘I had done so much preparation and I was so in to it that it wasn’t really about performing. It was more about just honouring what I had learned and the research that I had done, and just trying to open myself wide enough to let all that out,’ she says.
   ‘We did everything in one take,’ recalls Hathaway, with the exception of a few cases, with director Tom Hooper using a multi-camera approach to capture as much of each performance as possible.

Kylie Minogue will be one of the acts at Sydney’s New Year’s Eve celebration, along with a midnight fireworks’ display by Foti Fireworks to celebrate her 25 years in the music business.
   Lord Mayor Clover Moore says, ‘Kylie’s an Australian icon, and we’re delighted to have her involved in Sydney New Year’s Eve celebrations this year. Kylie has worked with the city to develop her Embrace theme, which will inspire the fireworks displays ­in colours of red, yellow, purple and magenta ­ and promote positive ideas about inclusion and connection.’
   The Sydney fireworks’ display last 12 minutes, and is made up of around seven tonnes of pyrotechnics, says the Foti Fireworks company.
   There will be 11,000 aerial shells and 25,000 shooting comets launched from seven barges, spread across 6 km of Sydney Harbour. A crew of 45 manning 12 computers will launch fireworks from 130 firing points on the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
   The display will be accompanied by a musical score ­put together by Minogue and her friends.
   An app can be downloaded from sydneynewyearseve.com/app in association with Telstra.

The Body Shop’s Christmas event had always been a matter of curiosity for me. I first noticed the festive decorations and customer-filled stores a few years ago whilst I was still in university and struggling to keep my expenditures in check, as all students are wont to do. Needless to stay, I steered clear of the event simply due to my fear of spending a fortune on things I felt I’d never need.
   This November, I was happy to be proved wrong. When I first received my invitation, I RSVPed immediately and set about contacting Ansonia in order to be allowed to cover the event. If there is one thing to be said, it is that the staff at the Body Shop epitomizes the meaning of the words customer service. From the get-go I was given any information required and allowed to interrogate the poor staff members regarding their products.
   Since I arrived at 3 p.m., it was still a manageable, quiet affair, though it soon filled up with a plethora of customers hurrying to make use of the fantastic deals available for those few hours. The staff were all incredibly lovely, and the store was both impeccably tidy and beautifully decorated. Everything from the decorations to the stations centred around the store that invite you to try the product all made the event an all-inclusive, lovely experience. I was immediately distracted by the basket of 12 adorable limited-edition reindeer sponges, but had plenty of time to venture through the whole event once I’d purchased a good quarter of the sponges.
   Simply put, the Christmas event at the Body Shop is mainly a chance to grab their Christmas goodies and rack up points. Having asked my friend to sign up earned me a solid 50 points and all Christmas products garnered the buyer double points as well. This is rather excellent, as every $100 spent earns you a $10 gift voucher. Every purchase of $100 or more on that night also earned the buyer a giant Christmas cracker full of the Body Shop’s signature strawberry-scented goodies. The pre-packaged, festive-looking cracker also has the added bonus of looking quite spectacular when placed under the tree. The Body Shop also does a gorgeous array of scent-themed gifts that make for fantastic gifts all year round, especially since they are beautifully pre-wrapped as well.
   The great membership deals and pre-packaged gifts aren’t the only things that are great about the Body Shop during Christmas. Each festive season, the company releases a range of Christmas-themed products that usually range in vanilla, ginger and cranberry. These have been a particular staple of mine and, if my shopping bag at the end of the night was any indication, they will continue to be a staple for years to come.
   This year’s Ginger Sparkle is easily my favourite. By the end of the night I had amassed the entire range, having gone so far as to purchase half a dozen bottles of the hand cream almost solely based on the packaging. The cranberry range is also absolutely lovely, especially the shower gel and the heart-shaped cranberry soap that seem more aimed towards Valentine’s Day.
   My friend Lewis, who accompanied me to the event, claims that the vanilla is hands-down her favourite. Having purchased an armful of the Vanilla Spice lip balm a few years ago, I can definitely understand why. This year, the lip balms come in easy-to-apply and hygienic little spheres that are perfect to pop in your handbag for the summer. However, the Ginger Sparkle hand cream is easily my favourite item of this season. You mustn’t be fooled by the deceptively small package. They seem pricey at first but the consistency is closer to body butter than a cream, making the product exceptionally concentrated and long-wearing. Not only does it also smell fantastic, but it never leaves your hands greasy and the concentrated product means a more portable tube of hand cream.
   The shower gels are also absolutely fantastic. They are released in a taller and slimmer bottle than the regular Body Shop shower gels, which make them easier to store in the shower. The sweet cranberry scent is perfect for summer and would make a marvellous stocking-filler. Although the ginger scent is marketed towards Christmas, I can’t help but get the feeling that it is better suited towards winter as its warmth and spice makes it difficult to wear during the warmer days of summer. It is for this reason that I am glad that the company has aimed for a basic vanilla fragrance instead of bolstering it with spice as well, as it becomes more wearable year-round. I will, however, be stocking up on the ginger-scented products regardless in preparation for winter since they will be out of stock by then.
   The Christmas range and all its variations have always been a holiday staple of mine. Now that I know what the Christmas event allows me to gain as a member, I will be certain to attend the next one in order to get better deals on my favourite products. With wonderfully helpful staff and a lovely, relaxed atmosphere, The Body Shop’s Christmas event is a high recommendation from me to all skin care fans.—Tiffany Fernando, Associate Editor

Top Carrera y Carrera’s Círculos de Fuego cufflinks in silver with onyx. Above One of Curvy Kate’s designs with a black flower print, by Charlotte Davies.

Carrera y Carrera has launched a range of sterling silver cufflinks for men, with prices beginning at €300.
   Its Córdoba collection is inspired by the architectural elements of Córdoba. The La Viña collection is tied to the Mediterranean with what the brand calls a ‘Spanish spirit—sun, passion, energy, and joy.’ The Alegrías collection features ‘mini-sculptures with geometric reliefs inspired by the decoration of a Spanish guitar,’ while the Y collection uses the Carrera y Carrera identity.
   An Asian inspiration can be found in the Círculos de Fuego cufflinks, while Bestiario sees lions, tigers, crocodiles, and eagles.
   Meanwhile, Charlotte Davies, who graduated from the Fashion and Contour course at De Montfort University in Leicester last year, will return to her Alma Mater to judge a student competition next month.
   Davies designed the swimwear line for Curvy Kate, a brand specializing in D- to K-cup lingerie. The range has gone on sale in Australia and will be sold via the UK-based Simply Beach and Lace Lingerie.
   Davies graduated from De Montfort in August 2011 and had secured her job at Curvy Kate in November 2011.

Estée Lauder will release a limited-edition bottle for its Youth-Dew scent to commemorate its 60th anniversary next year.
   The company, which says that Youth-Dew was ahead of its time and is as relevant today as when it was introduced, calls it a ‘sexy’ scent.
   The new limited-edition bottle, in a 67 ml (2¼ fl oz) size, will be available from mid-March exclusively at Belk, and Belk.com, for US$50.
   During her lifetime, Lauder herself said, ‘I created Youth-Dew as the first bath oil to double as a skin perfume. I knew that would appeal to women. And it suits my “philosophy” of fragrance, as well: magnificent scents should not be doled out stingily, but like love, be given abundantly.’
   Lauder also said, ‘It is Youth Dew’s unabashedly sensuous aura that made it an international favourite. After all, women still like to feel beautiful, pampered and loved. And that’s what Youth-Dew is all about.’
   Estée Lauder Youth-Dew turned the original fragrance-buying model on its head, convincing women that they could indulge themselves, rather than wait fore a scent to be gifted.
   The development, says the company, began with a scent that Estée Lauder’s mother kept in their home, which had been created by her uncle for a Russian princess. Lauder purchased essences to rework the fragrance and experimented over months to get a scent that matched her vision.
   Being a bath oil as well as a perfume meant that women could purchase Youth-Dew for themselves.
   The scent has a top note of Bulgarian rose and jonquil with lavender blossoms, chamomile flowers and bergamot. At the heart are jasmine and muget with ylang ylang and carnation. At the base are patchouli, vitiver and sandalwood.

Above Estée Lauder’s 1960 advertisement for Youth-Dew bath oil.

HRH the Prince of Wales will honour Sir Terence Conran, FCSD, Sir Peter Moores, CBE, DL, Mathew Prichard, CBE, DL, Sir Gerald Elliot and Lady Elliot, the Lady Rayne, and Dame Theresa Sackler with medals for arts’ philanthropy today.
   Sir Terence’s contribution includes giving £50 million to the Design Museum and its predecessor, the Boilerhouse, over the last 31 years, sponsoring the summer graduates’ show, serving as Provost of the Royal College of Art, and nurturing careers, including that of Thomas Heatherwick.
   In a release from the Design Museum praising Sir Terence, it is said that ‘Throughout his life, whether he is making it, selling it, teaching it or championing it, Sir Terence has simply been an evangelist for good design.’
   The Boilerhouse project in 1981 was initiated by Conran after being inspired by the Triennale in Milano. He was knighted two years later. The Boilerhouse was relaunched in 1989 as the Design Museum. It will have a new home soon at the old Commonwealth Institute building in Kensington, in a space three times larger than its present site. Sir Terence donated £7·5 million to the new premises, as well as the proceeds from the sale of the lease of the old building, valued at around £10 million.
   ‘It’s not just the money,’ says Vicky Richardson, design director at the British Council, in the same release. ‘It’s the support and encouragement he’s given to people he thinks are doing good things.’
   The awards today were determined by the Prince of Wales’ Art Cluster Group, among others. A final panel of artists decided the five recipients. The panel includes Sir Ronald Harwood (writer), Dame Monica Mason (the Royal Ballet director), Christopher Le Brun (artist), and Colin Tweedy (vice-president, Arts & Business).
   Full details of the honourees from 2008 to 2012 are available at www.artsandbusiness.org.uk.

Stuck on something to give the fashion person in your life?
   Christchurch designers Mister have come to your rescue with a new range of jewellery using their signature scissors cast in sterling silver.
   The new collection is available in limited quantities, much like their clothing.
   The expansion into jewellery sees the design duo of husband and wife Mickey Lin and Ra Thomson offer something unique to their growing customer brand. It is an exciting move for the pair.
   Although small, the collection of brooches, earrings, cufflinks and scissor pendant are hopefully just the start of a new venture. They are all presented in a beautiful jewellery box. This is one thing we wouldn’t mind receiving come Christmas morning.—Sopheak Seng, Fashion and Beauty Editor