Jo loves... deeper sleep, a blush you can apply in the dark, metallic nails, a life-changing brush – and guards against bugs and germs…

Green & Spring Antibacterial Hand Gel The cold and flu season is, alas, upon us (much sneezing on the Tube, I've noticed!) – so this has found a place in my handbag as on-the-go prevention.  From the all-natural British skincare company, this creamy gel smells way nicer than most of these hand sanitisers, with essential oils of thyme, marjoram, rosemary, spearmint, lavender and lemongrass making for a lovely aromatic fragrance.  Best of all it doesn’t feel drying or leave hands tight and taut.

• Green & Spring Antibacterial Hand Gel, £7.50 for 75 ml - buy here

This Works Deep Sleep Night Oil

and

This Works Deep Calm Bath & Shower Oil

Had trouble sleeping?  (Me too.  Too much excitement in my life...!)  This duo, though, has proved amazingly helpful when I’m trying to decompress and wind down before bedtime.  I’ve ben rediscovering the bath oil (one of those favourites I’d kind of lost touch with), which is packed with super-grounding vetiver, chamomile and lavender – and then I’ve been following it with this new pump-action body oil which has a double-whammy effect.  The grapeseed oil nourishes skin before bedtime, and the oils – those same oils as feaure in the bath oil – are truly soporific, with the result I’m not finding sleep nearly so elusive.  (Not for nothing is vetiver known as ‘oil of tranquility’.)  It’s as if using the two together has a synergistic effect, which makes them even more powerful.  (If you’re not a fan of body oils, check out the

Deep Sleep Dream Cream

– and if you like to shower rather than bathe, you simply massage the

Deep Calm Bath & Shower Oil

into skin before getting under the jets.)

• This Works Deep Sleep Night Oil, £25 for 120 ml - buy here
• This Works Deep Calm Bath and Shower Oil, £37 for 55 ml - buy here
• This Works Deep Sleep Dream Cream, £18 for 75 ml - buy here

Liz Earle Blend & Contour Brush

I’ve almost completely switched to the cruelty-free Liz Earle brushes since they launched because I find them easy-to-hold and easy-to-use.  But if a brush can be life-transforming, this really is – from the second ‘wave’ of accessories which just launched.  Maybe you know that for the past 18 months, we’ve had regular Anti-Ageing Beauty Bible shows on QVC – and when I’m filming, the lovely Bobbi Brown team have always come in to do my make-up, because (confession-time) I’ve never been great at creating a ‘strong’ eye.  This has changed all that:  I can use the brush to apply and perfectly shadow beneath the eye, and in the socket for definition.  Its soft texture blends and smooths shadow to a seamless finish, but the precision tip allows for access to the lash-line.  And I don’t need to call in any more favours from Bobbi…!

•  Liz Earle Blend & Contour, £13- buy here

Aerin Multi Color for Lips and Cheeks

I don’t lug much around in the way of make-up – but I do love a cream blusher, otherwise (with naturally pale colouring) I can look a bit washed out as the day wears on.  From the range by Aerin Lauder (Estée’s granddaughter, which basically makes her beauty royalty), this is a velvety-textured blush which comes in one, suits-all-skintypes shade (a soft tawny rose).  The texture’s so goof-proof you could put it on in the dark, but I love flipping open the exquisite gold compact for a bit of swift ‘face-waking’.  The whole collection’s fab, actually.  Her grandmother (who I once had the privilege of interviewing) would be flushed with pride, never mind this little pot of what Estée liked to refer to as ‘glow’.

• Aerin Multi Color for Lips and Cheeks, £30 - buy here - or call 0870-034 2566 for stockists

Estée Lauder Pure Color Metal ManiaNail Lacquers

I am a massive fan of Lauder’s polishes because they last and last and last.  I am also a sucker for shimmery polishes, at least for my toes:  just love looking down at my feet during yoga and seeing something sexy and shimmery.  And I’m clinging to my sandals at the tail-end of summer, so feet are currently painted with this collection:  each shade is shot with shimmer – not dramatically disco-esque, but delivering the depth of shine you get from (say) a new car’s paintwork.  Blue Blood and Black Plum are major favourites, though I’m kinda hankering after Viper – a sensational green…  (There are divine golds and silver, too.)  I do have a wild side;  it’s just in my toes.

• Estée Lauder Pure Color Metal ManiaNail Lacquers, £14.50 - buy here