When Milk Tray Isn't Good Enough

Over the coming weeks Londonist will be presenting some helpful guides to the festive season. Stuff like buying presents, making the food, what to drink, how to win the annual family argument...that kind of thing.

Today we kick off with a guide to buying present for that special lady in your life.

Londonist used to hate Christmas before online shopping was invented. Normally, we're pretty cool, calm and collected but recently we've come to realise that Oxford Street, Regent Street and Covent Garden in December were probably Dante's inspiration for the first three circles of Hell.

Of course, online shopping isn't as stress-free as we'd like (delivery companies who only deliver Monday to Friday during business hours yet refuse to deliver to work addresses really deserve bankruptcy as far as we're concerned) but it still beats the bun-fight in central London.

For those of you who aren't as organised as Londonist (we can smugly say we finished and wrapped our Christmas shopping before December) we present our guide to presents for women that you can buy online.

For the girl with a handbag addiction

For the girl who loves handbags (and we don't actually know that many girls who don't love them), the Ollie & Nic Bon Bon Underarm polka dot handbag looks a good bet. This velvet bag will go with just about everything and should last the lucky recipient well through to the Spring.

£38 from Beautiful Things

For the girl who loves gadgets

For all those girlie geeks, this pink USB storage device will prove to be invaluable; much more feminine than those boring black and silver memory sticks. It would be a shame to waste good design on a PC product, so it's gratifying to note that the stick is Mac-friendly.

£39.95 from GirlsStuff.co.uk

For the house-proud girl

These cushions are printed with a beach hut scene by London based photographer Jens Storchare.

They're a tad expensive at £220 for a set of four, but if you know a girl that loves her home then these should go down a treat.

£220 from Mr&Mrs House

For the girl who loves all things pretty

Hannah's jewellery is unique and gorgeous. This pretty necklace will go with any outfit and if you’re splashing out, we’d recommend you buy the matching earrings too. And, let's get this out of the way, the necklace is mother of pearl.

Necklace - £50, Earrings - £24, both from Hannah Zakari.

For the tree-hugging environmentally-friendly girl

We highly recommend the Body Butter and Sugar Scrub. These products are excellent value for money and smell nice too. You get to choose from grapefruit, lime or mandarin. While you're there, it's probably worth chucking some extra things for yourself into your basket, as a delivery charge of £3.50 per order applies. Makes a refreshing change from the Body Shop. (Go on, admit it, you were just going to buy smelly stuff there as the easy option, weren't you?)

Sugar scrub - £5

Body Butter - £7

from love the planet

For the girl who has everything

If you know a girl who has everything (and if you're going out with this girl, you're a lucky so and so), this gift would be perfect. Believe us, you can never have too many pashminas (until next year when they're out of fashion) and they can be used throughout the year. There are 24 colours to choose from.

£80 from N.Peal

Still stuck?

And if you’re still stuck for ideas, how about a voucher? £10 from Argos should do the trick. Oh, go on then, how about a voucher for either of these London spas:

Bliss - Londonist hasn't actually visited this spa, but we’ve been told that it's one of the best in London. We also heard a wicked rumour that they serve up cookies between treatments.

Bliss Spa, 60 Sloane Avenue, London, SW3 3DD

The Spa at Mandarin Oriental -

We must confess to having visited this spa on numerous occassions and it is every bit as fabulous as it appears on the website. Beware though, prices are high but the service and treatments are second to none.

The Spa at Mandarin Oriental, 66 Knightsbridge, London, SW1X 7LA

If you've got any of your own tips, feel free to share in the comments section.