The algorithm got me in the end. It began with recipe content, and once I was hooked on food influencer videos, I began to be pummelled with adverts for attractive pots and pans, then clothes, and from there an ever-widening vista of objets and objects by turns pretty or useful and occasionally both. The result, apart from frittering away a certain amount of money on non-essential cardigans and kitchen gadgets, has been the development of a ruthless taste and approach to e-commerce. I want to have, and want to give, nice things, and increasingly I know where to get them. I am also hopelessly disorganised, a snob and far from awash in cash. If you’re anything like me and have yet to get your gifts sorted out, read on. And if you’re really behind, take heart: a recent study found that people mind late gifts far less than they mind no gift at all.

I was surprised, having considered the brand a bit dull and snooty, to discover that Aesop perfumes – unisex no less – are quite simply some of the best out there. They are very expensive, at £145 each, but if your budget stretches that far I think they are worth the price. They are clearly well made, elegantly packaged (of course) and, above all, smell unlike anything else on the market. My favourite three are Aurner, which evades typical commercial scent categories thanks to a strange but delightful fusion of magnolia leaf, chamomile and cedar; Virere, an intoxicatingly botanical scent reminiscent (to me) of a giant oak in a stately home park (in fact, it’s made with fig, bergamot and green tea); and Karst, a sexy yet clean blast of wood and berries, juniper, cumin and sandalwood.

The Flora Lab’s soy wax candles have aromas so bold and seductive you would not guess they are made from clean-burning, all-natural components. My Flora Lab gateway drug was the Renaissance........

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