20101031_BOY014_e1_NWSNorth 22/10/2010 16:22 Page 14 Bare facts and home truths ... took So I for my kit off charity. It was tastefully done and it was all in aid of the ISPCC, but try explaining that to a seven-year-old. My eldest daughter was unimpressed, especially when one of her school chums announced in the yard: "Your mum is naked in a book." I wasn't handling the situation very well as I fluffed and mumbled my way through some sort of explanation. "But Daddy's in the book and he didn't take his clothes off," she pointed out, in that seven-year-old, matter-of-fact way. Thank God the daddy in question has a much better way with words and came to my rescue. He explained to her: "Mummy is not showing any private parts, it is art. She is beautiful. "It's not rude but when people hear that she has no clothes on, they'll want to see the photo, which will help sell more books and make more money for the poor children who are not as lucky as you." There was pause as she took it all in, then a contented realisation: "So it's a trick?" "Exactly," we replied with relief. ... to please Top of my wish list every year is bling but even Santa has had to tighten his belt in the recession KNOW it's only Hallowe'en today KING OF BLING: but from tomorrow can't we start Myself and Paul thinking about Christmas? Costelloe Top of my wish list every year is a bit of bling but even Santa Claus has had to tighten his belt in the recession so I have been doing my research and have come up with some very desirable alternatives. First up is Paul Costelloe. The inimitable Mr Costelloe was in Dublin last week to launch his new, affordable and very beautiful Ivy Collection of costume jewellery. They're all priced from 80 to 200 and the best part is that they look real. I wasn't the only one impressed by the collection. Designers Deborah Veale, Joanne Hynes and photographer Barry McCall all came out to support the man with the big mouth. Unfortunately on this occasion Paul, who has a habit of putting his size 13s into it, kept uncharacteristically quiet, even though MC on the night Aisling O'Loughlin did her best to wind him up. You can view the collection at paulcostelloejewellery.com. Another favourite of mine for bling is dessertdiamonds.ie ­ even my jeweller friends have been fooled with these lookalike diamonds. Cut the same way as a dia...controversial mond and set in white or yellow gold, unlike cubic online as well as from her zirconias (which go cloudy Bella Makeover studio in after a while), there is a lifeDublin 2. I have a pair of time guarantee with Desert pear-shaped diamond earDiamonds. rings that cost me 240. The owner of the company, I brought them to a jewJean, sourced the brand from eller friend recently who Abu Dhabi and sells them thought they were real at I Therapie time It's time to de-fuzz FOREVER girls. Imagine a lifetime of no shaving or waxing, no in-grown hairs or no `hairy' situations for singletons who `get lucky'? At the beginning of this year I invested in a course of laser hair removal with Therapie on Wicklow Street, Dublin and next month is my last session. I don't know why I didn't do it sooner. Actually I do ­ I was too busy and it was too expensive. For the past year however, there has been an 80 per cent discount on the original rates, so there's no excuses. Don't worry about the pain as their shop on Molesworth Street, Dublin has a painfree machine that takes a little bit longer. For more information log on to therapieclinic.com. first, only to find out how much they would cost if they were real diamonds ­ a whopping 37,000. This means Santa will be very happy to be logging on to dessertdiamonds.ie. In our house, contrary to popular opinion, I find the bolder I am, the better I do. This just leaves 24 days for me to get on the `really naughty' list ...