A very Merry Christmas to our Style Observer readers. Gratitude to you for having read our pages, made suggestions, stayed with us and supported our dreams. This year has been a painful one, marred by disappointment, death and unfulfilled dreams. We have pushed on, however, ignoring boundaries, smiling through tears and living life like it’s golden. Where there’s life, there’s hope, and where there’s breath we breathe.

We unwrap today, a few of our SO besties who share their most memorable Christmas moments, their favourite carols and their 2022 travel destinations.

Shevanne Helmer

Helmer Family Matriarch and co-principal, Helmer Luxury Lifestyle BrandReflections on 2021

I think everyone was expecting this year to be “better” than last year and many people were somewhat surprised that life did not go back to normal. I personally believe that we cannot go back; we can only go forward.

As I actually consciously enjoyed last year, this year was not a surprise for me. I continued what I had started last year, cultivating my spiritual studies and transforming my family business Helmer into a lifestyle brand, and working on transforming myself.

On keeping family close

I practise gratitude! I am grateful every moment for the incredible opportunity to be on this journey with these incredible humans in my life. I have consciously instilled in my children that respect for themselves and others is vital. And kindness, and just being nice is the ultimate virtue to aspire for, and if you mix this with unconditional love, you get a pretty good foundation for a loving tight-knit family.

2021’s biggest challenge

I have had numerous challenges in my 59 years of life, so I will speak of one of my recent challenges which was facing the possibility of having to discontinue the business that was created by my daughters and myself, over seven years ago. We had to face the truth that the business was not growing as we wanted and that everything we had been trying was just not changing the trajectory, and as we were in the midst of an all-out sprint to save Helmer, COVID-19 hit and voilà! Everything came to screeching halt.

Both my daughters, Danielle and Michelle, were in the midst of having babies. This gave us time to stop and appreciate that process and reevaluate our business and the direction in which we would like to go. After much reflection, we have decided to continue Helmer but definitely incorporating more of our true selves into the business.

We are creating a business that mixes our spiritual search, realisations and our dream for a better and beautiful world, all with the intention of not just selling another product just for the sake of it, but truly creating products and items that are made consciously and with love to be treasured for a lifetime, while creating a platform to stimulate women to evolve, grow and unite. This will be in the form of retreats which we hope to start next year.

Most positive moment of 2021 Christmas 2021 plansMy fondest Christmas memoryMy favourite Christmas carol

This year has been a year of change and growth for me. I decided to move part-time to Cairo, Egypt, to accompany my daughter and grandson to set up their new lives. Actually, I have always had a passion for Egypt and could imagine myself as a priestess in ancient times, so I jumped at the opportunity to live here. The circumstances were just so incredible: A new grandchild to take care of and a new adventure.

Egypt is the perfect balance between the old and the new, the African continent and the Middle East; plus, it is mystical, spiritual and full of mystery. I am in wonder and awe. After living in Europe for the last 38 years, moving to a developing country could have been challenging but because of my Jamaican heritage and roots this felt almost like moving home. I love the hustle and bustle, I love seeing the Nile from my window. I love the area we live, one of the oldest parts of the city, called Zamalek, which happens to be an island in the Nile, and I love the people and their warmth and kindness.

This year the immediate family has decided to spend Christmas in Cairo. Although it gets colder or somewhat cooler here, especially compared to the extreme heat of the summer months, the weather is still much warmer than Europe. So we will be about eight of us, plus our Egyptian family-in law which means we will be about 12-14 people plus babies and kids… Exactly how I love Christmas, family friends, laughter, eating too much and everyone reuniting in harmony and love!

One of my fondest Christmas memories was spent in the Swiss Alps. Ostensibly, because it was how I always envisioned Christmas to be. It was absolutely picturesque like a postcard, with snowy mountains and crisp cold air and cosy log cabins; all that was missing was Santa Claus coming down the chimney.

I guess if I have to choose one it would be I’ll be home for Christmas. Why? Because since the age of 18 I have been living far from my family, but I always tried to be home for Christmas.

Destinations on my mind for 2022

India, Tanzania and Petra, Jordan. I have travelled quite a bit, but surprisingly I have never been to India despite having many friends from there and having had the opportunity to visit several times. As I have started working with an amazing woman in Delhi, for our new Helmer designs, I think it is the right time to visit. I would also like to visit Tanzania because my son (who works with the UN in Geneva and has been sent on mission there several times), just returned a couple of days and has told me so much about the country and how beautiful it is and so I feel a need to go before everyone else and before it becomes the trendy place to go. As a lover of history, I have been dreaming of visiting Petra in Jordan and now that I am based in Egypt and it is fairly close by, I will definitely take the opportunity to go there and to visit other countries in the region. 

Ce’Cile CharltonDancehall recording artiste

Favourite Christmas Carol

Silent Night, but any Christmas carol by Mariah Carey is a vibe.

Most memorable Chritmas

My first doll … She was quite big.

But maybe my first Christmas with my daughter Nana in Maryland when she was 2 or 3. We did the whole Christmas thing.

Travel destinations on my 2022 bucket list

A return to Paris and Dubai with Nana

Russia and Greece since I’ve never been.

Nicole WhiteNicole White Designs CEO/Principal Designer

My favourite Christmas carol Fondest Christmas memory Travel destination on my 2022 wish list…

I have a few: Santa Ketch Up, Silent Night and O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

Hanging the matching curtains and bed linen… and eating Christmas ham.

Lawks, that’s a tough one with this pain of a pandemic. But really want to visit Santorini, Greece and do a wine tour through Italy.

Dwight DrummondAward-winning journalist and anchor of CBC Toronto News and his model, entrepreneur wife Janice

Favourite Christmas carol

Mary’s Boy Child by Boney M and This Christmas by Donny Hathaway

Fondest Christmas memory

We go away a lot for Christmas, so all the years when our White Christmas is white sand and not snow.

2022 Travel Destination wish list

We were just in Jamaica, so Grenada is next to see the Spice Island side of the family.

Grace ‘Spice’ HamiltonDancehall artiste

Favourite Christmas Carol

Jingle Bells

Fondest Christmas memory

As a child my father gave me a doll that was almost twice my size.

Destinations on my 2022 wish list…

Dubai, Egypt, Maldives and Bali

Matthew “Mateo” Harris Jewellery designer

Favourite Christmas carol

O Come Let Us Adore Him

Fondest Christmas memory

As simple as it sounds, I always look forward to my family’s holiday ham! So no matter where I am in the world, I make my very own Glazed Christmas Ham.

Destinations on my 2022 travel wish list

A safari in Tanzania and lying on the beach in Zanzibar. Playing with llamas in Machu Picchu, Peru.

Chari CuthbertBYCHARI designer

Favourite Christmas carol

Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You.

Fondest Christmas memory

It’s easy to get caught up in our everyday lives, the non-stop phone calls and never-ending emails. But sitting back around the tree last year, realising my parents are healthy, my sisters are happy and being able to be with them when I was just across the country: Priceless!

Travel destination on my 2022 wish list

I have always wanted to visit Greece and hope to make it happen in 2022.

Raxann ChinCouturier and costume designer

Favourite Christmas carolFondest Christmas memoryMy first fully vaxxed Christmas will be spent…Destinations on my 2022 travel wish list

Silent Night

I spent a Christmas holiday with my aunt, Norma Tugwell, and was included in the Christmas programme at her church, the Mount Carey Baptist Church in Anchovy, St James. I was a young child, and grouped with the other children at the church to be a part of their Christmas programme.

The church is on top of a hill. It was a cool Christmas night; you could feel the breeze flowing through the church, which was dark, because the lights were turned off. When the programme began, all the children, dressed like angels, in white, were holding lit candles, and we walked down the church aisle singing Silent Night to the music being played by the organist.

I can’t begin to express how I felt; it was filled with celestial energy and the breeze felt amazing as we walked the aisle and sang. I was mesmerised by the lighting effects from the candles. It was perfect. It’s one of my best memories, as well as my fondest Christmas memory.

… visiting my parents in Michigan. Christmas is always best spent with family.

I’ve done a lot of travelling over the years, but have never made it to the French Polynesian islands or Africa. Therefore, after I’ve visited my Dubai friends, who’ve become like family, we’ve decided we’re taking a trip together to Bora Bora. The next destination will be Egypt and Morocco. Interestingly, Femhéka, my fashion line, has already been to Morocco. Fun fact!

Samantha BlackFashion designer

Favourite Christmas carol Fondest Christmas memory

All I Want for Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey

The year I received my first sewing machine!! I haven’t looked back since, think I was 12

Destinations on my 2022 travel wish list

Jamaica, Paris/London, Lagos and South of France

Marci IenMinister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth

Favourite Christmas carol

Chestnuts Roasting On an Open Fire (The Christmas Song) by Nat King Cole

Fondest Christmas memory

My daughter Blaize’s second Christmas. We surrounded her with all sorts of gifts on Christmas morning. Most of them bigger than she was! She focused on the cardboard box one of the gifts was in. That’s what she played with that morning. Huge lesson learned. Less is definitely more. It’s not about all the stuff!

Destinations on my 2022 travel wish list

Jamaica, London, UK and South Africa

Suzanne McFaydenWriter/philanthropist & Blanton Museum of Art board chair

Favourite Christmas carolFondest Christmas memoryDestinations on my 2022 travel wish list

It’s a tie between Whitney Houston’s Do You Hear What I Hear and Mariah Carey’s Joy To The World

Being with family, and eating! Specifically — my parents’ Christmas cake (joint effort between them) and drinking sorrel, plus crowding around the phone to talk to all our family who were not in Jamaica for Christmas, all the while mindful of the cost.

Botswana, Mexico City, Paris, Portugal, and South Africa

Antoinette MessamCostume designer

Favourite Christmas carol

I don’t have a favourite song; I just like to hear a compilation of reggae Christmas songs. It reminds me of spending my Xmas holidays in Jamaica on the Negril strip.

Fondest Christmas memory

Honestly, escaping the cold and travelling to Jamaica with my son when he was younger, we were able to get the best of both worlds: A vacation in the sun and time with family over the holidays.

Destinations on my 2022 travel wish list

Currently discussing an escape over the holidays. TBD sun destination, maybe a villa in a quiet area with beach access. Also on the list is visiting dear friends who have moved to Peru; it’s summer there now.

“The Vogue Attorney” Natasha Mayne

Favourite Christmas carol Fondest Christmas memory Destinations on my 2022 travel wish list

Little Drummer Boy

My mother’s home every year filled with my siblings and family members hearing indescribable joy and laughter in the air.

Jamaica, Ghana and Bali.

Donette Chin-Loy Chang Communications leader & philanthropist

Favourite Christmas carol

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, (the) Michael Bublé version

Fondest Christmas memoryTravel destinations on my 2022 wish list

Christmas in Jamaica when my father was alive and it all felt it would not end/opening gifts on Christmas morning. I miss those days.

Jamaica, Barbados, Italy and South Africa. A new place would be Morocco.

Kayla GreavesSenior Beauty Editor, InStyle.comFavourite Christmas carol

Definitely Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town by the Jackson 5. I love Michael Jackson’s childhood singing voice. There’s no way you can listen to that song and not feel joy.

Fondest Christmas memory

Spending time with my grandparents in Treasure Beach. The Christmas tree lighting was the major event in the town every year, but I just enjoyed sitting outside on the verandah with them and looking at the moon and the stars every night. Those are the days I cherish the most — minus the mosquitoes.

Destinations on my 2022 travel wish list

Jamaica, Jamaica, and Jamaica 20 more times.

Hugh FindletarMilan-based multi-media artist

Favourite Christmas carol

Dennis Brown’s version of We Three Kings

Most memorable Christmas

One spent with my family in the Cave Valley hills of St Ann. I literally cooked for the entire neighbourhood. The highlight was how everyone eschewed the traditional Christmas cake they had baked for the panettone I had brought from Milan.

Top of my travel bucket list is

Coming home to Jamaica to see my FRIENDz and family that I haven’t seen in almost three YEARz

Nicola Vassell Art Whisperer

What’s your favourite Christmas carol? What’s your fondest Christmas memory? How will you be spending your first fully vaxxed Christmas? Finally, which destination/destinations are on your 2022 wish list?

O Holy Night

All the ones where I am home in Jamaica.

It will be very low-key. My mother is visiting so we’ll do touristy things in the city like see The Nutcracker, go to the theatre and check out some jazz.

I need to get to Ja and I’d like to make my way back to Europe for a visit.