Iconic Gifts Alternative Gift Ideas 2010-03-09T17:02:38Z Copyright (c) 2010, Paul Handley ExpressionEngine tag:iconicgifts.com,2010:03:11 TheFirstOne Premium Novero Bluetooth Headset Review tag:iconicgifts.com,2010:/7.6016 2010-03-11T08:56:37Z 2010-03-09T17:02:38Z Paul Handley Novero have proven their creative and design skill by working with the market leaders in quality and durability, like Mercedes, Volkswagen, BMW and Bentley, producing exceptional built in Bluetooth solutions.

The Novero Bluetooth, titled simply “The First One” is a real testament to sophisticated high design. In Lily white, with touches of chrome, this stands out from the crowd.

Novero have thought of everything with this headset and then thrown the lot into one great package. If not being used, the headset can be worn as a necklace, which looks ultra funky and is still close to hand. It can also be worn using the built in clip. There are seven ear buds including, ensuring the correct fit.

The Charging options are just as extensive. A wall charger with desk stand, car charger and USB charger are all provided.

The performance of this great looking headset is in tune with its design. The latest Bluetooth technology is present with Bluetooth specification 2.1, High audio quality, dual microphone and best in class DSP technology filters background noise efficiently.

The streamlined look of The Novero Bluetooth is just waiting to be shown off. Attached to your lapel via the clip or as a necklace, this will appeal to anyone who wants to look good. The cyberman look is out!

The functionality and styling of The First One from Novero matching the performance means that the price of £129.99 is surprising. After testing, I expected a much higher price. Impressive, in every way.

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]]> Harajuku Sunshine Cuties Review tag:iconicgifts.com,2010:/7.6011 2010-03-10T07:56:30Z 2010-03-05T16:04:31Z Paul Handley Gwen Stefani first showed off her Harajuku lovers, the Japanese Geisha girls, with her L.A.M.B cd and tour. Since, Gwen and her girls have given us all sorts of wonderful fashion items with a wacky, oriental take.

The latest is the range of Sunshine Cuties, 5 different designs featuring cuties in different poses. The bottles are going to be highly collectable and the fragrances are all fun, quirky and sexy – like Ms Stefani herself.

With 5 different bottles to choose from: Love offers A fruity floral, with Nectarine, Plaumeria and Vanilla Orchid. Lil’ Angel is a Citrus Gourmand with Meyer Lemon, Pink Rose and Sugared Patchouli. Music is a sensuous floral scent, with Juicy Pear, Tiger Orchid and Cashmere Woods. Baby is a dewy floral, with Crisp Mandarin, White Poppy and Soft Musk and finally G, a Creamy Musk, with Coconut Water, White Peach and Vanilla Bean, and with bottles this cute you really will want to collect them all!

Available at The Perfume shop for £14.50 (10ml) EDT. Bring on the Summer!

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]]> Savonnerie Soap gift review tag:iconicgifts.com,2010:/7.6004 2010-03-09T08:45:50Z 2010-03-03T13:48:51Z Paul Handley Are you looking for the “Wow Factor” this Mothers day? These fine soaps from Savonnerie are more than just soap. Instead, they are like mini Works of Art.
Handmade in the UK and beautifully packaged, Savonnerie have developed some lovely gift ideas.
Heart Cookies Box (£10.95) is a perfect example of this. Presented on dried rose petals and wrapped in crushed Gold paper, Two hand crafted soap hearts – 1 creamy and extra mild daily cleanser, the other Luxurious and enriched with honey and cinnamon essential oils. As a gift, you get a lot for your money.
The Pink & White Box (£19.95) - Bursting with floral scents this wonderfully indulgent treat includes a luxury Flower Garden soap, enriched with Palma Rosa and Ylang Ylang essential oils, alongside a natural, hand cut cleansing bar. A bottle of Geranium and Bergamot Bath oil with its highly emollient almond and sunflower oils creates a dreamy bathing experience, leaving skin deeply cleansed and super soft.
If you really want to treat your Mum, give her the ultimate pampering treat with the Pamper Selection Box (£31.00). Containing two bath soaks enriched with Palma Rosa and Vetiver essential oils as well as Dead Sea Salts to soften and tone the skin. A Milk & Cookies Body Scrub is deliciously invigorating using antioxidant rich wheat germ and avocado oils to give a healthy glow. It also contains two massage oils including a Vertiver oil, with its rich blend of Patchouli essential oils leaves the skin softly scented for hours.
For value for money, heartfelt production and delivering on quality in every area, these soaps are more than soaps – They are the perfect Mothers day gifts.

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]]> SanDisk Sansa Clip+ MP3 player tag:iconicgifts.com,2010:/7.6003 2010-03-08T08:39:00Z 2010-03-08T13:52:01Z Paul Handley We know of SanDisk due to their high performing storage and memory range, It will not be long before we look upon SanDisk for delivering high performing, excellent, value, easy to navigate MP3 players.
Are you looking for a unique Mothers day gift? Load up a Sansa clip+ with Mum’s favourite tunes and maybe even a video message from you, wishing her a lovely day.
The Player is tiny, but the controls are still easy to use. The only skills you need to upload and use this MP3 player are common sense. It re charges via USB, so no batteries required.
In typical Sandisk fashion, although the player is small, the storage is HUGE! Stand alone, it holds 1000 songs. Add in the Micro SD card that is included and you can boost your song library to 5000 tunes!
Another benefit of the Micro SD card is you can transfer music / video from your MP3 player to your mobile,
Treat Mum, Or yourself, this Mothers Day with the big sound, big storage, mini MP3 player – the outstanding value Sansa Clip+

Also check out this great audio gift

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]]> Great Mothers Day Gift Video tag:iconicgifts.com,2010:/7.6015 2010-03-07T14:15:25Z 2010-03-08T14:17:26Z Paul Handley I have stumbled across this great video and thought it would give you some ideas for presents this Mothers day.

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]]> Wild Organics White Willow range review tag:iconicgifts.com,2010:/7.6002 2010-03-06T20:46:57Z 2010-03-03T15:35:58Z Paul Handley Blending wild organic ingredients with organic essential oils, The Wild Organics range provide excellent skincare and beauty products that treat your skin naturally and without harsh moisture stripping chemicals.

Part of the Wild Organics range is the White Willow skin polish, moisture bath and skin lotion.  The beautiful set has great cleansing , stress relieving and skin protection qualities. Add into the mix soothing and uplifting Cedarwood organic essential oil to give a wonderful and natural pampering experience.

The Moisture bath is £15 / 250ml, skin lotion £15.00 / 250ml and skin polish £24 / 350ml. The bottles and tubs would look fabulous on display.

The White Willow range is calming and soothing, maybe the perfect Mothers day gift?

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]]> Burt’s Bees Head to Toe starter kit review tag:iconicgifts.com,2010:/7.6005 2010-03-06T13:52:33Z 2010-03-10T08:44:34Z Paul Handley This delightfully natural beauty kit from Burt’s Bees contains everything you, or Mum, needs. At £14.99, it represents fantastic value.
The products feature Burt’s bees honey, which adds softness to the skin, soothes and is a great natural moisturiser. The products are a delight to use and you just feel a little bit more naturally cleansed as a result.
The Head to toe kit is exactly that, everything that you would need is present -
• Almond Milk Beeswax Hand Creme (.25 oz.)
• Beeswax & Banana Hand Creme (.25 oz.)
• Citrus Spice Exfoliating Shower Soap (.80 oz.)
• Hand Salve (.30 oz.)
• Lemon Butter Cuticle Creme (.30 oz.)
• Honey Lip Balm (.15 oz.)
• Naturally Nourishing Milk & Honey Body Lotion (1 fl. oz.)
• Orange Essence Facial Cleanser (.56 oz.)
• Peppermint Foot Lotion (.47 fl oz.)
• Vitamin E Body and Bath Oil (1 fl. oz.)
• Peppermint Shower Soap (.80 oz.)
• Coconut Foot Creme (.56 oz.)

The complete range of beauty gifts all in one kit makes for a lovely gift for Mum this Mothers day.

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]]> Mothers Ruin! DemiJohn Gin review tag:iconicgifts.com,2010:/7.6012 2010-03-05T16:30:22Z 2010-03-05T16:34:23Z Paul Handley Turn Mothers Ruin (Gin, as it is sometimes referred to!) into Mothers Spoils with these fantastic Stacking Bottles from DemiJohn – The amazing Booze Deli, my words, not theirs…
Demijohn are a favourite at Iconic Gifts due to their fabulous products: The flavour combinations are inspired and often unique. The Bottles are cute and inscribed perfectly every time. Demijohn understand good drink and they have created two outstanding, different Gins this time with their Mothers Ruin set.
Each 100ml stacking bottle contains a base of Gin. The Seville Orange Gin, or Marmalade Gin, is wonderful served in a tall glass with tonic and Ice. Warning, not for breakfast, OK?!!
The Black Cherry Gin is a real fruity gem. Again, lovely with Tonic and almost made for accompanying the Cheese board.
The real beauty about this Mothers Day set is the fact that Demijohn will add a personalised message onto the bottles. £14.99 for both bottles, personalised, gorgeously presented, great tasting….what more do you want!!!

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]]> Lulu’s Timebomb Range review tag:iconicgifts.com,2010:/7.6000 2010-03-05T08:15:48Z 2010-03-05T09:03:49Z Paul Handley Understatement time – Lulu, for someone over sixty, doesn’t look too bad….

Now I want to apologise for coming across so Ageist, I actually think Lulu gets hotter each birthday. Maybe it has something to do with her fantastic anti ageing skin care range – Lulu’s Timebomb.
Lulu herself has been heavily involved in the product development of Timebomb and its good to see her completely behind the range.

Cleansing cream, polishing pads, make up remover, dermabrasion, day cream, night cream, eye cream, secret oil, wrinkle compound and neck, jaw and chest firming cream all form the complete armoury in the battle for fresh, youthful looks and complexion.

I would recommend the Timebomb survival kit, a lovely little package containing trial size Take Off Time cleansing cream, Polishing Pads, trial size Glory Days Day cream and Flashback Night cream all in a funky camouflage bag - £25.

With such a diverse range, great prices and proven results, go get the Perfect gift for Mum right now!

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]]> Pure DKNY Perfume review tag:iconicgifts.com,2010:/7.6007 2010-03-05T08:02:12Z 2010-03-05T09:05:13Z Paul Handley Donna Karen has released this Eco Friendly, Lightly scented perfume. The main focus is on the single ingredient of Ugandan Vanilla. Proceeds from this perfume go back to Uganda, to help Ugandan women to work, educate and support their families.
The scent of Ugandan Vanilla provides the opening fragrance, whilst notes of exotic flowers, lotus and Bulgarian rose blend subtly. The base finishes the pure composition with amber, sandalwood and Vanilla in water.
Such a nice concept that the good people of Uganda get something back for supplying the fragrant Vanilla. Even the packaging is bio degradable and the glass jar 100% recyclable.
Available from The Perfume Shop – 30ml for £31.50.
A lovely pure perfume that isn’t overpowering, it could be a real winner for everyday use. This is the ideal solution for a Mothers day gift - go on, make her smile!

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]]> Magnetic therapy Haematite Bracelet gift review tag:iconicgifts.com,2010:/7.5999 2010-03-04T08:10:55Z 2010-03-02T21:14:56Z Paul Handley For Mothers day, Valentines day or a present for her, this is a unique gift idea. The Haematite magnetic mood bracelet is not just a stunning piece of jewellery, it has the ability to show wearer’s mood – Yes Chaps, very useful!
Joking aside, The Haematite is also naturally magnetic but has been zapped up to 1200 gauss to give unrivalled magnetic healing properties. Haematite is a volcanic substance and has been used for centuries to treat depression.
As far as the colour changing stone goes, it is fascinating to behold.
Dark Blue – Happy, relaxed
Blue – Calm, relaxed
Blue / green – somewhat relaxed
Green – normal, average
Amber – a little nervous or anxious
Grey – Very nervous or anxious
Black – Stressed, tense.

A beautiful gift, the Ideal Mothers day present and all for £ 16.95, complete with presentation gift box.

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]]> Enhance-me review tag:iconicgifts.com,2010:/7.5997 2010-03-02T20:40:02Z 2010-03-02T20:46:03Z Paul Handley Got Kids? Know anyone that has? Right, that’s all you lot covered then….Now check out the most amazing, personalised gift idea I have seen.

Enhance-Me offer the service of enhancing images of your little ones, altering the backgrounds to great effect. I URGE you to go to the Enhance-me web site. My two boys wanted to be super heroes - in New York (The eldest is really into Jay-Z), Enhance-me delivered a wonderful image, capturing and enhancing everything required.

These magical images will come back to you as a Hi res Image which can be distributed to all your friends and family as many times as you like and printed out again and again. £13.99 for this much timeless, precious, unique magic is stunningly good.  (They make awesome screen savers too!)

As far as a review goes, this is one product / service that speaks for itself. I mean really, what does £14 get you these days? GO TO THE SITE AND SEE THE MAGIC!!!!

As a gift, Mothers day is nearly with us. But these image enhancements would work wonders for a newborn gift or birthdays. How about absent through miles Grandparents?

Got Kids? Know anyone that has? Now you have a perfect gift idea sorted.

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]]> Divine Chocolate Mothers Day Baking hamper tag:iconicgifts.com,2010:/7.5988 2010-03-01T08:51:05Z 2010-03-01T08:58:06Z Paul Handley Divine Chocolate company are unique as they are Co Owned by the Fair trade Cocoa farmers. Ethically speaking, this is a big plus for Chocolate that already stands alone in terms of quality.

The Mothers Day baking Hamper (£30.00) can be purchased at Divine Chocolate shop. The ultimate gift for Mothers day, this hamper contains white, milk and dark chocolate. Also included is the Cocoa powder that runs deep into Divine Chocolate’s success and taste. Naturally produced under the rain forest canopy, these magic beans are the pride of it’s farmers - It’s easy to see why! The powder is the universal, all powerful ingredient that makes the difference between chocolate and Divine chocolate.

The Hamper also comes with a recipe book by baking and Chocolate expert Linda Collister, once favoured by the Queen Mother.

This Mothers day, create some choc magic from one of the recipes with your Mum - time well spent.

Divine chocolate also have the wonderful Raspberry and Strawberry Duo, 1 bar of creamy white chocolate with real strawberries and 1 bar of 70% dark chocolate with raspberries (£3.99 from Waitrose).
The white chocolate and strawberry combo is heaven, the Dark chocolate clean, sharp and sophisticated.

The Divine Chocolate shop offer so much more, if you need a solution for any gift idea, you would do well to investigate further!

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]]> IKove - Acai and Chocolate Skincare Range tag:iconicgifts.com,2010:/7.5989 2010-03-01T08:43:40Z 2010-02-28T15:28:41Z Paul Handley More Chocolate? well, not quite as above but you can give Chocolate to your Mum that is good for her, 100% calorie free!

The skincare range from Ikove, pleasingly, again uses fairtrade chocolate as one of its ingredients in this wild natured skincare range. Straight from the Amazon along with Acai, these products deliver astonishing results. Acai is the latest must have health superfood, renowned for its anti ageing and nutritional properties.

I was sent the Açai Chocolate Age-Resisting Serum (£19.36) to test. The 100% plant derived concentrate uses nutrition-rich rosehip oil to protect against the negative signs of ageing and environmental damage while nourishing the skin. It performs really well, easy to apply, good absorption and really positive results. 

The range is unique and quirky enough to be considered a great gift, some more examples of the range below.
 
  Açai Chocolate Body Polish   A gentle yet effective skin buffer using cocoa butter and babacu oil to hydrate newly revealed skin  
  Açai Chocolate Body Moisturizing Lotion   This lightweight organic lotion is formulated with the powerful antioxidants of açai and chocolate along with potent rainforest botanicals that nourish and revitalise the skin
  Açai Chocolate Shampoo   Adds vitality, shine and natural nourishment  
  Açai Chocolate Conditioner   Anti-ageing and nourishing it works especially well on damaged and/or coloured hair. The ultra rich formulation detangles and hydrates using capuacu butter, babacu oil and cocoa butter. Açai and vinegar help revitalise

Priced from £6.63 - £19.36, a fantastic, alternative Mothers day gift.
 

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]]> 100 Hits MUM CD review tag:iconicgifts.com,2010:/7.5973 2010-02-25T08:50:47Z 2010-03-01T08:55:49Z Paul Handley When you think of Compilation CDs, The massively successfull Now thats what I call music series would spring to mind. My first album was Now 4 (it had Ghostbusters on it).

I would like to think my musical taste has evolved since then, So have the Compilation sets.

100 Hits released their first set in 2007 and have shifted over 2 million copies. 100 hits MUM was released this month and it is a surprisingly brilliant mix of 80s, 90s and current Feel good tracks.

You get a bit of Simply Red, Otis and Aretha and the Corrs (real Mummy pleasing tracks) but what sets this apart are some of the covers….

Jamie Cullum doing Radioheads High and Dry, World Party working their magic on Robbie’s She’s The One (they wrote it!) and the mighty Lemonheads covering Christina Aguilera’s Beautiful are great tracks that need to be heard.

I also appreciated the last song, I think deliberately placed so as not to leave Dad out completely. Nizlopi’s JCB song is a perfect homage to Dads everywhere, the sentiment within is striking.

Depending on retailer, the set goes for around £8, yes 8p per song.

Sorry Mum, I loved this 5cd set so much that I am keeping my promo copy!

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