Malena USB Light from Paulmann

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

Treat yourself or your teen to one of the Paulmann Malena lights from their interior lighting range this Christmas.  Their selection of luminaires add a style to your room which is not like anything you can buy from a certain Swedish home store, giving a unique flair that’s timeless too.

We were sent the Malena USB wall mounted light from Paulmann to review. Available in black and this matt white, it goes with any décor. Measuring 35 centimetres high and 22 centimetres wide, the light comes with fittings to attach it to the wall, but even without attachment, the light can sit on a side table quite easily thanks to the tray shelf underneath.  There’s a USB C port too, which allows you to cleverly charge your phone on the tray shelf, but you can easily charge anything else there or use the shelf for medicines, water etc. 

The unit plugs into the wall with a 1.2 metre cable rather than being wired in, and it should be noted that the plug is a European style so you will need a converter plug as well – never, ever plug this type of electrical plug into a UK socket.  The light doesn’t come with a bulb either, but you can buy these on the Paulmann website when you purchase the light. The Malena isn’t dimmable either, it’s an on/off switch to put the light on.

The brackets are included for installation but the instructions are not that easy to follow. This is an item for a European market so there are no language instructions at all, they’re all in illustrations. You will need to have a screwdriver and simple tools available if you are going to fix it to the wall. Without fixing it, it does sit against a wall but it’s not secure and the back of light unit looks unsightly if you turn it.

We were sent a GU10 Warm White 3.5 watt light bulb from Paulmann that fixes into the Malena light easily with a twist. Once plugged in, all you have to do is press the switch on the body of the light, and swivel the head to position it where you want. It’s ideal for reading or as a direct light in the middle of the night, right next to the bed.

The Malena is a great space saving device, with ample uses and the USB C is an added extra to its usefulness. This is a great gift to a family member who loves reading in bed, or who needs a permanent reading chair light that’s easy to access and perhaps wants to charge a phone at the same time. I personally think it’s great for a guest bedroom where you want to save space but make sure guests feel comfortable and not have to keep looking for somewhere to charge their phone or a light that won’t disturb anyone in the house. In fact, the Malena light is a great practical gift for anyone.

Available from £94.95 at: https://uk.paulmann.com/p/wall-luminaire-malena-usb-c-gu10-230v-max.-5w-matt-white/71098

Rubik’s Phantom Rubik’s Cube

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

The Rubik’s Phantom is a mind-boggling, challenging puzzle related to the famous 80s Rubik’s Cube that many of us grew up with. This one is different though because it has a major difference. You can’t see the colours on the stickers unless you heat them up with the warmth of your hand. Without the warmth of your touch, all the sides are black!

Once you solve the first puzzle (ie getting into the intricate packaging) then the Cube itself looks harmful enough. It has the same black squares all the way around until you put light pressure on each one to reveal the colour.  Quickly you realise that you can’t just sit and hold your finger over one sticker at a time, so you have to find ways of warming up the whole face of the Cube at the same time in order to reveal the different colours.  The photo shows what the Cube looked like before touch, then after.  This however, was only after I worked out how to hold the Rubik’s Cube in my hand long enough to get the full colour through.

The sides are in 6 colours (white, green, orange, blue, red and yellow) and each sticker seems to have a different ‘warm up’ time to it. Some of the stickers kept their colour for longer too, whilst others seemed to fade quickly. The trick is to get as many of the sides warmed up (and it took a good 30 seconds to get a true colour to come through) then work on solving the puzzle with one hand at least constantly on one face to keep from going cold. 

The Rubik’s Phantom is one of the more challenging hand puzzles available with a 5/6 scoring for difficulty. The added pressure of remembering which colour each tile is or indeed remembering to keep the faces warm, adds to players’ cognitive memory, as well as using fine motor skills and general problem solving skills – vital if you’re to work out how to get the tiles warm enough! Incidentally, the heat sensitive faces need a temperature of 26C (79F) or above to change colour. How long it will take to complete the puzzle in anyone’s guess. 

Available from £19.69 at: https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=Rubik’s+Phantom&ref=nb_sb_noss

Taco Vs Burrito The Card Game

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

If you’re looking for a different card game to play this Christmas or to give as a gift, Taco vs Burrito ticks all those boxes. A game for 2-4 players, it can be played by any age (although it’s recommended from age 7 years upwards), this strategy game is for all the family. It only takes a few minutes to learn how to play and each round is only about 15 minutes long.

Invented by 7 year old Alex, the game has causes a storm with its whacky but fun cards. The game has won numerous awards including Best Family Fun Tilillywig Award, Winner of Hot Diggity Award 2021, and winner of National Parenting Product Award 2021. There’s been over 500,000 units sold worldwide already and 17,500+ 5-star awards from users. All from the imagination of a small boy whose parents started a Kickstarter appeal for funding for him, to make his dreams come true.

How to play: each player is given either a Taco or a Burrito (hence the name) as a basis of the game. Using the 5 cards dealt to you, each player either adds a weird ingredient card from their hand (such as fresh brains or chocolate covered shrimp) or an action card. The aim of the game is to build up a disgusting meal with ingredients cards that have different point values, then use the action cards to either increase the points value of your meal, or smash the value of your opponent’s meal. There’s also the Hot Sauce Card which doubles the value or your meal or that of other players when you play it against them.

As the game progresses, there’s other action cards such as the Tummy Ache card, No Bueno card (to stop the action of another player at any time), or the Health Inspector. If you get the Health Inspector card, you have to play it immediately in the game, sending all the ingredients cards in your meal to the discarded pile on the table, never to be used again. That is unless, you have the Trash Panda card, which allows you to take any of the cards from the discarded pile and add it back to your hand.

The different variation of action cards to use against the ingredients cards are what make the game fun for everyone. The cards are colourful and easy to read and for little ones, it helps develop their reading skills as well as taking turns in play.  The different type of action cards take a little while to get used to so I would have an adult sit and play until they all get hang of the game rules.  It’s great fun though, and everyone understood how to play with each consecutive game, so this is perfect for Christmas time board games!

Available on Amazon from £24.99: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Taco-Burrito-Popular-Surprisingly-Strategic/dp/B07JZTBV9C/ref=sr_1_5?crid=2CBW8R4GRTDFZ&keywords=taco+vs+burrito+card+game&qid=1694957554&sprefix=taco+vs%2Caps%2C80&sr=8-5

Cadbury Heroes Advent Calendar

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

Are you the type of family who open advent calendars in the morning before school? When coming in after school? Or do you wait until after dinner to indulge in the daily Christmas chocolate? In our house, we always had chocolate after dinner but now that I’m an adult I have to remind myself that I can have chocolate any time of the day, even when it’s not Christmas!

Cadbury make a whole range of different chocolates and this Cadbury Heroes Share Good Times is an ideal adult or teenage gift.  The Heroes range of chocolates include Eclairs, Fudge, Wispa, Dairy Milk, Crunchie, Twirl, Dairy Milk Caramel, Double Decker and Crème Egg Twist.  These are all the miniature varieties of the bigger bars but just as delicious and probably better for your health overall! They’re individually wrapped behind 24 windows and make up 230 grams in total of chocolate inside.

Probably aimed at older children, teenagers and adults, the variety of chocolate bars appeals to anyone who loves chocolate. Even if there’s one or two you don’t like, there are 9 different bars to choose from so you can guarantee there’ll be another one the next day that you will.  If like me you don’t usually buy chocolate bars throughout the year, you’ll be surprised what’s on the market now. I’d never seen Crème Egg Twisted before, and it’s been a long time since I had a Double Decker so these brought back memories!

I really like the idea of having so many different bars in one calendar, and yes, they are much smaller than the full sized bars but they’re just the same taste, and give the same chocolate hit I’m always looking for mid afternoon.  It’s reminded me how much I love a Fudge bar or Twirl and made me look forward to opening the next window in the Cadbury Heroes Advent Calendar throughout Christmas.

Available from £7.19 at: https://www.cadburygiftsdirect.co.uk/cadbury-heroes-advent-calendar.html

Cadbury Snowballs Chocolate and Chocolate Coins

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

Who here DIDN’T have chocolate coins for Christmas as a child?  Were they part of your stocking? Perhaps Gran gave you some chocolate as part of your Christmas present along with a few notes when you were a teenager?  I know I used to get a bar of chocolate at Christmas with something monetary sellotaped to it because that’s all I wanted by the time I was that age!

Cadbury have a range of chocolate gifts for every occasion and you’ll be pleased to know that their famous chocolate coins are still going strong.  Available everywhere for the festive season, there’s something nostalgic about getting the coins, then trying to prise open that plastic netting that I swear is stronger than steel… only to have to spend the next half hour delicately peeling off the foil from each of the coins before devour them. I’m not sure they were ever meant to be an exercise in dexterity, but the satisfaction of getting the foil off of a chocolate coin on one go without bending or tearing it is something every child should experience.

The Cadbury Snowballs Chocolate bar and grab bag are relatively new to the range.  Slightly crunchy shells are covered in a light dusting of sugar and filled with milk chocolate to give a contradictory crunch and smooth chocolate sensation.  Deliciously more-ish, they’re perfect for stockings, Secret Santa or as a part present for either adults or children. Whichever Cadbury chocolates you choose, don’t forget they won’t be around for the rest of the year, so snap them up when you can!

https://www.cadburygiftsdirect.co.uk/cadbury-mini-snow-balls-bar-110g.html

https://www.cadburygiftsdirect.co.uk/cadbury-mini-snow-balls-chocolate-family-sharing-bag-296g.html

https://www.cadburygiftsdirect.co.uk/cadbury-dairy-milk-chocolate-christmas-coins-bag-70g.html

IMO Q2 Pro Mobile Phone

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

There is so much choice on the markets for phones nowadays, and with choice comes complicated tech words, specifications and all sorts of apps which just adds to the confusion. 

The IMO Q2 Pro Smartphone is an Android model, with all the features you’d want on a modern phone but without the pricetag, or the complications.  For as little as £34.99 and available at High Street shops, it saves so much money compared to the bigger players on the phone market without the worry of breaking it or losing it.

As for the specifications, it has what you would want to keep a phone safe. There’s facial recognition to unlock it, so you don’t have to worry about passwords or pin codes.  The phone is a standard 16GB of memory which is enough to hold the random photos we all take as well as video but also has an extra Micro SD slot so that you can add 32GB of memory if you need to. I personally find it easier to have a remote hard disk that backs up all your photos and videos so that there isn’t the worry but depending on what you need the phone for, you might prefer just using the memory on the phone.

Speaking of photos, there’s a 5MP rear camera and 2MP front camera (for taking selfies) which isn’t the most powerful phone camera on the market but it is a good quality to be able to take photos to upload to social media.  As with all apps too, you can add filters to whichever social media you are uploading to, even if the photo isn’t perfect when you take it. 

One of the universal problems with smartphones is the life of the battery when on full charge. The IMO Q2 Pro Smartphone has a battery life of approximately 15 days when on standby and not being used.  I found that I didn’t have to charge it for several days with light use and taking some photos, which is much better than most smartphones.  The speed when connecting to the internet was excellent too. The IMO Q2 Pro Smartphone is 4G, which is the standard frequency in the UK. The new 5G is rolling out now but doesn’t cover the majority of the country yet and if you have a phone that is only 5G, it won’t convert to 4G when there’s no 5G frequency. The most common frequency is 4G still. 

The phone also connects to Wifi and Bluetooth for downloading information or if you want to connect another device (such as a speaker) to play any of the MP3s stored on the phone.

Usability wise, it’s very easy to navigate with just 3 simple buttons and a simple Android 11 userface. It only measures just over 12 centimetres long and 6 centimetres wide so it can fit in your pocket or a handbag, or even in the glove compartment of the car.  It’s great for taking on holiday and using with a spare SIM card in case it gets lost or you don’t want to use your expensive phone on adventure days out.

Lastly, this phone is great as a first phone for children that isn’t complicated or expensive if it gets lost or broken or for older people who aren’t familiar with smartphones. It’s easy to use so it doesn’t need much explanation. The long battery life means you can charge it less frequently and it’s still usable.

Available from £34.99 for the phone at: https://www.argos.co.uk/product/1131992?clickSR=slp:term:imo%20q2%20pro:1:3:1

Call plans and SIM card are extra.

Shaffay Women’s Luxury London Slippers

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

The go-to present for my family to buy me each Christmas is the novelty slipper. I wear slippers throughout the autumn and winter and probably a long way into summer too so they get good wear but they don’t normally last that long.

Anna Elshafei, the founder of Shaffay is a similar slipper lover. A former London lawyer, Anna changed careers mid-life when she wanted to create an elegant luxury slipper that women could wear all year round, were comfortable and stylish too. Now based in Canterbury, Anna has worked with her designers to create a range of Signature slippers in different colours to appeal to all slipper wearers with names such as Cairo, Paris, Shanghai and London. Although Anna was brought up in London (hence the name) she also lived in Shanghai with her husband. So the names of the slippers are born out of Anna’s love of cities and it was a pair of London Shaffay luxury slippers that were sent to us to try.

If you’re buying Shaffay as a luxurious gift for someone this Christmas, then you won’t be disappointed. The box opens to each shoe being individually wrapped, and there’s a shoe bag to keep them clean – or perhaps it’s to prevent losing one?  The slippers come in UK sizes 4-9 and each of the 4 designs has a different colour upper as well as insole. These house shoes have grey upper leather with comfy furry insides and are more or less backless so you don’t need to horn your foot into them. Easily slipped on, they’re hands free but provide support to the whole foot. In order for them not to fall off, Anna and designer Jess realised that the front of the slipper had to come up high on the foot. There’s a small wedge in the heel too, which gives a bit more overall support and I found it made it easier to transition from soft carpeted floor to a tiled floor without changing my posture to correct the friction difference.

As for the design, this has been carefully thought about. Luxury slippers don’t create themselves so there’s a lot of research been taken in order to get the Shaffay slippers just right. Firstly, you’ll notice the memory foam inner sole. This is to create a comfier walk but it also provides a little more insulation. On top of the inner sole is a contrasting insole, also in lamb leather. The sole is made of rubber to give a genuine grip and is non-slip. You’ll notice the difference when you walk on a tiled or stone floor because the grip is much stronger than other slippers.

Comfort wise, they’re very snug, warm with the pile lining and the toe is squared off to give it a contemporary look but also hugs your toes more.  I love that they’re leather (this is not a gift for a vegetarian or vegan!) but then most outdoor shoes, especially hard-wearing shoes are leather and the alternative material, plastic, is far more harmful to the environment and doesn’t last as long.  I know it’s not fashionable but I’m a fan of leather shoes and slippers.  I have only just started wearing these so I have no idea how long they are going to last, I hope it’s longer than the 6-8 months most of my slippers last but the indications are that they will thanks to the materials used, the design and how well they’re made.

We need to talk about the price too. £95 is a lot of money for a pair of slippers. My slippers usually cost around £10-£15 for the novelty range and as I said, last about one cold season. So at £95 a pair, that means these slippers would have to last around 6-10 years for them to be cost effective. It’s not unusual for a pair of leather shoes, worn outdoors all the time and in all weather would last 5+ years. I know I have well made leather shoes and boots that are over 10 years old and need little maintenance and that’s with commuting in all terrains. Shaffay the company has not been in operation that long for us to be able to ask them, but I will say that there is no reason why someone who loves slippers wouldn’t make these last. 

But then there’s people who have bad circulation who would benefit from having much warmer shoes. Those who are older or disabled and can’t put on slippers easily so the design of the Shaffay London slipper makes it easier to put on without bending down. The memory foam sole is also more comfortable for them and the design won’t fall off your feet, thereby not causing a trip hazard. The rubber soles are a better grip than most slippers too, reducing the risk of slipping on a hard floor, or worse, falling up the stairs when climbing. So although they are expensive, for some people, these could be the slippers that make life much easier, and safer for a very long time.

Aside from the practicalities, they’re most certainly a luxury to anyone who is hard to buy for and one that will be appreciated!

Available online from £95 at:

https://shaffay.com/shop/signature-collection/the-london-luxury-slipper/

Protein Formula For Nails Nail Strengthener

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

Anyone who knows me knows that my nails are always painted – fingers and toes!  Since my teens I have always had colour on my nails and it’s very rare that I’m seen without it.  I think this is why my nails are usually very strong and hardly ever break. However, if you’ve been in and out of the pool in the summer, or doing housework, gardening or anything else that puts a strain on your nails or gets them wet, it’s a different story.

Thanks to each of the above, I have had particularly weak nails for several weeks. Being in the pool doesn’t help, but I’ve also been on long term medication which has slowed the growth of my nails therefore making them difficult to condition and grow stronger. I had no idea how to go about getting advice on them or how to improve how they look.

Protein Formula For Nails works on the protein aspect of nails called Keratin.  Keratin gives nails their strength and resilience and the proteins help cell turnover to provide room for newer, healthier cells. Protein Formula For Nails offer a Nail Analysis online which tells you which formula is best for you. I came out with formulae 2 and 4; (2) I Grow for thin, peeling nails and (4) I Strengthen for weak, damaged nails. 

Each 15ml formulae are clear nail varnishes which are worn on clean, bare nails.  You paint on the solution and reapply every other day to allow the proteins to work and build up strength over time. Every 7 days, remove all traces of the formula with non-acetone remover and repeat. Your nails should start to improve fairly quickly and just one coating leaves them with an even, nourished texture.  Once you’ve worked on one formula, move onto Protein Formula 1, which maintains nourishment of nails. 

It’s really easy to apply the treatments, it’s just like putting on nail varnish and the bottles are handy enough that you can take them with you on holiday and apply before you go in the pool and protect them from the chlorine or sea water.  I started with the I Grow Formula 2, which built up over the week so that my nails were rock hard. The solution is clear so you can’t really see it and it doesn’t look like a varnish but it did protect my nails, nourishing the nail bed underneath.  You can continue to use any of the Protein Formula For Nails until your nail condition improves enough that you can paint them again but I found a week was enough to see a difference. I will continue to keep using the formulae to see how strong I can get them especially as we go into winter and I want my nails in the best condition possible for Christmas!

Each nail solution available from £14.95 at: https://protein-formula.com/collections/shop-all-protein-formulas

LensPen Smarty Smartphone Camera Cleaner

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

If you’ve received a new smartphone for Christmas, or take a lot of photos on your camera you’ll know that the smudge factor is real when it comes to the camera lens. I hate it when I take what I think is the perfect photo, only to find that when I view it, there is that misty blur on all the photos because the lens isn’t clean. It’s the price we pay for handling our phones all day, but there are ways of reducing the smudges.

LensPen Smarty Cleaner for Smartphones is a tiny yet useful gadget for cleaning your camera lens on smartphones. Suitable for all makes of camera phone, the pen is only 4cms long and can fit in your pocket, or in the bottom of your handbag without even noticing it’s there! The cap screws loose to reveal the head of the pen which is a carbon cleaner. There’s no detergent or alcohol involved, just a pad which is small enough to fit through any camera phone casing and erases away all the grime.

I tried this on my iPhone, especially as I frequently get blurry smudges and I can’t clean them away easily with just a tissue or corner of my shirt. The LensPen is small enough to fit, comfortable to use and with minimal effort, it dissolved away the greasy fingerprint on my camera lens.  To prove it works, I used it on the front of my camera phone on the touchscreen. The pen does indeed eradicate fingerprints anywhere!

Available online from $5.99 at: https://www.manfrotto.com/us-en/lenspen-smarty-smartphone-cleaner-black-ln-smarty/

Oclean Flow Rechargeable Electric Toothbrush

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

If you’re looking for an electric toothbrush, you will be astounded at both the range available and the price of them! Oclean have launched a reasonably priced toothbrush at less than £25 which is both rechargeable by USB and sonic.  They sent us one this week to try out.

The Oclean Flow toothbrush has everything you would expect but at that surprising price.  It has Sonic Technology, so that’s sonic speed to the brush oscillation which is 38,000 strokes per minute. It has 5 easy to use brush modes (Morning, Night, Standard, Whitening and General) with a 2-minute smart timer. Flicking through each of the modes is just at the touch of the one on/off button so there isn’t anything complicated to learn or read up about in order to get your routine. You can even do two of the modes back-to-back if you want to go the extra mile.

The toothbrush comes with one brush head which is made of DuPont bristles. I liked the bright orange bristles, which make it much easier to see in the dark mornings! They also act as an indicator to let you know when the brush head needs replacing.

Charging is easy with the USB Type-C lead which comes with the toothbrush. The Type-C port is at the base of the toothbrush which is accessible from a lid which flips open. You know when there is 10% or less charge left in the toothbrush because the round button flashes red to indicate it needs charging. One single charge can last up to 25 weeks though with morning and evening brushing.

When using it, the instructions give you a warning that it may make your gums tingle if you haven’t used an electric toothbrush before, but as I usually do, it wasn’t a problem for me. I liked the firmness of the bristles and how easy it is to use especially with just one control button and nothing too complicated for late at night or early in the morning. The same goes with the 2-minute timer so you don’t have to think much. My teeth were left clean and fresh afterwards, as you would expect!

It is surprising that this brush is so cheap and that it’s aimed at adults and teenagers because it’s rather sophisticated for what it can do, but easy to use. I think most children would be able to use it easily, and the white look and packaging makes it universal for everyone.  Perhaps good for taking on holiday, especially with such a long charge amount and the ability to charge from a USB outlet? It’s a fabulous present for anyone and looks like it’s a lot more expensive than it is!

Available for £21.10 at:

Edifier TWS1 Pro True Wireless Earbuds

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

I have never had wireless headphones before, and with all the commuting I do and going to the gym, I really should have done before now!  Opening these pink Edifier ear buds, it was nice to have them in their own case, which also doubles up as a charging unit.  The buds fit snugly in the magnetic case where they snap into place and fit the connectors to charge.  

Placing them straight into my ears was obviously the first thing I did, but like any good reviewer, I tried to connect them to my iPhone X without reading the instructions.  It turns out that these TWS1 Pro headphones are super easy to set up. From my phone, all I had to do is go to the Bluetooth settings and the headphones were already there. I just clicked on ‘connect’ and the headphones were working, playing the songs from my phone straight away. They turn themselves on when you take them out of the case and turn themselves off again when put back in place.

Using the headphones was easy too. It was just a matter of tapping once (on either ear) to play or pause, twice on the left ear for the previous track and twice on the right for the next track.  Volume up and down is a hold on either ear bud. It’s one tap to accept a call and 2-3 taps to disconnect a call on your phone too.

The ear phones stayed in for the whole of my cycle and weights workout which I was surprised about.  The sound is balanced between both ear buds but there’s not the best bass on them and I can’t find a way of changing the settings. There’s a long battery life on them and they’re very sharp when listening to audio books etc.

For the price, these are great stocking fillers or for teenager who already have a smart phone.  It’s difficult to go wrong with how easy they are and compact but well designed in the case and they come with not one but two sets of spare ear pieces.  I am converted to using these headphones now instead of my wire ones for everyday use and I’m not going back!

Available for £59.99 at: