A gift guide for that person who appears to have it all

Men, women, teens, kids – there is always someone who seems to have it all and when asked what would they want or like the answer is always the same – nothing.

This is not necessarily the truth. I personally don’t believe they have it all but this type of person may just not have any immediate needs which need fulfilling, so… buying for them is kind of a nightmare.

We can always pick the easy way out and go with a pre-boxed gift from our favourite store or we could try to find something which will actually suit them and they might actually need or even want, even if they don’t know it yet.

I was wondering about some gift ideas for “those” type of people. So I created a list, in spending order, which might give you some ideas.

Experience Days

There are a lot of options for picking something suitable from experience days. I’ve looked at Virgin Experience Days and prices start from just £5 and go up and up and up all the way to space soon… so I am putting it on top of my list. Driving, flying, days out, spa days, photo shoots… there are literally 100s of different options to suit any budget and of course to suit any person we are buying for. Last year I won a driving experience and gifted it to Mark; he totally loved it even though they wouldn’t let him keep the car despite Hollywood levels of pleading.

Dyson Hot + Cool

Unless the person you are buying for has an air-conditioned house they will love the new Dyson Hot + Cool. I personally don’t have one (I wish we had) but I’ve seen it in action and it is amazing. It looks amazing and it performs just as described. It isn’t cheap though as prices starts from £359.99 but if you have that amount of “spare” money I can guarantee a smile on the recipient face.

Redmond Multicooker

Reading different blogs I see that a lot of people are using a multicooker. These smart appliances can fry, steam, cook, stew, bake… they can reheat food or keep it warm until you get home… pretty clever. It is like all your cooking requirements in one piece of kit. The price does vary depending on which model you opt for – the basic 6 program multicooker will set you back £69 going up to an amazing 55 programs in one model for £184.90.

Personalised Gifts

With personalised gifts the choice also is almost endless – bags, mugs, frames, chocolates, clothing… whatever you want I am sure someone will personalise it for you. ToxicFox have a huge selection of personalised gifts. I particularly like their wine or champagne selection – personalised of course – as they might just be the perfect gift for a fussy adult.

They also offer a full ClaireaBella collection – cushions, stationery, suitcases, bags to name a few things plus a lot of clothing including PJs, hoodies, zoodies, t-shirt, onesies. With ClaireaBella you can not only personalise with your name but the whole Mr or Mrs ClaireaBella 😉 Prices starts from £4.99 for a personal bar of chocolate going up to £134 for a suitcase.

Water Pillow

Yeah, I know, it sounds awesome, doesn’t it? £39.99 will give you a Mediflow Waterbase Fibrefill Pillow; clinically proven to improve quality of sleep and reduction of neck pain. They can be adjusts to fit the shape of any person and continuously responds to changes in the sleeping position. I actually have one and it is a pleasure to sleep on. People might have a lot of things but I bet most of them haven’t thought about getting themselves a water pillow 🙂

“Posh” Candle Collection

Candles aren’t only for the older women. They have a practical use of course but they might also be used as a decoration, a mood enhancement or just a nice reminder of something or someone special. The Country Candle Company offers the most beautiful range of British, highly scented candle collections to suit any preferences. Prices start from £6.50 and go up to £22.50 for a lovely gift pack.

So, what do you think?

Are any of my ideas useable for you?

What would you add to the list?

One thing ticked off the wish list – Dyson DC41Mk2 Animal

A few weeks ago a huge lovely parcel arrived on my door step – it was a Dyson DC41Mk2 Animal. I have wanted one of these vacuum cleaners for years but there was always something else far more urgent that needed to be bought first…

Anyway, it was finally here!

My own, personal Dyson DC41Mk2 Animal.

I had huge plans for it. On the one hand I wanted to open it right now, the moment that the courier brought it to me, but then on the other hand I had a video idea which required me to stay put and keep my brand new Dyson, well “brand new”…

I really wanted to film me cleaning with my Dyson, and the money shot, after cleaning with my old vacuum and then see if there was any difference… I thought that this might be an interesting thing to do but the days were passing by, life was manic and I was nowhere closer to my video project being started… when I did actually have a moment either the weather was very bad which meant no natural light for actually shooting the video indoors or the weather was fine but there was no one around to actually help me, like all of us I am cursed with being born with only two hands… I didn’t even want to attempt vacuuming with 2 different machines and filming it at the same time… this would be quite insane, even for me…

So, the days were passing by and still no video…

The days kept passing by and every day I looked and my shiny new Dyson still in its box…

Then some more days passed by and then I finally broke!

Yesterday after yet another discussion with my trusty old Henry about his aging status and resulting lack of abilities to include actually cleaning effectively I broke! I ripped the box open and decided that enough is enough; I just had to try my new friend.

Within 5 minutes the Dyson DC41Mk2 Animal was put all together and I was off…

OMG what a difference!

OMG it was a pure pleasure!

The 1m x 1.5m rug by the front door, which normally would take me around 15 minutes to clean (usually with me on my knees), was totally clean and dog / cat hair free within 1 minute maybe 2 at most… not only was it fast, there was no need for getting down on my knees anymore and cleaning with a precision brush – Dyson just ate it all like a pro!

I am over the moon!

30 minutes and 9 containers full of hairs and dust later my house was totally clean! Yes, 9 bins… the amount of stuff he can suck up is just unreal… I really didn’t have an idea my house was SO dirty!

And you know what… I now have some totally new ideas for my video and I think that it will be much better than my original plan… so stay tuned as a full review of my new friend – Dyson DC41Mk2 Animal is coming to a blog near you soon 🙂

* Picture courtesy of Dyson.
I received a Dyson DC41Mk2 Animal vacuum cleaner for a review purpose.

Dyson helping you to battle allergens #NoHiddenDust

There are a lot of things in the world to get excited about; I had no idea that a vacuum cleaner could be one of them until I “met” Dyson Cinetic.

First of all it is a stunning looking machine; build on a ball technology it looks like no other vacuum cleaner. Its design reminds me of a high end sports car engine. It is something you really don’t want to hide in your under stair cupboard.

Secondly and this is the more important part it can help you battle the allergens from your home… you know all the nasty dust mites, pollen and mould… Did you ever imagine that a vacuum cleaner will help you with your allergies?

Dyson is the only vacuum cleaner manufactures which has a fully-equipped in house microbiology lab, which enables them to develop healthier and more hygienic appliances. This means that they are better equipped to deal with the nasties that lurk in our carpets and furniture.

Did you know that an average bed has up to 3 million dust mites? But they live not only in your bed mattress… they live in your carpet, pillows, soft furnishing and all the soft toys your child loves so much, oh and let’s not forget about all the makeup brushes and eyes shadow applicators… We can follow a few easy steps to reduce the dust mite population:

• Vacuum your mattress regularly in order to pick up dry skin cells and dust mite faeces (Dyson’s vacuum cleaners are all approved by the Allergy Foundation so you know they will “eat” it up).
• Replace your pillows at least once a year.
• Do not make your bed straight after you get up; let it cool down a bit.
• Wash all bedding on 60 degree cycle (or higher) as dust mites can’t survive extreme temperatures.
• Freeze your child soft toys and your beloved makeup brushes. Again extreme temperatures will kill dust mites and freezing instead of washing will help you to preserve the original shape of the toy.

Another allergen which is very common is pollen. This is the one which is making me cry like a baby sometimes… sometimes my morning walk with the dogs suddenly becomes a nightmare: red puffy eyes, tears everywhere and all I can do is sneeze… and then sneeze some more… You would think that the pollen problem is restricted to the outside, but it is not. We bring it indoors on our clothing and shoes or it simply gets in once you open the window. Again there are some tips we can follow in order to minimize pollen impact on our everyday life:

• Keep your lawn short; it will prevent any grass from flowering, which means reducing pollen count.
• Try not to dry your clothes outside when the pollen count is high especially in the morning and early evening.
• Airing the house is very important but again let’s try to avoid high pollen times.

Last but not least there is the problem of pets. Did you know that is it actually the dog or cat saliva which makes you sneeze rather than the fur itself? This explains a few things… normally I have no problems with pets as you would expect from someone who owns four of them but every now and then after a cuddling session especially with Bunk I get a huge rash on my hands. I had already noticed that this is happening after he licks me but I never put these two things together… the rash goes away within 30 minutes or so, but it is very itchy and it doesn’t look good at all. Just like with the nasties above, when it comes to pet allergies there are certain things that we can do to help reduce any occurrences:

• Groom your pet regularly. You can try a vacuum grooming tool to make this job easier.
• Wash any dog bedding on 60 degree cycle.
• Vacuum your house as often as possible, to remove all the loose hair containing pet saliva.

These three allergens as stated above are causing a lot of problems, but as much as we would like to we are not able to get rid of them… we can only reduce them. Mould is the one which we can and should try to eliminate completely. Mould can lead to watery and itchy eyes and runny noses, this is one kind type of mould, but some of them can be toxic and are really harmful so we should get rid of mould as soon as we spot any… or even better do not allow any mould to grow in our house in the first place. Keeping your house clean and dry will help you battle mould.

So now that you know what is lurking in your house, how do you feel about it? My reaction was:

Scary stuff isn’t it?

Anyway, Dyson can help you fight all of these.

I do not own one but I would love to. I had a chance to see it in action and experience its full power.

We tested how Dyson and other vacuum cleaner will perform when picking up some baking powder from a high gloss shiny surface… have a look at the final effect…

Dyson ate it all, leaving a clean surface behind whilst the competitor vacuum smudged the baking powder all over the floor… I can assume a similar effect whilst dealing with dust mites for example.

I have a short video I took while we were testing the Dyson Cinetic abilities over and over again… it is a bit wobbly at times but it shows you clearly that there is no safe place for the dust (or baking powder in this case) to hide.

If you are in need of a new vacuum you might want to consider the Dyson Cinetic. Its technology is like no other and I am sure it will serve you well… after all Dyson made 2000 prototypes whilst creating this stunning machine.

It is not cheap but you will get 5 years parts and labour guarantee and no need for bags, no loss of suction and no filter fuss! I am adding one to my Wish List. With all the pets in the house I could really do with a vacuum cleaner which doesn’t get blocked by dog hairs every 2 minutes.

Do you have any experience with a Dyson vacuum?

Did you know that they can help to battle allergens?

* Pictures in this post were taken by A. Sherratt and they all belong to Dyson Ltd.
The wobbly video is my own 🙂
I was invited by Dyson to attend bloggers event in London.
I was not paid to write this post but I received a goodie bag.