It's that time of year again and with December comes holiday soirees, cocktail gatherings, family celebrations and whether you have kids or not, it's the season of giving. It's the time we give of ourselves just a little more and buy gifts for loved ones which come in all shapes, prices, categories and colors. If you check out last year's holiday gift guide, you'll see that we tend to discover fun finds across the board, from food/wine, entertainment, technology, kitchenware and accessories to beauty, wellness, perfumes, bags, clothing, shoes and jewelry. When it comes to gear and wear, we try to pick items that match a frequent traveler's lifestyle and I personally look for design, elegance, creativity, value, style, comfort and of course functionality.
Our favorite pick of the year goes to the iRobot Roomba 980, (it's under our technology category below) and we also reviewed it earlier this year. While it's not a new product on the market, it saves me so much time and helps to keep our home dust-free. Two thumbs up for the Grillbot as well, which is a bit like an iRobot for your grill. What can I say -- products that automate your life so you can spend more time in nature or traveling is a godsend! In the fashion category, we're huge fans of Aetrex for shoes and Craghoppers for men's clothing. We hope to do Favorite Picks by Category in the near future as we expand our product, fashion/style, wellness and beauty reviews.
Beauty & Fragrance
Raw Spirit Fragrances
Meet Raw Spirit, a luxury fragrance brand that works with the unique cultures to weave in the best that their 'land' has to offer, one of the things we loved about this perfume brand discovery. They source some of the rarest and most natural ingredients, drawing inspiration from their captivating travels.
The Raw Spirit brand was inspired by Australian photographer Russell James’ collaborative art project, Nomad Two Worlds, which explores the clash of ancient and modern cultures and celebrates the richness of Indigenous and marginalized communities around the world, including Haiti where they source the premium Haitian Vetiver, Florida's Everglades, Australia, Fiji and more. And, they're all about sustainability and giving back.
A few of their fragrances include Wild Fire, which we liked for its woodsy, sensual scene incorporating sandalwood, creamy amber and floral notes of Ylang Ylang, jasmine petals, cedar wood and musk. This fragrance was inspired by the Western Australian outback. For each fragrance, there are also a few different sizes to choose from, making it an easy pick for either a stocking stuffer or a more seductive wrapped gift.
Their Desert Blush is a warm, sophisticated, floral scent, inspired by the Western Australian desert at sunset. Think wild-harvested Australian sandalwood with the intoxicating floral note of Australian Boronia. Bijou Vert, which French speakers will know, means Green Jewel, no surprise given that the scent is all about sensuality, inspired by Haiti, which was apparently once known as the "Jewel of the Antilles." For this one, imagine notes of Haitian vetiver, grapefruit, mandarin, geranium, lotus flower, black pepper, patchouli and cedarwood. Love!
Winter Oak is a smooth, creamy, warming scent, which was inspired by the oak-lined trails of the Chumash Lands of California on cool winter mornings, when crushed oak leaves and twigs release their rich scent. Nice analogy right? It's theirs, not ours, but we LIKE it! This fragrance is all about aged American oak and layers of suede, saffron, premium Haitian vetiver and musk. We are also fans of their creative branding and their mission.
Summer Rain invokes citrus, inspired by the Florida Everglades in the summer. There's kaffir lime and grapefruit with a burst of orange flower and jasmine petals, Haitian vetiver and cedarwood while Mystic Pearl, inspired by Bali, is the scent of the 'pearl.' I imagine you're thinking ocean waves about now, so while you're in that visual frame of mind, now conjure up a heady mix of white flowers, jasmine and frangipani, with a hint of coconut and the tropical spices cinnamon and clove. Bravo!
All of their perfumes are created in collaboration with Master Perfumer Harry Fremont (Firmenich) and part of their proceeds go to support Indigenous Australian cultural projects. Try a few of them and see what you think. You can order Wild Fire here and of course, there are smaller bottle options on Amazon as well, including Summer Rain, Desert Blush, Bijou Vert, Winter Oak, Wild Fire and Citadelle. For all of their options including more of their backstory, visit their site at: https://rawspiritfragrances.com.
Money Cologne & Perfume
I hadn't heard of the Money cologne and perfume line before recently, so we decided to test it out for both men and women. His Money has hints of warm ocean breezes and bright citrus notes combined with rosemary, grass, and woods. The idea of course is to create an invigorating personal scent of success. In their words, not ours: "Masculine. Daring. Unforgettable."
There are now two choices for women and men: Her Money's original scene starts with fresh linen, cotton and silk, not unlike the men's line. The difference with Her Money is obviously the scene, which has a whole lotta floral tones to it. There's also pink grapefruit, mandarin, freesia, passion fruit, Hawaiian wedding flowers and just a hint of melon. They also have a new one out called Her Money and His Money Make it Rain 2017 now available on their site. All of their fragrances are made in the USA and they love to say "Each bottle contains 1.7 fluid ounces of success."
The line was started by a technology guy who teamed up with perfumer Larry Murrison and as part of the quirky branding, they add shredded U.S. bills in every Money box - hilarious right? For more information, please visit www.liquidmoney.com. You can order Liquid Money cologne here.
Osmotis Age Prevention Sheer Facial Tint SPF 45
Meet one of the skincare products from Osmotis. It's hard to find a tinted sunscreen that has a high SPF factor, so we love the discovery of their SPF 45 that comes in three shades of color, to erase imperfections while enhancing your natural skin tone.
The included Broad Spectrum UVA/UVB sheer, oil-free tints are a great tinted option for daily UV protection. The SPF 45 cream has antioxidant vitamins and Sodium Hyaluronate which also helps smooth and soften your skin as well.
What I appreciated most about this sun protector cream is its sheer, natural tints which leave your skin feeling moisturized while adding a nice glow to it. So many of the creams I've tried leave my skin feeling chalky and oily -- this one can be used alone, under or mixed with foundation as well. I also love the fact that it's oil-free and comes in three different shades (light/medium and dark) and if one isn't perfect, you can get two shades and mix them. Unlike most sunscreens, you don't have that unpleasant film that you often get on your skin, which is something we particularly liked.
Note: these are my opinions only based on my experience with the products -- please refer to your dermatologist and/or doctor to see if they're a good fit for your skincare needs and skin type. More information can be found at http://www.osmotics.com/.
Entertainment & Foodies
Juiceman 3 in 1
We're huge fans of juicing and tested out the JuicePresso earlier this year which we love - it's oh so elegant!! This year, we put the Juiceman 3 in 1 to the test. Juiceman offers other products as well, however the 3 in 1 combines a blender, juice extractor and citrus juicer all in one, which saves space in your cupboards while being highly functional and diverse. It uses a powerful 800W motor and does a great job at juicing both large and small citrus.
We love the fact that they include a seal-tight travel lid, which is incredibly useful for those on the go, which as avid travelers, is more often than not. The juice extractor worked equally well for both fruits and veggies (we do a lot of green juicing over here), so loved the extra large (2 liters) pulp container that comes with the product, as well as the non-drip spout, which can be messy with other juicers. There's also a stainless steel filter basket and they include a useful cleaning brush as well. You can even wash the parts in the dishwasher which you can't do with all juicers, so two thumbs up for its flexibility!
We love that you can do juicing and blending all in one machine. Bravo! For more information on Juiceman, head to www.juiceman.com and you can order their 3 in 1 juicer here.
Italian Prosecco
We tried out three bottles of Prosecco from Italy which is a great bubbly alternative to champagne for those holiday parties. Meet the every so delicious Bianca Vigna Brut, Progetti Divini Brut and Piera Martellozzo Extra Dry. The Bianca Brut is 100% Glera and comes from the hills of Italian Conegliano. This fruity bubbly is creamy and dry in the mouth, but there's a whole lotta fruit in the finish, which we paired with a variety of cheeses.
Elegant and harmonious, with a hint of pear and peach, the Cantina Progetti Divini is a full bodied Brut that is balanced and dry. It's a great choice as an apertif and goes well with vegetable pastas, light/white meats and fried dishes. You can also pair it with marinated fish dishes as well.
Our favorite of the bunch was the Piera Martellozzo Extra Dry Brut. Its barreled in stainless steel for two months and like the Cantina Progetti Divini brut, it is great as an apertif and goes well with appetizers, light main courses and fish. It's super dry which we loved but also has fruit tones throughout, mostly pear and apple. It's a great choice for those holiday cocktail bashes where you're serving light, healthy snacks on a tray.
For information can be found at http://www.wine-searcher.com and then search for the above names.
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Norman Love Chocolates
A fabulous stocking stuffer is one of the holiday gift boxes from Norman Love Confections. The 2016 limited-edition collection features ten seasonal flavors including Candy Cane, Cranberry Apple Biscuit, Pumpkin Pie, Mint Patty, Linzer Cookie, Cup O’ Cheer, Mulled Cider, White Christmas, S’mores and Gingersnap.
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They offer an assortment of the holiday flavors in 25- and 50-pc green signature gift boxes and three gift baskets filled with a variety of gourmet chocolate holiday items, are also available.
A great gift for your significant other, parent or grandparent is the Santa’s Sweet Ride Basket, which is priced at $134, and contains a ten piece candy cane-shaped gift box, a five-piece box of Norman Love Confections BLACK, a four-piece box of S’more Love, one package of peppermint chocolate holiday nark, a package of chocolate-covered jelly beans, two inclusion bars, a package of candied nuts, gluten-free pretzels, a hollow chocolate Santa and a chocolate-covered gingerbread man. Oh so decadent! They also have an exclusive chocolate club you can join as well. More information including how to order can be found on their website at http://www.normanloveconfections.com.
Grillbot
Grill lovers will be excited about the Grillbot, an automatic cleaner for your grill which comes in a variety of fun colors. The concept is relatively new as Grillbot has only been around since 2014. Like the iRobot, you simply place the Grillbot on your grill, close the door and let him go!
The grillbot does all the grill cleaning for you so you don't have to. The device goes back and forth across all areas of your grill until it's clean, it's fully-automatic and begins as soon as you push the button. The default time is ten minutes however you can also set it to clean for twice the time if your grill is particularly dirty or larger than average. We've used it at least 20 times so far and each time, ten minutes was ample to get the grill clean. It's one of our favorite product picks this year.
We also love the nifty carrying case as well which is optional. The handle is so handy that rather than use valuable storage space in an inside closet or the garage, we simply hang it on a hook on the left of the grill so it's easily accessible.
There are replaceable wire brushes which are easy to swap out -- you simply pop them off to clean and apparently you can even toss them right in the dishwasher for cleaning although we haven't tried that yet. There's also a rechargeable Lithium Ion Battery, which they include with your Grillbot, making it easy to charge when he loses steam. The grillbot comes with three strong high-power electric motors, which cuts through the grease to really get your grill clean. Truthfully, we were surprised that it cleaned so well - Anthony was sure that it was a "gimmick" and that we'd have to end up cleaning it afterwards regardless.
You can get the Grillbot Automatic Grill Cleaner, Black Bundle with Stainless Steel Brush with the case or a solo red one without the case! More at www.grillbots.com.
Gear & Wear
ecbc Hercules
The ecbc Hercules is a laptop backpack which has been crafted with very tough Kodra nylon, a great choice if you have fragile gear, including laptops and camera gear. We were keen to take a look at this backpack, largely because of its endless pockets and sub-pockets, which if your'e an avid traveler who has a lot of tech gear, is a MUST! Toughness and durability is equally important, especially if you do have tech gear -- keeping it organized is increasingly a challenge and I've tried a number of packs out.
Frequent flyers take note: the high quality Hercules backpack features the ecbc FastPass System allowing you to unzip the specialized electronics compartment, lay the bag flat on the security conveyer and go through TSA without having to unpack your laptop, tablet and cables. It can store laptops up to 17” and features self-repairing YKK zippers, high density protective foam pockets for smaller devices, a phone pocket, and a moisture wicking air mesh back panel for superior comfort and best of all, this pack only weighs in at around 2.7 pounds. They tout the pack as durable and rugged as well and we've yet to put that to the test, but will report back if it doesn't "endure."
It has self-repairing, water-sealing YKK Zippers, can fit up to 17” Laptop with Removable Modular Insert for Smaller Devices, has a Padded iPad / Tablet Pocket, a 20 Liter Capacity, 21 Storage Compartments (our FAVORITE part of this pack), its high density protective foam for the laptop pockets, a phone pocket, a quick access/ticket pocket, a zippered water bottle holder, multiple organizational compartments, a moisture wicking air mesh back panel, Duraflex adjustable padded shoulder straps and a padded top handle. It is also water resistant, which is a great feature for adventure travelers. I went for the ivory/cream colored pack although they offer a few options: green, a dark blue, black and a berry red. Note that the cream is more like a tan than it is an off-white/cream for those who are color sensitive.
More information including how and where to order can be found at http://www.ec-bc.com/.
Body Bark Clothing
We recently discovered Body Bark, a clothing line made from the cellulose fiber of sustainable Beech trees: MircoModal of Lenzing Ag. We love the incredibly soft fabric which is also very durable and retains its shape well, both important qualities for travelers. All made in the USA, the material is eco-friendly, the style sophisticated and the colors neutral so they can be paired with anything in your suitcase. While some of the items come in red, blue and other colors, the line mostly focuses on black and white, which we think is an ideal "go to" choice for any trip. For example, the high neck tank top is sensual and elegant but also functional. You can obviously wear it alone or use it as a layer, making a great staple in your closet at home or when you're on the road.
We learned that how the clothing is spun is part of the magic. The clothing is spun using Siro and Royal spinning techniques, which apparently result in stronger yarn, softer yarn and a better drape.
We also liked the droop neck (shown below in dark blue/navy) which has a sleek and elegant look and is made from the same material as the rest of the line with a 96% MicroModal and 4% Lycra split. They also have soft luxe style pants, which are designed to be worn as a pant or you can pair it with a Body Bark top as a pajama set or with the Body Bark Robe. Super comfy, they make great travel pants as well. They're made from 95% MicroModal and 5% Lycra. They're all machine washable but they recommend hanging them to dry.
More info including how to order at www.bodybark.com.
Aetrex Shoes
We love love love this brand! The name Aetrex doesn't quite sound like a shoe brand when you first hear the name, but it's because of it's long history around comfort and wellness. Their mission? To literally create the healthiest shoes on the market today.
Let's just say that they're so comfy, it feels like you're wearing slippers. They offer casual, dress, sandal, athletic and therapeutic footwear for both men and women and all styles use their cutting edge technologies and are all about customization and adjustability. Originally known for the landmark development of arch supports and medically-oriented footcare products, Aetrex is known for their PURE comfort but also great design, a rarity to find both in one shoe.
Aetrex is also renowned for its over-the-counter Lynco Orthotics that are recognized as the #1 orthotic system on the market which means that they are often recommended by doctors and pedorthists -- what a more perfect shoe brand for travelers, right? While we focus on boots in our Holiday Guide because of the 'season,', please note that we put their sandals to the test during a family travel trip in August, so be sure to check out our review.
One of our favorites is the Skyler Boot for women, which comes in a few different color combo choices: barley, black and merlot (shown below). The Skyler is styled with a classic lace-up with incredibly soft leathers and a chic and trendy design. To top it off, the boot has a soft fabric lining and plush memory -- they very well may be the most comfortable boots you'll ever wear.
The Autumn Ankle Boot in Cognac was another favorite. This trendy ankle boot has a burnished toe and a stacked leather heel, with a ton of comfort built in like every other model Aetrex makes. In addition to the warm cognac color (my personal fave), the boot also comes in Iron, Black and Merlot. I love the side zip, side stretch panel and soft fabric linings, all of which makes it SO comfy and easy on the feet, which is perfect when you're walking for hours on end sightseeing in your favorite urban destination. There's also rubber outsole for traction and a reasonably sized two inch heel -- no need to be in pain while looking stylin', at least not anymore. We love their variations!!
The Dustin Chukka Boot is a lovely soft brown suede but is light-weight, easy to clean, and water-resistant for challenging weather situations, all of which make them a perfect choice for avid travelers. They also have certified slipresistant soles, which make them safe in slippery conditions when you're on the road -- think rainy European city in the dead of winter. Aetrex’s “Healthy 3” is incorporated in each style of their boot or shoe. They're our favorite shoe brand this year -- bravo Aetrex and team! More information including how to order can be found on their website at http://aetrex.com.
Wooden Watches by Original Grain
Interestingly enough, we had a few watches in our Holiday Gift Guide last year but only one gem this year: Original Grain. We've been mesmerized by the authenticity of wooden grain watches for over a year now and only just got around to getting a top notch b