January Favourites

And one (or more) of them has changed my life...

It’s gadget-heavy, this month’s favourites roundup, but if I’ve learned anything from my time online as a prolific tester and reviewer of stuff (fifteen years next week and counting) it’s that people love a life-changing hack or device. Whether it’s rechargeable lights that you can stick to any surface or special travel containers for your shampoo and conditioner, there’s something very satisfying about finding something that properly solves an everyday annoyance. No matter how small the annoyance.

Everyday annoyances I’ve managed to solve this month: my Coca Cola habit, my hatred of sellotape, my cold bed and - significantly - my face, which seems to be steadily losing its ability to hold itself firmly in a respectable upright position. Actually the face problem is not new to me, but the solution is such a satisfying one that it would probably make it into my favourites every month, if there was no need to provide some variety.

[AD info: post contains affiliate links marked *. I have an ongoing commercial relationship with ZIIP/Current Body but this post is not part of my paid work.]

Let’s start with the Coca Cola habit. You’ll remember (maybe) that regular Coke, the classic, original nectar of the Gods, has been my very un-rock-n-roll vice for around ten years. I wrote about it here and I also wrote about what I was trying to replace it with. The plan was to swap out my five-ish weekly cans of Coke (I know, I know, it’s hardly Leaving Las Vegas levels of debauchery) for a daily can of something marginally better. So long as it was cold, sparkling and didn’t contain nine teaspoons of sugar (or, for that matter, shitty artificial sweeteners) then I was game.

And so I started with the Kombucha drinks from a brand called Remedy. And did very well with them. The whole ritual of taking a cold can from the fridge and tapping the top of it and releasing the ring pull and taking that first swig: totally as satisfying as doing the same thing with an Ice Cold Coke. I didn’t even mind the flavour. But after a couple of months I took a look at the ingredients, because I found that I was getting mildly bloated, and saw that they contained the sweetener stevia. I’ve had issues with this sweetener before and so stopped drinking them and started looking for something new.

After much research (eight minutes) I plumped for Hip Pop kombucha to be next in my ultra-scientific trial. Though the design of the can reminded me of the posters that you’d have found in my local student union bar in 1999, I bravely ploughed on with my experiment, hoping desperately that the contents wouldn’t taste of old hops. Or too much of vinegar, which is the main worry with kombucha. (Apparently. I’m really not an expert, and if you’d told me a year ago that I would be testing different kombuchas I would have laughed rudely in your face. I had them placed in the same category as horoscopes, spiralisers and Quorn. AKA, “stuff I have no real interest in”.)

Anyway, I’ve done a good few months with the Hip Pop Kombuchas now, always buying the mixed lot of 24 cans - four flavours, get it here* - and I can tell you that I have cut my Coca Cola intake from 5-7 cans a week to 1 can. The can I have with my fish and chips, on a Friday. Genuine highlight of my week and I can tell you that I appreciate the sugar rush and instant decaying of my teeth far more now that it’s not a daily occurrence.

Do I think that the kombucha has any health benefits? Absolutely no idea. But it tastes better than that flavoured water and I’m sure it gives me a little energy kick…

Laughable that I’ve even just typed that, about the energy kick, because I am currently in bed with laptop upon lap (surely as nature intended?) being the least energetic version of myself that I could possibly be. The reason? I’ll tell you - it’s actually my next item on the favourites agenda. It’s all the fault of the Dreamland Snowed In electric blanket. God this thing is good. And how I laughed at all the many people who extolled the virtues of their electric blankets to me, for years and years. Well now the joke is on me. For not getting in on this new, parallel universe sooner. You know the feeling of pressing a hot water bottle to your body on a cold night and how it instantly solves a myriad of aches and ailments, just by virtue of being warmer than the rest of its surroundings? Imagine that all over your body. I know, it’s almost inconceivable, isn’t it? To be able to experience that degree of pleasure. Perfectly legally, and with minimal expense.

Apparently it’s not an electric blanket, it’s an organic cotton warming mattress protector, but let’s not split hairs here: you secure it over the mattress, you plug it in and then you use a controller to activate it and instantly turn your bed into a large, soft version of one of those tabletop warming plates. I have it on maximum heat, maximum time and quite honestly I’m amazed that I haven’t slow-cooked myself to death overnight. We made amazing pulled pork last weekend and that was in the oven for less time than I stew upon my baking sheet. Probably went in at a lower temperature, too.

I bought mine from John Lewis after two solid recommendations from family members and a good peruse of the online reviews, but the same product is on Amazon at the moment for thirty quid less. (I bought the superking.) It’s here online*.

What’s next? I’m in danger of producing a 10,000 word dissertation here. Oh yes: rechargeable wardrobe lights. When we bought out house we inherited these huge, deep, solid oak wardrobes built into every bedroom. They are truly brilliant with loads of shelving and rails and whatnot, but they have one major failing: during the hours of darkness, which is most of the time in winter, you open the doors to look inside them and you cannot see a thing. It’s like looking into the abyss. The spotlights on the ceiling were all positioned (I think) to illuminate the previous owner’s impressive collection of paintings and sculptures and so they do not point in the direction of the wardrobes. For four years I’ve been using my iPhone torch to light up my clothing but NO MORE: I have rechargeable, magnetic strip lights now that are not only discreet, powerful and colour-adjustable, they have motion sensors so they come on when I open the doors!

They look as though someone has done a proper electrics job and added bespoke lighting when in fact Rich just bought them online for eight quid each (here*) and stuck them to the wardrobe carcass, just behind a handily-positioned ridge. Honestly, I can’t tell you how great they look. You have to watch the favourites video to see them in action because I forgot to take a photo and now it’s daylight. Here you go:

If at this stage in the post you’re thinking oh my giddy aunt, this woman is teaching grandma to suck eggs, WHO hasn’t heard of an electric blanket or rechargeable lights? then brace yourself, for the next favourite is even more basic. A tape dispenser. I know!

They’ve probably been around for longer than any of us have even been alive, but indulge me, momentarily, because nothing could have prepared me for the surprise - nay joy - I felt when I first used my weighted, felt-bottomed tape dispenser. This is no rigid plastic crapness, no gimmicky thing that you wear like a knuckle-duster; this is no floaty lightweight landfill fodder that slides towards you when you attempt to tear off tape! No. This is the Hulk Hogan, velvety-bottomed king of dispensers. Weighs the same as a small car and has a non-slip base so that you can - get this! - pull and tear off tape with ONE HAND!

I’ll let that sink in.

This heavyweight tape dispenser has revolutionised my present- and parcel-wrapping life. I used to hate wrapping. Now I’ll wrap anything you send my way. I’ll even wrap stuff that doesn’t need it. I tape down envelope flaps that are already gummed. I stick cards to birthday presents by using the sellotape loop method but I now press a loop behind all four corners of the card! Not just behind the middle! I’m a bloody tape fanatic at this point.

I know it’s not just me, either, I saw Jane from British Beauty Blogger raving about her tape dispenser the other week, though it’s a different model. Mine was less than a tenner, came with two rolls of (actually quite good) tape and could double up as a doorstop, a weapon or as emergency ballast if you ever found yourself in a too-buoyant submarine. Find it here*.

Nearly there, campers - I know this one has been a long-haul. The last inclusion in my favourites video is a paid partnership with ZIIP Halo and Current Body, who I work with on a regular basis. (Massive fan of the LED mask and the ZIIP.) I didn’t have to include them in this written post, it wasn’t part of the scope of work, but the ZIIP is forever one of my favourites and it would seem odd to include in the video but then miss it out here in my written post.

The ZIIP Halo is a facial lifting and toning device that uses microcurrent and nanocurrent to a) visibly (and quite dramatically, actually) lift the appearance of the face and b) work on the general texture and firmness of the skin on a more longterm basis. I was instantly smitten by the ZIIP when I first used it; being a cynical old sow I couldn’t believe that it would make any difference, but the brand asked me to take a photo of my face with half of it “done” or “ziipped” and the other half not and I couldn’t believe the difference.

I have tonnes of these photos now, to demonstrate the instant/short-term effects, here’s the latest:

There are few things you can do at home that are so satisfying, visually. I don’t have tweakments or injectables either, so you could say there’s nothing I can do that’s so visually satisfying. The lifting effect lasts me the day and just makes me feel fresher and more alive. The initial investment is high but after that the conductive gel is the only outlay - I use the cheapest one that ZIIP make and it works perfectly.

I have a 10% code for ZIIP - it’s RUTHZIIP and you can use it here*. Note the double “ii” in ZIIP.

OK, that’s enough for this week. Do you like long posts? Hit the heart button! If you prefer shorter posts then please also hit the heart button. See what I did there. Brilliant tactic for engagement, terrible for actually knowing what people want. There’s always the comments, I suppose…