Christmas Gift List For Children

Posted on November 6, 2015 by Frostie

Children, they know what they want and buying for them can be hard. Here are some toys that have been approved by our little ones.

Little Tikes Creatures Stacker, £10.00

Soft and adorably cute. These were a big hit with the babies.

Soft feel for cuddling. Can be stacked one by one. The 3 small ones can be packed inside the biggest one. They can be hung beside bed or on pram for baby to watch. From asda.com

LeapFrog My Pal Scout, £19.97

My Pal Scout is an adorable, cuddly pup that introduces children to words, counting and feelings through 14 activities. This has been a huge hit in the office and now a few babies have one. It is easy to personalise and is fun and educational in equal measures. The perfect present for 6-36 months old.

Scout is the perfect friend who can be personalised to magically learn your child’s name and favourite things! He has super-soft fur and five touch points that respond when pressed, encouraging children to interact as he talks to them and leads them in learning and nurturing activities.

Comes with 5 songs or a choice of 30+, and two modes of play: daytime fun or night-time lullabies. For ages 6+ months.

All LeapFrog toys are educator-approved, child-tested, follow national standards and feature British spellings, phonics and pronunciations. From asda.com

The Irish Fairy Door Company Handmade Fairy Door.

These high quality, handmade fairy doors are perfect to spark your childs imagination. These doors help fairies locate to human home, classrooms, gardens and woods. They can be installed anywhere and the creative team at Fairy HQ ensures direct access to Fairy Valley. 160,000 fairies have already found a home in two years. www.theirishfairydoorcompany.co.uk

Hape Take-Along Activity Box 10m +

This Hape Take-Along Activity Box is suitable for 10 months +. Fun from all sides. This great, portable, activity box was another hit with the kids.

Hape Take Along Activity Box is available here.

www.marbel.co.uk

Star Wars Where’s The Wookie?

Star Wars Where’s The Wookie? is an interactive search and find activity book. For ages 7+ but also for adults. The new Star Wars film comes out in December 2015, directed by J.J Abrams. An excellent book for any Star Wars fan, big or small.

Star Wars Where’s the Wookiee Search and Find Book is available here.

Bizzy Bitz Construction Kits

This is a great creative gift for children. A colourful construction kit. Boys and girls can build anything they want and let their imagination run wild, the pieces simply lock into place. Bizzy Bitz Construction Set is available here.

Hidden by Emma Kavanagh Book Review

Posted on November 6, 2015 by Margaret Graham

Hidden follows on the heels of Emma Kavanagh’s debut psychological thriller novel, Falling. A second novel is a tricky beast – can the author do it again? Can they build on the success of the first? Can it follow in the same genre without being too much the same?

Kavanagh has succeeded with Hidden when other authors haven’t. Similarly to some series on television, the novel starts with the crime and then takes the reader back a stage, to the start of the action. Rather than peeling away the layers to get at ‘who dun it,’ Kavanagh builds up the layers, so that we get to the ‘why’ he ‘dun it’. And who actually did it. Clever stuff, with multiple viewpoints.

In Hidden, a gunman is stalking the wards of a local hospital. He’s unidentified and dangerous, and has to be located. Urgently.

Police Firearms Officer Aden McCarthy is tasked with tracking him down. Still troubled by the shooting of a schoolboy, Aden is determined to make amends by finding the gunman – before it is too late. To psychologist Imogen, hospital should be a place of healing and safety – both for her, and for her young niece who’s recently been admitted. She’s heard about the gunman, but he has little to do with her. Or has he?

Kavanagh uses her years of experience training police forces and military units on the psychology of life threatening incidents, to give credence to her work. The tension builds, and never lets up.

Hidden – Emma Kavanagh Published in paperback by Arrow £6.99

Make, Fix and Do with Sugru The World’s first Mouldable Glue

Posted on November 5, 2015 by Kesh

Hole in your welly? No problem. Busted iPhone cable? No problem. Broken zip? Seriously, we could go on and on. Introducing… Sugru, The World’s first mouldable glue that turns into rubber. Now it may be hard to imagine getting excited about glue but Sugru is seriously life-changing stuff. Think Gaffa tape on acid or the love child of Superglu and Blu Tack and the cherry on top is that it comes in an assortment of colours so you can use it to get crafty as well as to fix things.

Born out of a humble idea, inventor genius Jane ni Dulchaointigh had in 2003 whilst studying for her MA, Sugru was merely a vice to make small enhancements in the kitchen such as plugging the sink or making a knife handle more comfortable. Almost twelve years later after much editing, enhancing and a little bit of trial and error along the way, Sugru had achieved world domination. The prototype was made simply out of Silicone Caulk and Wood, Jane realised it was useful and with most genius ideas, they will never leave you until everyone knows about it and Jane knew a good thing when she saw it. After sharing her creativity with the world, the fantastic Sugru is now ready and available for all of us to enjoy.

Sugru is available online @ sugru.com, B&Q, Homebase, Blacks and Robert Dyas. There are 3 kits to choose from including handy ideas to make home enhancements and 10 different colours available.

For Ideas on how to use your Sugru check out this handy video;

So check out Sugru for handy tips and genius ideas and get 10% off your first order!

Christmas Gift List Special: Cadbury Christmas Chocolate

Posted on November 5, 2015 by Frostie

As far as Christmas memories go, an advent calendar or selection box from Cadbury is one that lingers. The excitement of a chocolate a day, and the naughtiness of opening another door and then closing it again, just so no one could tell you have taken another chocolate was lots of fun. At Frost HQ, the day a preview of Cadbury Christmas chocolate range came, was one were we all loved our job. Innovation is the name of the game at Cadbury. From their Marvellous Mix Ups to their Marvellous Creations, they are constantly raising the bar. Here is what you should be popping into your local shop for:

The Cadbury Christmas countdown is on! Christmas really is the most wonderful time of the year, and this festive season the Cadbury Christmas sleigh will be full to the brim of joyful treats. As well as the favourite classics that everyone loves, Cadbury has brought out new and exciting products which are sure to spread the festive joy throughout the UK this festive season.

New for 2015

Add a touch of Cadbury Christmas purple to your tree, or surprise your relatives by gifting them with the new Cadbury Dairy Milk Baubles. These spectacular supersized baubles are available in two different varieties. Cadbury Dairy Milk Oreo Baubles are filled with Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolates complete with a vanilla flavour filling and Oreo biscuit pieces. Cadbury Dairy Milk Snow Bites Baubles includes 4x34g bags of Snow Bites; Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate balls encased in crisp sugar shells and dusted with delicious icing sugar. These Baubles are perfect for a fun gift for any member of the family. RRP £4.99. These are brilliant. They can hang on the tree and are as festive as they are delicious.

Our new Cadbury Dairy Milk Hollow Santas will guarantee to put a ‘ho ho ho’ in your stocking. These hollow Santas put a quirky twist on the classic Christmas traditional icon, and are made from delicious Cadbury Dairy Milk, a supremely scrumptious Santa if we ever saw one! 60g RRP £1.49, 130g RRP £2.99. Perfect for getting into the Christmas spirit.

If you are looking for a sweet stocking filler for the kids, or a new, jolly way to treat family and friends during the festive season, Cadbury Dairy Milk 5 Jolly Santas are perfect as they come in packs containing five pocket sized Santas, each presented in fun wrapping. Kids will be sure to love them as Santa has had a makeover and there are now seven jolly looks to be discovered! RRP £2.99

Another exciting addition to the Cadbury Dairy Milk family is the magical Cadbury Dairy Milk Marvellous Creations Novelty Gift perfect to put the smile on your little elves’ faces. Marvellous by name and marvellous by nature, this gift is bursting with delicious treats including a bag of Cadbury Dairy Milk Marvellous Mix Ups with Oreo and two bars of Cadbury Dairy Milk Marvellous Creations Jelly Popping Candy. The taste is simply…marvellous! RRP £3.99

Our favourite frog gets a festive makeover this season with Cadbury Dairy Milk Freddo Faces Novelty Gift. Pop open Freddo’s mouth, and five of the incredibly delicious cheeky Cadbury Dairy Milk Freddo faces bags will leap out. Ribbit! RRP £3.99. Fredo is a classic and he comes in lots of different varieties now, including popping candy.

Everybody loves a selection box at Christmas time. This year we have the Cadbury Dairy Milk Freddo selection box, a fun sharing box with a sweat treat for everyone in the family. For extra fun, each pack contains a voucher for a free child entry to Cadbury World. Classics include Cadbury Crunchie, Cadbury Chomp, Cadbury Curly Wurly and Cadbury Fudge. RRP £2.99
If you can’t get enough of the delicious Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate, this year we have a brand new bigger advent calendar to really keep you topped up on joy this festive season. Complete with a tantalising assortment of milk chocolates, and milk chocolates with vanilla flavour fillings, everyone will want a piece. 200g RRP £4.99

Stocking fillers

There is no better feeling then opening your stocking on Christmas morning to reveal jaw-droppingly good Cadbury chocolate, and back again to put a smile on the faces of every chocolate lover is the Cadbury Dairy Milk Freddo Faces Tube. The kids’ favourite, Freddo, becomes even more fun as this festive tube is packed full of cheeky chocolate pieces in a range of playful facial expressions. RRP £1.42

Cadbury Dairy Milk Button Tubes – A timeless treat for all ages and perfect for any stocking. Our classic little button shapes of solid Cadbury Dairy Milk come packaged in an exciting festive tube this Christmas. RRP £1.42

If Wispa is one of your favourites, then Cadbury Bitsa Wispa Tube is the perfect stocking filler for you. This festive tube comes packed full of chocolate pieces from loved brand Bitsa Wispa. RRP £1.42

And if you know someone who really cannot get enough of the delicious Cadbury Wispa we have the perfect gift for them, the Cadbury Endless Wispa. The classic and much loved Bitsa Wispa now comes in a giant Christmas stick, so why not impress your friends with the gift that keeps on giving! RRP £2.49

Family Favourites…

Everybody loves classics at Christmas and there is nothing more classic then Cadbury chocolate during the festive season…

Cadbury Dairy Milk Winter Edition makes a return, combining classic Cadbury Dairy Milk with a delicious festive twist. The bar is made up of mini white and milk chocolate tree-shaped chunks, ideal for breaking apart and sharing, or even decorating the top of your Christmas cake. RRP £1.42

The irresistible Cadbury Dairy Milk Snowman also makes a return and is available with chocolate mousse or vanilla mousse. These adorable treats really give you the feeling of a snowy Christmas day regardless of the weather. The Snowmen are encased in a Cadbury Dairy Milk shell, with a light and fluffy mousse centre that tantalises the taste buds, whether you choose a vanilla or chocolate mousse is up to you! RRP £0.65. We loved these. Yummy.

For many, decorating the Christmas tree is a truly joyous occasion for all the family and signals the start of the festive period. Now with Cadbury Dairy Milk Tree Decorations your tree is set to be sweeter than ever with different designs and shapes that appeal to all ages! Available in both 84g (RRP £2.19) and 144g (RRP £3.46) packs.

Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without the Cadbury Dairy Milk Advent Calendar, the best way to count down to the most magical day of the year. Open a door to reveal a delicious piece of Cadbury Dairy Milk every day until the big day! 90g RRP £2.19

Perfect for sharing

Not everybody loves those pesky Brussel sprouts… but the entire family is sure to love a Cadbury sharing pack and the classics make their return to a living room near you this Christmas.

Cadbury Heroes Tub gives everybody the option to eat what they wish this Christmas. Pick out your favourite, and pass the tub around as there are plenty to share; these small and mighty miniatures are the perfect treat for the family. RRP £9.19

Next up is a favourite Christmas staple since 1938, the Cadbury Roses Tub. These individually-wrapped treats offer something for everyone and now also come in a unique flower shaped Roses tub. RRP £9.19

Cadbury selection packs comes in two sizes, small and medium. The smaller selection pack is the best way for kids to have all their favourite Cadbury classics as they count down the days until Santa arrives! There is a bar for each day with Cadbury Chomp, Cadbury Curly Wurly, Cadbury Fudge and Cadbury Dairy Milk Freddo. The Cadbury Medium Selection box contains a brand new mix of favourites this year, such as the Cadbury Double Decker, Cadbury Crunchie and Cadbury Dairy Milk Buttons. 81g RRP £1.09, 180g RRP £2.99

This year Cadbury are putting the ultimate Cadbury Dairy Milk Selection Stocking box under your Christmas tree. A perfect selection of all-time favourite Cadbury bars (Cadbury Dairy Milk, Cadbury Dairy Milk Caramel, Cadbury Dairy Milk Marvellous Creations Jelly Popping Candy, Cadbury Wispa, Cadbury Fudge and Cadbury Crunchie). This is the perfect selection box for any Cadbury lover! RRP £3.99

Cadbury Dairy Milk Snow Bites are back again this year. These delicious milk chocolate balls are encased in crisp sugar shells dusted with icing sugar; an exciting treat to tuck into ahead of Christmas. Perfect for creating a snowy scene on top of the Christmas cake, these Cadbury Dairy Milk Snow Bites will ensure that your cake is a season showstopper. RRP £1.15

Heritage & Conflict: Syria’s Battle to Protect its Past

Posted on November 5, 2015 by Margaret Graham

THE INAUGURAL EVENT IN A NEW SERIES OF WORLD MONUMENTS FUND TALKS: THE PAST, TODAY Heritage & Conflict: Syria’s Battle to Protect its Past

Royal Geographical Society, 1 Kensington Gore, London SW7 2AR Thursday 12th November 2015, 7pm (doors open at 6.30pm)

Syria’s Monuments Man to give first ever talk to a London audience on what it’s like to be “the world’s saddest Director of Antiquities”

We’ve all seen the images that convey not only the human tragedy but also the grievous destruction of ancient and irreplaceable monuments such as Palmyra.

To launch an important new World Monuments Fund Britain programme of issue-based events, Professor Maamoun Abdulkarim, Director-General of Antiquities and Museums for Syria, and James Davis, Programme Manager for the Google Cultural Institute, will tell the human story behind the global headlines and report on the latest international efforts to document cultural heritage. The evening will be introduced by Lisa Ackerman, Executive Vice-President of World Monuments Fund.

With the loss of cultural heritage dominating the media, in his first visit to the UK, Professor Maamoun Abdulkarim will talk about Syria’s frontline efforts to protect its irreplaceable heritage from insurgent forces. The structures, whether caught in the crossfire, deliberately destroyed to gain the media spotlight or looted to fund extremist activity, are symbolic of a treasured cultural legacy and are simply irreplaceable. What if anything can be done to protect what remains?

This event is generously supported by American Express.
This series of events will continue in March, April and June 2016.

Photograph: © iStock RPMGas

Heritage & Conflict: Syria’s Battle to Protect its Past Thursday 12th November 2015, 7pm (doors open at 6.30pm)

Royal Geographical Society, 1 Kensington Gore, London SW7 2AR. Twitter @WorldMonuments, @JohnD_WMFB, #HeritageConflict

Box Office Tickets are available for £15 (£10 for WMF members) from www.wmf.org.uk/activities or 020 7251 8142

Hidden by Emma Kavanagh Book Review

Posted on November 5, 2015 by Margaret Graham

Hidden follows on the heels of Emma Kavanagh’s debut psychological thriller novel Falling.

A second novel is a tricky beast – can the author do it again? Can they build on the success of the first? Can it follow in the same genre without being too much the same?

Kavanagh has succeeded with Hidden when other authors have failed. Similarly to some series on television, the novel starts with the crime and then takes the reader back a stage, to the start of the action. Rather than peeling away the layers to get at ‘who dun it,’ Kavanagh builds up the layers, so that we get to the ‘why’ of ‘who dun it’. Clever stuff, with multiple viewpoints.

In Hidden, a gunman is stalking the wards of a local hospital. He’s unidentified and dangerous, and has to be located. Urgently.

Kavanagh uses her years of experience training police forces and military units on the psychology of life threatening incidents, to give credence to her work. The tension builds, and never lets up.

Let’s hope there’s another Kavanagh gem soon. Bravo.

Hidden – Emma Kavanagh. Published in paperback by Arrow £6.99

Spectre Review

Posted on November 4, 2015 by Jay Ottley

James Bond, one of Britain’s most highly regarded film franchises returns for his 24^th outing in SPECTRE, touring the world, with his out of control budget. Daniel Craig returns for the fourth time as 007 with his stone-sullen demeanor, this time with a rugged charm, wit and dry sense of humour, but that’s British comedy for you.

Also returning to the helm is Bond’s heavyweight director, Sam Mendes, to finish off what he started and to wrap Daniel Craig’s Bond saga, in a neat bow-tie for the next time he needs it for his tux. This includes tying up all the loose ends and even making a tad bit of sense out of Quantum Of Solace, remember that film.

SPECTRE, opens up in Mexico City, the day of the dead, on a truly spectacular sequence, one of the best Bond openings, that could have been saved for a finale, but it prepares you and excites you for the ride ahead. It has all the niches of a Bond sequence, except a cheesy one liner. But one of the best contributes to this opening sequence, is Hoyte Van Hoytema’s cinematography and his one shot opening shot that opens up Spectre, truly steals the scene. I bet you, thought I was going tell you about the vertigo-inducing helicopter fight sequence, but that’s just another highlight of Spectre’s opening

But I will tell you this, once Sam Smith’s Bond ballad plays with it’s dark glitz and glamour, this maybe your cue for the toilet, to prepare yourself for the 148 minutes ahead. As the iconic opening titles alongside ‘Writing On The Wall’ just seem lackluster after it’s opening sequence.

Spectre continues the themes glittered throughout Craig’s saga as Ian Fleming’s James Bond, unearthing his origins and concluding the spectacular Skyfall. In which all the events that Bond has encountered from Royale to Skyfall, have led to the sinister and shadowy organisation known as SPECTRE, which any Bond fan will recognise the name, as well as uncovering the identity of the organisation mysterious leader, Franz Oberhauser.

Franz Oberhauser, played by Christopher Waltz, who given limited his screen time, his cunning and brilliant. He fits the image and persona of your typical bond villain to perfection. But also let’s be reminded that this is Christopher Waltz, after all, anything with him in the cast, is made better by his performance.

Dr Madeline Swann, played by the stunning and underrated, Lea Seydoux performs the best to her acting capabilities, given to that, which her character is written. While Dr Swann, has her moments, but for myself she just felt like a rehash of Vesper Lynn’s character from Casino Royale.

Hinx, played by the menacing Batista, an individual clearly a better actor than he is a wrestler, but for a fun fact, he actually re-enacted the torture scene from Casino Royale for his audition. But unfortunately, for Hinx, despite how much of a physical challenge he poses to Bond, he never gets that shining moment, aside from his vicious intro. As well as his encounter with Bond between train carriages, which brings memoir to From Russia With Love. Although underused, one thing I did love about Hinx, is he doesn’t say nothing, as well that he looks like Oddjob on steroids.

The cunning C played by Andrew Scott is another character introduced in Spectre. A villain that not only threatens Bond but also M, Q and even Moneypenny back in London, with wanting to revolutionise security measures for not only Queen and country, but for the rest of the world… Starting with dismantling the 00 programme. This brings a new story element to Bond, especially how security is handled now and also recently such events as Snowden. Which the dynamics between M and C are entertaining.

M still delivers a tour de force performance, continuing where Judi Dench left off, as the head of M16, in which I’d gladly watch his character in his own spin-off. But personally I wanted more of M, same as for Moneypenny

My biggest pet peeve with this film was the physical under use of Naomi Harris’s Moneypenny. I wanted to see more of Harris’s Moneypenny kicking ass as she did in Skyfall. Which I loved Moneypenny being more physical, while in Spectre, she feels like she taking Moneypenny back to the old version of being an assistant and putting her character behind a desk.

But on a plus note Ben Whishaw has finally found his inner Desmond Llewelyn as Q, which is played with wittingly in contrast to the old Bond films. In which he steals every scene that he is involved in and cracks the joke with 007 about his behaviour.

Spectre spares no cost on its action sequences and it has some of the best in the franchise, especially when it plays with your nostalgic towards the franchise, which are made so much better by Hoyte’s cinematography, especially with car chase through Rome, and Bond bringing a plane to a car chase. While Mendes has set the expectations for the future of the Bond franchise and future Bond films, Spectre just doesn’t cut it above Skyfall even with its dual twist, that lacks the emotional punch to the gut as Skyfall did. The two-way twist is as predictable as a cheesy Bond one-liner from one of its villains.

Spectre feels like Mendez attempted to pull off Nolan by returning to the franchise he has molded and recreated the mythos behind Britain’s most beloved and misogynistic secret agent, but this all feels like The Dark Knight Rises of Bond films, while it’s predecessor felt like Batman Begins… Anyone would concur that Craig and Mendes have done for Bond, what Nolan and Bale did for Batman. Although regarding the future of Bond, I wouldn’t mind seeing Christopher Nolan helm a Bond picture, especially when he has already expressed interest. But wherever the future of Bond lies, after Daniel Craig’s Bond saga, any Bond installment and follow-up will be met with high expectations after Skyfall.

Fenjal Christmas Classics Range Review

Posted on November 4, 2015 by Amy Voce

We reviewed some of the fennel’s classic Christmas range, starting with their Crème Bath Oil. This bath oil smells amazing, it is very high quality. It is relaxing and leaves your skin as soft as a baby’s skin. Their body lotion smells just as great and is very hydrating, it leaves skin looking fab. The body spray is an easy way to pick yourself up, hydrates skin and smells great. This trio of products are true decadence. They would make a brilliant present.

This festive season, fenjal’s classic skincare range allows you to bring the rejuvenating qualities of the spa to your friends and family.

With a selection of luxurious bodycare products, developed with over 40 years of Swiss beauty expertise, the fenjal classic range provides pure indulgence making it the perfect pamper gift.

Products from the fenjal Classic range evoke the soul-soothing experience of a luxury Swiss spa, transforming the bath and bedroom into a pleasurable pampering haven for a much-needed dose of escapism during the captivating chaos of Christmas.

fenjal Classic Crème Bath Oil – Nourish and Relax

fenjal’s Classic Crème Bath Oil contains natural plant extracts and soothing soy oil, which absorb deep into your skin to lock away essential moisture. Pour this iconic product into a running hot bath for a truly opulent way to relax and revitalise weary bodies after strenuous shopping expeditions or even just a hectic day.

fenjal Classic Body Lotion – Hydrate and Replenish

For optimum skin softness, fenjal’s Classic Body Lotion is a deeply moisturising blend of body-beautifying vitamins E, C and B to help repair and replenish parched winter skin. The ideal Christmas stocking filler for those with a love for that silky-smooth, spa-like feel.

fenjal Classic Sensuous Body Spray – Fragrance and Moisturise

Spritz yourself with the lightly moisturising mist of fenjal’s Classic Sensuous Body Spray and envelop yourself in a delicate cloud of floral fragrance. Perfect before that long-awaited festive soiree where smooth, scented skin is a necessity.

Fenjal products are available here.

Frost Magazine

Books and Lifestyle

Christmas Gift List For Children

Hidden by Emma Kavanagh Book Review

Make, Fix and Do with Sugru The World’s first Mouldable Glue

Christmas Gift List Special: Cadbury Christmas Chocolate

Heritage & Conflict: Syria’s Battle to Protect its Past

Hidden by Emma Kavanagh Book Review

Spectre Review

Fenjal Christmas Classics Range Review