2016 SBTB Guide Guide, Part 4: An Assortment of Uniqueness

After doing the Gift Guides here for a few years, it seems I’ve landed on the radar of some publicity companies representing small business. This year, I was contacted about sampling products for the gift guide – which is pretty cool! The products range from beauty accessories to eyeglass frames, and when I sampled something I thought you’d like, I made a note of it. Ready? Here we go!

deVine Beauty

I was sent a sampler of deVine beauty products, including a hand cream, a lip shimmer, and an assortment of lip tints plus a lip balm. The products are inspired by the health benefits of red wine grapes (I love those benefits) and some, like the sangria lip balm, are labeled as free of alcohol, paraben, pesticide, cruelty and gluten free.

The lip tints come in, you guessed it, wine-inspired colors:

I tested two, the bordeaux and the merlot. The colors are very light, and have a bit of shimmer to them. They don’t feel all gooey (I dislike most lip gloss for this reason) and they don’t taste weird, but there is a very mild fruity scent. It’s faint, and it didn’t bother me, but for the scent-sensitive, you may not like it. They last a long time, though. Usually I have to re-apply lip balm every 15 minutes or so. It’s been over an hour and I can still feel the coverage.

I really like the tint, too! The color is not too intense, but there’s enough that I like the way it looks.  And there’s a set of the dark blends – merlot, bordeaux, pinot noir, and cabernet – for $24, plus one of the lip balms, too.

That would be a lovely gift.

The scent of the Chianti hand cream ($9), however, is more pronounced. The cream itself is lovely – very light and smooth, and I was still able to open the caps of the lip shimmers with no trouble after using a small amount. But the scent wasn’t really my thing – very fruity, almost too sweet. I admit, however, I’m pretty picky about scented hand cream.

That said, I put the cream on my hands about a half hour ago and the moisturizing aspects are very strong. The heat is on and my hands have been very dry, but the places where I applied the cream are not itchy at all, and still soft. Nice!

I really like the quality of these products, especially the lip shimmers. I think they’d make a lovely gift, especially to the friends you like to drink wine with, and their children who might be experimenting with lightly-shaded makeup.

I was sent a set of the lip shimmers pictured above, plus a sample of the hand cream, a lip shine in Bordeaux ($8), and the sangria lip balm. I’m going to bundle the ones I didn’t open and make them part of our Hanukkah giveaways later in December. Thank you to deVine Beauty for the samples!

Kisses 4 Us

This was one of the first items I was sent for the gift guide – and it’s really cute. Kisses 4 Us ($20) is basically a kissing game.

There are 30 different cards describing different kisses, plus 5 Create-Your-Own-Kiss cards and a booklet of ideas. The idea is the draw a card and, well, do what it says.

Here’s an example: “Give a firm kiss on the bottom of your partner’s jaw, right where the face meets the neck.” Or, “Give small kisses back and forth on the corners of the mouth.”

The idea book has different suggestions, such as drawing a card every night, or drawing a specific number on a special occasion, like an anniversary or a date night.

Not only do I think this might set off some plot bunnies among the romance writers, but I think this would be a very sweet gift for newlyweds, or couples who are celebrating an anniversary.

Thanks to Kim Knollmeyer, the inventor, for sending me a sample box. I’m going to save it to include in our upcoming Hanukkah giveaways in December.

Darylynn Eyewear

I was sent a set of eyeglass frames from Darylynn Eyewear to try on, and since I am in need of new eyeglasses, I was really looking forward to the samples. This is easily one of the more expensive items I’ve been sent to evaluate, though that isn’t saying a great deal since most of what I receive are books.

Plus, look at some of the styles:

 

So, I’ll be honest. These are frames that retail for between $295-$400. I was afraid to try them on, because I’m the least stylish person I know, and these are some very fashionable frames. But, hey, this edition of the gift guide needs something more.

Like me. Posing awkwardly. Wearing frames that are way too cool for my face.

This is the Anya frame in red ($295), and I was 99% sure I had a lipstick that matched. I think I was close.

The frames are much lighter weight than I expected, and my current frames are titanium and weigh almost nothing. I expected the plastic frames to sit more heavily, but they were only slightly more noticeable than my current glasses. They are wide and dramatic, though – the cat’s eye part especially.

This is the Anya frame in black ($295). 

At this point, after about a half hour of trying on glasses and trying to take a selfie that didn’t look bizarre or ab-clenchingly awkward, I started laughing at myself. So Orville, whom you can see over my shoulder, came out to look at me with disdain because I’d interrupted his nap. Cat photobomb in the cat’s eye glasses photo shoot!

I liked the black and the red both, but if I was going to spend some large bills on glasses frames that are striking, I think I’d lean toward the red. Sort of like spending money on Fleuvog shoes – the design is so dramatic, I wouldn’t buy them in plain black. Go big or go home.

And now, the sunglasses:

The awkward is strong in this picture! This is the Bliss design in tortoiseshell ($375). They’re designed to be worn low on the nose like a ski mask, according to a note on the package. I didn’t expect to like these, because they are mammoth, but I liked the coverage. I wear bifocals, too, and one problem I have is repeatedly picking out frames that don’t have quite enough space for the blended bifocal lenses to be fitted correctly. I don’t think I’d have that problem with these.

And, much like the others, they don’t weigh very much either (I had a pair of sunglasses that would make my face hurt after wearing them all day. Not making that mistake again).

I’m sending these back to the company, so these aren’t mine to keep. Thank you to Darylynn Eyewear for the samples – and to Orville for making the photos more fun.

Wrap Yourself in Books

Not literally. I don’t think ebooks have much insulation power, and print books would probably hurt or leave you with papercuts in strange places.

But!

How about a book scarf?

The Vintage Books Wrap ($40) is printed with spines of classic books on a silk blend fabric that’s 27″x79″ (68.5cm x 200cm).

There are also book printed infinity scarves, or Library Card scarves from Out of Print in yellow or blue.

And if a scarf isn’t enough? No problem.

You can wrap yourself up in a giant fuzzy library!

This Library Throw ($30) is big, fluffy, warm, and printed with a vintage library, complete with ladders I would be too scared to climb.

And if library prints aren’t enough, maybe you’d like a Mermaid blanket ($20)? It comes in an assortment of  colors, and turns you into a mermaid while you read.

I can think of about sixteen different people off the top of my head who would love to turn into mermaids.

I’ll be back next week with more gift guide ideas because it’s terribly fun to shop for all of you. If you’ve got ideas, please feel free to comment, or email me!