Christmas 2014 Gift Guide For Him and Her

Each year I know many of us draw a blank when we think of all the Christmas gifts we need to buy. It’s getting harder and harder to get more original and special ones so I’ve complied a gift guide that may just give you some ideas of what’s new for both him or her. So if you’re someone’s secret Santa or you’ve got someone who’s quite hard to please here’s my 2014 list in no particular order and with varying budgets.

SHEEN is Casio’s brand new watch for the ladies. The SHEEN series features exquisite materials such as titanium, ceramic, sapphire glass, leather and SWAROVSKI elements depending on a person’s style. I personally love it because it has that vintage classic Casio feel and can actually be dressed down or up easily with any look. You can find the SHEEN at all Sundial stores in Lebanon and win a gift here

If you love comic strips and cartoons in a 3 Dimensional way, then you will love  The Comic Art of Guillermo Forchino.  These fully handmade and hand painted works of art are meticulous in detail with each figurine and scene telling satirical story complete with characters and a plot. It’s a collectors haven with different series (The Professionals, The Vehicles etc) and limited collections. I personally chose this hilarious rendition called “The PlayBoy” which tells the story of Calolo Oviedo who meets the young gold digger Delma and does the impossible for her to feel young and alive again. The Comic Art of Guillermo Forchino opened its first point of sale at Virgin Megastorelast month.

The recently released Black Opium by Yves Saint Laurent is one of my favorite fragrances to date, derived from its 1977 classic Opium perfume, this one highlights the dark and mysterious side of the brand and trust me when I say smells just as good as it looks.  It has notes of coffee, pink pepper, orange blossom, jasmine, vanilla, patchouli and cedar and is one of those fragrances that lingers even after you’ve left the room.

The MOTOROLA Moto 360 Smart Watch. This was supposed to be a birthday gift for my man, but getting my hands on one was more of a challenge than I had imagined. It was only released in limited quantities online initially and sold out in a just a few hours and hasn’t made it to Lebanon quite yet. It’s actually a surprisingly stylish smart watch that syncs with your Android device to become a second (touch) screen where you receive emails, whatapps and all sorts of cools apps. Better yet it takes voice commands so you can even reply to conversations by simply talking to your watch. My man’s smitten and I’m coercing him into writing a detailed review here after he’s spend some more time with it next month.

Since I was a merely a toddler, Lacoste polos have always been a classic staple in my closet. But to be honest, I rarely ever wear them during the winter as I’ve never bought a long-sleeved one. Lacoste Lebanon recently held a Winter 2014/2015 fashion show I attended with some friends and we all wore these new Stretch Knit Long Sleeve Polos which I’ve come to love under sweaters in this crisp weather. You can visit them at their ABC Ashrafieh branch to find this style in many colors.

Meet OCTOP- 3, a smart new floor and table lamp design as part of prominent architecture and design firm id.beirut’s  2014 collection and their quest to add some light and warmth into our houses. I love the innovative and modern take of their unique designs and you can find this fixture and more at their showroom.

One of the best campaigns of 2014 is Coc aCola’s Share a Coke campaign that allows you to customize your own can of coke. I think most of us have by now received one or sent one to a friend. And it just happens that the colors go perfectly with Christmas theme. My #BFFB Najib from Blog Baladi surprised me with this cute one that symbolizes our friendship. This would make the perfect secret Santa gift.

I love how ABSOLUT VODKA gets so creative with it’s bottle designs and this season is no exception.Take a look at the Andy Warhol edition out now. The iconic Warhol first created original artwork for ABSOLUT in 1986, and this design was inspired by that painting.  It’s the perfect bottle to take along to the endless dinner gatherings and pot lucks this Christmas. I was lucky enough to get this lovely kit and you can win your own here’s how