It has been such an impossibly gloomy year that shopping this festive season can seem almost wrong. But for those who can overcome such disinclination and for the incurable shopaholics, nothing is quite as comforting as holding, tasting or experiencing a tease of perfection. Don't splurge on lots of a lesser quality. A little bit of luxury is the opiate for this season's despondence and can even make the recipient forget that he or she is a perfect wreck.
SLG checks out some flawless gifts this festive season to cheer up your loved ones, friends and yourself.
Essential Escentials
Vintage or brand
new creations, these perfumes are sold solely on the strength of their scent (no
advertisements, please). So exclusive are they that buying them can set you back
in the pocket but advance you considerably in the fragrance stakes.
Floral or sylvan, crisp or sensual - all a scent needs to do is to suggest a mood, an attitude or a demeanour. A good scent momentarily lifts the veil on your personality and then drops it. And lifts it again when the wrist moves or the head turns. Naturally, it must complement one's proclivities and character. Never buy it for anyone who would wear it because royalty or celebrity have worn it. C'est affreux, vous savez. If your friend likes the obvious, go buy the likes of Chanel and Lacroix. If he or she prefers wearing a real scent rather than a label, consider instead Creed, Caron, Marilyn Miglin or Imaginez from a range of perfumes and eau de toilettes at Escentials. For instance, Creed's Silver Mountain Water evokes pure clean mountain springs, with brisk middle notes in tune with the rush of water therefrom and tinkle of droplets on its completion.
Fragrances ranging from $65-$1,008
Escentials Boutique
328 North Bridge Road
Raffles Hotel Arcade #01-24
Steel Yourself ... for Chocolates
If you are thinking of giving a dish, never give it empty in a fatigued box. Accompany it with some chocolates. If you are going for chocolates, it is disgraceful to put them in a non-descript receptacle. A gift of chocolates is painfully incomplete without the proper dressing.
What better way to present morsels of perfection than on a steel dish, wrapped in cellophane and overflowing with silver and blue ribbons. Deliver yourself and the gift to the recipient's home and proceed to tug at the ribbons in a meaningful way. It will be an experience he or she will never forget. If the ribbons do not fall away gracefully, it will still be an experience you will remember for life.
| For chocolates $15 for every 100g Les Gourmandises 1 Scotts Rd Shaw Centre #02-10/11 |
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For stainless steel dish
('Les Minstrels')
$288
The Alessi Shop
9 Penang Road
Park Mall #01-01A
At First Sight
Looking ominously
like a spider, this orange/lemon juicer has established itself as a modern
classic design. If your life is not looking too glamorous at the moment (and you
don't know how to improve it), then at least let the orange juice in your life
issue from this stylish apparatus. Juice cannot taste more exciting than this.
No need to add glitter.
For 'Juicy Salif' (from $152-$410) and other irreverent articles, visit:
The Alessi Shop
9 Penang Road
Park Mall #01-01A
Interwoven
When your hair might
have been dishevelled, it will only appear tousled, reasonably and fashionably
so. This is the magic when you lie down on one of the finest Egyptian cotton bed
linens (of up to 670 thread count per square inch) in the world. So silky smooth
and enriching to the touch are they that sleep will be exquisite and delicious.
To complete the experience, throw on silk pyjamas and place chocolate on the
pillow.
Bedsheets, duvet covers and pillow cases ranging from $1,800-$3,200
Fabulous Linens
300 Orchard Road
The Promenade #01-07
To the Lighthouse
Confirmed seats at
an outstanding restaurant which offers French cuisine and a brilliant view of
Marina Bay. Formidable. Need we say more?
Lunch at $75 per person and dinner at $180 per person
The Lighthouse Restaurant by Les Amis
The Fullerton Singapore
1 Fullerton Square
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Stick to it ... you can't Go Wrong
Slap these stickers
on a battered suitcase, and relive the golden age of travel to exotic places
when the traveller brought along a collection of hat boxes and vintage suitcases
to ensure that he or she was immaculately turned out at all times. Whether in
sweltering Kenya, tea-rich Ceylon (as it then was) or windswept Cairo, the
traveller always dined in style and had fun. It helped that they stayed at
enchanting grand hotels, many of which are standing to this day. Think of
frangipanis in hotel courtyards, beneath which aspiring writers wrote their
first drafts. Think also of hill stations in India, hoppers in the afternoon
washed down with brisk Ceylon tea and of being resuscitated by a cup of coffee
in the raw African landscape. With such travel, old suitcases have a special
flavour all of their own, and are made perfect by the travel stickers.
An irresistible gift for the indefatigable traveller. An unspeakable bane to the tourist friend who must have his suitcases branded and brand new.
$11.60 for a pack of 14 stickers
The Raffles Shop
1 Beach Road
#01-01/03
For a range of old-world style cutlery and accessories, visit:
The Loft
176 Orchard Road
Centrepoint #04-05/06
Listen up
Stacey Kent is that unforgettable voice that wraps around each and every note of evergreens. Whether she is enticing the listener in the title track 'Close Your Eyes' or skip-strutting her stuff in Cole Porter's 'It's Delovey', her clarity of voice caresses the listener and cuts through the night with poignancy. There's nothing like her voice to clear up one's messed-up thoughts.
On the other end of the scale, Cai Qin's velvet vocals will wrap around you in a mix of smoke and honey. In 'Golden Collections Vol 1', her take of the Chinese evergreen, 'Good Springtime', is easily the best version heard in a very long time. Note also her serenely confident vocals in 'Sunset', another classic. Never mind that the intended recipient or yourself does not understand a word of Chinese. Luxury is at its most textured and plush here.
That CD Shop
163 Tanglin Road
Tanglin Mall #01-17
Li Jie