Pure Ayre Odour Eliminator Review

Where can I buy one: Pure Ayre.com
This is Marie’s cat Breena. She thinks she can get away with just about anything because she’s cute and looks like the cat version of a Pomeranian dog. Unfortunately her cuteness doesn’t quite extend to manners around the home, and we often find ourselves having to clean up after this little madam. Has she met her match with PureAyre?

An American odour eliminator, Pure Ayre is specially designed to target scents caused by cat urine and litter trays, as well as other household culprits such as cigarette smoke, vomit and even skunk sprays. Many of you will already be familiar with Febreze and the concept here is similar. Rather than masking smells with a scent it aims to remove them completely; offering a long term solution to odours.

What it offers that Febreze doesn’t is the ability to inject the spray directly in to the carpet, allowing it to diffuse around the fibres and remove deep odours. Far cheaper than buying a deep clean carpet cleaner, and unlike other carpet options you don’t have to clean up mountains of foam afterwards. You simply inject it and walk away, job done.

As another aside Pure Ayre also comes in small bottles that you can carry around in a handbag or store in your car dashboard to tackle odours outside of the home as well. Pretty much giving you the option of fighting odours at home or away. We even received a handy booklet detailing how to clean just about any odour away from any where you visit. Here’s hoping we never have to use it on a skunk.

Last of all there’s the option to spray the bottle directly on to your pets, as an even more effective odour eliminator. I must admit we didn’t try this. Despite the food-safe logo, and numerous encouraging comments from the manufacturer on the bottle and booklet I just didn’t feel up to it. That and the fact our cats have never been that smelly to give cause to a full over deep clean. Thankfully some encouragement was provided by my cat Pepper who seemed to get a kick out of sniffing the bottle.

We tried the spray on a problem area for Breena and are pleased to report than in two weeks she hasn’t had an ‘accident’ (I put it in inverted commas as we’re convinced she does it just for attention). She also seems to be hovering around that particular spot a little less and hopefully the problem has been solved, at least until she decides to start a new patch somewhere else. Then the fight against odours begins all over again.

How every blogger can be a freebie-man

Although my day job is working for design agency The Studio 4 I also have a secret pastime: I’m a ‘freebie-man’ i.e someone who attempts to get products for free. The two may not seem linked but there’s no reason every webmaster can’t get something for free. This article explains how:

The Secret
First of all, shed your preconceptions; Companies do want you to have free stuff. Whether it be to increase brand loyalty, get closer to key decision makers or simply to one-up the competition. The trick is making them realise that you, and your site, offer something viable that makes it worth their while, and that key to doing that is your unique offer.

Mastering Your Unique Offer
Each webmaster has something about their site that they can offer a company simply by having a voice online. The simplest form of this is to run product reviews about anything you have an interest in. Make sure the content is honest to keep your readers loyal, but at the same time write about products that you currently use and enjoy to get you started. Then you can approach similar manufacturers for a free product.

Become a Source of News
If reviews aren’t your thing you can always go down the much easier option of reporting on news in the sector you want to get freebies from. Ask a few companies for press releases, run each piece with a few edits of your own and before you know it you will have key contacts with companies in your target market. After this, work your way in to any press screenings or events they have, meet the key people in person and you’ll be fixed in their mind.

After that it’s a simple case of deciding on a feature you wish to run “Top five MP3 players, new beauty products for 2009” etc and asking if they have anything you can try for the feature.

Use the Media
Likewise companies are desperate to try and understand new media options such as Facebook, YouTube and Flickr. So if you can find a way to leverage these tools as promotional outlets for your website, you then have the potential to encourage companies to send products for you to expose in this format. Run a video blog? Offer to showcase new products. Got a lot of Facebook friends? Set up a group praising a type of product. Like Flickr? Photograph products in unique settings.

Dr Pepper’s Cherry Chocolate Rain and Blendtecs’ ‘Will it Blend’ series are just two examples of the type of brand exposure you can carry out.

Become a Reporter
Anyone with a website is only seconds away from becoming a journalist. You don’t need a special qualification just the balls to brand yourself with such a title, and a website to write about products. Once you realise this you can talk to companies in a different way. Ring them up, brag about the stats on your website/ the products you’ve featured by their competitors and what you can offer them if they send you something. A product being featured on a website is no different to a newspaper so you should be able to command the same authority.

For an even quicker option use Peter Shankman’s HARO, an email list that connects journalists to sources, and market your site as a product portal. In doing this I received 23 product for free by simply writing a 50 word pitch.

Submit Articles
The last option is to establish yourself as an authority on a particular subject, and the best way to do this is to become a niche site. Look for gaps in the market and make a site focusing there. There’s a million video game review sites but none for ironing board covers. Set one up, and suddenly you have the authority to attract companies that need such an outlet.

With these ideas in mind you should now feel comfortable to leverage your site. Although there’s no such thing as “something for nothing”, if you are willing to give products a little bit of time on your site you can expect plenty in return.

Doritos Collisions - New Crisps review

You wouldn’t think it but crisps have come a long way in the last ten years. Before the days of crisps in tubes and bumper size bags, if you wanted crisps at a party you simply grabbed a multipack bag, opened up each small packet inside and filled them in to a bowl one by one. Or if you were really weird, you left the individual packets out for people to snack on individually.

I was reminded of this by Matt, my boss at The Studio 4 Creative Ltd who was absolutely right in this matter. You just don’t see this anymore. Nowadays buy a couple of giant bags of Doritos for a party and pour them in to a bowl. Some even skip the bowl all together and then leave them out, almost as if to say “check out my fancy crisps”.

What people don’t do is leave out a giant box, with 8 packets and a sign saying “Help Yourself” but it’s something I may well try at our housewarming (yes I know we moved in a month ago), especially since Doritos just sent a big box of their latest offering ‘Doritos Collisions’. A bit of an innovation in crisps these packs contain two flavours in one so you won’t even need to break out separate bowls.

It’s odd, and seems like it shouldn’t really work. Guests will quickly remark “Why don’t the flavours simply rub off on to one another?”. The trick here being that Doritos have carefully selected two flavours that go well together, so although there is a slight degree of mixing their tastes don’t necessarily clash. They’ve also managed to coat each crisp in its individual flavour so no amount of mixing can take away from their tastes.

Chicken Sizzler is the softer of the two with a nice BBQ chicken taste and a very satisfying residue to be left on the lips. The tinges of chicken hang about for a good ten second after eating, just long enough to encourage you to take another bite. Zesty Salsa is the spicier option, but not too hot as to put off those in the mood for chicken. Having Salsa on the crisps also means one less dip to buy.

Crisps may not seem very innovative but Doritos have succeeded in making a distinctive product in probably the most crowded marketplace you will ever see. Just walk down the entire aisle most supermarkets dedicate to crisps to see just what they’ve achieved in terms of differentiating from the competition. It doesn’t take away from their core product but will definitely stand out at any party, and that’s really all you need.

Baby Emi Jingle Bells Anklet (Baby Bling!)

Where can I buy one: Baby Emi Jewelry.com
How Much: $40.00 (approx £25)
Ah baby bling. After handbags for carrying around small dogs named Fru-Fru and big thick gold chains it’s one of those strange celebrity obsessions that seems to filter down to us civilians, parading itself in magazines and screaming out for us to pay attention to it. So let’s take five minutes to explore just what it’s all about.

This particular piece comes from Baby Emi Jewelry.com and is their Jingle Bells Anklet which ranges from 6.5 inches wide to 10 inches meaning both Mother and Baby can match. We received the 6.5 inches version which is certainly cute in size alone before you ever put it anywhere near a baby.

Reviewing the jewellery on its own merits here, and not its ability to make you go “aww”, it's a well polished piece of stainless silver with the type of jingling bells that will happily ring to their hearts content as you walk. It’s not an annoying din, but does at first seem perhaps more at home on a cat collar. Still as an added bonus it means you can keep track of your baby as it explores the house so that’s sure to provide a bit of fun.

As an added touch our anklet came presented in a fantastic purple pouch, which for those going down the gift route is a must buy. A purple satin bag with ornate Asian markings, carefully hiding the gift within, it immediately drew our eye. It’s a beautiful pouch that should be kept long after your baby grows out of the jewellery.

My only other issue is safety. This is the type of product that would normally carry a big warning sticker stating (not suitable for children under 3 years old, may contain small parts) and yet this isn’t apparent here. Which should mean the piece is so well made it doesn’t need it, although I would certainly always have that niggle in the back of my mind. The manufacturers kindly combat this with no less than nine safety tips that come with the anklet, although most women will have lost the odd piece from various jewellery over the years so it doesn’t raise a few concerns as to the stability of the bells.

As a fashion accessory the Jingle Bells Anklet would certainly make a statement. The presentation is excellent and it would make any baby stand out from the crowd. Safety issues aside it’s a unique present, but one that will divide opinions like no other. If you do get one, the leaflet with the card advises, be sure to supervise your baby at all times. Good thing it’s so shiny and mesmerising then.

Angelic Hen – Toxic Waste Disposal (Laundry) Bag

Where can I buy one: Angelic Hen.com
How Much: £14.99

Do Superhero’s have radioactive underwear? You see I can never tell if people pick the products they send me at random or because they want to play on some journalistic quality, or ‘superhero’ theme. If they are going down the Superhero theme then Angelic Hen really couldn’t have picked a better product to send, because let’s face it every superhero needs a “Toxic Waste” laundry bag.

In fact Angelic Hen may have had a bit of a twinkle in their eye when they sent their initial message to me “We like slightly quirky off the wall people, and would be happy to send you a product” which they then followed up with “I giggle slightly knowing what we are sending you” . A fun likeable company then, which makes their stand well worth a visit if you happen to stumble to Top Drawer Autumn this year.

But we’re not reviewing the people who send it, the postal carriers who carry it, or the pink website that supports it, we’re reviewing the product! And in that respect it carries a visual punch no other laundry bag can deliver. It’s the type of bag boys, lazy students and Superhero’s in the making will covet, taking a nice hectic hand drawn style and transforming the ordinary bland linen of old in to something more fun and playful.

The bag includes the words “Toxic Waste – Disposal Bag”, two red triangle warnings for socks and underpants and a further disclaimer:

“Contents may cause breathing difficulties and should only be decontaminated by a trained specialist”.

The instructions carry the same charm with what I can only assume are fake quotes such as:

“I recommend its use at least once a day. Only then will you see a rapid reduction in contamination”
Dr Edith Von Hagasse,
Research Head Unit, Guild of Clean Underwear

The only niggle you can raise against it is that the bag is attached with staples which can be a bit of a pain to remove. Other than that it’s a nice original gift. The tie handles are effective and it’s big enough to fit an ample supply of T-Shirts, socks and superhero boxer shorts. Now where will I store my boots and cape....

FlexiSnake Review - Unclog Drains

FlexiSnake
Where can I buy one: Flexisnake.com
How much: $2.95

Unless you live in a brand new house then it’s likely when you moved in your humble adobe was filled with secret dirt collections and hidden piles of dust the last occupants missed. A quick sweep round, vacuum here and dust there you thought you’d found it all, but did you remember to check the plug hole?

Like the Tiger Taco this is another handy tip for those moving home that arrived weeks after we’d actually moved. Still it’s here now and we ran upstairs to try it on our shower drain and to find out some dirty little secrets about the house's previous occupants.

They’re designed to be used when you have a blocked drain or find water draining slowly down the plug hole. In our case we had no such problems so weren’t really expecting the FlexiSnake to do much at all. The snake itself comes curled up and you simply unravel it by pulling at one end, making it more than long enough to get to the cause of the problem. In doing this if you have any nearby cats you’ve in effect constructed one of the best cat toys around with a dangly bouncy piece of plastic. Give then ten minutes or so play time, wipe off the drool and then proceed to the drain.

The FlexiSnake contains a Velcro strip at the end to snag all of the unwanted hairs and as you push it down it grabs any hairs it can find, without pushing them down and causing further clogs. We simply pushed it down the drain, spun it around a bit, pulled it out and ... oh ... my ... god ...


As we expected to find nothing we were very stunned by what we found. The FlexiSnake emerged containing a goatees worth of hair, looking like one of the most unsanitary messes we have ever seen. You can’t reuse the snake so once we saw this we promptly placed it in to the bin and walked away from our drains never to look there again.

There no doubt that the FlexiSnake is effective, but do you really want to know what lurks below? It’s cheap and it’ll definitely work, so make sure you’re ready for what you’ll find.

Fancy getting one of these in the UK? Contact;

Niche Marketing & Sales UK Ltd
Attn: Karl Moore
Suite 2a, 33 Swanley Centre
Swanley
Kent BR8 7TL
nichemuk@aol.com

Viking Trader Bronze Thor Pendant

Where can I buy one: Viking Trader.net
How Much: $21

Whatever happened to Bronze? You walk in to your local jewellers and you’re greeted by silver, gold, white gold and platinum but where’s all the bronze? These days it seems people would rather buy stainless steel than bronze, but one company keeping the scene alive is Viking Trader who create bronze artefacts based on classic Viking designs.

You won’t have to break in to a museum to get these designs either, the one reviewed in this article cost a little over a tenner, and they ship to the worldwide. Our little bronze sculpture has something of a mischievous smirk about him, and a wicked handlebar moustache. I can’t really tell if he’s eating a jigsaw piece or trying to make sweet music on a unique instrument. The official line is that it depicts Thor with his hammer, and interestingly that it is based on a figure over 1000 years old.

Despite this it also looks like an early forerunning to the modern gnome and perhaps if you consider the item he is holding also bears resemblance to a four leaf clover he could even be considered a good luck charm. Using this as my own interpretation I decided to compare two days (one with them gnome, one without) to see if his luck would have an effect.

The day without was pretty traditional, I managed to bag a small piece of work from one of our clients, and found one of my articles on web development had been picked up online here. Then I switched to a day with the pendant and boy did things accelerate.

It started off great with a dress down day, another fantastic design project from a client (perhaps even better than the one the day previously) and a brilliant work birthday lunch at a Carvery. Good luck so far, but on returning to my desk the day pretty much took a downward turn from there. My computer broke, time slipped away from me and I proceeded to get approximately three things done all afternoon (which would be find if I didn’t have ten to do...).

Is the pendant lucky? No. If it does have a talent it would be as an accelerant of time, making the good and bad faster and all more urgent. Great for those who want a fast paced life, bad for those who just want to take it easy. Of course, this could all be coincidence, and a poor attempt to pad out 500 words, but that doesn’t explain why the slightly mischievous glint in his eye still continues.
Perhaps this is why bronze has gone out of fashion? Sure it’s well made and very original but could it have powers we can’t comprehend? I’m certainly glad I didn’t review one of the Viking Traders knives...

Free stuff for you in August 2008

So it’s this time again, a new month and a new selection of free products for you to try.

Free Cosmetics
It wouldn’t be a roundup without at least a few of these. This month we’ve got:
Roc Hyrda+Bio Active
Davidoff Cool Water
L’Oreal NutriSummer
Click the links, fill in the forms, job done.

Free Industry Shows
Fed up of paying for shows like the Clothes Show? Check out Nec Group.co.uk to browse every show on at the NEC and discover hundreds you never knew existed that are all free in Birmingham. Likewise ECO.co.uk has you covered for the Earls Court in London: Visit toy fairs, fashion shows and interior design events all for free.

Free Days Out
Fancy a free day out in the UK? A Free Day Out.co.uk have got you covered. Salt Works, Museums, Galleries and Glass Making events round off an odd if enlightening site.