Tried and tested - Toys - Tiscali Shopping

Are you looking for some new beauty products or some new appliances and finishing touches for the home? Take a look at this week's tried and tested products for inspiration on what's new in the market. Treat yourself to something gorgeous.

"Everything you need to create sparkly nail polish in groovy bottles. Simply mix the clear base with the glitter or pearlescent pigment and experiment with the colourings to create different shades. For age 7+."

The nail polish kit i received is great for any young lady as a starter kit, though my two young lads weren't too impressed when they saw the package. However they soon warmed up and were quite keen to try it out. It comes with everything you need to make your nails look pretty but it's very basic too. The colours are limited to only red and blue but it does include glitter which glams it up a little. It does come with lots of accessories which fills the package. The packaging is pretty too and eye catching, with a little handle on it for easy transferring from place to place.

We did have fun making the polish but with three males in the house and the only female not into using products like that we don't know what it looks like on. This would make a great gift for a little girl.
 

"Everything you need to create fruity lip gloss in groovy bottles. Simply mix the clear base with the fruit flavouring. Add the pearlescent pigment and experiment with the colourings to create different shades. For age 7+."

For a little girl, what could be better - the chance to make a sticky mess and produce some useable makeup at the end of it?

Opening the box we found little bottles of ingredients, bottles, mixing apparatus and a rather large sheet of instructions. As a parent I was slightly perturbed by the warnings about adverse reactions in bold type on both the box and the instructions, but hey-ho, the doctor's surgery is only just up the road, so what the heck.

The rather over elaborate instructions and mess making potential mean that this definitely needs to be a supervised activity, but my seven year old did all the work herself, happily measuring and mixing, and pouring the end result into little bottles through a tiny funnel without getting too much on her clothes or the cat.

The whole mixing procedure kept her entertained for about twenty minutes, and yielded two bottles of different coloured sparkly lip gloss. She loves it, and I think it would make a great present for any little girl, though house-proud mums might not be so keen - experience tells me that it is only a matter of time before the lids get left off the little bottles and we land up with sparkly carpets.
  £5.99

This is a fabulous 300-piece puzzle for children aged 4+ who love nature and insects. Wonderfully illustrated with all sorts of bugs found living in harmony in your garden - from worms and snails to tortoise beetles and froghoppers. Although this jigsaw puzzle is 300-pieces, it managed to hold my 5 year old's attention right the way through - it was a proud moment when he completed the final piece and stood back to survey all the bugs he'd put together. In fact, he was straight off into the garden looking for a froghopper!

An excellent way to introduce gentle little creepy crawlies to children. Also includes a useful little leaflet - especially written for children to educate and help them identify the bugs as they uncover them in the jigsaw. There's also a bug quiz and a 'test your teacher' quiz to make kids feel super smart!

An excellent puzzle for inquistive little minds.
 

"As she can turn her head, there's no telling what has caught her interest or where she'll be off to next. What's more, Crawling CHOU CHOU might be a beginner, but if she falls on her tummy there's no need to run to her rescue. The clever dolly can already push herself back up onto her hands and knees and will soon be on her way again! "

What we thought: This is a great play toy as well as educational toy as it can really help your baby to learn to crawl. We all know how much copying is an important form of learning, so this doll is perfect.

The doll itself requires x3 AA batteries and then she's on her way. At under £20 it's a great buy and is bound to be to of the list this Christmas.
  £19.99

miYim has two rabbits to choose from. Molly has her own story book and long arms, perfect for hugging, while Herbert comes in spring yellow and has a puppet pocket on his back for kids who want to make a show of their new toy.

No chemicals, pesticides or herbicides are used in the cultivation of miYim's cotton and a unique PureWaterWash process uses plants and minerals to produce the bright colours. The resulting variance means that no two toys are ever the same, making each character a truly individual gift.

What we thought when tested out on 14 month old Molly: The toys are beautifully presented snugly in a recycled cardboard box, with words such as organic and natural branded all over it. Initial thoughts were that this was a kind, caring and safe product not only to kids but to the environment which is a great marketing approach.

I was concerned that with all the natural and unbleached materials the MiYim toy would not be very soft and cuddly, however I was wrong.

I looked at the rest of the range that MiYim have on their very easy to use website and they are all unique and beautiful characters. I felt that "Herbert" was perhaps in need of some colour and appeared to be the plainest of the MiYim range. I always feel that children's toys should be vibrant however this one is pale yellow and in need of a colour infusion.

The toys have been very well sown together and I was more than comfortable that it was suitable for my destructive toddler. There aren't any washing instructions on the label attached though.
  £19.99

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