1) Bialetti Venus stainless steel 2 cup stovetop espresso maker

Your man would probably buy the Cappuccino machine Super 4000. It’ll probably have numerous extra features, lots of buttons and lots of steam. Bah, that’s all no more than hot air. The four ingredients a woman needs to make a killer espresso are ground coffee beans, water, a stove and the Bialetti Venus. Fill the Venus with the beans and the water and place it on the stove. The water will move up through the filter containing the coffee and arrive in the top compartment as espresso. Simple and efficient yet with an  elegant design.

The Bialetti Venus is available at www.beanthere.co.za at a price of R390.

2) Stylish Notebook bags from Golla

You have the outfit, the shoes and the accessories. And then there’s that black thing hanging down your shoulder. Let’s be honest, your laptop bag might be practical but it’s downright ugly. Fortunately for you, Golla design fresh and fashionable laptop bags. They are still spacious enough for all your cables and accessories without looking bulky. At a price ranging from R219 to R739, it’s worth the investment.

Pieces of the Golla collection are available online on www.digitalplanet.co.za

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3) Leatherman Micra

It’s like your best friend, always good to have around. At 6.35 cm long and weighing 50g, this little helper is ideal for women. Among its nine features, there are scissors, tweezers, a nail file and cleaner, mini screwdrivers and a bottle opener. Once attached to your key chain, you’ll find that you’re now perfectly armed to tighten these loose screws on your sunglasses or remove that nasty splinter.

The R355 order at www.packrat.co.za.

4) UZI Pepper Spray key chain

For women the combination of pepper spray and a key chain is safe and practical. When in danger, they don’t need to search in a handbag first, but can simply aim and spray. The Uzi will also mark the attacker with an orange colour, which will help with the identification process so that the police can take care of the rest. 

The Uzi pepper spray key chain is available from R105 at Yale Security Point on 012-368-1436.

5) TomTom White Pearl GPS

With the TomTom White Pearl GPS, your travel wish is its command. Among finding addresses that you’ve selected yourself, the White Pearl also helps you find that chic Italian restaurant your colleague mentioned. It lists cafés, furnishing stores and coffee shops close to you, and if you’re up for serious shopping, it will provide you with venue recommendations for requests like “Shop till you drop”. In an emergency situation, the integrated safety feature will immediately direct you to the closest hospital or police station.

Get hold of this GPS genie at Cape Union Mart for around R1999.

6) Philips Bikini Perfect

Winter is gone and with it the luxury of not having to shave quite so often. To free legs from winter’s side effects, look no further than Philip’s Bikini Perfect. It comes with six different attachments: trimmer, comb, epilator, shaver, eyebrow comb and -trimmer. It’s suitable for dry and wet use, and the fact that it’s cordless makes it perfect to use in the shower, apparently even without shaving gel. One charge enables shaving up to 60 min, enough time to finally shave away all excuses for hairy legs.

This shaving sensation is available at Dis-Chem pharmacies from R699.

7) Griffin PowerJolt Black-6130 Car iPod/ iPhone charger

There’s probably not much to say about an iPod car charger, except that it’s convenient. Charge your iPod on the road trip down to the coast or fuel the iPhone on your way to the next meeting. It’s definitely something useful to have in the cubby hole.

The Griffin PowerJolt iPod charger is available at Incredible Connection for R299.

8)  Skype Dualphone 3088

The Dualphone 3088 combines your landline and your Skype account in one wireless device. The base station of the phone plugs directly into a modem, so you don’t even need to start up your PC to make free Skype calls. The screen on the phone shows your contacts and their online status. If you are planning to make a local call, you can simply switch to your local network operator. Not only does the Dualphone have a range of 300 m, but also has excellent sound quality.

Get the Skype Dualphone for R1599  at Incredible Connection.

9) Samsung ST50 Camera

Even if we won’t always admit it, women always want to look good- we hate photos that makes us look like our ugly twin. Until now we had a quick and easy solution for that specific problem – delete. The ST50 is here to change that with its face detection functionality. The slim and stylish camera can detect when you blink, and will automatically take another pic as soon as it detects that your eyes have opened. Further more, it’s equipped with the latest smile shutter feature. If you are still unhappy with your pic use the beauty shot. This clever function retouches uneven skin and airbrushes any other beauty flaws visible on the photo.

Get the ST50 at Dion Wired for R2999.

10) Sony Handycam DCR-SX40, Camcorder

Summer is on its way and with it comes the holiday at the coast. Naturally, you want to take back lots of videos to show off to your friends and family. Weighing 200g, the Handycam SX40 is born for traveling. It has 4 GB worth of internal storage, which can be expanded with a slot for additional  Memory Stick Duo or Memory Stick PRO Duo media. Unsure about all the different functions? The ultra-cool Easy Handycam Button will sort you out. It locks out all the advanced features so you can focus on the filming, not on the functions. Impressive 60x zoom functionality, image stabilizer and a touch panel LCD, make this your ultimate summer buddy.

Get the Handycam at Incredible Connection for a well-priced R3299.