The LUXlife 2020 New Year’s Gift Guide
2020 has begun and it’s now time to get the new year and even the new decade off to a good start. January is all about setting yourself new goals and being positive with looking forward to the new year ahead. So to help you out with your new year’s resolutions- whether it’s to get fit following the indulgence of Christmas or you need motivation to start work again- we have compiled a gift guide which will enable you to start 2020 off in the best way.
Retreats
New Year is all about reviving yourself and so for an extra special treat, why not book a luxury retreat? From exotic locations such as Bali to the British countryside, our selection includes everything from spa days, to yoga, fitness, tennis and dance retreats.
A Chateau Fitness Retreat In The French Riviera
Chateau Lou Casteou in the French Riviera offers three different fitness retreats held in its exquisite surroundings, Body Tonic, Let’s Salsa and its prestigious tennis academy.
Run by owner Morag McLaren, the intimate retreats offer an exclusive and fun atmosphere. A high level of training and expertise is offered in small groups with luxury chateau accommodation, fantastic gourmet dining, quality open bars and evening entertainment.
Lou Casteou is situated in the Esterel Mountains and just 40 minutes from Nice airport. The beautifully furnished chateau provides the ideal setting for the retreats, which provide the best professionals in each field.
The retreats cater for all levels of fitness, tennis and dance ability and our trainers, coaches and dance professionals will provide personalised support to meet all needs.
The retreats are held from April 2020. The chateau is also available for private hire for corporate events and holidays. Please contact [email protected] or visit: www.loucasteou.com for information and to make bookings.
Souljourn Yoga
Souljourn Yoga, a non-profit foundation dedicated to raising awareness and funds for girls’ education globally. Retreats are held by Souljourn’s founder Jordan Ashley every year in different countries across the world including Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Peru, Tibet, Rwanda and Morocco.
For each person that signs up, $300-$500 of the total amount of the cost of the retreat is donated directly to a non-profit on the ground that Jordan chooses to work in each country based on their shared mission and goals. Each retreat is spent meeting local women and girls in each community, teaching them the basics of yoga, and exploring hidden treasures in each country.
The retreats begin from the 17th January, to find out more about how-to sign-up visit: http://www.souljournyoga.com/retreats
Elysium Collection Spa Breaks
Treat yourself to a spa break to fight the January blues with the exclusive Elysium Collection. The collection has 26 exceptional gold-standard venues offering unique experiences through Spabreaks.com. Enjoy extraordinary experiences such as the unparalleled views at the unique No Man’s Fort where the indulgent spa is situated in an old military sea fort only reachable by VIP boat transfers.
For more information visit: Elysium Collection
The Place Retreats, Bali
Bringing two decades of experience to the table, The Place in Bali is somewhere guests can come to truly find themselves. Guided by highly-regarded therapist Jean-Claude Chalmet through a course of holistic healing, you are invited to become a better version of yourself. Combining psychotherapy with Kundalini Yoga & Meditation, every step of your self-healing journey is bespoke, tailor-made to match one person: You.
Located just 400m from the white sands of Seminyak Beach, the large property is perfectly equipped to improve your wellness. With inspiring luxury rooms decorated in eclectic, but elegant style, The Place is designed not only to comfort, but become a sanctuary for the soul. Healing is addressed from the inside out and the exceptional team at The Place will help to bring the very best of you to the fore.
Find out more on their website: www.theplaceretreats.com
Fitness
Not everyone enjoys going to the gym, and often memberships are wasted as our hectic lifestyles get in the way. So why not bring the gym home instead and monitor your fitness with these items.
Peloton
Peloton is a global interactive fitness platform that brings the energy and benefits of studio-style workouts to the convenience and comfort of home. Withup to 48 classes produced daily, and a library of thousands of on-demand classes taught by a roster of elite instructors, Peloton delivers real-time motivation and curated playlists from the world’s best artists for a monthly subscription cost.
The Peloton Bike offers the very best of this fitness and tech, connecting riders to world-class workouts (live and on-demand) led by the world’s best instructors whenever, wherever. With instant access to classes, performance tracking metrics and a motivating real-time leader board, Peloton is changing the way people get fit through a comprehensive and socially connected-experience.
The Peloton Bike can be purchased for £1,990 from the Peloton website. To find out more about purchasing a subscription to the live online classes visit https://www.onepeloton.co.uk/.
Kettlebell Connect
The Kettlebell Connect ® is a six-in-one adjustable kettlebell designed to help you achieve your fitness goals. What looks like a single kettlebell features six weights that can be changed in seconds. With the touch of a button, users can increase weights from 5.5kg to 19kg in seconds, saving you time and space, so you can work out anywhere. Connect it to the JAXJOX App and track your reps, sets, weight and rest time.
JAXJOX Kettlebell Connect is currently available for a sale price of £199 on the JAXJOX website (www.jaxjox.co.uk), instead of the usual RRP of £299.
Samsung Galaxy Watch Active
Designed with wellness in mind, this must-have accessory will help users to stay motivated for New Year’s resolutions by tracking fitness and advising on nutritional info via the Samsung Health app. What’s more, allows users can also monitor their sleep pattern, manage stress and measure their blood pressure and heart rate.
The Samsung Galaxy Watch Active is available in Black, Rose Gold, Silver and can be purchased for a RRP of £229 from Samsung.
Samsung Galaxy Buds
These wireless buds from Samsung are perfect to use during exercise, as music often motivates us to work out harder and keeps us entertained during otherwise tedious activities such as the treadmill. Built with adaptive dual microphone technology, users can fully immerse themselves in their playlist without a single background noise.
The Samsung Galaxy Buds are available in Yellow, Black and White, and can be purchased for a RRP of £139 from Samsung.
Motivate
Preparation is the key to being motivated and working hard. From a good, morning coffee to a faster way to get to work, these items will set you on track for a productive year ahead.
NESCAFÉ Dolce Gusto Lumio
Going back to work after the Christmas break can be a struggle, so why not start your mornings properly with a barista quality coffee made from your own kitchen with a NESCAFÉ Dolce Gusto Lumio.
The sleek and elegant design of the coffee machine fits perfectly into even the most luxurious kitchen. There are over forty different hot and cold coffee and tea pods which are compatible with the Lumio and the rest of the Dulce Gusto range. Once the pods are used they can be sent back to Nescafe and recycled.
Purchase for £39.00 from Currys.
Rocketbook Everlast
Perfect for students starting the new term, the Rocketbook Everlast A4 brings the notebook into the future, allowing you to save your hand-written notes to the cloud. It makes studying easier, so you can be motivated to work now that the fun of Christmas is over.
Simply write your notes by hand with any pen from the FriXion range, then scan the page with your device (using the free Rocketbook app) and the QR code will help categorise and upload your notes for online storage. Also, the pages wipe clean, meaning you can use this notebook endlessly.
Purchase the Rocketbook Everlast for £35.00 from https://www.menkind.co.uk/rocketbook-everlast-letter-size-a4
Skatebolt Tornado Electric Skateboard
Could an electric skateboard be the new way to get to work in 2020?
The Skatebolt Tornado is an electric skateboard which can be fully controlled by a discreet wireless remote. With dual motors, the Skatebolt’s running speed goes up to 25 mph and it’s strong enough to climb a 25°steep hill. It would certainly beat the usual daily commute, right?
The Skatebolt is also equipt with 2 red warning taillights, to ensure a safe riding in the dark street. What better way is there to wake yourself up for work?
Purchase the Skatebolt for £599.99 from www.amazon.co.uk/launchpad
The Smart Performance Non-Iron Shirt
Always in a rush early in the morning? Then start your day in a smart way with the non-iron shirt from Fifth and Blue. With this piece of smart technology you can avoid any last minute crises over creased shirts and head straight out of the door on time.
The non-iron shirt is made using engineering advancements from the sports industry to interact with your body heat to release wrinkles. Treated with silver ions giving them antibacterial/anti-odour properties, it’s perfect for travellers who are always on the go.
Purchase the Non-Iron shirt for £75 from Fifth and Blue.
Self Care and Pampering
The January blues often hit us hard after the festive season of partying and indulgence. To fight the daily grind of going back to work, look after yourself with some well deserved pampering in your free time. Whether it’s with new beauty or a mini massage cushion, these items will ensure you feel revived.
Maskologist Hydrogel Face Masks
Revive your skin with these luxury hydrogel face masks from Maskologist. Offering the ultimate luxurious experience, Maskologist masks are easy to apply in two sections to fit the contours of everyone’s face and contain extracts and oils to activate your senses when using it. Two different masks are available which are designed to work in different ways:
Rose Glowing Potion
Containing a complex array of antioxidants, antibacterial properties, nutrients, and minerals; rose essential oils can do wonders for your skin. With the ability to treat everything from acne-prone skin to mature, dry skin with ease, rose ingredients offer a nourishing and hydrating experience that effectively replenishes and brightens your skin tone after one use.
Lavender Youth Miracle
Lavender is a potent source of antioxidants that fight free radical damage – caused by environmental stressors like pollution and the sun. The lavender oil can also reduce the appearance of wrinkles, fine lines, and dark age spots. The Youth Miracle Hydrogel Facial Mask is the ultimate rejuvenating treatment and has all of the ingredients needed to leave your skin looking youthful radiant and glowing after just one use.
Purchase for £23.50 from www.maskologist.com
Mini Massage Cushion
This massage cushion is easy to carry around and delivers a rotational massage through 4 pressure points. It also has an optional heat mode that can penetrate aches. It plugs into the mains and includes a car charging socket, letting you use it at home in the car. Compact and effective, this massage cushion is perfect for anyone looking for relaxation.
Purchase for £34.99 from https://www.menkind.co.uk/mini-massage-cushion
UpCircle Beauty
2020 is all about being environmentally sustainable, and UpCircle Beauty is a brand committed to the environment, which means you can treat yourself to some new skincare products- guilt free.
UpCircle Beauty produce coffee-based body scrubs, creating natural soaps from brewed chai tea spices and an organic face serum with oil extracted from used coffee grounds. Both the new soaps and serum are certified by Soil Association and COSMOS.
UpCircle creates genuinely sustainable, natural and organic skincare that is not only innovative in application and design but also delivers consistently fantastic results. The company have eliminated 99% of their plastic packaging, with all new tubes made of 100% aluminium.
Available in Boots, Holland & Barrett, Urban Outfitters and www.upcirclebeauty.com
Digital Tranquillity Sound Soother
Improve your sleep with the relaxing sounds of this digital sound soother. It features 12 restful sounds, including ocean surf, thunder storms, rain, white noise, summer night, and more. It has a 30, 60, or 90 minute shut-off function and it gradually decreases volume over the last 10 minutes of its cycle. Play its sounds through its built-in speaker or its headphone jack.
Purchase for £30.00 from https://www.menkind.co.uk/digital-tranquillity-sound-soother
Italy In Cashmere
Keep warm and cosy this winter with good quality cashmere clothing from Italy in Cashmere. Though a small company, the sheer range of attire is exceptional, with cashmere wraps, ponchos and beanies available to complete your outfit no matter what the situation.
Crafted in Tuscany, nothing has been spared in bringing this classic yarn to life in effortlessly stylish fashion. Gentle and smooth to the touch, these luxurious garments have been crafted to provide that classic cashmere comfort to those lucky enough to take advantage of this notable knitwear. Made from passion, made from dedication, the excellent clothes and accessories that Italy in Cashmere has to offer are guaranteed to tempt even the most fastidious fashionista.
Find out more here: www.italyincashmere.com
With lots of items and experiences available to revive and motivate you for the new year, it will be easy to get 2020 off to a good start. So fight the January blues and treat yourself to something new.
Here at LUXlife we wish you a Happy New Year!
