I have been cutting down on doing product reviews since 2014 and what more with baby #4 on the way this end of year, all the more I need to be particularly picky and selective with the products that I'm reviewing. Not that I'm trying to be hard sell, no, definitely not! But with 3 kiddos + 1 on the way, being a housewife at home with kiddos all the time and helping out with hubby's business, I just feel it is not fair to make companies and PR reps wait for my reviews while I slowly review and look for time to spare to draft out my feedback you know? But of course, like I said, I have to be selective, so products that we can definitely fit into our family dynamics (especially books on parenting or homeschooling stuff, family products, something along those genre) will be accepted!
Recently, I received an email asking whether I would be interested to review this colourful stationery brand originated from Australia (and coming soon to KL!!!) Since our kiddos could make good use of all these stationeries, I thought why not?
About the product:
"Born and bred in Australia, Smiggle is now 13 years old, with over 200 stores across Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, the UK and soon to be launching in Malaysia and Hong Kong. Smiggle is dedicated to fuelling the creative spirit by delivering original, fun and affordable stationery. Smiggle products are about great design and innovation, bold colour, quirky graphics, good value and most of all – giving Smiggle customers the tools they need to have fun! Where a smile meets a giggle, it’s the world’s greatest place.
A treasure trove of stationery and fun ‘stuff’, Smiggle has everything you need for school, homework or play. Its new store will be filled with bright and bold stationery, bags, lunchboxes, accessories, gadgets and more. At Smiggle, every product features a special Smiggle ‘twist’ on a stationery classic - a burst of bright colour, unique design and quirky graphic illustration results in goodies that are miles ahead of the rest."
I received the following smiggle items for my review. Some are selected by myself while some are selected from the smiggle company (due to the items I requested being out of stock) Backpacks, water bottles, pencil case, coloring pens, ruler, eraser, watches even toys for our kiddos! God is so wonderful in continuing to bless our family by connecting this wonderful company to us with all these goodies!
As a parent, I will normally check for the quality of the products. As a parent with 3 kiddos (and 1 more on the way!), I will check whether the products can at least last 2 kiddos LOL. Zips, tags, straws, buckles etc - whether there is any possible hazards I can foresee or not (thank God no!) and I even tried scratching some products to see whether the color came off or not (thank God again no!)
I will not be reviewing each and every items we received but will highlight some of them that worth mentioning and sharing with you guys. We shall start with the colorful and sturdy backpacks. The backpacks come with padded adjustable shoulder straps or fixed carry handle. There is also a double zip access to main compartment, dual drink bottle sleeves, outer zip pockets and I love the name label and slip pocket inside the backpack. I'm quite particular with showing kiddos name outside their belongings so this is a good idea I feel.
The next products worth mentioning is the cool Watch This Space Swirl watches! At first I thought they were rulers as the front part is blank unlike the normal watches you see around. Once we took it out of its box and my kiddos started messing and pressing the watch, we watched in awe as the time lits up the surface of the watch. Coolness! All you need to do is just tap on the face & the time appears! You repeat the same steps by pressing longer if you want to change the setting of the time and date. The watches come in 2 designs which you can see our kiddos wearing in the pictures below - Swirling Black/Green and Pink/Blue with Glitter. The watches are made from silicone with metal buckle. Soft and comfy to the touch, I love it!
I'm so glad our 3rd kiddo get to play with something here hahaha... while I was busy checking out the smiggle's products we received, she quietly took out the lightly scented Jumbo Macarons Eraser and was happily disassembling and matching back the macaroons according to the pink and purple colors. Self-discovery of toys hahahaha! Anyway, these jumbo macaroons eraser are too cute to be used as eraser, I have a weakness for this! Can't bear to see them being erased away... so for now, I'll just keep it for our little girl to use as a puzzle matching toys hehehehe...
Now, if you have a child or know of someone with a child, I really recommend getting this Puzzle Serpent 2 toy for the child! This playful plastic puzzle can be moulded by gently twisting them into countless shapes, rectangle, squares, heart shape, snake, cane etc. I showed them to my hubby and he said he used to play something like this long ago when he was a small boy and it was so fun. He's happy to see our kiddos playing something he used to play with in his childhood. The cool thing with this toy is you can bring it along wherever you go, in car, out at the park, stuck at home etc. Very good idea for a gift as well!
This next item was requested by me as it reminded me of my childhood hahahaha! The Pinball Pop Out Pencil Case!! The pencil case comes with 2 main compartments (front and back) and 4 pop-out features which has a built-in sharpener, pop-up pen slot holder, 2 eraser / small parts compartments and 3 stand up pen holders, not forgetting the cool pinball game right on top of the pencil case! I remember having a pencil case like this when I was young. It was such a cool thing then (and NOW!), kinda like having a Transformer robot in your hand, just a flick of some buttons and you see it transforming and popping out stuff everywhere!
Here are some other items I requested - the Juicy Memo Adhesive Note, Garden Wind Up Sharpener and the cute portable fan pen (need to put in battery for it to work though). The colourful juice carton contains 200 square sticky memos in 2 fluorescent alternating colours (mine comes in bright yellow and hot pink colors). The memos are easily dispensed from the back of the juice carton with clever pop-out action. I had to hide my juice box from our youngest kiddo as she was so fascinated with the papers coming out of the box.
This A5 Lockable Fluffy Buddy Notebook is one product I'll be keeping in store for the moment as our kiddos are still too young to appreciate this. I think a pre-teen will appreciate this gift! Remember the days when you have a diary and locks it up to keep our secret safe? Hahaha... This furry soft and fluffy acrylic textured lockable journal with embroidered and applique detail. There is 80 sheets or 160 lined page layouts and the book comes with a lock and 2 sets of keys. There's 3 other designs beside the one we received but I personally think this blue design is the cutest!
Overall, very attractive yet fun and good quality stuff!
There's just too many designs and choices to choose from!
Regardless whether you have a child or not, there's definitely something in store for you and your loved ones from smiggle!
Smiggle will be opening their first Malaysia store at Suria KLCC in mid April 2016.
So make sure you’ve got your running shoes on and sprint to Smiggle at Suria KLCC this April!
Do check out http://www.smiggle.com.my/ or https://www.facebook.com/smiggleasia/ or https://www.instagram.com/smiggle_asia/.
Do note that I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with the products in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine.
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