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A weekly guide to spending

Charlie Radcliffe
Saturday 22 March 2008 01:00 GMT
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Gaming: Fight Club

EA and Nunchuck Games team up to create Ninja Reflex, a new game for the Wii and Nintendo DS. The game challenges you to develop your reflexes to ninja levels in martial-arts tests that measure reaction time with millisecond precision. Go on a mission and earn a black belt, or compete with up to four friends in multiplayer battles. The game, out yesterday, costs £29.99 for Wii and £19.99 for Nintendo DS.

Glasses: Bright eyes

Glasses Direct unveils the Cocktail collection, a range of colourful frames named after the Mojito, Margarita and Daiquiri. Each frame comes in several colours. The prices also catch the eye; the glasses cost just £20 from www.glassesdirect.co.uk, including lenses. And £1 of that goes to Orbis, a charity combating trachoma in developing countries.

Accessories: Calling all bag ladies

Fobia, launched by Julija Laventa, is the latest luxury bag company. Its first collection features materials ranging from patent leather to pony skin, and there are clutch bags as well as oversized carry-alls with gold plated buckles. The St James bag pictured here costs £295; other designs are £135 to £350. From www.fobiaboutique.com.

Bangles: Watercolour and tribal inspiration

Barbara Easton Jewellery explains the secret of the success of these bangles as the fact they offer "well-made accessories, which are absolutely bang on-trend, but which are affordable". The collection started 25 years ago with Italian-inspired jewellery and now encompasses many other accessories. Bangles inspired by "romantic watercolours and global travellers" are key within their spring/summer 2008 collection. They are designed to reflect themes of safari, monochrome, tribal, Aztec and floral bouquet in beautiful lilac, taupe, chalky neutrals, black and white. Prices start from £10 and they are stocked nationwide. Call 01628 824 747 for details.

Leisure: We're on a roll

With this year's warmer weather approaching (we hope), get the children ready for the outdoor days ahead with these Trac Star Quad Skates from Bouncy Happy People. They can roll into school sporting these stylish lilac creations, and get fitter at the same time. The skates have an adjustable toe stop that expands into three different sizes, so you don't have to get rid of them as your little darling's feet carry on growing. Quad Skates (also available in grey with red trim) can be bought in medium (UK 11 to 13) or large (UK 1 to 31/2) sizes, for £31.50, from www.bouncyhappypeople.co.uk.

Motors: Red all over

This Ferrari 250 California Spyder will be the star of a sale of historic Ferraris in Italy. It's regarded as one of the most valuable of all road-going cars bearing the Prancing Horse badge, one of just over 100 produced between 1957 and 1962. The classic is expected to achieve a racy price of $4m (£2m) to $6m at the sale, which takes place in Maranello, the home of Ferrari. The sale, organised by RM Auctions in association with Sotheby's, is scheduled for 18 May. For information, contact RM Auctions on 020-7293 6336 or visit www.rmauctions.com.

Furniture: Bend it like Brodie

These 'E-Turn' benches are the work of the Tasmanian designer Brodie Neill. Manufactured in Italy by Kundalini, they are made from a single fibreglass section that twists and turns like a ribbon to form an overlapping seat structure. The bench was on the shortlist in the furniture category at Homes & Gardens magazine's Classic Design awards. It costs £1,800 and is available from Leigh Harmer (020-7736 5111). All the awards' shortlists and winners can be viewed at the Harrods Design Icons exhibition, which will be taking place in the Knightsbridge store, London SW1 (020-7730 1234), from 14 April to 24 May.

Children: Put the tin lid on activities

The new Chinese-inspired Dumpling Dynasty range for children features a number of kits created by Fiona Hewitt. A former resident of Beijing, she has fused retro colour schemes with "highly rendered, communist-chic" illustration. As well as being attractive, the kits are very functional and are based, apparently, on old-fashioned sustainability principles.

So within the various tin boxes, there is everything you need, be it for baking, exploring, sewing, shoe-shining, first aid, or even pigtails! The kits all cost £14.99 and are available from www.strawberryfool.co.uk.

Drinks: Yo ho ho and a big bill

These rare bottles of Havana rum are a blend of Cuba's finest and oldest reserves, aged by "maestros roneros" – the island's master rum-makers. There are only 20 bottles of Maximo Extra Anejo in the UK, we are told, and only 1,000 of them worldwide, so any discerning rum-drinker faces a battle to get a bottle. They are available for £800 at Harvey Nichols and Harrods stores, and you can buy the liquor in shots from a selection of London bars, including Ronnie Scott's and Artesian.

Snacks: For kids, by kids

Eat Natural Lunchies are a new line of snack-bars developed by a group of eight boys and girls aged between seven and 13. The bars are suitable for vegetarians and contain no nuts. The first taste will be on sale at Waitrose this week. Each packet contains five bars and costs £2.25.

Kitchenware: Get squirty

Here's something saucy from Firebox. This gun-shaped squirter will shoot a stream of tomato, mustard or brown sauce at your food. The condiment gun is also ideal for recreating violent film scenes, providing oodles of ketchup "blood". It's a bit silly, but it will revolutionise the traditional food-fight. Priced at £14.95, the condiment gun is available from www.firebox.com.

Appliances: Good fry day

Love your chips and your health? The Tefal Actifry fries up to a kilo of cut potatoes using only a tablespoon of olive oil. The pan circulates hot air, dispersing the oil and resulting in the perfect chip – or you can do scampi, chicken drumsticks or stir fried vegetables. Price £149.99; call 08456 021 454 for stockists.

insider@independent.co.uk

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