Electrolux Ergorapido handheld vacuum cleaner (≤ RM 400 in Malaysia; ≤ £ 85 in UK)

This rechargeable cordless cleaner was—at first glance—a must-have. The elegant exterior and sleek design was really an eye-catcher at the mall, plus it’s cordless. Mom’ll love it, I thought. And the salesman was pushing it really: “Charge it for 2-3 hours and you get a whole hr of work out of it!” What a deal! So I grabbed one myself. Mine’s lime green.

I don’t even know where to start. First of all, it DOESN’T take 2 or even 3 hrs to ‘recharge’ the unit, and ha…certainly doesn’t ‘work’ for an hr or so. It takes 16-20 hrs just to recharge it, and claims a miserable 15-minute autonomy. 15 minutes???? Let’s just put it this way, there’s no way you can clean a whole house in a weekend. Doesn’t work well on carpets/rugs (for that, I’d actually recommend Old School: USE A LINT ROLLER INSTEAD!)

Secondly, when working the stick around the house, certain types of dusts (like strands of hair) do get caught in the wheels, and when left unattended for a while (like mine) will have disastrous result. I couldn’t get mine to roll properly because of the large amount of hair caught.

Nevertheless, it’s still a reliable item around (if you don’t have a huge mansion :-) Because it also comes with a detachable handheld unit nested in the side of the standup unit. Perfect for those hard-to-reach corners and inside of a car. Cleaning is also a breeze: It has an empty front lid which allows you to easily pour out the dirt without first having to remove the dust cup. No mess. Perfect.

There are still rooms for improvement. Plenty.

3 out of 5 stars. Design-wise, it’s a perfect ten!

ASPEKT Knife Sharpener from Ikea ($ 9.99 in US)

Cleaning and storage is easy, perfect for light sharpening. Just open the plastic lid and wash the blade when necessary. As for storage, can be hung using an S-hook as well, and not advisable to store it in dark and humid condition, I’ll explain later.

As I mentioned earlier, this sharpener might not be too suitable for heavy duty whetting, that’s a downer. Not suitable for (heavy duties like) cleaver and some chef’s knives, but perfect for compact knives.

As for storage, it’s pretty adaptable. Just toss it in your cabinet or hang it on the wall using a hook or something. But DO NOT store it in wet places (eg. Next to water filters; sinks). Left it unattended near the soap area for a few days and baby roaches were crawling out of the blade once! I had to open the lid and wash the whole thing for an hour or so (just to make sure…)

3 out of 5 stars

Lip Plump by Benefit Cosmetics ($20 in US; RM 95 in Malaysia)

I must admit, I’m a cosmetics person. From the very basics to the full coverage, I’ve got them all! One part I don’t dare to touch is my eye area (they’re TOO delicate~~, can’t risk having those fine lines…), so sometimes when I don’t get enough sleep I’d end up looking like a giant panda!

I always wondered how to put on more coverage to cover my dull and partially discolored lips. Different shades. Different brands. All tried and tested, none worked. Nothing worked until I accidentally ‘tripped over’ Lip Plump.

This godsend was given to me by my absent-minded sister (who buys EVERYTHING but can’t remember a thing she’s EVER bought, she even gave me the wrong instruction: wear AFTER your lipstick…???). After much trial and error, I finally got it right: Wear BEFORE your lipstick :-)

My first success looked like I had fuller lips, a nude and natural look (but we know it’s the lip primer…). This blessing-in-a-tube makes my lip color blend in more naturally with my cheek and chin. It always helps my lipstick to stay on longer. Perfect for any shade of lipstick you plan to put on.

Good to know though: It’s like a liquid foundation for the lips. Let it dry for 5-10 minutes before applying lipstick. Before Lip Plump, it’s advisable (optional for some) to put on a layer of lip balm on. Preferably with SPF.

5 out of 5 stars

PRODUKT Milk Frother Ikea ($ 3.99-4.99 in US)

Except when you’re a cappuccino or some cocoa beverage lover, this piece of milk frother (like a mixer, but for hot beverages) really doesn’t serve much purpose in other drinks. I didn’t even know the word ‘frother’ existed.

In my humble opinion, the head of the frother (the stir) is a bit weak on power. It could use more horsepower or something. Unquestionably a no-no for Starbucks’ daily operation, the bright side of it though, it can still brew a close-to-perfect cup of cappuccino or a hot cocoa for the rest of the amateurs like us.

Another downside, the 2 AA batteries it operates on can be quite tricky to place in. There should be a trick or two I still can’t figure it out, it’s supposed to be A-B-C: the lid slides opens and you insert the batteries in perfect order but sometimes it can still take up to a few minutes. But so far I’m doing fine.

Bottom line, 3 out of 5 stars

CHARM Egg Slicer (≤ RM 10 in Malaysia; $ 1.99 in US)

Boy oh boy! If there’s one Ikea item or egg slicer (some might call it egg cutter) you need, this CHARM-er is definitely more than meets the eyes and is easily a perfect 10.

It gives you two options to suit your moods: just place the boiled egg in the bowl and you can opt to, I) cut your egg in wedge-shaped or, II) normal slices. Now just watch out for those sharp cords, and make sure to keep it out of reach of children.

Perfect for salad or any Chinese dishes with slices of eggs on the side. If hard-boiled egg is your type of breakfast, this will, without doubt, add a little flavor to the presentation. This round cutter is perfect for storage as well.

If I could, this should easily be a 5-star material

SKÄRPT Cleaver from Ikea (RM 79 in Malaysia; US$ 26.99 in US)

The handle of this cleaver is heavy enough to give some me extra muscles when chopping cloves of garlic and cleaving other hard, raw ingredients. Cleaning and storage are easy too.

Also on the plus side, this steel quality of this particular SKU of the Skärpt series is very wear-resistant, and keeps it sharp for a long time. I didn’t have to sharpen it very often, as I do to other series of knifes.

The only downside is that if I don’t store it nicely it WILL rust, and it DID. My SKÄRPT cleaver rusted and I had to toss it aside :-( and RM80 (approx. US$ 25) down the drain it went…what heartache…I wish it could be more rust-resistant though.

3 out of 5 stars

KONCIS Can Opener (Price in Malaysia: RM 19.90, price in US: $ 8.99)

Besides of weighing almost 1/4 kg (250g or 0.5 lbs, making it heavier than most openers in the market), the piece of metal works like wonders! It cuts open cans like a breeze, plus it’s stainless steel, I just need to wipe it clean after all the ‘sawing’ work. Besides, this KONCIS can opener work for the left-handed as well.

Ikea offers a few assortments of can openers. But this is the one to have. To own. But the pricing here in Malaysia is a bit exorbitant if you ask me. RM 20 ($ 6-7) for a can opener? I could get something in Giant, Carrefour or Tesco hypermarkets for $ 2!!!

The weight and the price would drag the ratings down a little, but in terms of usefulness, this is still a four-star!