It’s been a hell of a year and who knows what’s next. Show your closest mates you’ve got their back with one of these he-tastic gift ideas.
Wow, 2020 is almost over and we’re predicting a global sigh of relief as 2021 slips into place. While there’s no telling what the next year will throw at us, we all have a mate or two that have helped us navigate the year that was, one filled with broken politics, broken economies, and a global plague.
However, the festive season is a chance to give thanks for all we have, the challenges we’ve overcome, and the people in our lives, and that means your mates. Show that special guy or two – from wingmen to brothers, fathers to neighbours – that you appreciate their support through 2020 with one of these fun gifts for modern lads.
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Help Him Breathe Easier
There’s never been a time when we’re more mindful of our surroundings, including the very air we breathe. Fortunately, you can rest your mate’s mind at ease with the 6G Cool Mobile Air Purifier, which offers protection from 99 percent of common air pollutants, viruses, and dust. The world’s smallest portable air purifier, the 6GCool uses industry-standard HEPA filtration and state-of-the-art PECO technology to clean the air wherever you go, delivering fresh air where it’s needed without wasting energy.
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Help Him Sleep
We all know how important a decent night’s sleep is, but that’s easier said than done, especially during a topsy-turvy year like 2020. Help your wingman get his shut-eye with the OTO 10% CBD Sleep Drops. Infused with lavender and butterfly pea flower, the Sleep Drops have a ‘first of its kind’ pipette that releases an effective dose of 50mg of CBD at the push of a button and the scented oil – which is taken under the tongue for speedy absorption – combines a light blend of lavender and field mint to promote relaxation and enjoyably fit into your bedtime routine.
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Help Him Drink Better Cocktails
If your mate is a ginophile, then he probably already knows about Bombay Sapphire’s latest fruity expression, the Bombay Bramble, a delicious new addition packed with natural blackberry and raspberry flavours. If you’re looking to top his thank you card list, take things a step further and secure him a bottle from the new limited-edition artwork label series of the Bramble, for which the gin brand tapped artists Alfie Kungu, Charlotte McDonald, and Rose Electra Harris to apply their unique signature styles to Bramble bottles. You can even personalise the bottle for an additional flourish.
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Help Him Listen to Better Music
There are portable speakers that look like Tupperware and sexy toys, and then there is the Brionvega ts217 WeariT Wireless Speaker, which benefits from a rich heritage of Italian design (we recently discussed the brand’s iconic home entertainment system). Available at the MoMA Design Store, this beautiful little speaker has been created by British designer Michael Young and has been made for life on the go, with high-quality dual
speakers, and a passive radiator for deep, resonating bass. It also functions as a hands-free microphone and power-bank, which is pretty cool.
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Help Him Look Younger
Famed for his youthful looks, artist, and producer Pharrell Williams has joined the skincare game with the arrivals of his new brand Humanrace. Genderless, vegan, and fragrance-free (this is 2020 after all), the initial three launch products of the Humanrace line up – The Rice Powder Cleanser, Lotus Enzyme Exfoliator and Humidifying Cream – are designed to be sued together to create the perfect three minute facial and have been developed in collaboration with dermatologist Dr. Elena Jones to provide maximum hydration.
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Help His Home Decor
As part of a special limited-edition release celebrating the brand’s 95th anniversary, Bang & Olufsen has created some of its most popular audio devices with a touch of gold, including its award-winning Beosound A1 2nd generation speaker, which has been pearl-blasted and donned with a golden-hued aluminium grill for a striking new look. The speaker, which is waterproof and produces punchy, True360 omnidirectional sound, comes with a genuine leather strap and an aluminium tag displaying the B&O logo.
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Help Him Age Better
None of us are getting any younger but that doesn’t mean we can’t age well and your mates will appreciate your input thanks to the 10% Pure Vitamin C10 Serum from La Roche-Posay, an anti-wrinkling solution that promises to help fight free radicals and smooth fine lines while also improving uneven skin ton thanks to active ingredients like vitamin C and hyaluronic acid.
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Help Him Celebrate
If your mate is the kind of guy that always likes to have a bottle of bubbly on hand to toast life’s many little celebrations, you might want to secure him a bottle of Canadian rap star Drake’s own champagne, now available in Hong Kong. A Collaboration between the hip hop star, beverage entrepreneur Brent Hocking, and champagne house Maison Pierre Mignon, the award-winning Mod Sélection Champagne range includes elegant and complex cuvées housed in one-of-a-kind regal bottles embossed with golden embellishments. With ten different options to choose from, there’s a bottle for every champagne lover, whether it’s a bottle of Blanc de Blancs or a towering Jeroboam of Rosé Non-Vintage.
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Help Him With His Need for Speed
If your mate isn’t ready for the divorce proceedings that will likely follow you buying him the ultimate simulator, this cut down ‘home’ version might just be the escapism he needs. The new GFQ Simulator from Cranfield Simulation features a unique combination of both an aluminum extrusion base and steel tubular frame and is designed to fit through a standard doorway, yet strong enough to handle the toughest endurance race over and over again, without any flex.
Complete with a choice of Heusinkveld or Alkentech pedals, made from CNC precision-cut steel or aluminum; ultra-realistic steering wheels by Precision Sim Engineering, as used by Formula 1 drivers; genuine motorsport seats by Cobra Motorsport, who have counted among their clients legendary names such as Moss, McQueen and Clark; visuals by Samsung Electronics that include a choice of ultra-wide curved 49-inch gaming monitors or three 4K UHD displays, this is as close you’re wingman is going to get to driving in Formula 1 without having to put on pants.
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Help Him Shave Better
Inspired by the brand’s 80 years of ensuring your face feels like a baby’s butt, the Heritage Fold Out Trimmer from Remington marries old-world design and cutting-edge technology. The device boasts an innovative switch-blade style design and a chrome-plated finish, as well as auto-blade activation technology that kicks off the cutting as soon as your wingman flips it open. The trimmer also includes a one-inch precision detail blade as well as a slide on dual length setting comb to ensure he always looks his best.
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Help Your Four Legged Friends
Not all true mates stand on two legs. Dogs have long been described as man’s best friend, a role they seem to relish. You can reward your own faithful mutt and support Cookie Smiles, a Hong Kong-based social enterprise that supports local community causes (including the SPCA) by buying them Woof Twisters. Hot on the tails of Cookie Smiles’ charity cookie launch, Woof Twisters are made especially for dogs and are made from nutritious, all-natural ingredients, including puréed pumpkin, crushed freshly roasted peanuts, eggs, and wholewheat flour, and have no artificial flavours or preservatives. You can even buy yourself some of the human variety, which includes Purviz’s Chocolate Crunch, Butter Snaps with Lemon Drizzle, Confetti Choco Snaps, and Gingerbread Men for Christmas, and do some good together.
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Help Him Stay Toastie
Whether you’ve always wanted a tattoo (or you have one but it’s somewhere you can’t show without getting arrested) we all get chilly from time to time. Fortunately, fashion label Flat Pluto has launched in Hong Kong and combines intriguing tattoo designs with the finest cashmere wool. The Hong Kong brand’s newest collaboration, with London tattoo artist Jack Watts of Tattoos For Your Enemies, sees Watt’s designs grace a series of limited-edition cashmere jumpers for men and women. The collection of hand-embroidered jumpers, crafted from free-range cashmere goats from Tibet, features playful animal motifs, including a dragon and leopards, and comes in a repertoire of bold and light-toned colours.
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Help Him Stay Hydrated
Winter can play havoc on a gent’s skin, especially on the face where the razor leaves you raw and exposed. Ensure your mates are feeling silky smooth with ClarinsMen Super Moisture Balm, which features bison grass (yes, like Polish vodka) and ‘leaf of life’ to provide intense hydration that will last through the day.
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Help Him Make His Own Beer
Given that we’re all in some stage of lockdown, and that the future is that we will all end up as mole people, at least your mate will be able to make and drink his own beer. This IPA-making kit from Brooklyn Brew Shop will send him in the right direction. The kit features everything he’ll need, from hops to jug, and will ensure he has something to sip during the Apocolypse.
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Bexar Goods Porter Satchel
Who doesn’t like a handsome-as-hell satchel for life’s journeys, both long and short? Your wingman will appreciate the patina that his own adventures will impart on the Porter Satchel from Bexar Goods. Simple yet elegant, this vegetable-tanned English bridle leather (from one of the oldest operating tanneries in the US) satchel features a main carry pocket as well as a laptop or iPad sleeve, solid brass hardware, and hand stitching, and, available in a variety of shades, makes for a great commute bag or carry on.
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Help Him Smell Great
Mystify the senses with the enigmatic appeal of the new Geranium Nefertum Eau de Parfum from Molton Brown. With accents of fresh fig leaf and zesty bergamot wrapped around a heart of geranium and sandalwood, this is a refined yet thoroughly grown-up scent for today’s modern gentleman.
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Apple AirPods Max
If your mate loves his music (or really doesn’t like the rest of the world) then be a champ and gift him a slice of solitude in the shape of Apple’s new AirPod Max wireless headphones. Apple has combined the performance of AirPods with the comfort and quiet of an over-ear design, promising high-fidelity sound, adaptive EQ, active noise cancellation, a transparency mode, and spatial audio. The New AirPods Max come in five strikings colors, including space gray, silver, sky blue, green, and (gulp) pink.
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