Torres Black Truffle Chip Basket, a $65 gift that includes six bags of potato chips. Oprah notes she first discovered them while in Spain last summer and loves the “intense black truffle taste.” The list also includes several items worthy of a professional chef’s kitchen, from a $300 Phillips Avance pasta maker to a $425 set of handmade Coltellerie Berti cheese knives. Shoppers with plenty of cash to spend on Yuletide gifts can also pick up a $449 360 Cookware six-pack stainless steel set – which has special technology that allows for vapor cooking – as well as Modern Sprout’s $54 Garden Jar Three-Pack of Herb Essentials, which includes basil, parsley, and mint with mason jars to grow them in. Perhaps the most bizarre kitchen splurge, though, is a collection of three “finishing salts” in fancy bamboo containers. The $49 Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc Salt Cellar includes fleur de sel for veggies, sel gris for meat, and Maldon salt for fish. For beauty buffs, Oprah’s favorites can’t be found in a drug store. She spotlights the $102 Foot Nanny Foot Treatment Gift Set, a pedicure pampering box which comes with a salt scrub, skin cream, and socks. But as costly as her recommendations may be, Oprah is certainly loyal. The CEO of Foot Nanny used to work at her production company – until Oprah experienced one of her luxurious sole treatments and encouraged her to go into business. The $98 Hakuho-do + Sephora Pro Kan Kabe Perfection Brush Set, also made the list, as Oprah says she collects make-up brushes and thinks this particular set is “fancy.” She also handpicked 24 nail polishes for an exclusive $150 Butter London gift set, which the brand named after her: The Ultimate Lacquer Wardrobe: An Oprah Exclusive. “It reminds me of one of my all-time favorite things: a box of 64 Crayolas I had in third grade,” she says of the collection. The main difference between her crayons and her lacquers? A 64-pack of crayons costs $5.49.
Large Fine
Her list wouldn’t be complete without some pricey gadgets, and Oprah doesn’t disappoint on that front, either. She’s excited about the rose gold iPhone 6s Plus, which costs $749 – and I doubt the multi-billionaire waited to renew her wireless contract to upgrade. She also likes the $200 Beats by Dre Powerbeats 2 Wireless Active Collection in-ear headphones, which are a relative bargain compared to the $700 Beats by Dre set that turned up on her list last year. Oprah also plugs one of my favorite emporiums, Aspinal of London, for their customizable key rings, which run from $50 to $60 and can be monogrammed for an additional $23. Pearl of Wisdom
Montecito jeweler Jeremy Norris pearl and diamond necklace
Montecito jeweler and designer Jeremy Norris of the upper village bling emporium, Tresor, has a most lustrous career. A necklace designed under his trademark, Monili, featuring a hefty 66-carat natural pearl dating to the 17th century and discovered in
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19 – 26 November 2015
Barley was the first grain, scholars estimate.
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