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Mirror Magazine

Cards and keepsakes for the season
While the tradition of sending greeting cards to your loved ones is more than 200 years old, it was only in the late 1800s that it gained popularity. In January, 1910, a Nebraska teenager, Joyce Hall stepped off a train in Kansas City, U.S.A. with two shoeboxes filled with picture postcards. In his head was a plan for distributing them.

In 1912, Joyce Hall added greeting cards to his product line. In his autobiography, When You Care Enough, Hall wrote, "If a man goes into business with only the idea of making a lot of money, the chances are he won't. But if he puts service and quality first, the money will take care of itself. Producing a first class product that meets a real need is a much stronger motivation for success than getting rich."

With this vision, the business he developed from his room at the Y.M.C.A has grown into Hallmark Cards, a four billion dollar company that is the undisputed leader in the greeting card industry. More than any other person, Joyce Hall is credited with igniting the social custom that launched the modern greeting card industry.

Today, Hallmark is one of the largest privately held companies in the USA and is still run by the Hall family. Hallmark has put together the largest team of creative writers and designers in the world who are responsible for producing the most memorable, moving and inspiring messages and designs in 30 languages all over the world. The Hallmark slogan, 'When you care enough to send the very best' encompasses the message of each and every Hallmark card.

'Tis the season to mend a quarrel, ease a pain, boost someone's morale, light up a face, warm a heart and lend an ear. With Hallmark, you will find the card that will help express your feelings and touch the emotions of the receiver. Hallmark prides itself in being the very best at helping you say what you want to but cannot, eloquently and with feeling. All Hallmark products encompass every human feeling - be it warmth, affection, caring, thoughtfulness, love and friendship.

This year, the local Hallmark shops at Majestic City, Crescat Boulevard and Duplication Road, Kollupitiya have introduced exquisitely crafted Hallmark keepsake ornaments for the first time in Sri Lanka. These collectables are handcrafted with intricate detail to bring the spirit and feeling of Christmas to you and your loved ones. Dazzling Christmas decor to bring the magic of Christmas home; a range of napkins, dinner candles and candle rings with poinsettias and berries to grace your table, wreaths in different sizes to deck your doors, garlands, baubles and trimmers to hang on the tree. A variety of candles that will glow with the spirit of the season; aromatherapy candles to set the mood, decorative Christmas candles and scented candles in frosted jars that make perfect gifts. Picture frames and albums to store the memories, jewellery boxes to hold your treasures, trinkets to stuff the stockings and a range of toys that will make perfect gifts to be placed under the tree.

At Hallmark, you will also find the widest range of wrapping materials to make your gifts extra special. For those who are creative, there's an array of wrapping papers in different textures, designs, and colours with matching ribbons and bows. For a quick solution, there is a range of colourful gift bags in many shapes and sizes with matching tags.

The Parfumerie's exhilarating fragrances
Image. The right perfume has a lot to do with projecting the right image. Aah, you say, you smell wonderful. Yes, associating a person with that particular enchanting scent, is what a perfume is supposed to do.

The Parfumerie, launched 10 years ago, is the leading name in perfumes, cosmetics and skin care in Sri Lanka.

"We started with only a few brands and today we are the only suppliers of over 25 leading name brands in Sri Lanka," says Niki Hundlani, from the Marketing and PR division of The Parfumerie.

"This year we launched a number of exclusive perfumes from several leading brands in the world - Givenchy Pour Homme and Eau Torride from the House of Givenchy; Chic from the House of Carolina Herrera, Boss in Motion from the House of Hugo Boss, and Baldessarini from the House of Hugo Boss. Most of these perfumes have just been launched in all the big fashion houses all over the world," she continued.

Boss in Motion is the new fragrance for men. The Boss in Motion man is radiant, confident and healthy; the reflection of a lifetime passion and commitment to an active life style. Yet it is not about building muscles, or hedonistic physical perfection. It is about exhilaration.

It is all about a man who believes in his capabilities. A man who aims high and achieves his goals.

Givenchy Pour Homme and Eau Torride are the latest to be launched from the House of Givenchy. Givenchy Pour Homme is the newest fragrance for men. It promotes the fact that the gentleman is back, and that chivalry is not dead yet. "This perfume is all about reinventing the classic man," adds Niki.

Eau Torride is the newest fragrance for women, targeted towards the very modern woman, the intelligent woman; the woman of today. But what this perfume signifies is that there is more to this woman. There is fire and passion within her, just waiting to come out.

Baldessarini is the luxury brand from the House of Hugo Boss that encompasses the desire for the fine things in life.

A new exclusive element will be added to this line as of Autumn 2002: the Baldessarini fragrance.

Boss in Motion was launched last week and will now be available at The Parfumerie Majestic City, Liberty Plaza, ODEL Unlimited, JAIC Hilton Tower and Singer Mega, Rajagiriya, Mt. Lavinia and Nugegoda.

- Thiruni

A different Christmas with Stigmata
Have you got to that point where you might just throw the

radio out of the window if you hear another Christmas carol? Well, Colombo's hard rock fans can soon cheer up for there's something quite different in store for them this Friday, December 18 at 9 p.m. How does a 'Black Christmas' sound to you?

Stigmata, one of Sri Lanka's hottest rock bands will be performing live at Pot Luck in a show they call Black Christmas. "You won't hear the same songs you hear on the radio every day at this show," promises Suresh de Silva, Stigmata's leader. "We'll be playing a lot of underground stuff and Christmas carols, with a twist of course. You'll probably not hear Christmas carols like this very often," he adds with a grin.

The band will also perform all of their 11 originals. "The originals no longer take a backseat at our shows. It's our own music and we find fans shouting the names of the songs even before we play them." They also promise some of their own fusion of local rhythms and hard rock they call 'metal baila'.

Paranoid Earthling, a new band from Kandy, will open the show. For those dreaming of a white Christmas, sorry to inform you, there's been a change in the weather.

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