In the run up to our recent holiday to Lapland, I was like a woman possessed trying to find items that would keep us as warm as possible, and before I began my search I hadn't ever actually heard of hand warmers! I think I've been living in the dark ages because these are such a great little invention! You can find them for completely different prices, some for as cheap as £1, while some are more expensive at around £7 -8. I bought lots of different ones in the hope that some would work rather than buying loads of one particular brand and they be completely useless! I'm pleased to say that the ones I shall be reviewing were absolutely brilliant and really worked, to the point of almost making my hands too hot!

At around 3 inches square they are the perfect size to fit snugly in the palm of the hand, and as it contains two, you can put one in each hand. One is white and one is red, no particular reason for this, just to be different I guess, and each is shaped like a heart. Once warm, they do change colours to a clear and a pink.

In order to heat these warmers you will need to locate a silver circular disc inside the clear liquid by moving the liquid around. Once you have found it, you simply hold the metal disc with both hands and snap. The gel like liquid instantly solidifies and changes colour and this is when you will start to feel the heat. It is important not to snap the disc until you are ready to use them otherwise they will be wasted.

The warmers are filled with a clear liquid when cold, through which you can see a small metal circle. This is the thing you need to click in order to heat up the hand warmers. For the purpose of warming, they do work really well, at first giving off just a warm heat but quickly warming to quite hot. They don't burn so are safe to give to children but I would recommend placing them inside a pocket or if you have them, wear some inner gloves, place them in the palm and then put your normal gloves over the top. I found this the most effective way for me, but when I was using them it was around -30 in Lapland so much colder than if you were using in the UK on a winters day.

Bizarrely, despite them becoming crystallised once heated, they are actually reusable. I didn't actually realise this when I purchased them or I wouldn't have bought so many (over different brands I bought about 15 packs!). To reuse them, you simply boil them in a pan of boiling water and watch as the crystallised form returns back to its original gel like substance. Obviously a child shouldn't be doing this process and you do need to be really careful not only with the boiling water, but also with the pack when you have to take it out of the pan as the plastic casing feels fragile and hot. It does return back to normal though and you are able to start the process all over again the next time you need a little spot of heat. They should give you around 15 minutes of heat so they aren't going to be any good if you are freezing all day it they do warm you back up really quickly and I would take two sets (4 packs) with me if I knew we were going to be out all day and I had one for the morning and one for the afternoon.

In terms of usage this would have endless uses. As I mentioned I used mine for a trip to Lapland, but they could be used on any trip out in winter, or on a fishing trip or long walk. Anywhere! The small size means you can take them anywhere with you.

Expect to pay around the £5 mark but you will get endless amounts of usage out of them.