Buy Shit: Little Sun, Reyka Vodka, Sóley Toiletries & More

Don’t take your momma a rubbish stuffed puffin from Iceland! Get her one of these beautiful things instead. And maybe one for yourself.

Vík Prjónsdóttir Scarf
Vík Prjónsdóttir is a fashion house making unusual, distinctive scarves from machine-knitted Icelandic wool. They come in various shapes, colours and sizes, from the popular “Healing Hands” design and its larger sibling “The Wing,” to hats and blankets in a similar vein. There’s also a double-hooded “Twosome Blanket” for… idk, twins, or sickening couples who can’t stand to be more than a few inches away from each other.

Ólafur Elíasson’s “Little Sun”
Ólafur Elíasson is one of Iceland’s best-known artists, not least for designing the glittering facade of Harpa, and more recently, for opening a new showroom at the Marshall House art museum. The Little Sun is an environmentally friendly solar-powered phone charger that’s perfect to take on a camping trip—each one also works as a torch—or just to perch on your windowsill. Get it at i8 gallery, or the Hafnarhúsið museum shop.

Reyka Vodka
Back in the day, Icelandic liquor meant either some black licorice-flavoured goop, or the dreaded Brennivín. These days, Icelanders are turning their hands to all kinds of fancy super strong booze. Arguably the best of the bunch is Reyka: a lava-filtered vodka that’s so crisp, clean-tasting and ever-so-slightly sweet that it might just be the best we’ve ever tasted. Grab a 1L bottle in the duty free and drink it neat or on the rocks, straight from the freezer.

Sóley Toiletries
Sóley’s all-organic line of skin care lotions, creams, masks and balms are notable for their Icelandic ingredients, from the steinEY mineral mask—containing volcanic mud from Eyjafjallajökull—to the Fersk White cleansing foam with wild Icelandic yarrow. People trying out the products whilst waiting in line at the juice bar is a common sight in Heilsuhúsið on Laugavegur, and they’re widely available elsewhere.

Find more fun things to buy here.