Back in the 60s, zonked out hippies would stare at their Lava Lamps contemplating life, love and the price of ramen while merrily plucking away at their sitars. Thankfully, hippies are now a thing of the past; but there's still something to be said for mesmerizing and groovy light devices. That's why we've always been on the lookout for a natural successor to the ubiquitous Lava Lamp. So hey baby, who better to turn to than Mathmos, British makers of the original 60s version.

They've recently come up all aces with a string of successful products under the Mathmos Modern umbrella including the Mathmos Softlight, but the Aduki is the newest light-based kid on the block: a sleek, ergonomically designed handheld light that gradually changes color.

Both the Aduki and the shiny new Aduki Ni are available in three different color waves - each moves through a spectrum of hypnotic colors and then starts over again. A button on the Aduki allows you to freeze any desired color; so essentially it's like having a light that you select the color of. For instance, the blue to red model starts on blue and gradually moves through a spectrum of pinks and violets to reds, and then starts all over again. Psychedelic, man.


The original Aduki is constructed in polished die-cast zinc and soft touch matt thermoplastic. The Ni is adorned with a metalic coating giving it an über-sleek 'T-1000' liquid chrome look. In fact it looks so out of this world we keep expecting it to wisk us away to planet Phaelon, Flight of the Navigator style.

Best of all it's fully rechargeable and will function for between 3 and 6 hours. So if you want to take it raving with you (don't ask us why, we just assume you youngsters enjoy doing that kind of thing) it will last well into the night, or morning as the case may be.

The Aduki also has hundreds of practical uses around the home and garden. With no cable to worry about you can place it, (or hang it) just about anywhere: from bedside tables to tree branches. And, believe us, it's a lot safer than lighting candles. Trust us and buy one of these weird and wonderful whatnots immediately. Not only will you be gaping at it for hours on end, you'll be wondering what you ever saw in boring old lightbulbs. Illuminating!