Qualy-ty? or in need of seasoning?

OK, so it seems my dear friends took a hint. A couple of months ago I reviewed the Qualy Four Seasons condiment holder and said how much I loved the idea of it - well, now I own one! 

Last Friday I left my permanent job to pursue a freelance design career and get my kitchenware company up and running. As a leaving present, my dear colleagues bought me the Qualy Four Seasons, so now I can review it properly - thanks guys! 

So here it is, and the first shock I got was just how big it was:

As you can see, the domes are about 7cm high, making quite an impressive statement on your dinner table. But let's go back a few steps, to get the full user experience. The product came packaged in a neat presentation box (below), with the four seasons laid out in order. On the pack lovely little diagrams explained how to fill up each dome, clean it and use it (although I'd guess the last bits obvious!). 

Once in, I began to fill each dome. This was done by removing a twist lid from the base and pouring the condiment in (below). I began with salt and what struck me straight away was how much salt clung to every plastic surface, including the inside of the dome. This gave you a frosty look (which I guess is quite apt for winter!) but not totally desirable aesthetically. I guess the trick is to use less fine salt. 

It also got into the closing mechanism of the lid so you had to brush it clean before you put the lid back on. But the thing that really got me was how much salt I p**sed all over the work surface! Surely I'm not that clumsy?! Well, on to the pepper, see if I could do this a bit more efficiently... and again, no, pepper everywhere, WTF?!

...whoops, there's a hole in the top of the dome, the instructions didn't tell me to put my finger over it, what a wally! Newly enlightened I filled the remaining two domes with mixed herbs for autumn and chilli pepper for spring (as I mentioned in my first review the spring bit doesn't really work!).

So there we are, the Qualy Four Seasons. Yes, I few technical difficulties along the way, and over clingy salt, but do you know what, it looks great and makes me smile! Will I use it in day to day life? Probably not. But when people come round for a dinner party you can bet that this little widget will be one of the first things they're talking about :-)