Winter survival kit

Even though, we've been in the midst of winter, we are so lucky to have been experiencing lots of sunny hot days. Tonight is the start of a cold front that I am dreading. And what better time than now to share with you my winter survival kit - how I get through the cold.

As much as I prefer the cold to the scorching sun, winter doesn't seem to like my skin very much. I end up dry, itchy, scaly-looking and with a host of other dehydrated skin problems. Here's how I help my skin fight off winter.
- Nivea in-shower body lotion. I've been raving about this since I tried it. It's like magic. Just apply it in the shower, rinse off and get dressed. You've got beautifully moisturised skin that lasts all day.
- Softlips. Dry, cracked lips are ugly and uncomfortable. I keep my lip balm in my handbag and apply it whenever my lips need attention. I've also got lip balms lying all over the house, my car and the office.
- Dermalogica. I've been using Dermalogica for over two years and I started in winter. It's been the only product that keeps my skin feeling soft, smooth, moistured and free from pimples.
- Dermalogica facials. A professional's touch is needed in winter. They have these amazing treatments that you can only get at the spa, like the oatmeal face mask. I go to the ladies at Sorbet and they are great is assessing exactly what your skin needs to survive winter.

Some of my skin's dehydration is my own doing. Water just doesn't cut it in winter. This weekend, I stocked up on Milo, hot chocolate, tea, instant coffee and the type that goes into the coffee machine. And I got a bunch of snacks to go with them - like chocolate chip cookies, chocolate and murrkoo (one of my favourite Indian snacks).

If you don't have someone to cuddle with at night, my favourite alternative is my electric blanket. I'm actually going to switch on my electric blanket as soon as I get home and spend the rest of the night being all toasty in there.

I love my Woolies fleece PJs. Firstly, they are a size XS so they make me feel really good about my size. They are super warm. Unfortunately, the fiance won't allow me to leave the house in them.

When you're not in the mood to leave your warm cosy house, spending an evening at home works perfectly...if you have enough things to keep you busy. The fiance is well stocked with his James Bond DVDs (which I am forced to watch *sigh*). I have a hard drive filled with series to keep me occupied. And then there's always the DSTV's offerings. They have some pretty captivating new series.

The fiance introduced me to K-Way, a Cape Union Mart's range of clothing which is meant for the outdoors. Aha! That's how you know it's going to keep you warm. I love their new soft shell jacket range. Also, because I don't like wearing too many clothes, I like how light their jackets are. I sometimes wear a tank top for the lightness and then my K-Way jacket on top of it to stay warm.

If you have some better things in your survival kit, let me know. Who knows; it might help me get through this winter.

Win a meal voucher with Zomato

I don’t understand people who feel that food is just fuel for the body. For me, food is something to be shared with friends. Food needs to delight my taste buds. And food should also be enjoyed in a relaxing environment. That’s why I love eating out so much and why I love that the fiancé regularly cooks amazing dishes for us.

Since I moved to Joburg, eating out has been a regular thing for me to do – usually to catch up with friends. I realised that I used to stick to the same old restaurants that I was used to or tried out new restaurants in the shopping centres that I was used to. Let’s face it, finding a new restaurant is a schlep. That’s why I love Zomato. They take out the hard work of finding a restaurant and provides you with tons of options in just a few clicks through their app.

Zomato took the South African food community by storm last year and in no time mapped out almost all the restaurants in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town and Durban to create an online directory – a first of its kind. The concept is amazing – you have access to every restaurant in your city on one website. Similar sites exist but this surpasses them all with their current information and exciting vibe.

Their star feature is that users can post detailed reviews of their experiences – the food version of Trip Advisor. It’s also kinda like the online version of word of mouth. You can check out trending restaurants, eateries within a specific suburb and you can see what ordinary people rate them. Zomato has actually become my first point of call when wanting to access to restaurants’ operating hours, contact details and menus instead of googling or going to their website.

I also really like that they keep their content fresh by constantly looking at innovative ways to update their website. Their latest offering is a feature called Collections. You can browse for restaurants for a specific theme, e.g. romantic. Do you know how difficult it’s been for me to think up first date restaurant ideas? Luckily I don’t need to do that anymore but I suspect I’ll be working my way through the Healthy Eating collection now.

The fun part of this is that Zomato’s decided to spoil one of my readers with a meal voucher for two worth R200 to use a Vasili’s in Morningside. Entering is easy! Just remember to use the Rafflecopter widget for your entries to be valid. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway