Winter Wellness
Every year is the same. By the end of November, I'm wishing for a white Christmas and looking forward to a whimsical snowfall on the eve of my favourite holiday. Fast-forward just a couple weeks, and I'm already lusting after spring weather, cruising the resort collections and dreaming of walking outside without a parka on. Unfortunately, my romanticized, brief winters don't live where I do. Residing at the 44th parallel means I have several months of winter to make it through. In past years, I've made an active effort to ignore the frozen fugue surrounding me, but recently, I've found it's much more effective to simply embrace the season. Here are a few of my secret weapons, to which I resort when the snow is falling and the wind is blowing. With these favourites, I promise you'll find it a little easier to weather the storm.
When you're turned away from the sun for a few months at a time, it becomes a major challenge to maintain optimal levels of vitamin D. Most Canadians are deficient in vitamin D, thanks to the relatively long and dark winters we manage to survive each year. Compensating for this deficiency with a daily vitamin will boost your mood and keep you well in the winter months.
It can be difficult to prevent dry, crackly skin in the winter time. Fotunately, Jo Malone's Vitamin E Scrub keeps my skin buttery and smooth, after it glides off in the shower.
Ever since I can remember, I've had terrible circulation in my hands, and while this seems to persist through every season, the winter cold definitely exacerbates the problem. These Manzella mittens are 100% down-filled and never fail to keep my fingers warm and toasty, no matter how cold it gets. Paired with the perfect parka, a stylish scarf and a warm hat, you're good to go for when it's fifty below.
My lips begin to chap as early as October, as soon as the summer air leaves.While there is no end to the number of lip balms available to remedy this problem, I find that Vasaline is always an effective means of healing my chapped lips and keeping them moist throughout the day. This travel size is perfect for keeping in my purse for when I'm out and about.
For the most part I'm an early riser, but on certain winter mornings when the sun is nowhere in sight and there's nothing I'd rather do than stay underneath the cozy covers, the Sleep Time app is my best friend. When you set your alarm on the app and lay your phone next to you, the app tracks your sleep cycle and avoids sounding your alarm when you're in deep sleep. So if you set your alarm for 8am, but are in a deep sleep at that exact time, or are scheduled to be, the sleep time app will wake you up ten or fifteen minutes before or after 8am, so that you're the least groggy possible when you rise.
One thing I love about winter is the stylish suade and leather boots that come with the season. One thing I hate about winter is what the snow and the slush do to those beloved boots! Mink Oil has prevented several pairs of my favourite booties from irepairable damage caused by snow, ice and sidewalk salt. Every so often, I swipe a layer of the clear gel onto my boots, massage the gel around ttheir seams, then leave them to dry over night. The next day I'm strutting through the snow, a fully winterized woman.
Last, but certainly not least, is my all-time favourite hand cream from L'Occitane en Provence. This cream moisturizes my hands without making them greasy or slippery, and the calming smell of lavender always puts me at ease, even when there's a blizzard outside.