My Made in Mauritius Winter Essentials

We can all feel the cold grasp of winter on the back of our necks by now and I, for one, am not a big fan of the season. I am a sunshine all-day kinda girl and I would much rather be basking in the sun outside, than shivering inside, peaking through gloomy windows. But hey, life is also about learning to dance in the rain right?

So here are a few winter essentials, that can help you make the best out of this chilly situation, while giving some love and support to our local brands.

1. A good skin-saving moisturizer

I hate the feeling of dry skin, and it is also very easy to have dry hands with all the diligent washing and sanitizing that we have to go through during these trying covid times. So the one product, I do not skip on, is moisturizer, both for my hands and feet (do not neglect your feet, or you can very quickly end up with dry and crackling heels). My current local favourite, that is perfect for slathering on after a hot shower, or before bed is ‘Skin Food’ from the brand allnaturals. While allnaturals is not taking orders right now, you can find Skin Food and other products at Island Beauty in Small and Chic, Neofoods Mauritius (Ruisseau Creole and Mont Choisy)

Other local honourable mentions for moisturisers made locally (and cruelty-free) are: Natural Body Cream from la Savonnerie Creole or Sorbet.Fweter’s rightly named ‘Sorbet Fweter’

2. Comfy socks

They say you can feel much warmer if your feet are warm, so socks are also an indispensable item for me. I love slipping on nice comfy socks before bed (yes you will notice that I will mention going to bed quite a lot…I tend to hibernate in winter..don’t judge). If you would like to order from a local vendor, try Arvani Socks. They have been manufacturing socks since 1998 and they have a nice range at very affordable prices. Check them out here: https://www.facebook.com/arvaniltd/

3. A warm drink to warm the soul

I am a big tea and infusions fans! I always found that sitting down with a nice cuppa could always lessen the worries of the world, even for just 5 minutes. There is just something about putting your lips to a warm cup, that somehow makes things a little better. Now, as someone who is currently battling iron deficiency, I have to limit my tea consumption, but when I do indulge, I love going for floral infusions with honey. Two local retailers you can try are myteabox.mu and feuilles et fleures. I have yet to order from them, but they both look very tempting and I shall update you when I do try them out!

4. A cozy sweater

Even if we might be more inclined to stay in during the winter months, we still need to go out either for work, or to catch up with friends or simply to get some fresh air. So I love to have an all-rounder sweater to throw on for these occasions. If you don’t have one or if you are looking to update your winter wardrobe, check out Mauricette. They just launched their unisex sweaters, with little ‘Ayo’ monograms, that perfectly sums up how I feel about winter. You can get yours at mypopupstore currently held at Vanilla Village (until Sep 12th) or on their website: https://mauricette.net/

5. Little vests, hats and scarves

Ok, one of the good things about winter is layering and I love being able to throw on a little scarf or even a vest to bring together an outfit. You can get yours made locally (with love) from various little businesses. I got this little off-white vest made by Cousumain. It was a little tricky for me at first to give my measurements and the vest was a little big, but the nice ladies at Cousumain amended it for me and it now fits perfectly. Here other crochet businesses you can check out to order your own little winter pieces:

Mayera

Les Mailles de Patachou

6. Silk/Satin Pillowcases

You probably get it by now, I snooze..a lot during the colder months! So I love to have soft sheets to delve in, and I also try to make the most out of these …we will call them beauty sleep sessions, by investing in good pillowcases. Silk and/or satin pillow cases will limit hair frizz and also be better for your skin by limiting wrinkles, and allowing it to breathe better. There are currently a couple of businesses here that you can buy these from, I got mine from dreamscatcher pillowcases.

You can also try to get yours from: all_silk_mu

A couple of other essentials:

Do you suffer from dry lips? You may also want to get some lip balm. You can order yours from orgalip for lip balms made with bees wax. To get rid of all the dry skin, make sure to prep your lips with a little exfoliation first. You can make your own lip scrub by following the steps here.

To tie in the whole winter mood together, you can also light up a nice candle. I got mine from Lara and you can check out my full review here.

If you would rather invest in a satin sleeping cap instead of pillowcases, you can get some really nice ones from Odd Atelier (along with other cute hair accessories). Want more details on how it can be beneficial? Check out this link.

Enough about me! Let me know your winter saviours/favourites in the comments below!

Disclaimer : This is not a sponsored post, I have purchased the products that I have tried with my own money and just want to share my honest review with you all.

Love & green vibes,

Vaneeda