Happy new year everyone! Here’s wishing you a more peaceful, more successful and more fun filled year! To help get you going, here are my top 10 favourites for January 2017 (in no particular order):
1. Klein Constantia Estate Brut 2012
Klein Constantia kindly sent me a mini cake to celebrate the start of summer! It was topped with lots of sweeties and strawberry/raspberry icing. Accompanied, was a bottle of Klein Constantia Estate Brut 2012. I don’t like to just have nice things willy nilly; I try to keep nice things for special occasions and what better occasion than New Years Eve? So we popped the bad boy at 9pm (why wait?!) and it was delicious. I don’t like a very dry brut, but this was perfectly balanced, really good. Find Klein Constantia Estate Brut 2012 on WineCellar.co.za for R223 per bottle.
2. Gilmore Girls
Have you guys watched the 1 year later special on Netflix? I haven’t! And the reason is because I never watched the Gilmore Girls…ever. The opening music was just SO NAF to me. Like, picture perfect America where nothing ever goes wrong and the whole world is so magical and wonderful, I literally just couldn’t deal with it. But when I saw the 1 year later thing, I was curious. But it felt wrong to skip to the special without having watched the show! So I started all the way from Episode 1, Season 1 and am LOVING it now! Basically, the music still does my head in and the first 3 episodes were pretty boring, but then the first love interest came along and I was happy! So, if you’ve never been into it like I never was, give it a go 🙂
3. Blaupunkt Portable Speaker
My Dad scored this awesome little portable speaker for R300 at Pick n Pay! I tried to find them, but they were sold out EVERYWHERE! Pick n Pay then shared the special on their FB page and I demanded to know where I could get one. In the meantime Mr John had found one in the Claremont Pick n Pay for R400. The R300 one comes with a karaoke microphone, but the R400 one has bluetooth which means I can play music straight off my iPhone. It also has radio, a USB port and the Samsung phone type port too AND it’s RECHARGEABLE! NO BATTERIES! It even has LED lights haha! I LOVE it! PS I’ve started sticking stickers all over mine as I hated the cheesy disco design.
4. Wilderer Gin
At the end of last year Mr John and I were kindly invited to celebrate 20 years of Cape Point. Obviously it’s been there for a lot longer than 20 years, but this was the celebration of it being a tourist spot for 20 years. At the event I was offered a G&T with Wilderer Gin. It was absolutely delicious! The best gin I’ve ever had! It has such a beautifully herby, sweet taste compared to the really starke less expensive gins. I managed to get a bottle at my favourite bottle store in Claremont, Liquor City Claremont, for R330 a bottle.
5. Urban Decay Naked Palette 1
Ok, so I ordered these Urban Decay Naked palettes MONTHS ago, but just haven’t been ready to put anything on my blog about it. The reason is because there is SO much hype about UD, but I wanted time to explore my own relationship with the brand and give an honest write up about it. I bought both Naked palettes 1 & 2 so that I could trial them both.
I found that palette 1 is better for my skin type. They come in really nice packaging, have a beautiful finish, blend really well and have a free makeup brush! It’s not very fluffy so the UD brunch doesn’t blend well, but it’s still super helpful when applying the shadow. I’ve loved using them are they are more sophisticated than other brands, have a lasting finish and are animal cruelty free (they claim, not sure how true it is). I bought the Urban Decay palettes in South Africa from their website for R850 each. (Pic: 1 on left, 2 on right.)
6. Kunduchi Super Grass
So poor little Yoda lives inside our flat on the 5th story and can never go out. She’s totally happy and is none the wiser, in fact, when I took her out on a leash one time (yes, I was that person) she just wiggled out and ran up the tallest tree that no human can climb. FAIL! So the cat on a leash thing is lame, but I understand that us fur mummies and daddies just want our fur babies to know the real world! To know nature! But, until we move into a house one day, that won’t be happening. BUUUUT I found Kunduchi Super Grass on Take a Lot for about R18 a tray, which means Yods can still chew on some lawn and enjoy the 5th story view. It takes about a week to 10 days to grow and then a little mosh can eat some grass and be happy. I’ll definitely be getting these again. (I’m sorry I don’t have a better picture to show you but the grass died before I got a good one.)
7. Marc Anthony Bye Bye Frizz Range
I’ve been straightening my hair since high school, although I did have about a 10 year gap since getting a GHD. But recently, I’ve started again and found a really lovely hairdresser who has helped me maintain my treatments. She recommended using the Marc Anthony ranges and they have FANTASTIC! I LOVE the Marc Anthony Bye Bye Frizz range that I usually buy from Dischem, but which is now also available at Pick n Pay, because it makes my hair SO soft, keeps the treatment lasting for as long as possible and really makes my hair look good. I like to use the dark purple (second from the left): Bye bye Frizz keratin smoothing shampoo, the light purple Bye Bye Frizz Keratin Smoothing conditioner (fourth from the left) and the Moisturizing Shea Butter & Marula Oil conditioner (not in image) as alternating conditioners keeps my hair healthier. Find them at Dischem or Pick n Pay from R100 on special to R130 normal price. PS They are a LOT cheaper than the R250 Loreal one I bought from a salon, which did NOTHING for my hair. #RantOver #TeamMarcAnthony.
8. Foxcroft Bakery
Foxcroft caught my attention when I saw some beautiful desserts on Instagram. A new bakery, I looked them up on my way home from work one day and decided to pop in. Unbeknownst to me, it’s not actually only a bakery but a full on restaurant! The bakery side closes at 4pm but the man was nice enough to let me take away a few treats. My friend tried to book for us last week to no avail. Then I went with another friend and just walked in. It turns out that the bakery doesn’t take reservations, only the restaurant! So there’s no need not to just pop in and enjoy a coffee, tea, water and something tasty. Black Forrest cake (left) for R45. Chocolate mousse with passionfruit gel (right) for about R50 if I recall correctly. BOTH VERY TASTY!
9. Essence Eyeshadow & Primer
Now I know this says it’s an eye shadow and primer, but I only use it as a primer. How is that possible? Well, the texture is super light and while it is shimmery, it’s definitely not enough to only use as an eyeshadow – unless you’re 13 and just looking to get into the world of makeup. The Essence eyeshadow and primer is really soft on your skin, has a powdery finish and I find it perfectly illuminates my eyes before I add more colour. I use the ‘nude rose’, then I add base and then the eyeshadow colour, which makes my eyeshadow pop. The extra tint of colour ensures my shadow is applied evenly. Find it in supermarkets for around R60.
The Rusty Garden Barrow Nursery
Mr John loves succulents and we’ve been wanting to add some plants to our balcony so we asked our friend from One Up, Dom, where she got all her plants from and she recommended the Rusty Garden Barrow Nursery out in Joostenbergvlakte. They charge R10 for a plant! TEN BUCKS! IN A POT! So we headed out there and enjoyed moseying around. As the owner says, ‘They’re not the fastest, but they’re the cheapest!”. They run an upliftment program that helps support less fortunate workers, grow all their own plants and have a really big variety. It’s a lovely spot, with lots to choose from but deathly slow. Took us about an hour to buy 5 plants, no kidding! BUT, for R10 a plant (and I was on holiday), I was prepared to wait, but perhaps going in the morning when everyone is fresh may speed things up a bit. We even managed to get some potless plants for R5 – worth the wait! Check them out on Google maps.
Thanks for reading, catch you next month for more of my favourite items. 🙂
