The chic princess, bamboo toothbrushes and a big beauty sale

Quote of the week

We love getting romantic morning texts like:

What you want to know this week

Fendi has hailed Princess Anne as the “chicest woman in the world" and is using her fashion style as inspiration for next season's menswear range. Confident in her femininity, the hardworking royal is unapologetic about wearing comfortable and practical clothes. 

The Italian designer Silvia Venturini Fendi says she fell in love with Anne's style when she saw her in uniform on a horse in the guard of honour at her brother Charles's coronation.

Her choice of hats, checked shirts and quintessentially British jackets is reflected in Fendi's new collection.

We love! 

Finds

Beauty

The Woolworths beauty sale is on, with a 25% discount on any two products. This is the perfect time to buy a desirable bottle of something you might otherwise not have looked at. 

On our radar are the following:

The cult Korean brand Erborian's Milk and Peel Balm. The normal price for 30ml is R300. It is R225 on the sale.

We also love their  BB Crème and CC Dull Correct. Both do something inexplicably wonderful to achieve a natural, glowy face.

And if money is not an issue, the Shiseido Ultimune Eye Power Infusing Eye Concentrate. The face serum version of this product has garnered 238 global beauty awards. The usual price is R1,460. Just over R1000 in the sale.

Food

We love the little tins of Mojito Cocktail Rim Spice from Mr Price Home. They come in three flavours: chilli and lemon salt, coconut sugar and mint, and rainbows and roses. R69.99 each.

Four fynbos-flavoured salts: buchu, snowbush, mint pelargonium and rooibos. R390 for all four at Takealot.

With olive oil becoming ever more expensive due to a bad harvest in Europe, this cold-pressed sunflower oil is a good option for everyday cooking. R430 for five litres. We don't like the plastic bottle but you can get it in a tin for R50 more. (A good price for local olive oil is close to R300 a litre.)

Other stuff

We are trying to move away from plastic wherever we can. Pep Home sells bamboo toothbrushes for R29.99 and bamboo clothes pegs for R17.99.

Streaming

Griselda. On Netflix

Sofia Vergara gives a commanding performance as the cocaine kingpin, Griselda Blanco, in a mini-series of six episodes. It is a fictional dramatisation which shows her journey from Medellín in Colombia to becoming the “godmother” of Miami’s drug empire. Griselda is an exploration of murder, drugs and power and gives a fabulous overview of the drug lords of the Seventies and Eighties until her arrest in 1985. Edgy and compelling.

Big little recipe

Make your own Kewpie mayonnaise — that inexplicably delicious sauce from Japan that you get on your sushi (hint: the deliciousness lies in the MSG). The video below shows you how.

Hidden sugar

A number of everyday foods contain a surprisingly high amount of sugar, but they are disguised by fancy names that we are unfamiliar with.

The recommended daily intake of free sugars for an adult is no more than 30g a day, according to the National Health Service in the UK.

The hidden sugars to look out for on fruit labels are:

• Agave
• Barley malt
• Brown sugar
• Cane juice, cane sugar and cane syrup
• Corn sweetener
• Nectar
• Molasses
• Fruit juice concentrate  and fruit purée 
• Malt sugar  and raw sugar
• Syrup
• Trehalose
• Turbinado
• Anything ending with an -ose: fructose, glucose, dextrose and maltose

Two other tips:

• Sugar features under “carbohydrates" on the nutrition label.
• “No added sugar” on the packaging does not mean it's free from all sugars — it just means it has not been oversweetened.

Laureen’s list

15 things that will make you the boss of your life

1. Manage your finances properly and live within your means. 
2. Set goals and hold yourself to them. But don't set yourself up for failure. A 20-minute walk around the block every day is better than an hour of exercise that will never happen.
3. Make time for meals, travel and holidays with family and friends. 
4. Approach each day as if it is the most important day of your life. 
5. Don't ignore the community in which you live. Take part, support and contribute.
6. Pick up rubbish and plastic. When you walk on the beach, take a bag and pick up plastic, glass and other waste. Every bit you pick up won't end up in the ocean. 
7. If something is wrong, it is your responsibility to help fix it. Don't constantly blame others. Don't wait for the city council to clean your pavement or park. Do it yourself. Inspire others to do the same. Make it an event.
8. Choose a charity that you are interested in. Get involved. Donate. Give your time. 
9. Buy second-hand whenever possible. 
10. Eat healthily: five portions of vegetables and fruit at least four days a week. Try to buy from markets and organic farmers.  
11. Exercise for 30 minutes at least three times a week. Preferably every day.  
12. Take yourself out of your comfort zone every week. Walk a different route, climb a mountain, go rowing, swim naked, flirt with someone. Embrace your fears.
13. Don't be a victim. It's a bad look. And pointless.
14. Keep your weight in check (don't underestimate how important this is).
15. Forgive yourself if you fail. And try again.

FOMOsapiens love an overused cliché because it turns out that they are facts to live by. Listen to this couple: “Don’t feel you know everything and keep your sense of humour”. Lekker naweek.Click here to edit this text.

♦ VWB ♦

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