The inevitable happened. One of the worst things that can happen to bloggers or anyone who likes to take photos in general happened to us and unfortunately, in a place as memorable as PyeongChang, where we had our first snow experience. Somewhere along the way from Seoul airport to home or from Manila airport to Mactan, we lost a 32 gb memory card containing all our photos from the trip! :( At first, we were both in denial and ignored it as we enjoyed our weekend in Cebu for the Sinulog festival and it was only when we both got home that we realized that all 3,500 photos are gone and these are the only outfit photos we got to save on our phones :( We knew that one way or the other, this would happen to us once. Lesson learned? Always back up your files. When it first happened to Carrie Bradshaw and her laptop, I thought to myself that I would be more careful but it’s better than a trip for work right? :) Or maybe that’s just me looking at the bright side of things :P
Anyway, dressing up for winter can be quite tricky because you would need layers and layers of clothes as to not freeze to death but ofcourse, we didn’t want style to suffer either. We packed days ahead of our trip to prepare properly for the -10 degrees and below weather we expected and there were still a few misses that we made sure to take note of it so that we share what we learned to you :) Here they are:
1. Faux fur not just fashionable but a necessity. While the real deal may have helped a hundred times more, faux would do because we are animal lovers. And you have chopped us to death if we did wear the real thing! lol kidding aside, we are lucky that our favorite street wear brands have put alot of them in stock even when we are in a tropical country because they help with two things: warmth and to make 10 layers of clothing look presentable. It’s also a plus that some brands put heat tech material underneath that really would help with the cold.
2. When we started posting pictures of our winter wear, we got comments like, IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO SURVIVE IN THE COLD WITH JUST THOSE! Well ladies and gentlemen, we did because we know the existence of proper stocking up of heat tech. It’s actually a technology made by Uniqlo but the same material is available in Marks and Spencer. We layered about 5-6 layers underneath those clothes :) 5-6 on top and same number at the bottom. Not counting the socks and gloves yet :)
3. Snow boots are a must. I was such a noob on the first day and wore leather boots to the snow. To tell you honestly, I almost slipped a hundred times so its best to invest on a pair of snow boots. I got mine through Amazon.com and had them delievered to Manila just in time for my flight using Shipping Cart. They’re rarely available here in Manila so if you plan on going on a winter vacation soon, make sure to buy ASAP :) Got these for 40USD only.
4. Ear muffs and a face mask will protect your face as well. Thank god Chanel # 3 made earmuffs in trend once again because they really does wonders once the wind starts to hit your face and ears. These two are needed because the wind during the winter’s very harsh and it literally feels like it’s constantly slapping you in the face.
5. Proper skin care is a must. We’ve already mentioned moisturizer on a previous blog post but lip balm and a toner are big necessities. One of the things I don’t regret doing before going to Korea was visiting Belo beforehand because she advised me the best way to take care of my skin because the temperature reached -14 and the skin on my face and lips started to crack. While it dried up my glands, it caused me peeling and she made me apply the proper toner, moisturizer and lip balm :) I suggest visiting yours as well!
Hope you enjoy winter wonderland as much as we did! Can’t wait to tell you more about our first snow experience! :)