Hello, hi, and greetings! This is Chan-Mai.
The year has turned, and it’s gotten even colder. We’ve even had some snow—living in a region that isn’t used to snow, that alone makes it feel extra chilly. (But I love the snow!!!)
When it gets cold, something suddenly comes to mind.
Back when I was a child... while my parents were still dressing me, they would choose the right clothes for the blistering summer sun or the harsh winter cold, providing me with a comfortable environment.
Once I got a bit older and started choosing my own clothes, I needed to manage my own temperature, but I never really paid much attention to it—I was the type to dress thinly all year round, living by the saying "children are children of the wind."
On one winter day when the forecast called for a deep freeze, even though I had days where I’d be home late from lessons, my mother handed me a scarf and told me to wear it. Having been indifferent to clothing, I had often felt the cold, so I still remember how deeply impressed I was by how much warmer just adding one scarf could make me feel.
The "Neck" Areas are Key to Temperature Regulation
Whether you want to raise or lower your body temperature, your "neck" areas play a vital role. Thick blood vessels pass through your "wrists," "ankles," and "neck"—often called the checkpoints of blood flow—and warming these areas improves circulation, keeping your whole body nice and cozy.
With the real cold air arriving and days expected to stay chilly, allow me—perhaps the most cold-sensitive person here at Circles—to introduce some truly "hot" items for warming up those "neck" areas!
HOUDINI Power Wrist Gaiters
First up, the "wrists."
Do you ever find that your fingertips are freezing despite how much you use your hands?
HOUDINI Power Wrist Gaiters are fingerless gloves that use Polartec® Power Stretch® Pro™, a material well-known for HOUDINI. The soft, thick fabric provides a secure fit and excellent stretch. They are very comfortable to wear thanks to the great texture.
Since your fingertips are free, you can easily do everything from operating handlebars to using a computer in daily life. They are so compatible with cameras that Eri-tsin, one of Circles' photographers, recommends them as "a photographer's essential!!" They are recommended for those times when you want to warm your hands but find that regular gloves compromise your dexterity.
On especially cold winter days, you can even combine them with regular gloves.
Since the fingertips are exposed, I can't say that "just wearing these will keep your fingertips warm," but they do prevent cold air from entering through your sleeves and keep your wrists thoroughly warmed. The HOUDINI Power Wrist Gaiters are gloves you can wear all day long.
HOUDINI Power Wrist Gaiters
Price: 4,950 yen (tax included)
HIKER TRASH Zero Day Hike Treck Crew
The second "neck" is the "ankles."
Leg warmers are great, but let's start by reevaluating your socks. HIKER TRASH socks, famous among hikers, are made with plenty of merino wool, which is loved by many for its high heat retention and deodorizing properties. They have great cushioning, and you will feel the warmth from the moment you put them on thanks to the thickness of the fabric.
However, the appeal of these socks isn't just the thickness of the fabric.
No matter how cold the outside air is, the inside of your shoes often gets stuffy during daily activities, and your feet are often sweating without you realizing it. Sometimes, cold feet are actually caused by sweat-induced chill. That's where the moisture-wicking properties of merino wool come in. This is exactly the characteristic that makes merino wool so suitable for socks.
I love the Zero Day Hike Treck Crew and HIKER TRASH H.Y.O.H ”Hike Trek Mid”, but we also have a small number of the new series, HIKER TRASH Day Dreamer “Hike Trek Mid”, in stock. Each pair is dyed differently, and the colors are wonderfully reminiscent of a daydream.
ACLIMA Lightwool Headover
And the last "neck" is, well, your actual neck.
As I mentioned at the beginning, just warming your neck promotes blood flow to your whole body, raising your entire body temperature.
The ACLIMA Lightwool Headover is one of the items I bought after being recommended it by Yanakk-san. Since it’s made of thin merino wool, it’s not bothersome at all to wear indoors, and it doesn't have the constricting feeling of a turtleneck.
When riding, you can pull it up to your ears or wear it like a headband, expanding your coverage against the cold. The fact that it doesn't interfere with your helmet is also important for cyclists.
I often wear scarves or neck warmers when I go out, but this is so useful because I can keep it on all the time. Just as Yanakk-san predicted (!) when he recommended it to me, I’m already starting to want a second one...
ACLIMA Lightwool Headover
Price: 6,600 yen (tax included)
Basically, I can't live without thermal base layers for my winter bottoms. Although this strays from today’s topic of "necks," I want to introduce one last item I absolutely must recommend!
PATAGONIA Capilene Thermal Weight Bottoms
I love cozy bottoms in the winter, but they often end up looking like loungewear or are too thick and baggy, which tends to limit the situations in which I can wear them.
In those cases, you can fill the gap in your style by wearing a base layer, and what I recently bought are these PATAGONIA Capilene Thermal Weight Bottoms.
The inside is lined with a fluffy fabric, and the layer of air created by that (open-grid structure) provides both warmth and breathability. Honestly, when I first held them, they felt so thin that I was worried—are these really warm...? But...!
They’re warm...!!!
The warmth created by the layer of air is natural, and it lacks that unnatural feeling of being "artificially heated" found in typical heat-tech clothing. I'm not a fan of that unnatural feeling, and when I wear that kind of thing, I sometimes end up sweating in a weird way even when I'm cold. I realize how important it is to be "warm when it's cold, and breathable when you sweat."
The exterior is a smooth material, so there's little interference or bulkiness when wearing bottoms over them. I’ve even worn them under the recently released RAL JEANS, and they went on perfectly smooth.
PATAGONIA Capilene Thermal Weight Bottoms / M’s & W’s
Price: 13,750 yen (tax included)
There are so many other items at Circles that I’d like to introduce. If you’re interested, please try searching "nukunuku" in our WEB SHOP! From the items introduced today to other recommended products not listed here, I've gathered all sorts of "hot" winter recommendations!
Let’s get through this winter by keeping those blood flow checkpoints—our "necks"—warm and keeping our bodies nice and toasty!
