Month: September 2014

FUNCTIONAL, HIGH QUALITY & MOST OF ALL…

Comfortable. Introducing the second Fall/Winter Collection 2014 from UNIQLO’s LifeWear.

Last week I was invited to Uniqlo Indonesia’s event to celebrate their upcoming Fall/Winter Collection, with two top stylists Ayla and DeUt and 4 style people from different professions. 

Uniqlo has a special space in my fashion heart. I used a lot of Uniqlo’s for the upcoming Indonesia’s big screen movie, Supernova, as their wardrobe director. Because I believe Uniqlo is comfortable to wear with good materials and design. Plus, the never ending choices of their layering factor is a bonus for any fashion stylists.

Check out some of their Fall/Winter 2014 line up from the pics above. Which one’s your favorite? Mine will be the parka from Ultra Light Down. Very light (perfect for traveling to a colder climate), and thanks to a sleek lining woven with aluminium fibers, they’re now come with more great heat retention. HeatTech is also one of my fave. Very soft, great for layering as an innerwear and especially for the Women’s HeatTech, they’re infused with camellia oil for silkier and smoother feel. Another soft feel come from their Fleece, Flannel, Extra Fine Merino, Sweats and even their Denim (so stretchy and comfortable, you can split like a ballet dancer with it). 

Since the end of year is approaching real fast, I do believe this collection will come in handy as most of us travel to colder climates for end of year holiday. I can see myself packing with this collection already. 

Thanks to Fame74 for most of the pics above. 

WHO ARE YOU CALLING ‘CHUBBY’?

Cute when you were 4, not so much when you hit 40. Thank you Eternel Concept Indonesia for a ‘new me’. 

For a woman who had done 2 caesarians, I made a pact to myself (God help me) not to go through any more surgeries for the rest of my life. Pronto! So, needless to say, I am not into plastic surgery. Though sometimes (I have to admit) I thought it’ll be great to have smaller nose and cheeks. But the thought of going under the knifes one more time, it scared me. I am such an open minded person when it comes to beauty treatments (as long as it didn’t involve any cutting and bruising). Once, I went for PRP treatment to fix my chicken pox scars (I had them at 28 years old, so it’s rather impossible to let my skin go back to its’ natural condition). At that time, I realised (in a most hardest way ever) why people said “Beauty is Pain”. It was so painful, I left the clinic (I won’t mention name) with green and blue bruises like I just went through domestic violence. And the bruises stayed there for more than a week, so yeah, it was a traumatic experience. 

I was terrified of needles, injected on my face, worrying that it might left me with the same result as PRP. And boy, I was wrong when I visited Eternel Concept. Located at Jalan Gunawarman 16, Jakarta, I braved myself to try their Face Lifting. Thanks to Titidianti, their Marcomm and Dr Irene, they both assured me that most of their customers didn’t even show any injections wounds after treatment. “It’ll be done with a very tiny needle and what you’ll see was just injection holes. If they’re red, they’ll be gone in 30 minutes till 1 hour,” explained Dr Irene. 

The procedures were very simple and super quick (I can imagine working career women doing it during lunch time and went back with a slimmer and lifted face!). They applied anaesthetic cream and left it on for about 15 minutes. Then, Dr Irene injected that tiny needle with Eternel Concept’s special serum on several spots on my face (not much, I think it was about 10 overall). Did it hurt? Nope, it was just like ordinary injections on your (pardon moi) bottom or hands. I was relieved to see my face reacted well to these injections. What was injected in to my face? It was a special serum (like I mentioned earlier), natural without any silicons. It was made from natural extracts of Echinacea, Guarana Herb, Okra, Pulsatilla Vulgaris, Boswelliaseratta Herb and Astaxanthin (the later is a protein occurred naturally in sea animals’ skin, with clinically proven anti-oxidant properties that are 500 times stronger than vitamin E). The serum is made in France with Nano & Pico technology, that make smaller molecules to enter our skin layers easily. This natural serum will add collagen and protein to our skin, as we lost them along the way (thanks ageing!). That explained the glowing skin bonus, as mentioned by Dr Irene earlier. 

Frankly speaking, I never done any Botox or Filler treatment before. But according to Dr Irene, this Face Slimming Injection is different from the similar beauty injections. “You will still look like yourself, with a slimmer face. And you can do free expressions on your face, too. Some will feel a bit stiff but it’s only temporarily because the serum is working,” said Dr Irene. I’m glad that there were no down time at all after the treatment, I even went to pick up my kids at school afterwards.

Check out my before after pics above. The after pic was taken 5 minutes after the injection, and my chubby cheeks that I had since I was born looked slightly slimmer with a longer chin as a bonus. Dr Irene also mentioned that glowing skin will be a bonus for this treatment as well because of their special serum. 

“Some customers showed an instant result like you, but mostly it’ll show significant and gradually result in about 7 days. The result will stay on for 6 months till 1 year, depends on customers’ age, their skin condition and their lifestyle. If you don’t smoke, don’t eat junk food, and doing regular exercises, it will stay longer,” explained Dr Irene. She also reminded me not to do facial massage for at least two weeks after this treatment to keep the serum in its’ original place. And for those who had Botox, Filler, or any other facial treatments, make sure you wait for another 6 months before doing this face slimming so it won’t overlap. 

Natural without any scars, pain of injections that I can tolerate, instant result, I can’t wait to try other treatment at Eternel Concept. Visit their website here for more infos. 

WHAT’S COMING…

At Sephora Indonesia? Soon, mostly in October 2014 right down through Christmas, there’ll be several new brands coming to their (currently) two stores in Plaza Indonesia & Kota Kasablanka, Jakarta, Indonesia. 

This week, I was invited to Sephora Press Day at Morissey Hotel, Jakarta to see what brands are coming soon to Sephora. See all the famous logos above and I bet you can’t wait to see their pretty displays at Sephora. At the event, one of the Sephora’s Singapore team said that me and fellow press were lucky to catch a glimpse of their “GIFT OCEAN”, Sephora’s most awaited holiday collection this year. She said, “Even Singapore’s press haven’t seen these, you know?” Expect lots of glitters and cute gifts galore! 

Being such a vintage packaging lover, I was attracted to one brand that somehow didn’t ring my beauty bell. Creme Simon. I know, where have I been, right? Apparently, it’s very popular throughout Europe, New York, Japan and Shanghai. The late founder, Joseph Simon created the first stable beauty cream from a natural plant-based formula, known for its’ incredible healing properties to give French women their natural glow and fair complexion. Voila! Now they’re expanding here, to Indonesia. 

And I’m excited that Skin Inc is coming too. I remembered my first encounter with Skin Inc when I was still working in the magazine. I even met their gorgeous founder, Sabrina Tan. The brand launched in Singapore about 6 years ago but all the products are made in Japan. I had ‘my daily dose’ once, and it did work really well on my skin. You see, Skin Inc is a personalized skincare brand. They will mix the serums according to your own skin types and problems in a cute drop bottle and called it ‘my daily dose’. 

It’s going to be such an interesting end of year for us, beauty lovers!

HOME COOKING ALLA ITALIANO

Newly opened TREDICI RISTORANTE fulfilled my latest craving for delicious Italian cuisine.

People go through culinary phases. Lately, mine is Italian. I’m not a big fan of any food retail chain where you can eat Pizza and Pasta inside a mall. I prefer a homey restaurant with Italian feel, like you’re eating in Tuscany. Yes, atmosphere and ambience count. It’s a great bonus if the head chef was Italian too.  Perfetto!

I was invited to Tredici Ristorante’s opening this week and all of those factors I mentioned above were there. Tredici means thirteen in Italian and Sylvia Gunawan (owner & founder of Tredici Ristorante) mentioned that she was also preparing to open a lounge/bar on the second floor which will be named “13 Monkeys”. Of course, Tredici is on the first floor, located at a (very) busy street, Jl. Suryo 42, Senopati, Jakarta. 

The head chef, Mario, is Italian who have worked in Indonesia for more than 20 years. And that day (boy, was I glad I came with an empty stomach) he and his team was preparing lots (and I mean it) of Italian home made cooking for me and fellow press. Overall, I did try 3 appetizers, 3 different pastas, 2 main courses, 4 slices of pizzas and 2 desserts. And they served everything fresh. The red of cherry tomatoes, the green from spinach for their Ravioloni and the pink of salamis. I could go on and on. 

When I chat with Sylvia, she said that everything was local, except the cold cuts. And right down through the beverages, they infused by themselves. So fresh, they also used fresh pastas, not the dry ones. I can tell from how chewy and soft the pastas are. “They’re not just delicious, they’re healthy too because we’re not using MSG at all,” said Sylvia. Great, I’m thinking to bring my boys here soon.

Anyway, if I have to break it down to my own favorite meals, it would be: Pizza: I love the crispy dough, the scent of freshly baked from the oven and the saltiness of their pepperoni & salami. Piccante is my favorite, but if you love seafood, try their Mare Pizza (it’s so unique, they served the mussels with their shells as a pizza topping). 
Pasta: My favorite will be the Linguine. Served with Baby Squids and Toasted bread crumb topping, it’s delicious and a bit spicy. And the pasta is not al dente, perfetto!
Dessert: Being a sweet tooth that I am, I had my choice at their Panna Cotta. Soft but not watery Cream Pudding, the right amount of sweetness mixed really well with the sourness from their fresh strawberry sauce. And it looks beautiful on their white plate, don’t you think?

 

WHO HAS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL HAIR?

Adam Reed, Celebrity Hair Stylist and one of the owner of PERCY & REED, answered: Cara Delevingne.

Of course, I couldn’t agree more with him. And I was too lucky to meet Adam personally (thanks Sephora Indonesia) this week. Surprised, surprised, they offered me if I want to have my hair cut and styled by Adam. Of course, I accepted the (too) generous offer. You see, Percy & Reed hair range products are coming soon to Jakarta, Indonesia. Precisely by late October 2014 in Sephora Jakarta’s stores. What’ll be available here? Their core products (for hair care & styling too), including (the most awaited product I supposed) their dry shampoo! For you who have been living inside the cage, Percy & Reed started from duo celebrity hair stylists, Adam Reed and Paul Percival (that’s when the brand’s name came from) with a leading hair salon in London and unique hair product range to follow. And I remember quite clearly, my first encounter with the brand was actually when I visited London about two years ago and bought Glamour UK magazine. By that time, Glamour UK was giving away free samples, and it was Percy & Reed (I believe it was their conditioner). First, I was attracted by the pretty illustration of a woman with gorgeous hair on the packaging and it blew me away when I tried it and it worked really well. 

Let’s move on to my glorious hair day experiment with Adam, shall we? Adam is just lovely, we chat a lot while he cut and styled my hair. He love Asia, he said. Especially the food, while he can’t stand the heat and the worst traffic that he’d ever seen in Jakarta. LOL. Being me, I asked lots of questions and tips. And being me, I was kindly enough to share them with you here.
Me: “What do you think differ Asian’s hair and Caucasian’s hair?
Adam: "Actually they don’t differ at all. The difference is within the weather. Your weather here is just bad for hair cuticles. The humidity and heat will make your hair cuticles open all the time. That’s what made your hair limp and lifeless. What you can do is keeping your hair cuticles closed by blow drying with cold, not hot hair. And use oil before blow drying, that should help to keep your cuticles closed.”
Me: “Should I permed my hair? I love the volumizing look it gave me.”
Adam: “Never ever permed your hair. It will make your hair look dull and lost their shine. Keep them straight. If you want to make your hair look more volumized, spray your hair brush with hair spray and brush them through. That will make your hair look volumized but still has movement, not stiff.”
Me: “You know, I colored my own hair.”
Adam: “What? Really? I mean, it was a nice color and look good on you, but you should never colored them yourself. Go to hair salon.”
Me: “What was your recipe for great hair everyday?”
Adam: “Great hair products and great tools.”

Indeed! Since my hair was colored, they used Really Rather Radiant Colour and Shine Shampoo and Conditioner on me. Frankly speaking, I was surprised that they did cleansing too (I was expecting cut and style), but hey, every great hair styling need a clean hair, no? The wonderful soft smell last long throughout my day that day. Since I decided to keep my hair long (and I thought Adam agreed too), he trimmed and layered a bit of my hair. 

And talking about tools, Adam used GHD’s products to blow dry my hair, right down to the brushes (it seriously remind me of Mason Pearson’s brush). I want! Check out the tools spread on my pic above. FYI, he only used the hair dryer and a big hair roller brush, not even straightening iron or curling iron on me to create my look above. 

It will be a perfect world if I can have all of Percy & Reed products to care and style my hair every day, but I do recommend these as a starter (and feel free to extend the list any day now):

  • Shampoo and Conditioner (for the types that suit your hair, click here)
  • Hair Oil. Their no oil, oil is super great! No stickiness, I never washed my hands after I applied it on my hair. 
  • Hair Spray. Must have. Remember the tips from Adam? 
  • Shine & Fragrance Spray. OMG, in this heat, it seems that hair got smellier easier. I have the travel size in my bag now.

 

WHEN X MEETS O

This week, I was invited to attend an ESTEE LAUDER event at Pondok Indah Mall 2, Jakarta. 

At this event, I was excited to meet Vincent Xu, Estee Lauder’s Global Premiere Makeup Artist from Shanghai. He was so humble, considering that his title was right below Blair Patterson, director of global makeup artistry of Estee Lauder.

When I sat on his makeup chair, I stumbled upon his collection of brushes (WOW!) and how he swayed his hands beautifully while holding his brushes. It seemed like his brushes didn’t touch my skin at all, but they did. Weird, right? He also made me wear this beautiful coral shade (Melting Sun) from Pure Color High Intensity Lip Lacquer. He said this color is best seller in Asia. At the very last touch, he applied Advanced Night Repair on my skin, above the makeup. He said, it will hydrate our skin, even over make up and it can give a glowing effect. 

I also learned one more new trick from Vincent (who loves to take selfie by the way, he’s so cute!). He called it ‘XO’ Technique to conceal spots, like pimples. He literally draw ‘X’ right on the middle of the spot and ‘O’ around the spot (see the exact sample on the pic above). He said, make sure you’re wearing a liquid concealer and a concealer brush for easier application. After the ‘XO’ thingy, he applied foundation and powder to eliminate any shine. Such an eye opener trick, I might say.

ANOTHER ‘OUT FOR LUNCH’ TIME

Have you visited Bluegrass Bar and Grill yet since I’ve blogged about it the last time?

You should by now, as I believe they serve great food and for me, it’s very important that they serve good coffee too. Lately, (don’t know why) I’ve been craving for pasta and other Italian dishes. So at my (I lost count) last visit to Bluegrass Bar and Grill, I decided to try pasta. Browsed through their menu, I chose Angel Hair Pasta with Jumbo Prawn for the main course and shared Bluegrass Nasi Campur with my lunch buddy, Miranda.

If you love spicy food like me, you’ll die for the Angel Hair Pasta. It was well seasoned (as in enough salt and chili flakes) and the jumbo prawn was fresh and huge. Too bad they served only one prawn (LOL). The pasta was al dente, perfect! The Nasi Campur was very Bali in style. Fish Balado was not as spicy as I thought and it didn’t smell fishy at all. I hate it when fish smell like fish. With Teri fish on top and sambal matah on the side, I can’t complain more. Check out that delicious looking grill oxtail too!

Lavender Blueberry Squash and Pink Lemonade were the choices of refreshing drinks. I love the crushed blueberries inside the pomegranate juice and soda water inside Lavender Blueberry Squash. Pink Lemonade was a bit sour to my liking, but other it was refreshing on such a hot day.

Boy…am I such a loyal fan of their Banana Cake. I always have this banana cake here. It wasn’t too sweet even though they put white chocolate on top it. They served it warm and I suggest you eat it while it’s still warm. Very heavenly taste with a sip of their original latte. Check out how they served their latte on. Cute, right?

Well, don’t judge the place by its’ name. Even though Bluegrass named as a bar and grill, they do serve more for you who don’t drink alcohol and not a big fan of grill dishes. Personally, I love the ambience (they look great at night time too!) and the nice people there. 

Bluegrass Bar and Grill
Komplek Rasuna Epicentrum, Bakrie Tower lantai GF, JL. HR Rasuna Said, Kuningan, Jakarta Pusat, DKI Jakarta 12710, Indonesia
+62 21 29941660

CALLING ALL JET SETTERS OUT THERE

This facial mask is a seriously must have.

You might have heard or read it somewhere that our skin suffered while flying. Yup that pressurized plane cabin is a total moisture-sapper. That’s why some people (read: me) thought it’s essential to not just apply moisturizer, but hydrating facial mask too (especially on those long haul flights). Unfortunately, most facial masks are so troublesome. The sheet ones look ridiculous when applied (don’t you agree?), and those hardening masks needs water for rinsing. 

Well, am I glad Beauty Box Indonesia sent me this product to try: Glam Glow THIRSTYMUD™ HYDRATING TREATMENT. It’s not just a mask, it’s a total treatment for extreme hydration. Unlike Supermud Clearing Treatment, this won’t hardened on skin, and (if you wish) no need to rinse. What I did: I wiped with tissue and massage the remaining all over the face and neck (yes, never ever forgot your neck). Don’t you think it’s so perfect for moisturizing while traveling on long haul flight? The texture is clear when applied, it just looked like my face was wet (look at my pic above). Expect a tingling sensation and It won’t hardened, so I can talk and laugh, and eat whenever I wish. And the best of all, no need to rinse. Now that person next to me wouldn’t think I’m a weirdo. The result? My skin looked fresh, glowing and I believe it looked more pinkish (look at the after pic above). It didn’t give me that tight feeling afterwards too, instead I felt my skin more supple.

Inside the packaging they recommended to use this 2-3 times per week or when needed. And for those who have drier skin even on the land, use this for a night time treatment. Apply thinly and just leave it on. See the ‘magic’ when you wake up. It’s also great for your man, to calm & restores post-shaved skin. 

Get more product infos (ingredients etc) here. You can buy this product at their boutique in Plaza Indonesia level 4, or at Beauty Box stores near you. 

TEA RITUAL IN A SPA

Yes you read correctly. Thanks to The Dharmawangsa, I was invited to experience a whole new unique spa treatment at their spa, Bimasena.

Named The Dharmawangsa Tea Ritual, it was a heavenly 2,5 hours tea based ritual spa treatment, using THEMAE Paris products, known for their passion in tea (FYI, THEMAE is a Japanese name for the tea preparation ceremony). There are 4 types of teas inside their products: red, white, green and black tea, combined with well-balanced spring water to keep its ultimate purity. Each tea bring their own benefits: red for soothing, white for regenerating, green for antioxidant, and black for stimulating. Currently, we can only get THEMAE’s products in exclusive spas (Bimasena Spa is the first in Jakarta to sell their products). 

The ritual begins with a tea foot wash (as you can see above), followed by Nepalese Style Tea Exfoliation. Using THEMAE’s Gommage The Au Nepal, a creamy body exfoliant, my therapist began to make an eight strokes on any possible areas. It was a fast movement making (literally) number eight, very funny feeling yet it didn’t feel harsh at all. The treatment continued with another one hour of Oriental Massage, which I prefer rather than deep tissue massage. Very gentle movements, yet I can feel the lightness of my body afterwards. Using fingers and forearms, the technique that the therapist got after 3 months of full training at THEMAE is not to leave the customers unattended. That means, hands on all the time during the treatment. And they didn’t use massage oil at all, which is great because most of the time, they just left a sticky feeling all over. Instead, they’re using THEMAE’s Baume Des Quatre Thes, body massage balm. Very rich and creamy, it didn’t leave any stickiness so no need to rinse. Bonus: a nice scent of vanilla! The treatment ended with Instant Glow Green Tea Facial, to bring radiance to whole. And the Tibetan Bells’ sound reminPlease make a reservation if you want to try this awesome treatment as well. You can contact Bimasena Spa (021-7258668 ext.8300).

After the spa (sadly) ended, the PR Team of The Dharmawangsa (thanks to Lira and team), invited me and fellow press to have a HEALTHY GOURMET LUNCH. Served only on Wednesday at The Dharmawangsa’s JAKARTA Restaurant, it was a healthy buffet, perfect companion after a spa treatment.