Month: August 2015

A CLASS OF THEIR OWN

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Do you remember your very first fragrance?

Well…mine is “White Linen” from ESTEE LAUDER. I remembered the scent till now, the refreshing and clean fragrance. I guess I was always fell for those kind of scents. Launched in 1978, White Linen is still available until now. 

The fact is, for over 50 years, Estee Lauder has been launching many fragrances. The first one was YOUTH DEW. Introduced in 1953, it was actually a scented bath oil that could also be used as perfume (they said it was a taboo for women wearing perfume at that time, whaaatttt?). 

This year, they launch THE HOUSE OF ESTEE LAUDER CLASSIC PARFUMS COLLECTION. Consist of 8 fragrances, they’re bringing back the classics, like: ESTEE (from the year 1968), AZUREE (from 1969), ALIAGE (from 1972), CINNABAR (1978), SPELLBOUND (1991), TUSCANY PER DONNA (1992), INTUITION (2000) and BEYOND PARADISE (2003). Their packaging are new, but the scent stay the same.

ESTEE is the second fragrance that Mrs Estee Lauder created after Youth Dew. So, imagine the history of this fragrance. This took 7 years to make, FYI. 

AZUREE is a very warm fragrance, inspired by the Mediterranean. 

Since the 70′s style is back, ALIAGE will be the perfect scent to reflect that era. Cool & energetic.

Very oriental, CINNABAR (now pronounced: China Bar) is mysterious and sensual.

Imagine the first feeling of falling in love, that’s SPELLBOUND.

One of the very classic, TUSCANY PER DONNA (Tuscany for Women) was inspired by the Italian Countryside. 

 Created by Evelyn Lauder, INTUITION is one warm & very feminine scent.

Last but not least, the very addictive BEYOND PARADISE. The most modern scent from all of 8 (maybe because it was created not too long ago), this scent reminds me of all things tropical. 

My favorite? ESTEE. I believe I have an old soul trapped inside, LOL. Classic without being too powerful (we have to admit some of the classic fragrances tend to have very strong unforgettable scent). I love the fact that this was created by Mrs Estee herself, inspired by the light she saw from two crystal chandeliers shimmering in a glass of champagne. It’s a very wonderful scent, perfect for day use in this hot weather. 

PRODUCT PHOTOS: ESTEE LAUDER (except the last one was taken by me)

LATEST ONLINE SHOP

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If you’re a fashion enthusiast, you’ll love HEYBEB.

This is not your ordinary fashion online shop. They have a curating concept by their own buyers and creative director, so what you see in their website are totally on trend, based on runways and social media. Consists of womenswear which named HEYBEB (which was actually inspired by “hey babe”), menswear which named HEYBRO, and the most unique one, petwear (currently for dogs only) which named HEYWOOF. 

As starter, they have quite a wide collection of simple and easy ready to wear fashion items. And yes, they have opening promo 25% off for all orders (what a bargain, considering that their prices are already that affordable-nothing over 500K rupiah). What’s more, they have their own blog which covers most of the trending topics about fashion and celebrities. 

At the launch event, they showcased their collection on models and muses.

The brain behind HEYBEB: young entrepreneur, Michelle E. Surjaputra and creative director, Ferdy Thaeras.

PHOTOS: HEYBEB.COM

PRACTICAL SUNSCREEN FOR CITY GIRLS

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Don’t be a late bloomer when it comes to sunscreen. Using sunscreen to protect your skin may not make you prettier instantly, but they’re investment for the future. Use now or it may be too late.

Thanks to L’Oreal Paris Indonesia who invited me and fellow bloggers earlier this week to learn some new sun facts and their latest sunscreen product. According to research and dr. Amaranila Lalita Drijono Sp.KK, dermatologist that was the expert speaker on the L’Oreal Paris Indonesia launching event:

  • Indonesia reach number 10 from scale 1 to 11 on the UV Index.
  • UV rays A & B have different characteristic. UVB will blast their maximum ray from 10 AM – 2 PM, but can be absorbed by cloud, ozone layer and glass material. Meanwhile, the UVA is the opposite. They can go through cloud and glass. 
  • To protect our skin from UVA, search for broadspectrum sunscreen with PA +++ (minimal) and to protect our skin from UVB, we need SPF 30 (minimal). 
  • We need to reapply sunscreen every 5 hours during the daylight, for its’ effectiveness. 
  • Bad UV rays will cause premature aging, dry and dull skin, and last but not least dark spots.

Surprisingly, lots of us didn’t care of using sunscreen to protect our skin from the harsh UV rays. Which one are you? 

  1. “I’m an indoor person, I rarely go out under the sun, so why bother using one?”
  2. “I hate wearing sunscreen because it reminds me too much of the smell of pool and beach.”
  3. “I dislike the texture. It’s thick, sticky when applied and ruined my makeup.”

Well……you’ll be surprised when you try the UV Perfect range from L’Oreal Paris. They’re light, very easy to apply, didn’t leave any white effect and quickly absorbed. They even have the colored ones, purple tint for dull skin and pink tint for instant brightness. 

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Available in four varieties to be apply at the end of your skincare routine (after serum and moisturizer), from L-R: UV Perfect Advanced 12 H UV Protector Transparent, UV Perfect Instant White Advanced 12 H UV Protector, UV Perfect Advanced 12 H UV Protector Anti Dullness and UV Perfect Aqua Essence Advanced Watery Gel 12 H UV Protector. Make sure you choose the right first base of sunscreen according to your skin’s need at least before applying your makeup. Give them time to absorb on your skin, at least 30 minutes before you step out of the door every morning. 

As previously stated, sunscreen is recommended to be reapply in 5 hours. Seriously, do we have to do our makeup from zero? Of course NOT! Introducing the latest invention from L’Oreal Paris: UV Perfect Aqua Essence City UV Mist.

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Way above the minimal requirements for daily need of sunscreen protection, with SPF 50+ and PA ++++, this is how a city girl like us supposed to retouch our sunscreen. No need to do makeup from zero in mid day (who has time to do this anyway?). Just SPRAY over your makeup. Yes! On top of makeup, as it won’t ruin anything, even my mascara and eyeliner. No need to pat, just make sure you shake the can bottle well before use, spray within the 15cm distance and spray evenly. 

As it’s dry transparent mist, it gave matte result with powdery scent and no white after effect. No stickiness involved, too. Just a perfect sunscreen touch up throughout the day. 

Please click here to check your indoor UV Index. Because we’re not living inside a cave anymore, we’re not save from UV rays. Let’s start protecting our skin while we can!

PHOTOS: SHINTA ROSVITA (except the UV Perfect Aqua Essence City Face Mist).

MY FIRST EVER IN-OFFICE TEETH BLEACHING

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Yes, you read this right. I never did professional teeth bleaching in my whole life. 

Well, I did the ‘at-home’ ones. But it was tacky and painful, I decided to stop my DIY teeth bleaching. Whatever, I thought…I was never born with ultra-white teeth anyway. Plus I’m an avid fans of colored drinks, coffee, tea, sodas, you name it. 

Before you read on, reader discretion advised, as this specific blog post contains graphic images of my whole mouth. LOL. I warned you.

Thanks to The Clinic | Beautylosophy Indonesia, for the opportunity to try their Bleaching service at their homey clinic.

As you might already knew, dental bleaching aka tooth whitening is a common procedure in cosmetic dentistry. Goal: to restore natural tooth color and helps remove stains. And actually, teeth naturally will darken as we age, especially if you’re an avid coffee/tea/colored drinks drinker like me. 

At The Clinic | Beautylosophy, drg. Ika Utami was the dentist who performed the Bleaching on me, and she was very helpful throughout the process (knowing that I almost had panic attack on the seat). 

The process itself could’ve take one hour in total (including scaling), but the dentist lessen it for 10 minutes, since I had trouble with the cheek retractor used (seriously, I felt like Hannibal Lechter). 

At this clinic, they use OPALESCENCE BOOST, a chemically activated power whitening gel, use for medical purpose only (don’t do this at home). As I wrote earlier, I got panic attack. So, instead of the 40 minutes suggested application, I got 30 minutes. Not bad for the first timer. The green one along the gum, is the resin barrier, used to protect the gum from the Opalescence Boost. The red one is the Opalescence Boost. The texture is like gel, and yeah I kept my mouth open like this for 30 minutes (it was air-dried, I suppose). 

After 30 minutes, the red gel was suck using the suction machine until totally clean.

Before bleaching, my teeth were coded C2 on the list shown above. And after the 30 minutes bleaching, they got lighter about 4 shades. NOT BAD!!! I can imagine if I didn’t have my panic attack and continued for another 10 minutes. But I’m already happy with the 4 shades lighter result. 

The dentist recommends to do Bleaching every once a year, and there are some restrictions afterward. No eating for an hour after Bleaching, reduce the consumption of colored drinks (oh dear,  to lessen the consumption of coffee will be hard for me), and brush your teeth regularly with specific brush and tooth paste for sensitive teeth. For those who are very sensitive, you might feel slightly pain on your teeth after this procedure. But nothing a pain killer can’t fix. 

For more infos about this specific procedure, please visit The Clinic Indonesia | Beautylosophy website, here. 

HAVE WE MISSED THIS STEP …

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… on our makeup routine?

To tell you the truth, I’m not a big fan of skin primer. As a working mom, I need to do my makeup as fast as I can every morning, and adding this step would’ve mean adding another minutes to the routine. 

But…lately I felt my foundation easily slipped off in mid day, thanks to crazy summer heat in this concrete jungle of Jakarta. So, yeah I need something to help my makeup stay put for longer. 

Enter….MAKE UP FOR EVER STEP 1 SKIN EQUALIZER. In 11 variants. Yes, that much. So, there’s no way that I can’t find the one for my skin type and problems. 

Thanks to Make Up For Ever Indonesia, I got two primers to try: SMOOTHING PRIMER & RADIANT PRIMER in BLUE. 

If you have dry patches and fine lines, SMOOTHING PRIMER is the one for you. Slightly tinted in a flesh tone colour, it did blend well without looking ashy on my fair skin tone. 

The smooth texture will help to fill those fine lines. It felt balmy when applied and looked matte yet poreless. 

On top of the Smoothing Primer, I applied Radiant Primer to color correct. Since my skin tone is fair and easily turns to red when the sun is blazing, the Blue color is just right!

Yup, it’s light blue. But don’t worry, once applied and blended, skin will look fresher.

I applied Smoothing Primer first, then on top I applied the Blue Radiant Primer. I didn’t put any foundation, concealer, nor powder on above pic, so you can see the true result of these two primers. I was quite surprised. Imperfections blurred before I got to concealer and foundation. So I decided to ditch the foundation, concealer & powder at once after I took the above pic, how time saving was that?

The idea of having 11 choices is great too. I mean, our skin condition are changing most of the time, so who might know that my super oily skin will need Nourishing Primer next? And the idea of mix and match is just too fun to be missed. Anyway, makeup is supposed to be fun, right? 

Full range of STEP 1 SKIN EQUALIZER will be available in Make Up For Ever Indonesia’s stores at September 1, 2015. 

PHOTOS: SHINTA ROSVITA

LET’S REFRESH WITH THESE BODY COCKTAILS

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This year’s summer was super hot. Literally. 

And the worst part about this summer, no holiday for me. Yes, that means, no sipping cocktails by the pool while wearing big hat and that designer’s sunglasses. Sigh. Then came one fine day after office hours, I got home and received this cool package (complete with the cocktail shaker) from The Body Shop Indonesia. Limited Edition Body Care range with an irresistible blend of lime extracts and crushed mint leaves, named VIRGIN MOJITO. I believed they were inspired by the same Virgin Mojito, the alcohol-free version of the popular refreshing poolside cocktail. 

A perfect summer essentials to get that fresh feeling every day, especially if you’re a fan of fresh and uplifting scent. In the package I received the Shower Gel, Body Scrub and Body Butter to try. I’ve tried the shower gel with warm water in the shower and I love the way it cleansed well with tingling mint and touch of citrusy scent. Use loofah for extra foam and enjoyable bathing experience. Great for morning use to sort of waking up the skin. 

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Check out the green beads in the body scrub. Comes in a gel formula, it’s not too harsh, even when I applied them on dry skin. I love to scrub on dry skin, as I believe it’s more effective to remove dead skin. 

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Last but not least, the body butter. Wonderful texture, it melts into my skin like butter. Don’t be fooled by the strong fragrance once you opened the tub, because the scent will toned down once applied and stay soft for the next 3 hours. It didn’t make my skin look greasy or feel like one, too. I think it’s more lightweight than the previous body butters from The Body Shop that I’ve tried. 

The complete Virgin Mojito range are now available in The Body Shop Indonesia’s stores and online. Go get them now, as they’re limited edition!

PHOTOS: SHINTA ROSVITA

TRY THIS GLOSS

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New from Make Up For Ever: ARTIST PLEXI-GLOSS.

If you follow my Instagram (@shintarosvita), you’ll notice how I love matte lips. I guess, I’m just used to the texture. I dislike everything sticky on my lips, which will make my long hair stuck on my lips when blown by the wind (I bet you ever felt like this too). But….I just love looking at new shades, trying on new texture, I guess that’s just the blogger’s soul inside of me.

Then, there are 35 shades of these Artist Plexi-Gloss. The latest gloss (more to lacquer I may say) from Make Up For Ever. Nudes, Pinks, Corals, Reds, and Black (yes, black!) with Pearl & Solid textures. Just check the bottom of the packaging, the one with the code P after the numbers (P stands for Pearl, by the way) are the one with shimmer.

At the launch event, me and fellow bloggers were given three of Artist Plexi-Gloss to review. And here, I tried two of them, since the third one is transparent, so I’m just gonna use the transparent one on top of the other shades. 

Above pic is shade 101 “NUDE BEIGE”. As the name stated, it’s really nude. I recommend to put on lip liner before applying and skip lip balm as it’s already moisturising enough. The texture is really smooth, and the exclusive applicator (named SuperFlex) made it easy to apply in one stroke. If you’re looking for a perfect high gloss nude shade without having to cover your real lip colour with concealer, this shade is the one. 

Then I try the second one, 300P “GOLDEN PINK CORAL” below.

Yes, this one is with Pearl. More shimmery and a lot more sheer. You can judge only from the swatch on the back of my hand. The vinyl-like texture is the same with the non Pearl one, with golden sparkle shimmer. And the shade falls more pink than coral (at least on my lips). For extra shine, add the “TRANSPARENT” shade on top. 

I can’t feel any scent or taste, so it’s a plus for me. These glosses are the thickest gloss that I’ve ever tried, but I believe that what makes them long wearing (they last even after eating & drinking). Avoid applying too much and you’ll be fine. I also recommend to try the shades first in their store before you buy, as it might look different from the tube once applied on lips. Happy trying!

PHOTOS: SHINTA ROSVITA