Month: July 2016

PERSONALISED IS KEY

This week I got invited to IOMA Indonesia event. Unlike any beauty event I attended, this one was quite different and unique. 

All the guests were ‘challenged’ at TWG Tea Salon & Boutique in Plaza Senayan, to discover our own signature tea blends. As you might already know, IOMA is a number one personalised skin care, so discovering my favourite tea blend is so bespoke. 

I visited TWG several times before, and yes they have so many choices of tea. But at this event, I learned so much more. Apparently, they differentiate their over 800 choices of tea by two general type: Single Estate and Blend. And if you’re a tea drinker like me, wouldn’t it be good to know where they’re coming from and what’s exactly you’re drinking?

Of course, TWG only offers the finest tea leaves from around the world, some are very limited in production which made them more expensive than the others. And yes, they also carefully maintain the hot water to preserve the flavour and aroma of their tea. Turn out, 90 degrees Celsius of hot water is best. Not boiling water nor the hot water from dispenser. And they also use the finest white bone china to serve their tea, because they claimed it’s the best. 

And yes, they only use the leaves once. That’s why you can’t ask for hot water refill in TWG because it’ll change the flavour and aroma of your tea. Interesting, right?

We tasted five different kinds of tea to find out our own favourite, ranging from white tea to blue tea (don’t worry..they’re not literally blue). And my fave will be the white ones. The taste…the aroma…perfect!

Of course, everyone has different favourite as we all have different taste and all. Same goes with our skincare. As our skin are different, we need the precise formula to make it perfect. Enter…..IOMA MA CRÈME. 

Translated into MY CREAM, these are personalised skincare. Made especially for each of us, by doing skin check first before the Beauty Advisor at the counter mix them for us. 

By doing skin check (recommended at every 6 weeks), we’ll know our skin’s need. 

Very high technology, yet very practical..they actually mix them in front of you. Divided into DAY & NIGHT cream, MA CRÈME is actually 1 active base (moisturiser) with 8 variable skin serums (3 hydrating and 5 regenerating). Each drop depends on our skin diagnosis. 

I’ll review them after I use these regularly for four weeks, so stay tune for the review. 

PHOTOS: SHINTA ROSVITA

MUST HAVE FOR A PERFECT DOUBLE CLEANSE

Well, it did what they stated on the product. SHISEIDO PERFECT CLEANSING OIL.

For me, double cleanse is a must. No matter how late I went home or how tired and stressful I am, I wouldn’t sleep with my makeup on. And since I wear makeup everyday, my skin deserves to ‘breathe’ perfectly at night.

I have to admit, it was quite a struggle finding the right first cleanser to remove makeup and dirt. I started using cleansing milk as teenager, because it was the only makeup remover available on the market at that time. Imagine how many cotton pads had been wasted by me. LOL.

By time, there are cleansing water and cleansing oil. As an avid user of waterproof and long lasting makeup, I’ve tried some of both. I have to admit, cleansing water is good for oily skin, but for powerful waterproof makeup, it just didn’t cleanse well. As for oil, some that I’ve tried previously, are either to sticky for my oily skin, some stung my eyes, and blurred my vision. Not good.

Until I found Shiseido Perfect Cleansing Oil.

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With key ingredients such as mineral oil, glycerin & grapeseed oil and minimal floral scent, this cleansing oil is my current favorite for my double cleanse routine. I believe oil remove makeup and dirt better than cleansing water, because as you might already know…some makeup do contain oil. So yeah, oil meets oil!

How to apply? They recommend three pumps on the instruction leaflet, but two pumps are enough for me. Pour onto palm then rub directly on face. After a few rubs, add a bit water, rub more until it emulsified. Then rinse with more water.

The texture is clear like water and more liquidy than other cleansing oils that I’ve tried, making this cleansing oil the most lightweight. At my video above, I applied matte liquid lipstick and waterproof eyeliner pencil which I found were the most tough ones to remove. But look at how quickly they were gone with just a finger rub. It must be the Shiseido original Gentle Quick Removing Technology which claimed to rapidly reach deep down into the pores to thoroughly remove dirt & makeup.

The after feeling: very clean, yet no oil residue on hands and face. It won’t make the skin looks matte, however it’ll leave that sort of dewy effect but not shiny. Skin feels soft and plump, not dry. And yes, you can use this for daily use.

AFFORDABLE YET DELICIOUS BEEF BBQ IN TOWN

Earlier this week, I tried this Korean restaurant in Lippo Mall Kemang, Jakarta Indonesia, named MUJIGAE.

Not a new restaurant, but I don’t know why it took me awhile to try this casual Korean Food Restaurant. But then, my son tried it first with his friends, and he said it was delicious, so there I went.

There are several Korean restaurants in my neighbourhood, but I must say this Mujigae has the best yet super affordable barbecue beef. I went with my son and hubby, so there were three of us and we only spent less than IDR 300K including drinks. Bring cash, because they don’t accept credit cards yet.

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Other than the barbecue beef, we also ordered Bulgogi (shown above). It was a successful dish also, considering they sliced the beef thinly and very well marinated (the meat there is very tender & tasteful). Different from the beef barbecue which you have to put on the pan slice by slice, the Bulgogi’s meat are already on the pan.

Comes with the DIY mini grill pan (how cute, right?), the con is: when the fire is too big, watch out for the splattered oil and overcooked beef. By the way, our barbecue beef and bulgogi come with kimchi and nori sheets too. For drinks, try their Mango Yakult (very refreshing!).

Recommended? Hell, yeah. I’ll be back for sure.

Jakarta, the old town

Well, here’s the new post after a very long Lebaran’s holiday.

I went to Kota Tua yesterday. Been too long, because I live on the very different part of Jakarta, on the south. Meanwhile, Kota Tua is on the north side. With all the crazy traffic jam, this will be my visit after a few years. Yeah..that bad. But actually I always have this soft spot for everything historical. So when traffic was not that bad these days due to Lebaran’s holiday, off I go.

Until the end of this month (July 2016), they have this exhibition “Kota Tua Ruang Kita”. 

It was a non AC exhibition place, so expect hot weather, but nevertheless it was a very informative exhibition, explaining this vintage part of Jakarta from then till now. Let’s just hope that Kota Tua will be one of Unesco’s world heritage soon (as aimed by our current governor who’ve worked very hard for this project).

This exhibition is held on the second floor of this old building. Downstairs is a coffee shop named Historia. And of course, I wouldn’t missed the chance to sip a glass of ice Latte.

A glance of Historia’s entrance (cool, right?). Coffee served by Tanamera, so it’s good. But I didn’t eat anything, so I can’t say much about the food. 

PHOTOS: PINKY MIRROR