Tag: 2013

BLINGY FLIP FLOPS? WHY NOT 

Once upon a time, there was a simple type of footwear, worn in a very casual way, mostly at the beach, named Flip Flops.

And now, there’s Havaianas! Not your typical (read: simple) kind of flip flops, they have come far long the way since their first pair in 1962. Made out of a secret 100% rubber formula that don’t smell and lose their shapes, Havaianas is one global fashion phenomenon. The explosion of colors made them fashionable and fun, yet very functional. 

Their playfulness didn’t stop there, apparently. To celebrate this festive season, Havaianas collaborated with Swarovski to add those bling to your feet. The best part of all: we can make our own Havaianas. Customized and personalized right to the bling!

I was invited to their event yesterday at Galeries Lafayette, Jakarta, Indonesia. At their pop-up booth (located at level 1), me and fellow bloggers were “challenged” to be our own designer for our own pair of Havaianas with crystal pins from Swarovski. To tell you the truth, it was so hard to pick only one out of 10 color choices for soles, metallic straps and those bling-bling Swarovski pins. I almost changed my mind couple of times. Haha.. But, in the end, I decided to go with Lime Green Soles, Pool Green Straps and the classic Crystal colored Swarovski pins. 

The first step of Make Your Own Havaianas is to pick your Havaianas color combination from the wheel. Spin the wheel to see what colors you love most. Either match them, or (I personally suggest) mix them up to create a playful flip flops. Pick the soles and the straps (Rp 349.000), then crystal pin (each Rp 49.000) from Swarovski. You can also locate your pin position, to make them more comfortable to wear. After you picked them all, you can see personally how the Havaianas team at the booth created your Havaianas on the very same spot. It was really fun to see them made the sandals (how they made the holes and put on the straps and pins in it). It took about 5 minutes for the team to create my new pair of blingy flip flops (yeay!). After finished, the pair were put inside a black zipper travel pouch, perfect for traveling. 

Better hurry, because Havaianas pop up booth at Galeries Lafayette, Jakarta, Indonesia, will only be there from now till Christmas (Dec 25, 2013). If you’re not in the mood to create your own Havaianas (WHY?), you can also purchase a pair of limited edition Havaianas Slim Crystal Mesh in black or white soles (Rp 899.000 each) which were displayed at the booth. The Swarovski crystals are handstitched and sold with beautifully gift box in a Havaianas velvet lined hard case, perfect for Christmas present!

STEP FORWARD IN PERFUMERY

If you choose a cashmere sweater from a high end brand because you think about the quality of the material and the longevity of having & enjoying it, then you’re already a step forward.

Are you also ready to take a step forward in your choice of perfume? Now, you can experience something entirely different and totally unexpected out of the Oud Mood collection from Maison Francis Kurkdjian.
Especially for the Indonesia’s launch of these unique perfumes, Marc Chaya, President &co-founder of Maison Francis Kurkdjian Paris kindly shared with me and fellow press about the goods of Oud.
“Oud is a very powerful scent, used by people in the middle east,” explain Marc. He later explained that most perfumers mixed Oud with incense to make it more acceptable. “It’s not a DNA of French perfumery. French school of perfumery is all about floral.” Even though Francis Kurkdjian himself did resistant about adding Oud to his perfumer palette at the first place, this raw material become OUD, the embryo for Oud Mood collection in February 2012, after Marc convinced him.
“The Oud that we’re using, come from Laos when they’re growing naturally like a fungus. They’re like a disease which formed white resins around trees. Oud is the second most expensive essential oil in the world after Iris. It cost us US$65.000 per kilo, and we need 5 tons to make 1 liter of essential oil.”
Just like its’ predecessor, the trio in Oud Mood Collection are not all about Oud. We will only feel a fraction of Oud which wrapped with other interesting scents. “Rough and brutal Oud, wrapped up with the softness of rare and soft fabrics,” said Marc about the Silk Mood, Velvet Mood & Cashmere Mood, three extraits de parfum from Oud Mood Collection. No ordinary perfumes indeed, as they’re concentrated with 30% pure essential oil (that’s 10% more than ordinary Eau De Parfum).
Smooth as silk, Silk Mood is the lightest and the most feminine of them all. Created in Francis’ mind as a genderless perfume, this perfume extract wrapped up Oud with Bulgarian Rose, Blue Chamomile from Morocco and Papyrus. Expect to scent a very Oud scent became airy like a caressed rose petals on our skin.
Luxurious like cashmere, Cashmere Mood is definitely not for the faint of heart. Imagine walking inside an all leather store, as it’s very leathery, thanks to Moroccan Labdanum, Benzoin from Laos and Vanilla which enhanced the Oud. I imagine a very sophisticated man (with a nice leather shoes) owned this.
Mysterious like velvet, Velvet Mood is the purest and closest interpretation of OUD, the predecessor, released with cinnamon from Ceylon, saffron and exotic Copahu Balm from Brazil. It goes dark yet give those majestic and royal sense.
After attending the exclusive launch of Oud Mood in The Library at The Dharmawangsa Hotel, Jakarta, Indonesia, I really believe that Oud is not for those commercial (read: mass market) type. For those who embrace life and of course, Oud fanatics, Oud Silk Mood, Oud Cashmere Mood & Oud Velvet Mood will be a permanent collection. Available in 70ml Extrait de Parfum (price TBA in Indonesia), it’s a perfect way to enjoy your fine life just like the cashmere parable mentioned above.

 

EXCLUSIVELY AVAILABLE AT HARRODS

Invasion of Dior at the uber famous Knightsbridge’s original, Harrods.

From March 15till April 14, 2013, there’ll be mini exhibitions, wonderful window displays which reconstruct Dior’s façade in 30 Avenue Montaigne, Paris, 50 seats café which will serve Dior-doodled cupcakes and last but not least exclusive Dior products.

Here are some of the exclusive products that really catch my eyes, from teddy bear, snow ball, and a super fabulous Lady Dior bag with tartan covered handles. 

THINK GLOBALLY, ACT WOMENLY

Today is International Women’s Day.

Official holiday in countries such as Afghanistan, Armenia, Cambodia, China, Cuba, Laos, Mongolia, Nepal, Russia, Ukraine, Vietnam and Zambia, here’s to celebrating all inspiring women and their achievements for the world.

According to the UN’s site, these horrible things are still happening in the world today:
·      Up to 50% of sexual assaults are committed against girls under the age of 16. (Oh, come on!!!)

·      Globally, 603 million women live in countries where domestic violence is not yet considered a crime. (WTF?!)

·      Up to 70% of women in the world report having experienced physical and/or sexual violence at some point in their lifetime. (how about some R.E.S.P.E.C.T here?)

·      Over 60 million girls worldwide are child brides, married before the age of 18. (Seriously?!)

And as former US First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt ever said “Do what you feel in your heart to be right-for you’ll be criticized anyway. You’ll be damned if you do, and damned if you don’t.”

 

BE A DONOR OF LOVE

There’s nothing wrong to love yourself, but loving others and environment will set us to become a better person.

End of February 2013, The Body Shop Indonesia held a media gathering to thank fellow press for supporting them throughout their campaign in 2012, Beauty With Heart. 

The inspiring program was a huge success, so did their new concept store ‘Pulse’ which look amazingly warm and informative to deliver The Body Shop values for their Indonesian loyal customers (including me).

Rika Anggraini (Head of Corporate Communications) and Ratu Ommaya (PR & Social Media Manager) from The Body Shop Indonesia, announced 9 journalists who won cash prizes for the writing and photo competition. They also gave out many game prizes and door prizes (I won a digital camera, by the way. Yeay!) throughout the press only event.

So, what’s next for 2013? To kick off this year, The Body Shop Indonesia will donate 100% profits from their latest product, Dragon Fruit Lip Butter to three charities in Indonesia. If you buy this super moisturizing lip butter made from shea butter, beeswax and dragon fruit essence, you’ll be given one token and the freedom to vote or choose which charity do you want to support. They are: Green Initiative Foundation, Borneo Orang Utan Survival Foundation and Kakak Foundation.

Rika said, their sales target for Dragon Fruit Lip Butter (each sold for Rp 59.000) is 28.000 pieces, and it’s already available in store since the beginning of February 2013. So rush to the store before they run out, and make sure you vote.

 

 

A TRIP DOWN BEAUTY LANE

Kicked off 2013 with family holiday. Fun in the sun, drugstores and beauty isles. Total bliss!

Went to Legoland Malaysia and short visit to Singapore with my boys. They came back with tans on their skin, and me? Still pale but happy with all the beauty products that I managed to get on such short trip. 

Here they are:

–       Maybelline New York Lashionista Mascara

–       Bioderma Sensibio H2O

–       Essence Lash & Brow Gel

–       L’Oreal Color Riche Le Nail Art

–       Skinfood Salmon Dark Circle Concealer Cream

–       Skinfood Salmon Dark Circle Powder

–       Essence Nail Art Express Dry Drops

–       Rachel K CC Cream

–       Chanel CC Cream

–       Majolica Majorca Lash King Mascara

–       Guerlain Meteorites Perles

–       Shu Uemura Karl Lagerfeld Eyelash Curler

–       Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion

–       Revlon Colorstay Eyeliner

–       Essence Quatro Eyeshadow

–       Nars Velvet Matte Lip Pencil

–       Essence Fix & Matte Translucent Loose Powder

–       Essence Gel Eyeliner

Can’t wait to review them one by one. Stay tune.

GO GREEN, LITERALLY

As Pantone already announced their color of 2013, are you ready to be spotted in this hot hue?

I have to admit, I am not. I don’t think I look that great in green, so I’m going to stick with this ‘in’ shade on my nails. Still, it’s an alternative way to be seen in green, right?

My Pick:

OPI “Jade is the new black”

RESCUE BEAUTY LOUNGE “Recycle”

ILLAMASQUA “Rampage”

REVLON “Emerald”

ORLY “Enchanted Forest”

 

WE ARE FIREWORKS

Here are pictures of fireworks which blasting (literally) around our house’s rooftop, exactly at 00.00 year 2013. 

SHOULD AULD ACQUAINTANCE BE FORGOT?

Let’s toast for a very happy new year. 

Supposedly to be my last blog at 2012, I personally can’t be more happy to welcome 2013. Lots have happened this year, and as my hubby always said “everything happened for a reason”. Although I’m the kind of person who’s always seeking for an answer “why?”, but lately I’ve learned my lessons well. One day, we’ll all know the answer. 

Karl Lagerfeld once tweeted “I design like I breathe”. Well, I believe I write like I breathe. There was a time earlier this year when I just wanted to stop writing forever, but I couldn’t. Those words were flying inside my brain. Then, I found tumblr. Perfect releasing tools to keep doing what I love.

Support from my family, friends (real ones), and you (yes, you) really means a lot for this blog (please click the LIKE button on the right column). Anyway, this blog hasn’t reach her first year yet, lots to catch up. But boy was I surprised and happy to see one Russian lady liked my tumblr (thank you). 

Someone once said that happiness is small and achievable goals. I am doing it, so I guess I’m achieving exactly that. Here’s to 2012. Cheers!!!

OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW

It’s a perfect time to renew everything.

Including my makeup bag. I’ve been having the green makeup bag from Muji like forever, if it can talk, it’ll say ‘enough’. So, for 2013, I’ll go for metallic makeup bag from MAC (from Magic, Mirth & Mischief Collection).

Used to carry a lot inside my makeup bag, it was bulging and not to mention, heavy. So I cut down a few pieces and replaced them with double duty beauty products.

What’s inside my makeup bag for the upcoming year?

–       Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat : I carry concealer every day, to retouch under eyes makeup and side noses. It won’t crack over foundation & powder.

–       Kate Spade ‘Pop’ Lipstick Crayon : Always carry two lipsticks, one for night and one for day. I use this convenient lipstick crayon for night look (sometimes for day too, depends on the mood).

–       Soap & Glory ‘Naked Beige’ Lipstick : Now, this is my serious day lipstick when I want to be under the fabulous radar. LOL.

–       The Body Shop Lily Cole ‘Pink’ Lip & Cheek Dome : Double duty, and I don’t have to carry my blush brush anymore. Just dab and pat. Love it.

–       RMK Pressed Powder : It’s actually a setting powder to provide flawless finish, but I found it great to keep the skin matte without looking dull.

–       Kiehl’s Aromatic Blends Nashi Blossom & Pink Grapefruit Fragrance : Perfect size for traveling in a chic minimalist 30 ml bottle. So me.

–       L’Occitane Smooth Hands : Because I wash my hands a lot and dry hands are big NO NO.