Tag: indonesia

REVIEW: AZA 20 GEL (AZELAIC ACID 20%)

Dr Sam Bunting said it is a multi talented acid and her most loved ones too. 

After all those AHA, BHA, PHA, LHA that I’ve tried, I’ve decided to give this pore-cleaning acid a go. Especially after I did an exfoliant/retinol fasting due to Botox, read here. 

Why I bought the gel instead of the cream format? 
Well, Dr Davin Lim once said that Azelaic Acid is best or most stable in a gel formulation. So I purchased this local product at Erha Apothecary for IDR 96,5K (30ml). 

Why 20%? 
Since I’ve been using Adapalene for quite some time now, I believe that my skin can take stronger percentage of actives. It’s just my opinion, though. If you’ve never tried actives and took stronger ones, better start low. 

How I incorporate this to my skincare routine? 
Twice a day, morning and night on clean and dry skin after cleanser and toner. I usually use two drops for the whole face. It absorbed so fast, let me tell you. Then I will apply moisturizer than finish with sunscreen (morning).   

Why apply on the whole face? 
To get the full benefit, obviously! It’s not just great for congested pores, it also improves radiance and a good anti-oxidant. And unlike Retinol, I applied Azelaic Acid directly on clean dry skin without the help of moisturizer, because it is way more gentler than Retinol. 

Plus points: it’s safe for pregnancy and breast-feeding, great for sensitive skin (because of its’ low irritant factor), it’s anti bacterial.

My thoughts: if you can’t deal with the purging of Retinol, you might want to try this. It might left a bit of a white cast and felt powdery if applied alone. But if you layer with serum and/or moisturizer, it’ll be fine. What I’ve experienced so far with Azelaic Acid, it didn’t make active acnes pop in one night like Retinol. It won’t make skin get worse first before it can clear up like Retinol. But it is slower in action, only for the patient ones. After two weeks of using AA religiously, I might say it brighten up my whole skin tone and it did treat my redness around my nose. I also can see my new acne marks fading (see before after pics below). So far, I’m enjoying using AA and considering it’s affordable and locally available, I guess I’m going to use this for 6 months (as recommended) and pause my retinol/adapalene treatment. AA didn’t completely make new acne stop (it’s not a miracle ingredient), but it did reduce sebum production and clogged pores.

IT LEFT A WHITE CAST
BEFORE (LEFT) & AFTER 2 WEEKS (RIGHT)

PHOTOS: SHINTA ROSVITA

JUNE 2021 SKINCARE HAUL

Sharing you my skincare haul from iHerb, this was the first ever I bought from them. I’m a happy customer, because they already fixed the taxes and my order arrived exactly 10 days as promised. 

DIFFERIN DAILY DEEP CLEANSER 
Since my skin can’t bare Benzoyl Peroxide when applied topically as spot treatment, this cleanser is a great alternative. Contains 5% of Benzoyl Peroxide, it’s also fragrance free. 
Price IDR 195K for 118ml 

PACIFICA KALE DETOX DEEP CLEANSING FACE WASH
Interesting list of Super Greens and its’ claim to detox the skin made me bought this. With Kale, Coconut Water (not oil), Clay and Aloe Vera, it’s formulated for oily & blemish prone skin types. 
Price IDR 150K for 147ml 

COS DE BAHA HP SERUM
As I’ve been investing on Vitamin B5 for intake, due to my massive breakouts, I’ve been searching for topical treatment. Glad to found this serum which contains 4% of Panthenol aka Vitamin B5 as their top 5 ingredients. 
Price IDR 150K for 30ml

PHOTOS: SHINTA ROSVITA

EXFO FASTING FOR TEN DAYS

If you wondered why, well…I just had my Botox again after 5 years of Botox hiatus (watch my previous experience, here).

So what shall we do after Botox? Except the ordinary stuffs like don’t lie down for the next 6 hours, they told me not to use any exfoliants for 14 days. What?! No retinol, no BHA, no AHA for two weeks? Can my skin handle it? 

Guess not! I gave up on day 10, LOL. WHY?? Scroll down and you’d know.

Day 1 (after botox treatment)
Day 10 (result of exfo fasting)

As you can see from both before and after pics as my evidence. Pores were clogged heavily and I could feel that bumpiness on my skin textures. Just like the days before I met my Retinol.

AUGUST 2020, before RETINOL

So, moral of this post is: EXFOLIATING your skin is super important. But as always, know your skin and their ability to handle exfoliant. Some might need it every day like yours truly but some might not. Remember, you know your skin best.

For now, I decided to start my exfoliant again with gentler acid, Azelaic Acid, not my usual Adapalene and Tretinoin. More on Azelaic Acid, so stay tune for the next post. 

PHOTOS: SHINTA ROSVITA

BOTOX (AGAIN AFTER 5 YEARS)

Yes, due to lots of things happened in my life, including this global pandemic situation, I just had my Botox again, after 5 years of Botox hiatus (read my previous experience, here).

I did my second Botox Treatment at Jakarta Aesthetic Clinic with Dr Olivia Ong, you can check them out here. 

Why Botox if you might ask? Well, like most of people I do love my skincare products, but seriously how far can they go? I read it somewhere (I forgot where), skincare and botox are like diet and exercise. To achieve a successful and maximal result for your body, you need both to complement each other. 

Many did it earlier in their late 20’s for preventative botox, but for me it’s all about getting treatment, not just to relax wrinkles. And mine was not just a conventional Botox, obviously. It was like getting a facelift without surgery, very important for a woman my age, with problems on lower face.  

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REVIEW: JOYLAB WONDERSKIN

What comes with age beside wisdom? Fine lines and wrinkles. Also, skin texture changes. Basically, the easier way to say this is, our skin will become thinner and wrinkled easily following our biological clock.

We need powerful antioxidant to tackle this aging situation, stat!


Enter JOYLAB WONDERSKIN range, which consists of three products: ENERGY LOTION, POWER SERUM and ULTIMATE CRÈME. They are packed with a natural yet powerful antioxidant, named Croton Lecher Resin Extract, which is more popular with the name “Dragon’s Blood”, coming from a tree originally from the Amazon. It is known to energize our skin, giving it hydration, and helps to ward off free radicals that cause premature aging. 

ENERGY LOTION: the first thing to apply right after cleansing, act as a toner. It’s more viscous than an ordinary toner, but absorbed easily with tapping motion (I suggest not to use cotton pads). Great for normal to dry skin, as it also contains vitamin E to strengthen our skin barrier. I do recommend this for normal to dry skin.
Price IDR 270K for 30ml 

POWER SERUM: as powerful as the name and the only one in the range that’s safe for Fungal Acne. This serum also contains Niacinamide which is good to help lighten dark spot and even out our skin tone. Expect brighter and smoother complexion after using this for awhile. I love this hydrating serum as it’s not sticky (nice texture, BTW) and doesn’t make my skin look dewy as most of the hydrating serum I’ve tried.
Price IDR 250K for 15ml

ULTIMATE CRÈME: don’t be intimidated by the name. It does come with a cream texture, but it’s lightweight yet feel luxurious upon application (thanks to Shea Butter as one of their ingredients). If you have normal to dry skin, you can apply this twice a day, for a plumper looking skin. Just look at that glorious cream inside the jar!
Price IDR 250K for 27ml

PHOTOS: SHINTA ROSVITA & SCREENSHOTS FROM JOYLABBEAUTY WEBSITE.

MAY 2021 SKINCARE HAUL

Just in case you’re wondering, all of these below are fungal acne safe. Rejoice!

YVES ROCHER SEBO VEGETAL PURIFYING CLAY MASK
If you’ve been following my blog, you’d know that I’ve been using Clay Mask religiously to minimize my pores appearance. It contains Boreal Tea Powder to control shine, neutralize the appearance of imperfections and refine skin texture, without mineral oil, paraben and silicone. 
Price IDR189K for 75ml.

YVES ROCHER SEBO PURE VEGETAL CHARCOAL MASK
Another wash-off mask that I purchased from Yves Rocher, it specifically made to unclog pores and fight blackheads with natural charcoal and salicylic acid. Same like the Clay Mask, it contains no mineral oil, paraben and silicone. By the way, this is also a non-hardening mask (same like the above). 
Price IDR 149K for 75ml. 

BOTANICS ALL BRIGHT CLEANSING TONER
One of two skincare purchases from Boots that just opened last month here in Jakarta, Indonesia. Botanics is one of their home brand, known to use the power of plants. This toner contains hibiscus, known for its brightening properties and exfoliating flower acids to improve skin’s texture and radiance. 
Price IDR149K for 250ml. 

BOOTS GLOW PINEAPPLE GEL MOISTURISER
I love my gel moisturiser, and I’m so excited to try this. Obviously as the name stated, it contains pineapple extract, with glycerin and niacinamide. And good to know that this moisturiser is vegan. 
Price IDR113K for 50ml. 

PHOTOS: SHINTA ROSVITA

REVIEW: ELSHESKIN RADIANT SUPPLE SERUM & ELSHESKIN 5 IN 1 EYESSENTIAL NIGHT SERUM

Local brand from Indonesia, Elsheskin latest release. 


If you are a beginner in serum, to give you less options, you might want to check them out. As both of these serums made from powerful active ingredients, natural and scientific proven.

Price IDR 215K for 20ml

RADIANT SUPPLE SERUM (for face) contains Niacinamide, Glycerin & Arbutin and it’s safe for Fungal Acne. But it does contain Centella Asiatica Leaf Extract (not in top 5 ingredients), which personally doesn’t suit me especially when my acne are still active.

IMHO, it’s best to use when you don’t have current active acnes. Please note, this serum is not dedicated to heal acne, but to even skin tone and help with hyperpigmentation. It does work to lessen the look of newly formed acne marks. I didn’t feel any stinging when I use this serum, it’s just like they claimed: light and gentle.

One week usage, on newly formed acne marks
Price IDR 199K for 15ml

As the name clearly stated, the eye serum is for night time use only, because it contains Retinol. If you’ve been following me, you’d know that retinol works well on my skin and I don’t use eye cream because it produced milia. That’s why, I like this eye serum. Do not worry that it’ll sting your eyes because of the retinol. It won’t. Just don’t apply too close to your eyes, you shall be fine.

Of course, dark circles are genetic, and won’t disappear completely by the use of any eye care products in this world. But you can simply lessen the look of it and make them look fresher. Especially in this era of wearing mask, when mask hits right under our dark circles. 

One week usage, brighter dark circles and less harsh under eyes lines

PHOTOS: SHINTA ROSVITA

APRIL 2021 SKINCARE HAUL

Grateful because I still have lots of skincare products from brands that were sent to me as their PR packages, so I’ll make sure that I only purchased max 3 items in a month. Here are my haul this month. 

BENTON ALOE PROPOLIS SOOTHING GEL

I purchased this instantly after I saw one of Director Pi’s YouTube video about how to minimize pores. In that video, she recommends to mix clay mask (wash-off mask) with kaolin ingredient, with aloe gel. So I chose this one because it’s safe for fungal acne (obviously), contains 80% of aloe barbadensis leaf juice and 10% of propolis. Actually it’s a moisturizer, so I might use this as a moisturizer too. 
Price IDR135K for 100ml.

SKIN GAME ACNE WARRIOR

This is a local brand, and I actually bought this for my son, since I don’t really use specific acne treatment. But looking at the ingredients’ list, it’s quite promising that’s why I purchased it. It contains: Calamine, Salicylic Acid, Sulfur and Kaolin, all great for acne. Don’t expect a full tube, though. In fact, mine (purchased from their official store in market place) only filled like half of the tube. 
Price IDR125K for 30gr. 

PHOTOS: SHINTA ROSVITA

REVIEW: DENTISTE ORAL RINSE

During this pandemic, I have to admit that I got obsessed with everything ‘hygiene’, including oral hygiene. 

Staying at home (most of the time) does not mean that you only gargle and brush your teeth once a day. Do you know that there are studies about gargling with antiseptic mouthwash as a potential preventive to Covid-19? Well, there’s not yet enough evidence about it, but I believe gargling to prevent upper respiratory infection is real. Before I got myself to this gargling, sore throats were a thing for me. But it was in the past, now that I gargle twice a day. 

This is one of my favorite mouthwash. Even though it is not cheap (priced at IDR200,500 for a 450ml bottle), but it worth every gargle. 

What’s so special? Dentiste Oral Rinse has a special pH-balanced formula and uses OPTA FLOW Technology for boosting self-cleansing salivary flow, which helps reduce bacteria deposit, protect the gum and moisturize the mouth to prevent dry mouth for long lasting fresh breath. 

If you dislike the burning and stinging sensation from other oral rinse in the market, you will love this for sure. And what I really notice from my own experience, it really helps with morning breath if I gargled right before I jump on my bed. Especially now, during the month of fasting, it’s very important to keep your breath fresh. Imagine, putting on your mask but your own breath stinks. Mind me, bad bacterias from your mouth and breath will trigger maskne. So, make sure you gargle twice a day, after you brush your teeth with a cup of Dentiste Oral Rinse. You’ll feel the difference, trust me.

PHOTOS: SHINTA ROSVITA

REVIEW: PETER THOMAS ROTH WATER DRENCH

Do you know that for oily skin people like myself, it’s actually harder for the skin to retain moisture? And yet some people still think only dry skin people need hydration. 

Dehydrated skin might worsen oil issues, because they will naturally produce more oil to compensate the dehydration. Therefore, caused more blemishes and breakouts.

IMHO, it’s best to keep our skin hydrated all the time, not to just treat them while dehydration happened. And one of the best way to maintain skin hydration is to use skincare products with Hyaluronic Acid (HA). HA will help to replenish and hold cell moisture, keeping our skin well-hydrated and as a bonus, plumper! 

Enter PETER THOMAS ROTH WATER DRENCH. They’re powered by Hyaluronic Acid to help lock in hydration for up to 72 hours. As I always said in my blog and instagram, never ever count on only one skincare product to fix your skin problem(s), I will also say it again for this range. I believe they are in sync, so I really recommend to try them according to proper skincare steps, to achieve maximal hydration result (especially if you have dehydrated and dry skin altogether).

Here’s what I thought for each product.

WATER DRENCH HYALURONIC CLOUD HYDRATING TONER MIST
If you asked me which one is my favorite from this hydrating line, this mist won my heart at first spritz. If you’ve been following me quite sometime, you’d know that I’d never apply moisturizer on dry skin. I’d always make sure that my skin is damp before applying moisturizer. Why? Because damp skin is more receptive to active ingredients. This Toner Mist also filled with Witch Hazel to help clarify the skin, though some might reacted to it but fortunately my skin can take it. It’s so enjoyable to spritz, it feels just like pure water on the skin. No after-feel, no stickiness, no fragrance, leaving skin feels refreshed and cool. 
Price IDR450K for 150ml. 

WATER DRENCH HYALURONIC CLOUD SERUM
It’s the priciest of them all, but it is a serum with intense 75% Hyaluronic Acid Complex, and you only need one pump for the whole face. I love the clear liquid gel texture, and the fact that it’s oil free and fragrance free. It’s safe for Fungal Acne, too! However, it still contains parabens on the last of their ingredients’ list. 
Price IDR 1.050K for 30ml

WATER DRENCH HYALURONIC CLOUD CREAM HYDRATING MOISTURIZER
Concentrated 30% Hyaluronic Acid Complex cream with three molecular sizes of HA. It also contains Pentavitin® which help to provide up to 72 hours of hydration, even after cleansing. 
I love how the texture is so light and fluffy, and the fact that it is fragrance free. And I do believe that there’s a reason why some skincare products are darn pricey, because they’re so darn delightful when applied. You can feel it glides luxuriously, yet easily absorbed without any effort. 
However, it still contains Dimethicone, PEG and not safe for Fungal Acne (but luckily didn’t trigger mine)
Price IDR 850K for 50ml

PHOTOS: SHINTA ROSVITA