Beauty is Forever

Green Tea to Welcome my Winter (^_^)

2011-12-04T22:44:00.000+08:00

Holla beauties!

This is my first product review for Innisfree. Innisfree is a beauty brand from Korea and my Korean friend told me that this is quite famous and has better quality than some other brands from its class. I was looking for a skin care for the coming winter and my friend suggested me this brand. Since her friend was coming from Korea, she said her friend could help me get something from there, and voila! Here it is: Innisfree Green Tea Pure Cream. Thank you, love! <3

The product comes in 50ml green plastic jar, so it's such a good choice for a clumsy girl like me. I broke my last Etude House Aloe Lotion *hiks* (T____T") The cream is clear-white and feels light, not sticky at all. It absorbs quite fast into your skin and leaves moisturized and delicate feeling. It has a quite strong green tea scent, I personally like the scent but it might not be very good if your skin is allergic to perfume.

Luckily, the packaging provides both Korean and English explanation. It claims to be 100% pure from organic green tea. It is supposed to revive dry and stressed skin. In order to complete the skin care regime, you need to follow the usage order: serum - lotion - eye cream - cream. So far, I only use this cream as the base/primer before applying my BB cream or foundation and my make up is nicely set on!

In conclusion, this is a nice product. I rate this product 4.5 out of 5. The only minus point about this product is the scent, which could be overwhelming for some people. Although there has been no side effect on my skin so far.

Since this baby is a gift, I have no idea how much the exact price is. But I believe it's around USD 20. Unfortunately they don't have any stores in Taiwan :-(

Magic Mousse for Your Hands and Feet

2011-12-04T21:12:00.000+08:00

Holla readers. Sorry for the long absence. So after my last post in September, I lost my laptop. Yeah, it was stolen in my room and thus I had no laptop for more than a month :-( I was quite shocked and upset about this so I moved out from that house and thank God I could finally buy another laptop :-) Although it's just a second hand one, at least it can work quite okay.

And recently I found this product on the net. You have read my previous posts on Nadine Salembier products, haven't you? If you haven't, you can find the posts in September archives. This product is called: MULTI ACTION MAGIC MOUSSE. If you think this is a hair styling product, then you're so WRONG! This is a body care product which has 3 functions: to disinfect, moisturize and soothe our tired legs.

The first reason I was interested in purchasing this product is because it has disinfectant function, which means it can banish germs and bacteria. I like to have snacks. You know, Taipei has so many street food stalls, name it: 雞排 (fried chicken)! and of course they don't provide customers with sink, water and soap! Therefore I always put wet tissue in my bag. However, wet tissue it cleanses your hands from dirt and dust but not from bacteria, right? Then I decided to try this product.

This product contains ethanol, which is supposed to disinfect; panthenol to moisturize your skin; and castor oil which is generally used to relieve muscle pain, soften skin and banish yeast ( link to castor oil benefits ). I can see that multifunctional product is not a bad idea at all! I mean, if I want to hang out for a daylong walking around the city. When I wanna eat then I can use this mousse to cleanse my hands, or when I feel tired on my legs then I'll just have to apply this to relieve the pain.

Then I read along the instruction. Before pumping out the mousse, you need to shake the bottle well for 60 seconds and then pump out the mousse. When the mousse is on my hands, it makes makes a noise which sounds like burst. The mousse feels really cold on my hands and I feel like my hands are soaked in the ice water. When I smell my hands, they feel like cold lemon juice, very fresh and nice! I don't need to rinse my hands afterwards because it doesn't leave sticky feeling on my skin. I only feel my hands are moisturized and cool after using it.

This is a highly recommended product and therefore I rate this product 5 out of 5. Definitely a holy grail and suitable for both summer and winter (due to the cooling and moisturizing effects). I bought this product for 19 Euro (around USD 25).

Nadine Salembier: Vityal Cream

2011-09-26T22:55:00.001+08:00

My skin type is normal but rather dry on the cheeks and only a bit oily on the T-line. I usually use only emulsion (facial lotion) for my daily skin care routine as make up base before applying either BB cream or foundation. I don't apply face creams in the morning since they usually tend to make my skin rather oily and do not absorb as quick as lotion. I need to get my face and hair done as quick as possible in the morning, so I leave face cream for the nite routine :-p

However as I read the Nadine Salembier guide book, Nadine Salembier Vityal Cream is intended to be used in daytime. Okay, why not give it a shot? So I pumped a small amount of the cream onto my hand and rubbed it there. Hmmm, apparently the texture was not as thick as cream. It comes in white color and smells slightly like some green plant.

So after washing my face thoroughly, I applied a suitable amount of the cream onto my face, and left my emulsion. I felt the cream absorbed into my skin in just one minute (maybe less!). Then I continued with my BB cream, loose powder and blusher. I felt my BB cream spread nicely upon my face. Think this was because my skin was nicely hydrated, so the BB cream and loose powder also glided evenly.

After several hours, when I touched my cheeks, I could still feel that my face and make up was still as smooth as in the morning. My face did not look oily but dewy and my make up did not oxidize either. Great, great, great make up primer!!

The Vityal cream is claimed to contain Hyaluronic Acid, which is meant for anti-aging (even more beneficial for women above 30 years old), cacao (very good to combat free radicals, especially if you live in a big city with high intensity of pollution or if you're an active smoker), bee's wax and aloe vera (both have hydrating function).

Overall, I am satisfied with this product and rate it 5 out of 5.

Say Hello to Nadine Salembier :)

2011-09-09T00:26:00.002+08:00

No, no, Nadine Salembier is not my classmate's name. This is a cosmetic brand from Belgium and this is coming to Taiwan very soon! I feel honoured to have the opportunity to try its products in advance and write my opinion about the products on my blog. If you want to know more information about this brand and product range, klik on this link: http://www.salembier.com/en/index.html .

There were 3 products given to me: Whitening Cleansing Milk, Whitening and Tightening Lotion , and Vityal . This time, I am reviewing the cleansing products first.

I usually use cleansing oil to remove my make up, but long time ago, I used cleansing milk and toner to remove my make up. Then I found that most toner makes my skin dry as they contain alcohol.

However this time I gave a shot to cleansing milk and toner from Nadine Salembier. So I pumped out the milk from the bottle as much as you could see on the picture. I applied it onto my entire face and neck and then massaged my face. The texture of the milk is quite runny so it doesn't feel sticky on your hands. It is slightly scented, well it smells like a green plant. But the scent is very faint anyways so I don't bother at all. I used to immediately rub a dry cotton onto my face to remove the milk and the dirt, but the Nadine Salembier Product Guide book told me to rinse my face with warm water, so I wet a piece of facial cotton and rubbed it onto my face and neck thoroughly. I did it twice and you could see the result on this picture. The left side is the first cotton and the other is the second. My make up and dirt were removed and I continued with the lotion for the final cleansing step.

The Whitening and Tightening Lotion is actually the toner. This is very comfortable and easy to use since I only have to spray it all over my face and neck. Then I leave it for a moment before drying my face with tissue. The toner is unscented so you don't need to worry if your skin is allergic towards perfume. The toner feels refreshing and I don't think it contains alcohol since it does not smell like alcohol either. My skin does not feel dry after using this toner and I actually LOVE to touch my face after spraying this toner onto it as it feels so delicate and moisturized.

In my opinion, Nadine Salembier's whitening cleansing products are worth to try. I think this is my first shot to Belgium brand as well. I don't buy European product as often as I buy Korean and Japanese since I have always been tempted to buy products with cute and girly packaging. I think most western brands have simple and "mature" packaging.

I rate the Whitening Cleansing Milk 3.5 out of 5 for its cleansing result, I just wonder why I have to rinse my face with warm water then continue with cotton, instead of immediately rub a dry-clean cotton to remove the milk. The cleansing milk is not-so-simple.

However I rate the Whitening and Tightening Lotion 4.5 out of 5 since it is very easy to use and feels good on my face. I know some girls just want to cleanse their face VERY clean so they continue the cleansing milk with face wash before applying toner. But I just skip the facial wash and go straight to the toner. I believe these 2 products cleanse my face quite nicely since I don't see any new pimples popping out ^.^

Additional review:
I have been cleansing my face with the cleansing milk everyday lately and eventually feel that is product is good, really. Because, back on the days when I was using cleansing milk from the other brands, they tend to be oily and I think that was the reason why the toner must contain alcohol. What I still remember is after I cleansed my face with the cleansing milk from other brand, it left dirt on the cotton pad that I used. Then when I applied toner with the second cotton pad, the dirt was still left on the cotton, which showed that the cleansing milk didn't cleanse my face very well. But I think Nadine Salembier is different. The cleansing milk cleanses the make up good enough so when I rub my face after spraying the toner, it leaves no more dirt on the cotton pad. No sticky texture, no oily feelings. Nadine Salembier Whitening Cleansing Milk deserves to get 4.5 out of 5 =)

Crazie about Resche Kracie Hair Conditioner

2011-09-07T23:10:00.001+08:00

This is not my first venture to Japanese hair care product nor this beauty brand, but this is surely my first shot to hair care from Resche Kracie brand. I have tried cleansing oil from Kracie and I have also reviewed it here in my previous post. Kracie is a sister brand from Kanebo. I think this is quite a middle class product since it has a medium pricing range. Really doesn't hurt your wallet!

I was finishing up my previous hair conditioner from Kao Essential when I found this product at Watson. I was quite confused to choose between Ma Cherie, Ascience, Tsubaki and Kracie (this is what always happens whenever I enter Watson in Taiwan :-p ). But then my choice was down to this product since it was on discount, I bought it for NT 199 for a 550ml-bottle conditioner (around USD 6.8).

The bottle is quite standard with girly deep pink color, I love the color anyways! The texture of the conditioner is creamy, but somehow it doesnt feel heavy and when I apply it onto my damp hair, it feels like it's easily absorbed into the hair stem. It has a super sweet floral scent and I'm LOVIN' it BADLY! I usually leave this conditioner for around 5 minutes before rinsing it well with warm water. It removes easily from my hair and doesn't leave sticky nor heavy feeling after I towel my hair dry. My hair feels soft and silky so that I could comb my hair smoothly. I really love how my hair smell and feel after using this conditioner.

I rate Resche Kracie Hair Conditioner 5 out of 5 for the quality and price of the product. It is a lot better than Kao Essential. This is the best conditioner I have ever tried so far and will absolutely repurchase it!

Shiseido Ma Cherie Perfect Shower Hair Mist

2011-09-07T22:41:00.000+08:00

After my purchasing my second item from Ma Cherie hair care range, I'm lovin' this brand even more! So when I ran out of my Ma Cherie End Cure Milk, I was thinking about buying another hair care product for a replacement. Then I had a hard time in deciding which product from what brand to buy. I was tempted to buy Shiseido Tsubaki at first, but considering the price, I finally chose Ma Cherie.

This hair moisturizer is actually not very similar to the End Cure Milk. This product seems to keep the moisture at the body of your hair while the End Cure Milk is to repair the split-ended hair. This product can also be used as a protector before hair-drying. You can use this hair-mist anytime when you feel that your hair is dry and needs a refreshment.

The bottle looks quite cute and girly because it is dominated with pink and white color. The sprayer works perfectly. When I shake the bottle, I could see the texture of the liquid is quite runny, so it should not be sticky and weigh down your hair. When I sprayed my hand and smelled it, it smelled quite nice but also quite faint, so the scent fades away very quickly on my hair as well. But maybe it's not bad if you use it as a supplementary to Ma Cherie Airy Feel Treatment, your hair would smell as sweet as candy!

I usually use Ma Cherie Perfect Shower right after I wash my hair at night before bed. So firstly I wash my hair with Hair & Scalp Shampoo, then continue with Kracie Hair Conditioner OR Ma Cherie Air Feel Treatment. Then I rinse my hair, dry it with towel then I use my hair-dryer until my hair is half-dry but still damp. This time I spray my hair with Ma Cherie Perfect Shower and use my fingers to detangle my hair and finally I blow my hair until it's dry enough to sleep. The next morning I can feel my hair is softer and lighter.

I rate this product 3.5 out of 5. This is an OK product but not a must have one, it's better to use as a supplementary to the End Cure Milk if you have budget to splurge on.

Fight dandruff away!!!

2011-09-01T00:43:00.000+08:00

I had been suffering from dandruff for a few years. I tried to banish those shameful white flakes by washing my hair everyday. But actually that didn't help more than reducing the itchiness on my scalp :-( It even dried my hair and of course caused a severe hair falls. I tried several anti-dandruff shampoos from the supermarket when I was still in Indonesia. But they barely did anything to my hair problems. I was quite desperate that I stopped using anti-dandruff shampoo since it only made my dry hair even drier and solve neither my dandruff nor hair fall problem.

I am quite grateful to have moved here in Taipei, Taiwan. Now I can try HEAPS of hair care brands at beauty stores near my house. I never found many of them in Indonesia but I have read their reviews on the net. So everytime I get into beauty stores, I am tempted to try ALL of them. Especially the ones with cute color packaging or sweet smell.

I eventually put my choice to Hair and Scalp from Head & Shoulders to handle my dandruff problem. The packaging, well how should I say, has no beauty. Okay, this is from Head & Shoulders right? They actually sell various products from Head & Shoulders itself here, but why did I choose the one with the most simple packaging and named under another sub-brand? Well, simply because from this simple package and a new sub-brand, I had an impression that this sub-brand is more focused and targeted to a serious stage of dandruff-problem. I had done a short check on this brand on the net actually, but didn't find any reviews about this product. So when there was a discount at Watson, I bought it at NT69 or USD 2.3 for a 200ml bottled shampoo. This price is quite worth trying, isn't it? ;-)

The shampoo texture is quite common, just like another shampoo that you find at the supermarket and it has milky-white color. It has floral scent, quite nice though. The shampoo produce much bubbles so I can feel that my hair is clean after washing.

After one or two weeks using this shampoo, I already felt the result. My scalp was then less itchy and when I scratched my scalp, no flakes fell down. The better thing is that now I have much lesser hair falls than I used to have. I can also feel that this shampoo does not dry my hair as much as my previous anti-dandruff shampoo did. But maybe I have to mention that I am using a good conditioner now. LOL!!

In conclusion, this is the BEST anti-dandruff shampoo that I have used so far (I have used several ranges from Clear before), the result is satisfying and the price is super economic (normal price NT 119 or USD 4 for 200ml). I rate this product 4.5 out of 5 for its quality V^_^V it only has minor point on its packaging.

My Yummy-Lippie-Glossy

2011-08-21T17:17:00.001+08:00

I was on top of my disappointment to my former Carmex Lip Care since my chapped lips did not get better at all after using Carmex for a couple of weeks. Then I thought I really should buy something better to treat my lips. Well, who wants to have unhealthy-chapped lips, right? My lips were cracked and it hurt! :"(

I have no other reference so I ended up buying my old baby, Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula Lip Butter. I bought it once in winter but I accidentally threw it into the dustbin in the office's toilet. It was impossible to fetch it from the dustbin, sadly I had to let it go :-(

It did a very good job to my lips when I first bought it, so I re-purchased it. It cost me twice Carmex's price, NT 199 or about USD 6.8 at Watson. But well, money can't lie, price speaks the quality of the product. It was one of my great decisions I've made to repurchase this lip butter. It started to heal my lips since the first night I apply it before sleep. I found the crack on my bottom lips healed the next morning. My colleague, who had always complained if I peeled off my chapped lips also notice that I did not do it anymore, "I have nothing to peel off now :) "

Not only the quick healing effect, but I'm also lovin' its yummy taste! It has dark chocolate & cherry flavor as written on the packaging. So I can say this is a very nice prep if you plan on a date with your BF so he might taste it too when you.. you know.. kiss him. LoL!! :-p Don't worry it does not feel sticky at all, both of you will L-O-V-E it!! ^_* This adds gloss to your lips but has no color. It looks like gel and the texture is not as thick as the Carmex Lip Care.

I rate this lip butter 5 out of 5 stars for its taste, texture and healing properties. I am very satisfied ^^v

Nexcare Acne Gel

2011-07-25T22:19:00.001+08:00

Though I don't have many zits on my face, still sometimes they come up and decorate my face annoyingly. I used to use CNI Nutrimoist to banish them, but lately that cream does not work on me anymore. I have no idea why it happens, is it because the quality of the product is declining? Or my zits have just become immune to it? Then I looked for something new and I found this brand, 3M Nexcare, promising since they produce quite various sorts of acne care products, from the acne tapes to acne gel. My friend tried the acne tape and it really worked well in sucking up the sebum inside her pimple. And it stuck tightly to her skin, though it was already quite oily.

But I don't want to put any sticker on my face. So I chose the acne gel and bought it at Cosmed for NT $159, or around US $5. It comes in 15ml green-yellowish tube. The gel is transparent and non-sticky. It's quite comfortable to use upon your skin, under your make up. It has a faint floral fragrance (something like leaf). The ingredients are written at the back of the tube, however it's written in Chinese. I can only read : Piroctone Olamine and and vitamin B5 :-p It also claims to keep your skin moisturized.

When I applied this gel, I felt a slight cool effect. I thought there wass a hint of alcohol within the gel. But I didn't feel my skin got rough after wearing it for several days anyway. So I didn't bother. And what pleased me was that my pimples were gone after 3-4 days wearing this gel. It banished the pimples very well! ^^

This is a great product with a fair price and very easy to find at Watson, Cosmed and even the nearest 7-11! I'm not really sure if this brand is originated from Taiwan, but I'm very sure that this product is made in Taiwan. I rate this product 5 out of 5 for the qualities and price it offers.

Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula Body Lotion

2011-07-25T00:03:00.002+08:00

This is my second venture into Palmer's. The previous one was Palmer's Cocoa Cherry Lip Balm, and this time is a body lotion. It comes in mini bottle so it's very handy to bring when traveling. It has SPF 15 with UVA/UVB protection, so it's okay to use if you don't expose your body to sun light too much. It is also enriched with vitamin E to keep your skin delicate. It claims to smooth marks and tone skin.

I love yummy fragrance, so I was attracted to buy this lotion because it smells exactly like hot chocolate! If you love Britney Spears Fantasy, Hidden Fantasy or Vera Wang Princess perfumes, you must like this lotion too. But let me tell you, this lotion's fragrance is VERY strong! So it might not be very pleasant to smell in hot and humid summer days. The smell lingers on your skin for long hours, so you could still sniff your hands after a couple hours. Trust me, you'd be tempted to lick your own hands! LoL!

The moisturizing properties are great. It really soothes your skin, though it's a bit sticky. So, I believe this lotion is better be used in winter/cold weather/air conditioned room. The lotion has creamy yellowish color and texture, so it is very thick and difficult to drip out from the bottle when it's almost running out. Texture wise, I like my former body lotion from Yves Saint Rocher better than this one. Because Palmer is rather sticky, maybe because it has sunscreen ingredients? However, the smell lasts longer than Yves body lotion.

In conclusion, it's a GREAT body lotion for winter and spring seasons. I bought it at Watsons, cost me NT $80/50ml or below US $3. I rate it 4 out of 5 points for its fragrance, moisturising effect and price. ^^

Kanebo Kracie: NAIVE Cleansing Oil

2011-07-18T02:05:00.002+08:00

This is my second Naive cleansing oil. The previous one was Naive Natural Cleansing oil which I bought in Hong Kong last year. I was pretty satisfied with the former product that I tried, but actually I was gonna buy Kose Speedy or White cleansing oil. Since both of them are not available at Watson nor Cosmed, I went to a small beauty shop that sells Japanese cosmetics and perfumes to look for it. Unfortunately, I didn't find any of those Kose products. Okay, there was this Naive product and I thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to give it a try. So I bought it at NT $249 or around US$ 8. It contains of 250ml colorless oil, with a faint floral scent. If you see it yellow on the picture, it was the color of the bottle, not the oil :-p

I wear make up everyday. My basic daily skincare and make-up include: moisturizer/ face cream, sun screen, foundation OR BB cream, compact powder, blusher, eye brow pencil, liquid eyeliner and sometimes mascara. So, in order to remove my base make-up thoroughly, of course I need a cleansing oil with good cleansing capability, unless I want to have zits on my face the next day I wake up. Thank God I found this Naive cleansing oil. I think this one is MUCH better than the previous cleansing oil that I bought (it was Shiseido Perfect Cleansing Oil).

The reason why I like this one better is because there is no residue left on my face after I rinse my face with either warm or cool water. It can remove my mascara and KATE super sharp pen liner. I also feel that the oil is lighter than the Shiseido Perfect Cleansing oil. I only need 1-2 pumps to cleanse my face entirely. Sometimes I don't even use my Etude House eye make up remover to cleanse my eye make-up.

This product does not irritate my skin, nor dry it out. In conclusion, I have fallen in love with Kracie NAIVE cleansing oil by Kanebo and rate it 5 out of 5. It is very satisfying and has a fair price for such a high quality product <3

Shiseido Ma Cherie Air Feel Treatment

2011-07-16T23:24:00.004+08:00

Frankly speaking, the first reason I was tempted to buy this product was because of the tube's color! Ma Cherie has super CUTE packaging with pink color. Ma Cherie's complete hair treatment set consists of shampoo, conditioner, hair treatment and hair milk (sort of leave-on conditioner). There are 2 series of product: "Air Feel" and "Moisture Feel". I haven't tried the shampoo and conditioner since I'm still finishing my HUGE bottle of Kao Essential Shampoo and Conditioner. So I bought Ma Cherie Air Feel Treatment to supplement my hair treatment need.

Actually I am not really sure what are the differences between hair conditioner and hair treatment. I just expect that this is supposed to be thicker than conditioner and able to repair my hair better, so maybe it can reduce my hair falls and split ends. On the label, it says that this product is to be used once to twice per week. So, when I use this treatment, I don't use my Kao Essential conditioner.

From the first time I tried this product, I immediately fell in love with it! I love the smell and I love how it makes my hair feel so delicate without being greasy. My hair feels light and healthy. I can really feel the difference between those old days when I used hair spa or any other hair products that I found in Indonesian supermarkets and now when I can find HEAPS of fabulous hair care products at Watson, Sasa or Cosmed next to my house. My hair falls has decreased SO MUCH that I could hardly found any hair on the floor now. I love to touch my hair now and I love how it smells like candy! <3

I bought this Ma Cherie Air Feel Treatment for NT 270 or around US$ 8 for 180gr tube. And I rate this product 5 out of 5 since I am very satisfied with the result, the smell and the cute packaging! It has an aesthetic worth to my bathroom :-p

Etude House Lip n Eye Make Up Remover

2011-07-12T20:16:00.002+08:00

When you live here in Taiwan, especially Taipei, you will get used to see those Taiwanese girls with their glam eyes. They really put some effort into painting and decorating their eyes. And the result is SUPERB! They wear smokey eye-shadows, water-proof eye liners, mascara, eye brow pencil or cake, contact lenses and of course fake lashes to complete their total look.

Envy of this Japanese doll look? It's not easy to find make up tools when you live here in Taipei. You could just go out of your house and find the nearest Watson or Cosmed to get yours! There are decent Japanese brands that you can choose with quite cheap prices like: Kanebo Kate, Majolica Majorca, Canmake, etc.

Anyways, I'm not gonna discuss about eye make up in this post. What I wanna share is the eye make-up remover actually. LoL! After putting so much make up on your eyes, I believe you'd need a great make-up remover to clean your cosmetics, right? And I choose Etude House Lip & Eye Make Up Remover to do that job. There was a special event when I bought this remover. I'm not really sure what event it was but all products in store were at 30% off! So I bought this remover for only NT 140 or around US 4.5 for 100ml.

As you can see in the picture, the liquid has 2 colors, transparent and blue. The blue one is the cleansing oil and the transparent one is the water base cleansing. I usually remove my mascara and eyeliner using this remover and the result is quite satisfying so far. I've been wearing Kanebo KATE pen liner these days, and I find this remover is capable to remove the ink on my eyelids. I don't really smell alcohol in the liquid, and it's gentle for my eyes.

I rate Etude House Lip & Eye Remover at 5 out of 5 as I am satisfied with the result and the price it offers :)

Highly recommended and will buy it again when I run out of this ^_^

Carmex Lip Care

2011-06-15T02:00:00.003+08:00

I have bought 2 pieces of Carmex Lip Balms, one of them has moisturizing function when the other is meant to heal dry and chapped lips (like mine!! (T___T") ). I bought the Citrus one at Watson and the other one at 7-Eleven. They cost me NT$89 or around US $3 each. That's pretty cheap for a decent brand, aye? This is a US brand and also manufactured in the US. So the ingredients are written in English and French, no Chinese text! (LoL!!)

Each tube contains of 10 grams of jelly textured liquid. It is colorless and scented. The moisturizing lip balm has citrus scent and mint taste, the chapped lips treatment has a super YUCKIE (seriously!!) smell and a hint of mint too. I really hate the chapped lips treatment's smell coz it just smells like an old granny!!

However, regardless the unpleasant taste, I have to admit that the chapped lips treatment ~~has a very good healing properties. I can really feel and see the healing effect in a couple hours!~~ :) The gel texture is thicker than the Citrus lip balm.

In the other hand, tI think he Citrus lip balm is just a common lip care, for daily use, if you don't have any problems with your lips. I don't really like the taste either actually. But it is just much better than the chapped lips treatment.

Now let me think what score I am supposed to give to these 2 stuff? Errr..
~~4 out of 5 for the CHAPPED LIPS TREATMENT, since it is very economic, has great healing properties~~ and the smell fades away in a few minutes.

And 3 out of 5 for the Citrus lip balm. It is only a "so-so" lip balm and the taste is not that great either.

Revision for the Chapped Lips Treatment:
My chapped lips are getting worse these days and I don't feel this Carmex does heal them. It's so much different with my old Palmer's Cocoa Butter lip balm. Carmex got 1 out of 5 points from me. Money can't lie, it's a BAD quality product!

Beauty Haul: June 2011 ^___^

2011-06-05T02:56:00.002+08:00

Hey ya readers,
I've commited such a serious sin this month!! Been spending my salary on these babies (T___T"). Anyway, shopping is women's biggest guilty pleasure, right? :-p

These babies are for my hair. Since I think my hair has been crying for quite a long time :"(( . I've permed it, dyed it and it was then becoming very dry and breaking at the hair-end. However, I think shampoos in Taiwan have made my hair condition much better. I believe the hair products here have MUCH better quality than those in Indonesia. Because my hair fall is less now and my hair feels softer :)

I am now using Kao Essentials shampoo and conditioner. I have also tried Shiseido Ma Cherie Airy Feel Treatment. Since I am satisfied with Ma Cherie Airy Feel Treatment, I was then interested to try Shisedio Ma Cherie End-Cure Milk. I bought it for NT $221 at Watson.

Since I have permed hair, I need a decent styling product to style my hair everyday. At first, I was also thinking to take Ma Cherie styling product, but considering the price wise, I finally picked Lucido-l Wave Hair Mousse from Mandom corp., also from Japan. I bought it for NT $162.

And apparently, I got a sample size of Tsubaki shampoo for Damage Care :) It's such a great gift because the bottle is very handy to bring when I go swimming =D

I hope this is my last sin of the month :(
Today I went to Xi Men shopping area after work. I went there to watch Kung Fu Panda 2 with my friend and her niece. I saw that Etude House was having 30% discount on all stuff in store. So I was tempted to buy this Lip & Eye Remover. I also bought 2 sets of Eyelid Sticker and they only cost me NT $221. Such a great deal for little cuties :)

I have tried the Ma Cherie End-Cure Milk and Etude House Lip & Eye Make Up Remover, but haven't opened the Lucido-L and Tsubaki. I am going to write the reviews very soon. Ciao ;)

My Adventure Around the Globe: Taiwan

2011-06-02T23:00:00.003+08:00

Since now I am located in Taiwan, I think I have to enjoy my stay here and take a look around the country. Though it is not a big country, but then I already fell in love with this country. I am fascinated in the language, I like the people, love the nite markets (street food to die for: Ji Pai!!! =9 ) , cosmetics, clothing!!! aarrgghh!!! =D =D =D

It was Qing Ming Jie when my friends and I went for a trip to Tai Zhong and Nan Tou. It took us 4 hours to get to Nan Tou from Taipei. We rented a car and the driver. Fortunately Taiwan's traffic is not bad, at all! We enjoyed the traffic by continuing our beauty sleep in the car :-p

When we arrived there, apparently Nan Tou was on a mountain. The cool weather welcomed us and we walked around a tourist spot called Qing Jing Farm (Qing Jing Farm Link). The entrance ticket was NT $120, as far as I remember. We bought milky ice cream and enjoyed the relaxing view of the mountain. There are several kinds of ice cream, there are cow milk and lamb milk. Outside the exit, there is a food court. The price range is quite standard, from NT $80s to NT$ 100s.

I took some pictures of the lambs and hope you like them too ;)

Such a cuteeeee baby horse!!! ^___^

After visiting the dairy farm, we continued our trip to the beautiful Sun Moon Lake. We enjoyed the view of the lake from a cable car. We bought entrance tickets for both the cable car and the Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village (link to the web) at NT$550. It was a fair price for such place, because I think the theme park and the Sun Moon Lake view were incredibly beautiful! There were not a huge crowd nor a long que for the rides. The place was very clean and well maintained. Here are the pictures I took there.

Sun Moon Lake

The Cable Car

The Thrilling Water Ride (>__<")

The Crazy Roller Coaster (*____*")

The Beautiful Park View :)

The Fountain in the Park ^__^

Simply speaking, this tourism object is HIGHLY recommended for a family, fellowship and even romantic trip with your loved one ;)

Etude House Baby Skin Veiling Pact

2011-06-02T22:11:00.002+08:00

Hi there readers!!!

I am sooo sorry for being absent for quite a while! I've been busy with my school and work here (yeah, I got a job already ^___^) and when at home, I'm such a lazy cat! Though I've been absent blogging, I'm sure still continuing my adventure here (shopping adventure!!! :-p )

Actually, I have bought some new babies recently. One of them was ETUDE HOUSE BABY SKIN VEILING PACT. It claims to have SPF 22/ PA++. It's not enough to protect your skin from harmful skin rays, so never forget to apply sunscreen beneath the powder! I was running out of my beloved Enprani Loose Powder and considering to buy a new loose powder. But since I could not find Enprani Loose powder at Watson and Cosmed (they have Enprani skin care and BB cream though), so I decided to try something else.

Anddd.. I finally picked ETUDE HOUSE BABY SKIN VEILING PACT to be paired with my ETUDE HOUSE BABY SKIN FOUNDATION. I chose shade number 2, similar to the foundie. It was my bday month when I bought it, so I got 23% discount for the pact. The actual price was NT $359 (or 399??) . So I just paid around NT 300 after discount.

My first impression to this powder was : CUTE and SWEET. It's so girly but somehow a bit childish! :-p

The casing is made of plastic with slightly hologram pastel pink color and there is an Etude brand carving on the top of the case. However the decoration inside the case is dull. Even the plastic separator is only a thin cheapo plastic. Well, what you pay is what you get anyways.

There's nothing serious to complain about the outer look actually, but my disappointment came when I first applied it on top of my Skin79 Diamond Absolute Total BB cream. It does not glide smoothly and evenly on top of my BB cream!! (>___<") When I wear KATE compact, KATE always covers my skin smoothly, no cakey look, no heavy look! But this Etude compact powder is a HORRID to be paired with my BB!! :"(

The coverage is light but the look that it gives is not satisfying and rather disappointing!!

But then I keep on wearing this powder. But I tried to pair it to the Baby Skin Foundie. And I finally found it quite pretty to wear on top of the foundie :) It gives me a baby looking skin indeed, even during daytime. I usually apply Etude sunscreen beneath the foundie and the compact on top of the foundie. It's not cakey and quite natural. I kinda love it now! ;)

But I won't pair it with BB cream anymore and not even on top of sunscreen (without foundie!). I remember, when I tried to wear it over sunscreen, I ended up looking dull and unnatural after several hours! That was terrible!! I don't think it has oil control function so I don't recommend it to girls who have oily skin.

The powder shade (without flash)

The powder shade (with flash)

I rate this powder 2 out of 5, since it only works well when paired with the foundie. I will not buy this compact powder anymore, even if there is a 50% off! :(

Happy Around Taipei (Part 4)

2011-02-05T19:57:00.002+08:00

Heyy-hoo.. This is Saturday nite again, and I'm all alone again in my room. Did I hear someone just whispered "pathetic"? Nah, believe me, I don't feel bad about this anyways. I remember when I just moved in this new house, I cleaned up everything already. Then I wanted to go out on my own, because my friend was still working in her office. So, I asked her by text, "Where do you think I should go?" Then she suggested me to go to Xi Men Ding. Ximen is located on the blue MRT line, one station right after the Taipei main station. Find Exit number 6, and you'll find the Pedestrian Area right in front of the Exit 6.

As I have mentioned in my previous post, Ximending is a shopping area. Many tourists and local youth come here to shop and socialize. There are KTVs, movie theatres, department store, Carrefour and pedestrian area with loads of clothing, make-up and restaurants. You can find almost everything here in Ximending. Since this is the area where young people gather and socialize, you can also find Taiwanese and foreign youth here with various fashion style. They might not look as stylish as the Japanese and Koreans though, but they are quite dandy and good-looking. Most of the Taiwanese young people are good-looking in my opinion, although somehow they are rather skinny.

The department stores and shopping malls in Taiwan are not as crowded as in Jakarta. Indonesian young people love brands and they go to malls and dept stores to shop. Mango and Zara are hot among Indonesian people but not here in Taiwan. Mango stores are deserted, even in sale season like this. Unlike in Jakarta where people que to pay at the cashier for the good bargain Mango stuff. I haven't even seen any Zara stores here! Where the heck are they? Zara doesn't even exist in Ximending? Unlike in the malls, the pedestrian area looks more lively and enjoyable! The shops have cuter stuff to display and more youthful ambience.

The pedestrian area has benches, so you can rest whenever you feel fatigue :)

Sometimes on weekends, there are events at Ximending. It can be singing performance, album launching or movie stars meet and greet. If you love Taiwan superstars, maybe it's good to drop by. Who knows you are lucky enough to meet your idol, aye? *wink* There are also movie or music video shoots on weekdays here. Even greater chance to meet your pop idol when they are acting :p

There is even Gaudi store here! Not sure if it's similar to Indonesian Gaudi though.

The intersection to the surrounding shopping area.

Many restaurants and food stalls are available around Ximending. You can find snacks stalls: roasted corn or Tang Hu Lu (sugar coated berries on a stick); fast food restaurants: McD & KFC and of course local and international cuisine restaurants. My friends and I once had dinner at a hotpot resto at Ximending. They said this resto is quite popular and unique, because you are allowed to write or draw anything on the walls.

Can you see the grafitti on the wall behind me?

The hotpot was quite delicious. The price range is around NT 100 and above. I think all below NT 200, so it is just a decent price for a hotpot set. The set includes veggies, chicken/pork/seafood, rice and tea.

This is the infamous (hehehe) Modern Toilet Resto, also in Ximending

I haven't tried to dine here actually, so I just took pictures :p

The menu book is displayed at the entrance, if you are sure you want to eat here, just go upstairs.

Yves Rocher Vanilla Body Lotion

2011-02-05T18:50:00.000+08:00

This is my first Yves Rocher purchase. I usually buy standard brands body lotion that are sold in the supermarket like Nivea and Vaseline. Since now I live in a subtropical climate city, I wouldn't want to see scaly skin on my hands and legs. So I tried to look for something more moisturising than the old brands. So I found this Yves Rocher store in Mall Taman Anggrek. Considering the brand name, we can guess that the products come from France, well indeed they do.

They have various body care, skin care and make up products. I wasn't really interested in their skin care and make up though. But I think the body care range products were pretty interesting. You can choose many kinds of aroma for your body, from the body shower, lotion, body butter, body spray to eau de perfume. Apparently the products were not as expensive as I expected. I bought my body lotion for only Rp 100.000, which was equal to US$ 11, with 400ml content. Quite a good deal if you compare with the Body Shop price. I remember the price of the EDT was below Rp 150.000 or US$ 16.5 for 100ml. I really regret that I didn't buy the EDT though :(

Anyways, here's my judgement on the product. The bottle of the lotion is made of plastic, very standard and simple. There is nothing special about the packaging. Maybe there is something about the green issue, because it's written like this on the bottle: "ORGANIC VANILLA" and "No animal ingredients". Well, I suppose The Body Shop is their direct competitor as they really have many things in common with The Body Shop concept and products.

The key ingredients of this lotion are: organically-grown bourbon vanilla, organic shea butter, organic aloes vera gel, sweet almond oil and botanical glycerine. I rate this product 5/5 because I am really satisfied with the hydration it gives to my skin. It smells really nice on my body and the scent lingers for a whole day. The fragrance is soft but really sweet. If you are into Britney Spears Fantasy and Hidden Fantasy fragrances, you might like it as well as I do. It does not feel sticky all day, I just leave my skin uncovered for a minute and then the lotion absorbs into my skin thoroughly then the stickiness gone! In Taiwan's climate, it's enough for me to apply it twice a day, but for a drier climate, you might need to re-apply it around 4 times, maybe? Then you can say "bye-bye" to scaly skin! ;)

Happy Around Taipei "Chinese New Year"

2011-02-03T22:26:00.003+08:00

Gong xi fa cai, xin nian kuai le!!
恭喜發財﹐新年快樂

This is my first time celebrating Chinese new year in Taiwan, even the very very first time being away from my family. I feel like something is missing, something is incomplete :"(

Anyway, let's not go into it again. I had dinner with my friend's lovely family last night anyway. They've been treating me so nice since the very first time. Then they invited me to their new year's eve dinner. What a superb set of menu they prepared! Here they are ;)

Oopss, stop drooling please! :p
Don't ask me the name of each menu, I only knew that some of them were made of pork, chicken, fish (tuna, I guess?) and beef. The soup has veggies, of course. There were also three kinds of snacks: sunflower seed, peanut and.. well, I don't know the name of the nut on the above pict, but HK and China also have it. I just think that Taiwanese nut tastes better =9

People told me that so many food stalls and restaurants are closed during the Chinese new year. And apparently, indeed they are! *sigh* I was so desperate to find something to eat instead of the frozen food from 7-11. Even so many resto are already closed one day before new year. But today, I tried my luck and went to Ximen Ding, one of some famous shopping areas in Taipei. Actually before going there, my friend already told me that most shops are probably closed today. But I really needed something decent to fulfill my empty stomach and got my head off the laptop. So, I kept on going and VOILA!! There was such a big crowd at Ximen Ding Pedestrian area! Yoohoo!! Most of the restos and shops were also open and I found this Korean hotpot resto <3

This is the name of the resto, you can easily find it when you exit the MRT exit number 6. It's on your right side. Only around one or two hundred meters away from the exit.

The price range is around NT 160-180 per set menu. They only sell plum juice (a Chinese traditional drink) for NT 20/medium sized cup.

This is the stairway to the second floor. By looking at this, you could guess that the Taiwanese are crazy about superstars! Indeed they are. Hehehe can't blame them though, coz the superstars are adorable ;)

This is the plum juice

The juice looks like tea. It felt really strange on the first sip. I thought there was some kinda Chinese medicine inside it. But then I drank it again, little by little and the taste got better. I kinda like it in the end. It tastes sour and a bit sweet. Feels refreshing =9

Then I turned my head around, wondering when my meal was going to be delivered and how they'd deliver it. Cos the stairway was terribly narrow! Then I found this peculiar thing on the side of the room. i was bewildered and watched this thing while waiting for my meal.

Looks like an elevator, aye?

There you go, the panel control! Hahaa call me NORAK or KAMPUNG, please!

Et voila!! Here comes my meal =9

This set was served with seaweed soup and rice too. The set consists of beef (something like yakiniku) which was sweet, half-fried egg, kimchi and slices of cucumber. Unlike my previous experience with Korean cuisine, I like this one! The kimchi was also yummy, not as sour nor cold as usual. This set cost me NT 160, a decent price for a full set like this. I won't get to eat something like this everyday anyway. So, for a resto at Ximen Ding area, this is an OK price, I can recommend you this resto if you come to Taipei ;)

The meal is delivered to your table and you don't need to clean up your table after eating. Hehehee..

Happy Around Taipei (Part 3)

2011-01-31T19:12:00.000+08:00

Bon soir!
I'm so sorry that I totally forgot to put food pictures on my previous post :p
Anyway, to make up for my mistakes, here are the mouth-watering babies i found in Taipei. Hehee enjoy!!!

This is my fave fried chicken steak with curry rice. I think all the main menu here is served together with the seaweed soup. The soup tastes so-so anyway. But the curry tastes pretty good. Love it!! =9

These are some pics of the restaurant

They have the menu with the photos on the board, so it'd be easy for you to pick, in case you don't understand any chinese characters. The service is pretty good, compared to other rerstaurants nearby with the same price range. You just pick the food then pay at the cashier. The waitress will serve you afterwards. You don't need to clean your table after meal, so that's why I think the service here is pretty decent. Hehehee

The price range is standard, around NT 100, nothing more than NT 200. They also have various kinds of drink, which I think rather pricey.

The place is clean, with decent space too. All in all, I'd rate this restaurant comfortable with yummy food!

This is the name of the restaurant. It's located inside Shi-Da Nite Market. It is open from noon until night.

Satisfied with my first meal at this restaurant, I came back again the next day and ordered spicy fried pork over egg-rice. In Japanese name, I think it should be some kinda "don" menu. LoL!!

Again, I was satisfied with this and fell in love even deeper with this resto! Although it didn't taste as hot as I expected, I still like it! Lucky I live near this resto! So I can possibly come as often as I want. hohohoho =9

Happy Around Taipei (Part 2)

2011-01-29T18:10:00.001+08:00

Hi again!!
I think I'm going to spend this weekend with no friend.. OMG, i'm bored to death!! Not because I have already stepped my foot on every inch of Taipei, but I really am running out of money, so I think it'd be wise of me if I just stay at home tonight. Maybe blogging should be a good idea to kill sometime and later I'll be working on my Chinese lessons. Did I tell you that I'm taking a chinese class here? Well, yeah my main purpose of coming here is actually to learn Chinese language. I have learned Chinese in Jakarta since 10 years ago. But the progress is not very satisfying since I had no one, except my Chinese teacher, to practice with. So I decided to come straight to this place to really focus on improving my Chinese skills in all area, listening, reading, writing and speaking. Well, I should say that Taipei is an ideal place to realize my plan. People here speak very bad English, many of them cannot even say a word! So you'd better learn their language if you want to survive here. LoLz!!

Anyways, here are more pics around Taipei and of course, yummy local cuisines!! :9

This is Taipei 101, the tallest building in taipei and the second tallest in the world, i guess? It's located on a business area, something like Jl. Thamrin in jakarta? This area is surrounded by high class shopping malls and office buildings and banks. Inside Taipei 101 is also a shopping mall, besides the shopping mall, there are also office, restaurants and tourist spot. I went inside the shopping mall and also went around the outer building. Too bad I didn't go to the top of the building, but people say that going to the penthouse should better be done at night, so you can see the beauty of the city lights. I think there is some kinda fancy restaurant up there, so you can have dinner while enjoying the night view. I bet you start imagining a candle light dinner with your love-puppy now! *wink*

These are how the outer area of Taipei 101 look like. The pedestrian walk area is so damn HUGE!! woo-hoo!! Unlike when I walked around the malls in Jakarta, I don't really bother to buy anything in the malls here. Simply because the stuff in the nite markets look more adorable than those in the malls, at least that's what I think at the moment.. ;p
Besides, I still believe that malls in Jakarta have more exciting entertainment and better interior design. Jakarta's malls are absolutely unbeatable! Hehehee.. <3 Grand Indonesia & Senayan City ;)

Happy Around Taipei (Part 1)

2011-01-29T00:25:00.000+08:00

Hi again :)
In this post, I'm going to share some pictures around the city with a bit detail about the places. I've been taking trips around the city by trains and buses. I have been to nite markets, malls in the downtown area and tried some local food. I must say that I love most things here, from the transportations, food, markets, especially the variety of clothing and cosmetic brand here. Awwww they're all driving me crazyy!! But here is the good news: you can find PLENTY of good Japanese and Korean cosmetic brands here with cheap prices!! Unlike in Jakarta, you can buy Etude, Skin Food, and The Face Shop here in the night markets (yeayy not in the fancy malls!) with a half or two-thirds price in Jakarta!

What a great news to begin with, now let me give you a glance of Taipei ;)

Those are the views of an MRT station in Taipei. Some stations (interchange stations) are often crowded and some others are only crowded in certan times. I don't think they could be as crowded as in Singapore and Hongkong though. So, I still think that Taipei is more convenient than those two cities.
Taiwanese youth mostly do not bother to sit on the trains, beacuse there is a rule that gives privilege to old people, pregnant women, kids and disabled people. So it is common to see empty seats in the trains while there are many passengers choose to stand up.

This was the first rice box restaurant I visited in Taipei. It was near the NTU campus. I stopped by to have lunch there. I had fried pork with some other vegetables. I think it cost me around NT 90. You could take soup and drinking water as much as you want in some rice box resto. Some restos don't even provide drinking water. It's a bit weird actually, but my friend said that the Taiwanese take soup as similar to drinking water.

You can find rice box restaurants all around Taipei, even more at the nite markets and around university area. They provide pork, chicken, fish, seafood and some even have ducks. The set includes rice and vegetables and soup. The price is various from NT 60 to around NT 100.

There are still plenty I want to spill out here, but it's getting late and I need to get some beauty sleep now. LoLz!! Hope you enjoy the pictures and wait for the upcoming articles. Bye for now!! ;)

Welcome to My New Life in Taipei

2011-01-28T17:18:00.000+08:00

WELCOME TO TAIPEI!!!
These are the first words I should be greeting you with ;)

I've been enjoying my new adventure in Taipei.. A city that I've never been before. And i've come here all alone, without my parents nor any relatives here. But I'm quite lucky to have been introduced to a friend before my arrival here. This person is actually an Indonesian, but she's been here for more than 12 years and her family has also been Taiwan citizen. So, she helped me so much with the room rent search and dealing. I think I owe her and her family so much.

So, this is Taipei. This is exactly the place where you can experience both Chinese culture and modern lifestyle. Thank God I love this place!! I love the city, I love the shopping places and stuff <3, and I also love the people here. They have been treating me well so far so I don't think there is anything I could complain about my new life here so far. I just hope I could make new friends here, with the locals and also with other foreigners.

Beauty Haul-ing in Hong Kong ;)

2010-11-09T01:07:00.000+08:00

Hiii haiii ladiesss...

I've been traveling to Malaysia n Hong Kong recently and came back with several new babies that i would really love to cuddle... :p So, here are my new babies:

1. Etude House O2 White C tone up emulsion
2. Etude House Milk Screw lipbalm #2 (most likely strawberry or cherry color)
3. Kanebo KATE high coverage pressed powder UV (in natural beige)
4. Kanebo Lavshuca cheek color in RD-1
5. Sofina Aube Couture designing stay rouge in PK 131
6. Sofina Aube Couture mascara in BK 611
7. Sofina Aube Couture designing shine eyes in #534
8. Kose Softymo medicated white cleansing foam
9. Kanebo Naive natural cleansing oil

I have tried almost all products and all of them are niceeee.. Love 'em <3
But let me tell you in details on my next reviews, along with the FOTD of course.

Cya around ;)

Estee Lauder Cyber White EX Skincare Review

2010-08-17T12:28:00.000+08:00

Bonjour a tous....

I have finally finished my Estee Lauder Cyber White EX trial set after using this set for approximately a month. I am pretty satisfied with the result and effect of the set, even though I don't think I can afford to buy this set for continuous usage, at least in the meantime. :(

As I have promised you in my previous post, I would be writing a review about this set. So, here is my personal experience and opinion on each item.

As clearly seen in its name, Cyber White EX is a range of Estee Lauder's whitening products. The range consists of : lotion, face cream, sunscreen, essence and eye cream. Besides brightening, all products are also to moisturize the skin.

1. Extra Brightening Moisture Lotion:

When people say 'lotion', the first thing comes to my mind is actually a very light cream (half liquid) with white color and light fragrance. But apparently, this lotion is a refreshing toner. This lotion is used after cleansing your face and before your skincare routine. I use this lotion with a piece of cotton pad, pour a sufficient amount of it onto the cotton pad and pat it onto my face. This lotion is intended to refresh your skin and close down your pores. In other words, it prepares your skin to receive any lotion, essence, cream or make up.

I found this EL lotion is pretty pleasant. It refreshes my skin, gives a bit cooling sensation and has a faint fragrance. I believe it has a little amount of alcohol in it. But I think it's very little, since my skin is a rather dry and a bit sensitive to alcohol now. The fragrance is not annoying either so there is no big deal with it.

2. Advanced Performance Brightening Essence:

This essence is my favorite item in this range. This essence is actually a serum. The texture is very thin and rather runny with a light scent. I also found the scent is the same with the lotion. I think this essence is really a great base to use beneath the cream and sunscreen. Apply only a very little amount of the essence and it's enough to moisturize my face. It really gives me the soft and delicate skin that I want. I can really feel the essence is absorbed well into my skin and leaves no greasy feeling.

3. Extra Brightening Moisture Creme:

This face cream is quite thick and not runny at all. When I first used this cream, I thought this one would feel heavy and look greasy on my face. But apparently not at all. This cream really does a great job in moisturizing my skin. This is of course the perfect match for the essence. My skin feels comfortable after using this cream and my make up stays perfectly on it. It doesn't make my BB cream oxidized, but rather gives me the healthy glow and even fine finish.

4. Extra Intensive UV Protector:

This sunscreen is my number 2, after Etude House Perfect proof sun guard. This sunscreen is a way thicker than the Etude sunscreen, perhaps as thick as Missha SPF 42 sunscreen. I won't use this sunscreen if I am going to wear BB cream or foundation upon it. But if I'm only going to wear loose powder, I think this one is OK to get along. This sunscreen is also lightly scented.

5. Eye Creme:

After using this eye cream for 2-3 times, I decided to give it to my mum since I don't really have problems with my eyes area. I have no wrinkles yet, nor any panda eyes. So I thought this might mean more benefits for my mum. Apparently my consideration was precise. My mum just told me that this eye creme has become her new baby. FYI, my mum has a pretty sensitive eye area and allergic to many eye cosmetics. But when she got allergy and her eyes were swollen and itchy, she applied this cream and after a few hours, her eyes just got much better.

All in all, the whole range is a great skincare set in my opinion. The whitening effect is not very instant though. I find my uneven skin tone still exists, but has faded very little. However, the products give me the healthy glow on my face which I like, and if you have enough budget, Estee Lauder is definitely worth a try!!

My First Visit to Estee Lauder Harvey Nichols

2010-07-18T13:59:00.000+08:00

I can say that I was lucky enough to win an online competition on Fashionesedaily beauty forum. Estee Lauder, an American cosmetic brand is about to launch its whitening skincare line called Cyber White EX, so in cooperation with the forum, it held a free giveaway for the members of the forum and fans of the Estee Lauder's FB fanpage.

This is the beauty lounge in Estee Lauder's counter. The lounge seems cozy and suitable for the hubbies and boyfriends waiting for their ladies to be made over. *wink!*

Not only I got the skincare set in travel size (along with a lovely-mini-cosmetic purse), I also got a free makeover at the Estee Lauder counter in Harvey Nichols, Grand Indonesia. Too bad I wasn't going to any party or event, so I just chose the natural makeup look. The beauty advisor (BA), Ade, did my face pretty skilfully and I was quite satisfied with the result.

I didn't really notice which make-up line she put onto my face, but the foundation and pressed powder, she told me that it was also the Cyber White line. The foundation and powder felt smooth and my skin looked dewy and delicate beneath the powder. I would say it's really good to wear in the evening or when you are going to parties. It really gives you a nice-looking skin on the photos. But for daytime use, I still prefer the BB cream look. No cakey looking, but still my face looked well-done with this. I also noticed that it oxidized after around 4-5 hours. However, I really like the glow of the blusher on my cheeks. Very nice and natural, <3 it!!! ;)

Mbak Ade, the nice and pretty BA. (thank you very much!)

My review on the Cyber White EX skincare line will be coming very soon. Stay alert! ^__^v

New FOTD with the Braces ;D

2010-05-09T15:34:00.000+08:00

Hey ya there.. I've just put braces on my teeth and i really wanted to try taking pic of myself exposing the braces. It's been almost 2 months, but I didn't have enough guts to expose these braces. Now that I have enough confidence and also want to show you how the new The Skin Food Tomato Whitening cream has done to my skin. I think it indeed brightens up my skin. Though it does not have better moisturising effect than my previous TSF Bean Moist Emulsion, but really it makes my Isa Knox BB cream covers my face smoothly.

For this FOTD, I wore:
1. The Skin Food Tomato Whitening Cream
2. Isa Knox BB cream SPF 48 PA+++
3. Enprani Sheer Brightening LP
4. Sofina Aube Couture Designing Cheek #orange
5. Viva eyebrow pencil #dark brown
6. Nivea Strawberry Lipbalm
7. Kose Fasio Mascara

Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream SPF 42 PA+++

2010-04-26T22:46:00.000+08:00

I have had some experiences with Missha products before. But none of them has done me an impressive result. The sunscreen was so-so, the pen eyeliner was crap!! I haven't been interested in Missha products eversince. But this BB cream, I have read some good reviews about this, and actually tried the sample from an online seller (from whom I bought my Isa Knox BB cream), before I finally came to a decision to buy this.

This BB cream has 2 shades, #21 and #23. The #23 is darker than the other, though it's still suitable for a fair Asian skin (with yellow tone). I decided to buy the darker one, since I don't wanna look like a lost geisha (geisha nyasar) hehehe. Unlike the previous products, I think Missha has improved its technology and maybe ingredients for its products. It has released some new products with excellent quality (especially BB creams).

This BB cream has no scent, with a quite thick texture, but still build able, though you still need a good moisturizer beneath this, in order to spread the cream evenly onto your entire face. Look at the pic below, you might see the cream has a medium-dark tone, but actually if you already spread it on your face, this makes your skin much brighter. Therefore, this bb cream might not be suitable for dark-skinned people.

It is supposed to do a great oil-control on oily-skinned people. But, I have a normal-dry skin, and I still love how this cream works on me. It doesn't dry my skin, and actually gives glow to my face. It's non-shimmery, and has medium coverage. Though it gives a matte-finish, it's not dull at all. So, I believe this would be great for people with pale skin as well.

Besides oil-control, it also offers healing props for your blemishes and wrinkles. Well, I can't say much about this, since I have no problems with both of them. However, some reviews said that yes, it indeed improves their skin condition.

There's even a better news about this. It has a high protection sunscreen with SPF 42 PA+++!!! For women with a strict budget and time for make-up, this is absolutely a MUST HAVE stuff!! Where on earth, you can have a BB cream with healing props, decent coverage, sun protection, oil-control and even gives you a healthy glow within one mini tube for only Rp 125-150.000 (US$ 12-15)??

The above pic is my FOTD with Missha PC BB cream #23 and Enprani Loose Powder.
All in all, of course I should rate this product 5 out of 5 for all its benefits and price. ^__^V

Kose Fasio Power Stay Mascara 3D+ Curl Volume

2010-04-26T01:13:00.001+08:00

Fasio is one of the brands that stand under Kose cosmetic corporation. The best products from Fasio, as far as I know, are the eye make-up lines. I've read heaps of reviews raving about the mascara. As I went to One Utama mall in Malaysia, I found this Fasio mascara at a purse-friendly price. I bought this faboulous mascara at around RM 28. The price is no higher than a Maybelline, I supposed. So I decided to buy one.

This mascara comes in a very simple appearance. Only a plain-bright orange and a metalic cap with the brand name printed on it. Looks very typical as a drugstore line. But really you cannot judge a book by its cover. I would say this is the best mascara I've ever tried so far. (Note that I only had experience with some sorts of Maybelline and Make Up Store mascaras). The brush is quite mini compared to most other mascaras, but it's not as small as Maybelline Lash Discovery mascara (which is already discontinued). Nevertheless, I feel more comfortable using this Fasio brush than the Maybelline one. I don't know exactly why, it just seems perfect for my lashes.

It surely lifts up my lashes and brings 'life' to my eyes. It lengthens and gives volume to my lashes. The good thing is that it keeps my lashes stay up after long hours, does not weighs down my lashes as other mascaras did. It looks really natural but lively on my eyes.

The second great thing is that it is not clumpy and doesn't smudge even if I apply it for a couple of times. I suppose, the texture of the liquid is just so perfect so it's neither too thick nor easily dried out.

And this is absolutely waterproof. It doesn't fade or make panda eyes either even after I rinse my entire face with water and foam. It can only be cleared off by cleansing oil, and still you need to rub well to take it off thoroughly.

This is my EOTD wearing Fasio Mascara. I also wore Etude House Petite Darling e/s cream and Koji Springheart auto pencil eyeliner in this pic.

This is a total holy grail and I would rate this product 5 out of 5 for all aspects: curling, lengthening, volumizing, waterproof and of course. It is exactly worth every penny that I spent.

Etude House: Happy Tea Time "Aloe Tea" Cleansing Foam

2010-03-19T22:42:00.000+08:00

I was sooo excited to find Etude House in Malaysia. I've read so many beauty blogs from Malaysian ladies but I have never been aware about Etude's prices in Malaysia. Etude House is so damn CHEAP there, it's only a half of Indo's price. And it was even on up to 50% off sale!! I found Etude House's shop at Sungei Wang and bought this cleansing foam as I was running out of my previous powder wash from The Skin Food. On the pic: I also bought an eyeshadow cream as it was only RM 9.9 (what a breath taking price!!).

I bought this huge tubed facial foam for RM 13.9 (normal price), which contains of 150ml creamy cleanser. This cream is slightly fragranced and doesn't make me feel dizzy at all. A small amount of cream is just enough to cleanse my entire face. It doesn't dry my skin like Pond's did, but it moisturizes my face less than The Skin Food Green tea powder wash. So, I think my previous powder wash is better for dryer skin type than this one. Anyway, this cleansing foam is more than satisfying for a cheap stuff, in my opinion.

I rate this product 4 out of 5. This product has the best price, pleasant fragrance, and does a satisfying cleansing job.

Singapore Lovely Trip 2010

2010-01-29T01:31:00.000+08:00

My trip in Singapore began with the mall-hopping activity. From Fashionesedaily, I knew that new malls have been open: Ion Orchard and 313 Somerset. I also found out that there is this Japanese brand, which has basic design like Gap. Thus I looked for the Uniqlo store in 313 and Ion. Luckily, I found what I was just looking for: a pair of skinny jeans and a loose tee shirt. I really love the cut of the jeans and the material of the clothes. IMO, they hang very beautifully on my body and shows the curves of my booties (yeayyy!!) ;)

I <3 UNIQLO!!!
This is my picture wearing the t-shirt (and my fave Dorothy Perkins skinny jeans):

I bought the tee and the jeans on discount. I paid S$15 for the tee and S$39 for the jeans. Quite a reasonable price for both (i found the tee is slightly thicker and has better quality than Zara).

After the mall-hopping, I met my friend who'd be our city-tour guide that day. He took me and my family to the Esplanade building, Boat Quay, Marina Bay and Clarke Quay by walking. He was very kind and nice to us, that's why we love our tour guide so much (LoL!! =D)

In front of the Esplanade (my friend is at my right side)

The Merlion beside the Fullerton Hotel

My Sentosa Tour 2010

2010-01-29T00:36:00.000+08:00

Hey-ho...
I'm just back from my two-week holiday in south-east Asia. Here I am now, back in Jakarta very gratefully. Therefore I'd like to share some of my experiences during my holiday. I hope this would be useful for people who look forward to visiting these places.

First country I visited was Singapore. Well, this was my second time there and I'm still loving this country so damn much!! Regardless people's comments about how taste-less the Singapore dishes, I love its cuisine. My favorite is, of course, Old Chang Kee, and many other Chinese cuisines in the food courts around Singapore. However, as an Indonesian, I still need to bring my own "sambal" sauce from Indo, unless there will be something not-perfect about the meal :p

This year, I went to Sentosa again. Last time I went there (in 2008), I only watched "Songs of the Sea". This time, I took a "Choice of Fun" package (about S$36) and chose: Segway Fun Ride, Images of Singapore, Tigersky Tower and Extreme Log Ride.

The Segway Fun Ride was quite exciting to do. They call it an eco-ride since this vehicle needs no fuel to run. The ride looks like a 3-wheels bicycle but you do not sit on it, you stand on it. Too bad I forgot to take a photo with this, but you can see the web here: Segway Sentosa. At first, we were trained to ride the segway. After that, we ran the segway for one track. They made the track quite challenging with curves and uneven terrain. I love this ride and might want to do it again in my next visit ;)

My second ride was the Tiger Sky Tower. In this ride, we were brought to see the sights of Sentosa from 360 degree. We can see the building progress of the Casino and of course, the Universal Studios.
One of the rides in Universal studios

My mum and dad in the tower

The Casino

The Merlion

Then I went to the Extreme Log Ride. It was a simulator with 3D effect movie. It was not impressive at all, especially when you have been to Disneyland, you'll think it's pretty boring and lousy. There was an introductory session before the ride started, which took longer time than the ride itself. So lame!! Here's my photo in the theater, wearing the 3D glasses :p

my picture after the game

Proceeding my journey, I entered the Images of Singapore. It started with the the laser and animation show of the founders' story of Singapore Island. The show only took 5 minutes, and I think it's just enough to describe how Singapore became the melting pot of the Chinese, European and Hindi cultures. Singapore really knows how to make a good projection if its image. Here are some pictures taken in the museum and mini theater.

The mini theater

The statues that represent the images of Singapore people, history and cultures

Walking around this museum was not as boring as the museum in my own country. Some dolls can move and talk. It is a very good museum to visit with the kids and students.

L'oreal Elseve Nourishing Fluid Day -Leave in-

2009-09-17T15:16:00.005+08:00

This is my new holy grail leave in hair conditioner. I really love this product, in fact I think this is the best leave in conditioner I've ever used.

I bought it last month, when I did my internship @Grand Indonesia. That time, I hadn't got my hair permed. My hair felt so dry and unhealthy as I sat inside the air-conditioned room for a whole day. Thus, I decided to buy this conditioner.

This conditioner has a soft and quite pleasant scent. So it won't mix and ruin my styling foam's fragrance.

The texture is more like a lotion with white color. It's not sticky at all, so it absorbs into my hair very well. I usually apply this conditioner after washing my hair, when it's still half-dry. It obviously makes my hair feel much smoother and lighter.

However, this conditioner can't really tame my hair. That's why I still need styling foam or mousse to keep the texture neat.

After all aspects, I rate this product 4.5 out of 5.

The Skin Food Bean Moist Emulsion

2009-09-17T01:33:00.006+08:00

I bought this emulsion in December 2008 actually. That time, my skin was rough and bloody dried out!! I suspected the causes were Ponds skin care range that I had been using that time. The cleansers, toner and facial foam. Unfortunately, Ponds cream and lotion could do nothing to recover my skin moisture. Thus, I went to look for a new 'BFF' for my skin. Lucky I found this emulsion!! I bought it at The Skin Food store in Mall Taman Anggrek. It cost me about IDR 160k (that time), which IMO, is not expensive for a Korean brand. The bottle is made of a glass (not a plastic!), and contains of 160ml lotion. So, it definitely lasts for quite a while. I have been using it until now, btw. The price is really reasonable and worth the quality.

The texture of this emulsion is just like a lotion. It's very nice because it's not too runny nor thick. Maybe 'emulsion' just another name of 'lotion'? Well, I'm not quite sure. But from what I know, you should follow this skin care regime for the best result:
1. Cleansing (oil/foam)
2. Toner
3. Emulsion
4. Essence
5. Cream
Gee!! How much should I spend for such pattern?? Thus, I skip the toner, essence and cream. Good cleansers and brilliant lotion are all I need to get my ideal type of skin ;)

This emulsion has a subtle fragrance. Just like another Korean cosmetics. But it's not annoying at all since it doesn't smell alcoholly.

The emulsion is easily absorbed into my skin and leaves no sticky feeling on my skin surface. The moisture remains, so you can either use it overnight or else, as a moisturizer before BB cream/sunscreen.

After using it for 3-4 days, my skin recovered. This is exactly the best part of this emulsion. This has been my holy grail for months, until I've had a new baby from Etude House. The only thing that is lack from this emulsion is the whitening/brightening effect. It would've been better if it could brighten up my skin. :p

The overall rating for The Skin Food Bean Moist Emulsion is 4.5 out of 5.

ZA True White Night Cream

2009-09-03T20:01:00.005+08:00

This is exactly the worst night cream I have ever bought and used. Before this one, I bought ZA True White Metavoltage Cream. It's a cream for peeling, it doesn't have scrubs, but yes it is intended for peeling.

Both ZA night cream and metavoltage cream are not suitable for me. The metavoltage cream dries my skin like hell, and the night cream breaks me out. My skin became rough after using it for approximately a week. So, I had to recover my skin with my old beloved The Skin Food Bean Moist Emulsion and my new sweet baby, Etude House O2 White Lotion :)

Anyways, the ZA night cream has a medium creamy texture, it's not too thick actually, pretty agreeable when I apply it onto my hand. But it can't absorb thoroughly into my skin. It leaves sticky residue until morning. That's what I hate the most about this cream. I think, it doesn't really moisturize my skin, because after the cream is removed by my facial soap, my skin remains unmoisturized.

One more bad thing about this cream, is the fragrance. It has a quite strong fragrance and pretty alcoholly. My skin gets along with Sofina sunscreen well (notice that Sofina also contains alcohol in it), by the way. But with ZA, yuck!!

One last thing, which is the only good part of this cream, is that I think it evened out my skin. I can't say much about this, because I only used it for a week. I just think that it helped to even out my skin tone.

The overall rating for ZA True White Night Cream is 1 out of 5. This is no more than a waste of money!!

2nd Beauty Items 4 Sale

2009-08-26T14:01:00.006+08:00

Hi...
This time, I just wanna make an offer for my beauty products. These are used items, but I rarely used it or just tried it slightly.

Etude Speedy Total Mineral Base SPF 41 PA++. Shade #2 Natural Beige, yellow undertone. Bought in June 2009 at IDR 350k (approximately). 50ml, 90% left. For sale @IDR 150.000==> SOLD @ GURL.ME ^.^

All items with boxes. Fixed prices. Free domestic shipping for Jabodetabek.
Email: sofina_japan@yahoo.com

Sofina Perfect UV White Protect SPF 50+ PA+++

2009-07-14T22:55:00.003+08:00

This is definitely the BEST SUNSCREEN I ever had.
Regarding the price, which I think, rather expensive, it'd better be EXCELLENT! Otherwise, I would've cried like hell, regretting the day I purchased this item. LoL!!

This sunscreen has a lotion texture, not creamy. Therefore, it absorbs well into my skin and doesn't leave white cast on it. It doesn't feel greasy at all, so I can apply my make-up right away, without having to wait for the sunscreen to absorb and dried-up. I can even use it without any powders on. It obviously keeps my skin matte all day long!! Note that I still use BRTC serum as moisturizer under the sunscreen!

Besides the great texture, this product apparently proves its quality. I used to have a white-spot on my face. It looked very distinct that everybody asked me what it was. They thought, I was having some kinda skin-disease. Well, I had happened to me before and it was only because of the sun ray. It was recovered after I used ROC sunscreen SPF 40 PA+++.

So, this time, I'm giving Sofina a shot. I thought SPF 50+ PA+++ would do a better job, wouldn't it?

Then after using Sofina sunscreen for 2-3 weeks, I saw an improvement. My friends also agreed that my white spot was way better and asked what I did to recover it. I just said that I had been wearing a new sunscreen ;)

Now, the white spot is almost erased entirely. It looks very indistinct that nobody notices it anymore. I highly recommend this sunscreen. This is absolutely a holy grail, a must have item in my cosmetic case!!! No wonder it becomes a top 10 picks on www.makeupalley.com.

If you are interested, you can purchase this product here: http://sofinajapan.blogspot.com/

The overall rating for Sofina Perfect UV White Protect SPF 50+ PA+++: 5 out of 5.

FOTD: Isa Knox Blemish Balm

2009-07-11T16:08:00.001+08:00

This is just a simple FOTD. I just wanna emphasize on how good Isa Knox BB and Enprani l/p work on my skin. I realy-realy L-O-V-E them and hope you like it too ;) LoL!!!

Pose 1:

Pose 2:

Pose 3:

Face make-up:
BRTC Aqua Rush Serum
The Skin Food Bean Moist Emulsion
Isa Knox BB cream SPF 48 PA+++
Enprani Loose Powder
Skin79 Star Glow Cheek

Eye make-up:
Viva eyebrow pencil
MAF indelible gel liner "blackout"

Lips make-up:
Nivea lipbalm "strawberry"

Isa Knox BB always gives me a glowing-healthy look all day long. More plus point is that this BB has SPF 48 with a high UVA protection (PA+++). It can definitely even out my skin tone, cover some red marks (when I have acnes) and control sebum, while keeping the natural look. It won't oxidize even after long hours and does not cake up. This is definitely the best BB cream I've ever used. It beats my Hanskin Super Premium Magic BB.

Well, just like most Korean cosmetics, Isa Knox BB has a light floral fragrance. It doesn't annoy me at all, though.

The overall rating for Isa Knox Blemish Base is 5 out of 5.

Enprani Brightening Sheer Loose Powder

2009-07-04T15:29:00.001+08:00

Finally I’ve found my new holy grail!! Something that I can call “the soulmate for my face”.

Yeah, that day, when I rushed into Sogo dept.store at Plaza Senayan to look for Bloom loose powder, which was already out of stock, I bumped into Enprani stall. This brand is from Korea (again!). The SA introduced some Enprani products and I tested Enprani Brightening Sheer Loose Powder on the back of my hand. It was really soft but rather perfumey. So I went on, leaving the SA telling me that it was discounted by 10%.

My curiosity didn’t stop there. I searched for Enprani products on Gmarket and found it at half-price from the Sogo price. Lucky me, I ordered the lightest shade right away and received it delightfully.

This 30gr powder comes with a bulky glass pot, with black cap and mini-plastic spoon. The packaging is very simple but rather elegant (well, it’s a bit old, actually :p). There is also an extra casing, complete with sifter, sponge, mirror and a divider (it separates the sponge and the sifter, prevent the powder from coming out in a messy way), to share the powder. I have to say, this casing is really handy to bring in your cosmetic bag.

Although it is claimed to be sheer, I think this powder gives a pretty good coverage. The powder particle is obviously softer than Palgantong LP. It has micro shimmers that give you a healthy glowing look. The finish is pretty matte and natural, just like Korean actresses on TV. The best thing is, this powder does not oxidize, even when I have a hot-humid day. This powder definitely stays good for a long time. The quality is pretty similar to Make Up Store Loose Powder.

The not-so-good part of this powder is only on its fragranced. The perfume is quite heavy for a make-up, especially the sponge. The scent is none like floral, it’s a perfume!

The overall rating for Enprani Brightening Sheer Loose powder is 4.5 out of 5.

Beauty Spree

2009-07-04T15:04:00.000+08:00

I'm so glad to receive this haul.
I'd call it a beauty spree, since for me, it's such a splurge!! *_*

The products:
1. Sofina Aube Impression Eyes palette #green
2. Sofina Perfect UV white perfect sunscreen SPF 50+ PA+++
3. Enprani Brightening Sheer Loose Powder

I believe these are high quality products anyway.. So, just wait for my upcoming reviews on these stuffs. v^o^v

Etude House: Speedy Total Mineral Base SPF 41 PA++

2009-07-03T12:35:00.001+08:00

Hi there,
It’s been quite a while since last time I reviewed my beauty stuff.
I’ve been trying some new products, actually. So, it will take me sometime to review them one by one.

As you can see on my previous post on beauty haul, I bought a Speedy Total Mineral Base from Etude House. It has SPF 41 PA++, so it is also a sunscreen packed with the base and foundation.

This base comes with a blue squeeze tube with a pump on top. The packaging and the color is very nice in my opinion. The pump also makes it easy for me to take out the cream out of the tube. So far, I don’t need to squeeze the tube. Just pump it up et voila, it comes out as much as you wish.

The base has a light and nice texture. It’s in the middle of cream and lotion texture. I chose shade #2, it’s a yellow undertone shade, perfect for Asian ivory skin color, like me. The coverage is very sheer, of course BB creams have more coverage than it does. I think, this base is just perfect for high-school girls who are, usually, not allowed to wear make-up to school. If you combine it with a loose powder, they will create a natural-dewy look.
swatch:

However, I have to say that this base is not suitable for oily skin. Even I, who has normal-dry skin, got my T-zone shiny after a few hours. As for dry skin, this base can definitely moisturize your skin.

In conclusion, I don’t regret buying this base. However, I can only use this base for a short-time activity of the day, such as: going to supermarket. Any other time, when having a fully-scheduled day, I stick to my Hanskin Super Magic BB cream with Sofina sunscreen as a sun-protector.

Overall rating for Etude House Speedy Total Mineral Base SPF 41 PA++: 3 out of 5.

Love or Bread

2009-05-21T18:35:00.000+08:00

Title: Love or Bread
Category: Drama 12 episodes
Genre: romantic-comedy
Cast: Ariel Lin (as Shan Mei), Joe Cheng (as Frank)
XLR Rating: *

Okay, I’d say this drama is a total trash!!! When I watched the first episode, I was already disappointed with the acting of the main actor. But I still hoped that it would get better in the coming episodes. But it never did. Some actors and actresses’ acting is LOUSY and gets me annoyed everytime I watch their scene. They exaggerate their faces’ mimic to be funny. But, instead of looking funny, they end up looking like morons. I really hate watching the main actor’s (Joe Cheng) scenes!!

The story begins with Shan Mei helping Frank when he was almost killed by a moneylender in his house. The first meeting was unpleasant that they started to dislike each other. But after that, they keep on meeting again and again accidentally. They end up sharing a house together as they are cheated by a fake-house owner, from whom they rent a house.

Frank was not only a big liar, he was also a lazy and poor guy who always acts to be rich. He liked to borrow money from his mate and Shan Mei, without returning them back. He was a real rascal!!

It’s such a dishonor for Ariel Lin and Joe Cheng to play this drama after a big hit on their previous dramas, It Started with a Kiss (2007) and They Kiss Again (2008). Frankly speaking, the role that Joe Cheng played in this drama really ruined my imagination on him as a smart-sexy guy. In this drama, he played as a jerk, who depends his life on others. I was amazed to see how patient (or stupid??) his best mate and Shan Mei were to tolerate Frank’s bad habit.

I only give one star to this drama. Because the only good things about this drama are the values held in Shan Mei’s family and her spirit to work hard. They are not rich, but sure the warmth in the family changes Frank’s idea about “If you want to be considered and loved by people, you have to be rich, or at least, to look rich!” So yeah, this movie is just worth to be watched on a long-boring holiday. Otherwise, it’s just a waste of time!!

My before make-up appearance

2009-05-21T00:44:00.000+08:00

Postings of FOTD with full make-up is just very common. I've always done this, and many other bloggers do it as well.

Just in case you wonder, how I look like without any make-up on, let me show you my most natural look. This pic was taken right after showering (and cleansing my whole make-up with cleansing oil). I applied BRTC aqua rush serum right before I took this pic. NO photoshop effects!!!

Maxim Anti-perspirant Roll-on

2009-05-20T22:47:00.000+08:00

I have a really serious problem about excessive sweating and a bit body odor. My mum has been complaining about it ever since I was in Junior High-School. I've tried some deodorants from Rexona, from roll-on to stick. They're all just making my sleeves turn dark and even more embarrassing!! When I don't use any deo, my armpit still stinks, because my sweats drip like HELL!!! :,(

Now, see what I've discovered from FD forum: MAXIM ANTI-PERSPIRANT ROLL-ON. It does not only stop my sweats at my armpit, but also keep the bad-smell away from me!!

What I need to do is just apply this deo before sleeping (when my body, especially under-arms area are clean and dry already). In the morning, I can regularly shower and need no deo powders nor anymore deodorant!! The amazing part of the maxim is: when I'm usually sweaty in the middle of the day (on the bus), my whole body and face are still sweating like hell, but my armpits are still DRY!!! Well, I mean, my armpits are damp, but it doesn't stain on the sleeves!!

Even better, you only need to apply this deo once a week, or when you need it. You must apply it at night, before sleeping, when you don't sweat a lot. So it can absorb to your skin well, otherwise your skin might be irritated.

This product contains Aluminium Chloride 15% as the anti-perspirant. I've googled about this ingredients, to check whether it's harmful or not. But as far as I've read, the negative effects like cancer is not proven yet. But, sure it does have a side effect if you don't use it carefully: skin irritation and for ladies: you might feel firm on your breast. I also feel this symptoms. Anyone knows what could happen?? Is there anything harmful?? Please let me know, if you sure know something.

Thanks ^.^

My Haul: May 2009

2009-05-20T22:34:00.000+08:00

Hey there..
It's been quite a while since last time I wrote here.. LoL.. :p

Here I am now, showing off my "another Korean make-up hauls"..

These are:
1. Hanskin Premium Super Magic BB cream
2. Etude House Speedy total Mineral Base
3. BRTC Aqua Rush Serum
4. Maxim deodorant

Others are samples:
Lioele Essence, Feverlet HD, Etude BB cream mineral, Welcos No Makeup Face BB, Happy Bath Body Yogurt, Neutrogena cleansing oil, Neutrogena foaming cleanser, Ponds cream cleansing

I'm so delighted to receive all these hauls.
Some have come since last week. So, I've tried Maxim and Etude. I've also had Hanskin minisize before. So, let's just check out my upcoming reviews ;)

Au revoir..

Boys Before Flowers (Korean version of Hana Yori Dango)

2009-04-12T13:15:00.000+08:00

Title: Boys Before Flowers (Hana Yori Dango Korean version)
Origins: Korea
Category: Drama 25 episodes
Genre: romantic-comedy
Cast: Koo Hye Sun as (Geum Jan Di) F4: Lee Min Ho (Goo Joon Pyo); Kim Hyun Joong (Yoon Ji Hoo); Kim Bum (So Yi Jung); Kim Joon (Song Woo Bin)
XLR Rating: *****

If you ever think about skipping this drama because “It’s just another version of Hana Yori Dango”, then you are SO WRONG!! I would say this is the best version of Hana Yori Dango. No wonder drama lovers from all over the world is now addicted to this serial. Okay, the other Hana Yori Dango versions also had a great influence to teens in some countries (including Indonesia in 2001-2002). But this version is the MOST PERFECT in some aspects:

1. The F4 actors are ALL GORGEOUS (they take my breath away in just every scene.. sigh!!)!!!
2. The story line is quite different with the other version of Hana Yori Dango.. (Well at first, it looks more like Japanese Hana Yori. But in the middle until end, the story is more developed and, I should admit the storyline goes better than the original one). There are complicated relationships between the main actors and actresses (that’s why you’ll find this version is the longest among the other versions).
3. The settings of place are the most romantic and they really succeed to describe the super-wealthy F4.
4. The acting of the casts is excellent. Too bad that the main actress (Geum Jandi) acts not as good as the other casts at the first few episodes. She keeps improving her acting actually, but when doing the kissing scene with the main actor, she SUCKS!!! I can’t feel her chemistry to the co-star, while the main actor (in the other hand) succeeds to bring out his character and the deepest emotional feelings towards her.

There is only one thing that I hate from this drama:
The ending is like, hanging!! (Or it’s just me who hasn’t had enough F4??)

Now, let’s see the synopsis of the drama.

Geum Jandi is a new student at the luxurious Shinhwa School. This school belongs to the great Shinhwa Group, that is owned by F4 (Goo Jun Pyo, Yoon Ji Hoo, Soo Yi Jung, and Song Woo Bin). In their school, F4 is very exclusive and feared by all students and teachers. When they dislike somebody, they simply send him a red-note, then the entire school will bully that person until he decide to drop out from school.

Geum Jandi, who comes from a non-wealthy family, feels irritated every time she sees the F4 group, especially Goo Jun Pyo, the head of the F4, the wealthiest and also the most notorious. One day her friend gets into trouble with Goo Jun Pyo, she can’t shut her mouth any longer and starts to ‘battle’ against F4. This incident, at the end, gets Goo Jun Pyo fall into her.

This drama is not out on local TV yet. I watched it on www.viikii.net. This site is the fastest to upload and sub the drama. On this site, I can also read comments from viewers from all over the world, just like on Youtube. But if you can’t watch online, I think the DVD stalls at ITC is already selling the full-version of the drama. Because this drama is a BIG HIT! So, it is definitely a MUST WATCH drama and the Asian Serial of the year.

If you've already watched this drama and want to download the soundtracks, just comment on this article and I'll give you the link to the web that provides free MP3 downloads for the OST.
Enjoy!!

XiaoLing’s Movie Review/12-04-2009

Holy Grail: Facial Cleansers

2009-04-10T02:13:00.000+08:00

These are my holy-facial-cleansers.

From left to right:
1. Maybelline Lip & Eye make up remover
The liquid is a combination of water and oil. This is exactly non-alcohol and non-scented cleanser. So, this is really GREAT for sensitive skin area like lips and eyes. You just need to shake it before dropping some drips to cotton, wipe your lips/eyes gently and, voila! The make-up is OFF!!

2. The Skin Food greentea powder wash
This is my first powdery-soap. I use it to wash my face in the morning (before make-up). I feel the foam cleans my face very gently and remains my skin moisturised. I just need to put a small amount of the powder on my palm and emulsify it with a little water. Then the powder turns to be a light foam and slightly scented like a leaf (yeaa,,it's "green tea", btw!)

3. Kose Softymo Super Cleansing Liquid
I can't say that it can really cleanse my face! Because the texture of the liquid is just a way thicker than water!! I use it in the morning or when I just need to cleanse light cosmetics (like sunscreen or lotion). It's non-scented, but it slightly smells like liquid! (what am i talking about?? :p ) It has NO FOAM at all! So, it seems like washing your face with JUST water! I'm a bit confused, do I use it wrong or it is indeed just like that?? Well, at least, it also leaves my skin moisturized after cleansing.

4. The Skin Food Grape Fruit Oil Mousse
This oil cleanser is SO GREAT!! I use it to remove heavy make-ups like BB creams. It is actually dedicated for oily skin, but it doesn't dry my 'normal-skin' at all! It even leaves my skin soft and moisturized after cleansing. The bottle-can is attached with pump on the top. So, you shake it well and push-on the pump. The foam/mousse then comes out on your palm. The foam is very soft and it turns to be oily if you apply it onto your skin. Massage well on your face thoroughly until the make-up is removed. Emulsify the oil on your face with a little water and wash your face with water thoroughly. VOILA, the oil is off and your face is 100% CLEAN!! ^.^

FOTD: Hanskin BB cream

2009-04-10T01:19:00.000+08:00

Tonite, before going to church, i decided to put some make-up on.. I remember I still have a Hanskin Premium magic BB cream sample from my last haul. Well, I have used it once before. But it didn't look good. It looked dry and rather cakey. Euh, I hated it!! But i used the Hanskin with my Skin79 Hotpink pact. So, I decided to give this Hanskin another shot. Maybe combining it with my Etude Moist finish pact will do good??

Tadaa...

FOTD:
1. The Skinfood bean Moist emulsion
2. Hanskin Premium Magic BB cream
3. Etude moist finish pact
4. Etude blusher
5. Beauty Treats shimmer powder
6. PAC compact foundation (for contouring)

EOTD:
1. VOV shining pencil (for e/s base)
2. Dobest (japanese brand) e/s
3. Maybelline e/s
4. Revlon colorstay liquid eyeliner
5. Viva eyebrow pencil
6. Koji pencil eyeliner (on my waterline)

LOTD:
1. Nivea Lipcare strawberry star fruits
2. The skin food icebar twin gloss

I have to say that I really LOVE this result!! Because the Hanskin really gives me NATURAL look (as it claimed on cupcalicious's blog) but amazingly GREAT coverage!! It definitely makes my skin look even smoother. The color really suits my fair skin color (with yellow undertone). However, I don't think it suits those who are dark-toned. Because when I did make-up to my friend yesterday, the result wasn't as good. It looked rather pale!!

After a couple hours, it doesn't cake up nor oxidize at all! Now I know, the combination must be with Etude, NOT skin79.. LoL! :P

My Beauty Wishlist 1

2009-03-20T23:07:00.000+08:00

I feel like adding my make-up kit lately and I’m sooo into online shopping these days..
Suddenly I got a good news from a friend that, Watsons in China is on sale up to 60%! Whoa, that’s a REAL BARGAIN. Not skipping this opportunity, I ask my friend to buy me some products, only if they are really discounted at 60% off! LoL…

Cleansing products:
1. Kanebo Kracie Cleansing Oil

2. Kanebo Naïve Oil

3. Kose Cleansing Oil

All products are from Japan, since their brand is quite well-known and I saw their prices are quite cheap (compared to other product lines in the same brand).

Sunscreen:

Kose Fasio Sunscreen SPF 50++ PA+++
This product line is quite cheap as seen in sasa.com.

Decorative make-up:
1. Koji eyeliner pencil waterproof:
I’ve been using this pencil liner, I got this from my friend who went to HK last Xmas Holiday. This is totally a HOLY GRAIL!! Cheap product with high quality! <3 it!!

2. Kanebo Lavshuca blusher:
I found this on super SALE @ sasa.com, not sure whether it’s also on sale at watsons. But if the price is under 200k, I think it’d be a cool product to buy!

3. Skin79 Diamond BB line “Star Glow Ball Powder”
This product is the cutest temptation!! I’ve been watching this product for a while and really into this product because of the ball powder. This product is a blush and also a highlighter. I found it on sale at the website (only W.10k=Rp 100k). I’m really hoping that it’s also on sale at watsons, otherwise, the price is quite expensive (W.25k=Rp250k)! (sigh!)

4. Majolica Majorca Spice Blush
I found this blush cheap on bobodave.com. But since I’m not buying from international web, I have to be patient to wait for other chances :p. I’m attracted to this powder blush since the last time I got a make-over from Make Up Store. The make-up artist applied a mineral blush (which is powdery) on my cheek, and I was really satisfied with the result. So, I hope, this powder blush can give me the same result as the Make Up Store did.

Skin79 Hotpink Edition

2009-03-15T01:48:00.000+08:00

This is my recent haul from this online shopping. This Package arrived on Wednesday, 11 March 2009, so it's earlier than expected ^^. I'm glad to receive it, as i got some extra samples (though i just ordered 1 piece of compact powder). So, i've tried the pact and the BB cream. Thus i want to review these two items here.

My Skin tone: ivory (quite fair with yellow undertone).
Skin Type: Normal to dry skin, non-problematic skin.

Product brand: Skin 79
Product name: Hotpink BB pact SPF 30 PA++
Nett weight: 15gr.
My Rating: ****

The package of this powder is not really appealing to me, however the shocking-pink color might be attractive to some people (yes, the colour is quite cute). This powder is attached with a mirror, standard powder puff (with a light fragrance), and clear plastic cover to put the puff on.

This powder is not a two-way cake powder and only comes in one shade only (it's quite fair). It's claimed to give a sheer coverage to skin, which I feel is indeed yes. The powder is also slightly fragrant, just like the puff.

That day, i just apply my emulsion & BB cream hotpink as the base of my make-up. I left the sunscreen behind, because i think the sun protection from BB cream (SPF 25) and BB pact (SPF 30) is enough. With a light application, the powder could give me a brighter and even skin tone. When i touched my skin right after application, i felt my skin was moisturized enough. It didn't look cakey nor oxidize after a couple hours (note that i was going through a HOT journey on the bus and sweat was all over my face!).

After 12 hours, the powder still stayed (although it faded a bit, but i could still see the that it still covered my skin good enough). However, when i looked closely to my nose, i saw some brown spots clogged my pores (which never happened to my previous powder, i believe). I'm not sure whether the spots was caused by the powder or the BB cream, but as it didn't really bother me, i still rate it 4*. Yes, I'm quite satisfied.

Product Name: Hotpink BB cream SPF 25
I got this product as a free sample. It comes in a cute small tube, also with a shocking-pink colour. This BB cream also comes in one shade only and it's claimed to have 3 functions: whitening, UV protecting (SPF 25 PA++) and wrinkle free. This cream also has a light fragrance.

The texture of this cream is light and very blendable. That's why, it gives sheerer coverage than Dodo Club BB cream. What i like about this BB cream is that it could help moisturizing my skin.

Miss No Good

2009-03-14T10:07:00.000+08:00

Title: Miss No Good
Category: Drama 24 episodes
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Cast: Rainie Yang (Xiaohua), Wilbur Pan (Tang Men)
XLR Rating: **** rating

XiaoHua is a dork girl with a quirky fashion style. She likes to speak loud and jokes about silly things. She even gives names to any stuff she owns! One day, she accidentally meets Tang Men, a super-famous professional stylist, who hosts a make-over show on TV. That day, they get into the same taxi, and Tang Men drops his “enchanted scissors”. Lucky Xiaohua, she picks it up and keeps it for a while.

One day, Xiaohua childhood’s best friend, Jia Si Le, gets back from Japan and throws a reunion party for all elementary school buddies. Apparently the fatty boy, Jia Si Le, has changed into a very handsome and mature man. In this opportunity, Jia Si Le wants to get Xiaohua as his girlfriend. Unfortunately, Xiaohua hears some girls talk behind her back about how pathetic Jia Si Le is, to have Xiaohua by his side. They think, Jia Si Le and Xiaohua are not suitable because she is not only a dork, but she also comes from a non-wealthy family. It makes Xiaohua lose her confidence. Although she knows that Jia Si Le likes her in every way, but she keeps on feeling insecure about others’ opinions.

For the sake of being compatible with Jia Si Le, Xiaohua looks for Tang Men in order to give back his scissors and get a total-make-over lesson as a redemption. Tang Men agrees to give her 3 lessons.
One day Tang Men competes with a rival named Gino in a TV program. Their task is to make over two fat ladies. Tang Men targets to make his client to lose weight by 10kg in a month, while Gino targets at 20kg to his client. Everybody doubted that Gino can win this competition. But at the end, Gino wins by cheating. When Xiaohua finds out about this fact, she rushes to tell Tang Men and fights with the ladies (who are bribed by Gino). At that moment, Tang Men was touched by Xiaohua’s tender heart. After clearing this problem with the TV crew and audience, Tang Men and Xiaohua celebrate their victory and get drunk. At the end of that night, Xiaohua and Tang Men have their first kiss.

After that night, Tang Men tries to avoid Xiaohua by ending their lesson before the third meeting and giving her some clothes she might need to dress well. Thus they decide to not meet anymore and pretend to be unacquainted when meeting accidentally.

The next few days, when Xiaohua is already dating Jia Si Le, he intends to introduce her to his best friend and fiancée (his mother’s choice). Xiaohua is very choked to meet Tang Men again, so is Tang Men very surprised to know that Xiaohua is the girl that Jia Si Le has been admiring and loving all his life.

First time meeting Xiaohua, Jia Si Le’s fiancée, Jiang Mi, was really frowning to see “what-kind-of-girl that Jia Si Le adores all the time”. Then she makes up a plan, with Tang Men’s help, to make Xiaohua fall for Tang Men. Eventually, they end up fall for each other. This situation, of course, affects on Tang Men and Jia Si Le’s friendship. Tang Men finally dates Xiaohua, while Jia Si Le keeps on trying to get her back to his side. This competition is even more complicated with the fact that Xiaohua is actually Jia Si Le’s mother’s child (she delivered her before married to Jia Si Le’s father). At first, Jia Si Le’s family rejects Xiaohua to come into their family. But after knowing this fact, Jia Si Le’s mother helps him to win her back, for the sake of getting Xiaohua to call her ‘mother’.

This drama has succeeded to bring laugh and tears to me. Well, Rainie’s acting was a bit exaggerating at the first few episodes, but then I think it just suits the story. Xiaohua keeps on to improve her attitude and appearance, so at last she is not as dork as she was. I also love her kissing scene with Wilbur Pan. I think they have the chemistry and succeed to keep it real on the film.

In my opinion, Wilbur Pan (Tang Men) is actually not as handsome as his rival, Jia Si Le. But he acts quite good being a sharp-mouthed man. As a make-up artist, he is a real gentleman. Somehow it changes the stereotyped perspective about make-up-artist-man (which are usually portrayed very sissy).

The family problems are as interesting as the love story. They make the plot even more complex with Xiaohua’s real background.

This drama teaches women how outer beauty does not always get a man fall for you. The more important thing, at the end, is how tender your heart is towards others and how you love being yourself. This drama can also inspire us to achieve our deepest dream. No matter what people say about your dream, as long as you really love it, have the courage to take the risk and put your biggest effort to achieve it, and you will succeed.

My "going-to-church" LooK

2009-03-08T23:17:00.000+08:00

Tonite, i put on some make-up before going to church..
This is my appearance right after the make-up session.

The keys to my look:
1. The Skin Food Bean Moist Emulsion
2. Dodo Club BB cream
3. Etude Moist Finish Pact #2
4. VOV Baby Cheek #3 (strawberry soothing)
5. Japanese Brand Eyeshadow (i dont even know the brand, it's just written in japanese): bought it from Sasa HK for only HK$ 15. hehe
6. Viva Eyebrow pencil.
7. Revlon Colorstay Liquid eyeliner in black.

And this is how i look after 3 hours. Not so much different, aye?? Unfortunately, my cam is not really good in capturing my eye make-up, so i cant possibly take a closer look for my EOTD (eyes of the day).

Anyway, i really love my EOTD, coz i used my new eyeshadow-blending brush from Masami Shouko. This really made my eyeshadow colours blend well, regardless i just used some cheapy Japanese-drugstore-brand eyeshadow from Sasa HK. Here is the picture of my "magic wands" and eyeshadow of the nite.

The other brush is my blush-brush. This one is also Masami Shouko's, which i think, can apply my blush really good. I'm satisfied of Masami Shouko's brushes and looking forward to buy a foundation brush soon. ^^

Make Up Store Make-over ^.^

2009-03-07T20:13:00.000+08:00

Last week, i went to Make Up Store (MUS) shop @ EX to get a 'private beauty class". But apparently, they just did a make-over to me with detailed explanations about their products (yeah, it was more like a promotion, sigh!) Anyway, some products are indeed extraordinary, while else are just so-so. Here, i'm going to share only some products that are highly-recommended (by me). ^^

First, let's see my total look, all by Make Up Store products.

So, these are the products that gave me this look:
1. MUS skin serum for Dry skin: the texture is in the middle of water & oil, non-fragranced and easy to absorb. A very small drop for my entire face.
2. Liquid Foundation (also for dry skin): it was applied with foundie brush. It blended well to my skin-tone. There was also a small drop of the foundie brought to my face. I saw it just gave me a sheer look. Well, i dunt need to be highly-covered anyway :p.
3. Loose powder (in "milk" shade): It was applied with a powder brush, so it didn't caked up on my face. The powder is very light and non-perfumed (but it was slightly scented like a flour anyway). I'd say, you can see the difference when you touch the powder by your finger. It feels very smooth.
4. Mineral Blush: the powdery mineral blush is shimmery (the shimmer is very light/microfine textured). It gives me complete natural glowing look. I really love the effect it gave me.
5. Lipstick & lipgloss (in "wobble"): i felt the lipstick was smooth and moisturizing. The lipgloss made the gloss just perfect!! (unfortunately in this pic, the lipstick & lipgloss have been faded, since it was taken after i reached home T_T)
6. Eyeliner (in 'white'): it was applied to my waterline, so it gave me a fresher & wider eyes.

At the first hour i had this make up on, i didn't feel any difference with my casual make up brands (etude, Dodo club, palgantong, etc). However, after 2-3 hours, i started to notice the glow they gave to my face. When i touched my skin, i didn't feel the powder, but i merely felt my face was naturally moisturized like a baby's skin. The glow from the shimmery blush just made my face even better. i definitely L.O.V.E this make up!!

The products which i used, but i didn't review:
1. MUS Microshadow
2. MUS Gel eyeliner
3. MUS mascara (highly non-recommended item)
4. MUS Concealer (to cover my under-eye)
5. MUS cleansing water & MUS treatment toner: cleansing ritual before make-up
6. MUS Cake eyebrow

My iPod NaNocHroMaTiC ^^

2009-03-04T00:19:00.000+08:00

I'm very grateful dat i got this gadget from my lecturer. His name is Thomas Apitzch, he's from Germany and teaches me Writing for PR at school. I do contribute a column for his web: http://www.fim-jakarta.com/ , tagged as XLR and filed under XLR Asian Movie Review. I write movie & drama reviews for this web. That's why, you can find some of my reviews there.. hoho

Anyway, about getting this iPod, i was lucky (and blessed, of course) dat i got the chance to do a test drive for a week on this gadget. Afterward, i had to write a review on it. So here is my review:

Ariesa’s iPod Test Drive

“Santa Claus, Santa Claus, I want an iPod for this Christmas”. And finally my wish was granted on January 5, 2009. It took a while for the iPod to land on my hand, maybe because of the shipping process from The North Pole or, let’s forget it and go straight to my review.

When I clutched the iPod in my grip, I suddenly thought, “No wonder everybody is drooling for this gadget. It is very cute, yet handy and sophisticated”. I am glad that the iPod was green as, according to a leading fashion magazine, the color is truly hot this year. The keypad was very soft. You can simply touch and turn your finger on it to move the cursor. It was very sensitive, so there was a keypad lock provided at the top.

After I had reached home, I straightly went to connect the iPod to my PC. When it is connected to PC, the battery is charged automatically. So you don’t need to spend more hours to shut it down and charge. Frankly speaking, I was unacquainted to this gadget. But I have downloaded an iTunes before, so the songs in my music library could be uploaded immediately, as the music format was already matched to the iTunes format. When I want to download another song, I can download from 4shared website for free. Then the newly downloaded songs will be automatically added to iTunes.

However, I met a problem when trying to add videos to iTunes. The video format could not be automatically converted by just drag-and-drop it to iTunes library. Then I went to google “iPod video converter” and thank God, there were some freewares that I could download. I downloaded Videora iPod Converter. On the web, they have various softwares for any kind of iPod, which could be downloaded for free. But, if you find it useful, you can make a donation for the web, only if you want to. Well, that is quite fair, in my opinion. Anyway with this Videora software, I just need to select any video (with any format) and convert it in a click. The conversion period does not take long and the newly converted video would be sent to iTunes right away. I found it very easy to do.

As I continued with podcast, I signed up for an iTunes store account. I had to be very selective when choosing any podcasts to download ever since, otherwise I would be charged for purchasing something.

I was quite confused about podcast thingy, and tried to do research by googling (I found the explanation on the Apple web not very helping to understand). Then I googled for a Chinese podcast and found Chinesepod website. Unluckily, the podcast subscription was not available in Indonesia iTunes Store. However, I could still download any episode of the podcast. So I downloaded one episode about “Australian People’s Love of Sport”. Unfortunately, the people who did the role play were very boring and seemed to be unnatural when conversing.

But if you move to US iTunes Store, you will find everything available there. It is very interesting because it has everything you need, from education, entertainment to news.

I subscribed to audio podcast, Newsweek on Air. I found two advantages by subscribing to this podcast: first, I can always be up to date with the headline news around the world, such as Gaza tragedy; second, I can become accustomed to listen to people speaking English with any accents, I believe it would be very helpful if I take English Proficiency Test like TOEFL or IELTS, especially for the listening section. In this Newsweek program, they have anchors and correspondents to report, give opinion and analysis from their point of view.

Since I love to exercise, I also subscribed to Ford Models Fitness podcast. I downloaded Kim Strother’s Progressive Abs Workout. The video podcast was very beneficial as it helped me to change my basic abs exercises to be tougher and more challenging. I usually bought exercise VCDs, but with this podcast, I can possibly save my budget as it is free to subscribe and download this podcast.

After getting the iPod synchronized, I immediately tested it. The voice from the earphone came smooth into my ears and I started to over enjoying that moment by singing my favorite song, which was being played. Apparently, some songs were broken and the iPod skipped them right away and played another ones.

Then I started to watch some videos on it. The color is bright and the resolution of the LCD is excellent. It is even better than watching on Youtube display. Even though the LCD is rather small, I could still read the English/Chinese subtitle. When I watched my Taiwanese film, it was subbed with Chinese characters only. I am not excellent in Chinese language, but if I can listen carefully and read the text at the same time, I will be able to understand. Thanks to the iPod which gave me distinct voice and video. This can obviously help me learning even mastering this language. However, I don’t think it is a good idea to watch serial movies on this iPod, as your eyes will get exhausted easily to look at such tiny screen. Moreover, your arms and hands will also get sore if you hold it for length of time. Anyway it is still very good if you just have a little spare time like 30mins to an hour to watch a movie on it.

There were some games provided in the iPod. But I did not really play it, because I am not a gamer. However, the games were quite easy to play. You just have to turn the iPod from one side to another, and the ball will follow your direction.

Finally, here are my conclusions for the review,
Pros:
1. The design of the iPod is handy and attractive, the color is very young and juicy.
2. The keypad is sensitive, so the provided key-lock is really useful.
3. iTunes program is easy to learn and operate, you can directly go to iTunes store in the same window.
4. Many iPod video converter softwares are available, even for free.
5. The podcasts in iTunes store (especially the US’s store) are various and helpful, you can have anything you need for free.
6. The voice is very distinct when playing both song and conversation.
7. The LCD color and resolution are excellent for both photo and video.
8. When watching video, you can still read the subtitle clearly.
9. The disk space is HUGE! 8Gb for sure!! That’s a lot of videos and music!!!
Cons:
1. You can not delete anything directly from the iPod, you have to go to iTunes first to delete or add anything.
2. You have to convert your video before it can be placed into iTunes and played.
3. The LCD is rather small, so it does not suitable for watching movies in a long time.

My TutoR FrienD 2

2009-03-02T02:13:00.000+08:00

Title: My Tutor Friend 2
Category: Movie
Genre: Romance
XLR Rating: ***

This movie has no connection with the previous My Tutor Friend.

Junko has come all the way from Japan to meet her crush Woo-Sung, who is now going to military academy in Korea. She also enrolls to a university as an exchange student. During in Korea, she stays at a male guesthouse.

On the first night, Junko and Joong-Man, the son of the guesthouse owner, accidentally sleep in the same room. Junko wants to move out from Joong-Man’s guesthouse, but Joong-Man told her that he is Woo-Sung’s best friend and the room where she stays was Woo-Sung’s chamber. Therefore, Junko cancels her plan and stays still.

They often get into fight, but Joong-Man, by the order of his father, has to be Junko’s Korean language tutor. Bad Joong-Man, he only teaches rude words to her, and that makes her get embarrassed at school. However, for the sake of meeting and conversing with her lifetime crush, Woo-Sung, Junko keeps on studying Korean language with Joong-Man.

One day, Junko’s lecturer (also Joong-Man’s friend) tells her where Woo-Sung stays. Pity her, after going through a long journey to that place, she could not meet him. Moreover, she is also told that there were some girls coming to this place, looking for Woo-Sung. Thus Junko sadly comes back to the guesthouse and meets Joong-Man. They spend that night with soju (Korean beer) and end up sleeping together at the garden’s bench.

From that time on, their feelings towards each other suddenly change. Sometimes they still fight against each other. But when Joong-Man is not around, Junko always wonders where he could be. At that time, Joong-Man is pretty busy with his side jobs. Junko thinks he has an affair with a woman who is supposed to be his mom (considering her age). But that was wrong, apparently Joong-Man has to pay for something he had done in his past, when he was a boxer. Joong-Man seems to be burdened with his own faults but keeps on forcing himself to fix it. How can Junko relieve him from his guilt?

All of a sudden, Junko finally meets Woo-Sung and finds out that Joong-Man had lied to her all the time. Joong-Man was never being Woo-Sung’s friend. Will Junko forgive Joong-Man for his lies? Is she going to choose Woo-Sung over Joong-Man after all?

This movie is so hilarious and I really like both main characters. They are good looking but still have that funny expression to tickle my stomach. I also like the winter setting when they are in Japan. All was covered with snow and the romance was there. One thing that disappoints me a bit is that there is no kissing-scene. HAHA.. This movie is more of a comedy than romance. That’s why, I rate it only 3. ^o^

Contract Lover

2009-03-01T15:12:00.000+08:00

Genre: romatic-comedy
Origins: Mainland, China
Casts: Richie Ren, Fan Bing Bing, Kate Tsui, Yuen Wah

This time I’m reviewing a movie from Mainland, China.

Fatt is a 34 year-old banker and Rachel is a career woman and the champion of sexy pole dancing competition. They have been in a domestic relationship for 5 years in Beijing. They love each other but Rachel, who is an uptown girl, is not ready yet for a lifetime commitment. Nevertheless, Fatt still loves her deeply and never force her for a marriage until one day, his parents call him to come home and bring his girlfriend over.

Fatt’s family lives in Guangdong, a small town in South China. His father is a martial art master and his family still sticks to the traditional way of living. Fatt and Rachel are afraid that they can’t accept Rachel’s lifestyle. Then they arrange a scenario to bring someone else over and introduce her to the family as his girlfriend. This girl should act very sexy and modern, so Fatt’s family would reject her and accept anybody else instead. Thus they advertise this vacant to be a “contract lover” for 2 weeks through newspaper.

Liu Zhao, a fresh-graduate who needs a huge amount of money to payback her school-fee loan. She joins the audition and gets chosen by Fatt and Rachel. However, she still needs to practice and make-over herself to be a sexy-uptown girl as she originally comes from a small village in North China.

The day Zhao comes to Fatt’s hometown, she wears sexy outfits and acts like a western girl. She also brings a friend from America to accompany her in Guangdong. Fatt’s family are indeed quite surprised with Zhao. But they really try to accept Fatt’s choice, so they –unexpectedly—get along with her quite well. Fatt’s parents, who is choked with Zhao’s seducing appearance in a feast (when he is going to introduce her as his son’s fiancée), eventually try to adjust with her style and starts to like her in a different way. Thus Zhao changes their the way of thinking about modern lifestyle and wins their hearts.

In Guangdong, Zhao and Fatt sleep in the same chamber (but not share the same bed). One night, Zhao finds out that Fatt is a sleepwalker. On the other night, Fatt also finds out that Zhao is also a sleepwalker, just like him. One day, they spend a day together and share many things they have in childhood. They apparently like the same kind of candy, but live in a very different way of life, as Fatt comes from a quite wealthy family, in the other hand Zhao lives with her mother as a single parent (with economic difficulty, of course).

Two-week period ends. Suddenly Rachel comes up and confuses Fatt’s family. Too bad that it’s too late for Rachel as Fatt’s feeling has been changed ever since Zhao changed his family.

This movie is starred by a long-time-famous Taiwanese actor-singer, Richie Ren, Fan Bing Bing from China, and Kate Tsui from Hong Kong. Although Richie Ren is not a young actor anymore, I have to admit that he still has his charms and did this movie very well. Fan Bing Bing also acts both characters very naturally (as a dork and also a sexy-modern lady).

This movie is interesting to watch as the traditional culture is carried out in Fatt’s family. There are Kungfu performance and battle acted by Chinese people and also American (Zhao’s friend). So, in this movie there isn’t only romance, but also comedy and cultural touch. Some of the dialogues aren’t quite easy to understand as Fatt’s father often speaks about Chinese wise-words. However, the jokes they are saying and the way they act are just hilarious and amusing. That’s why I rate this movie 4 over 5.

XiaoLing’s Movie Review/01-03-2009

XiaoLing says "Hey" ^^

2009-03-01T12:02:00.000+08:00

Hey there fellows,

Welcome to my blog. This is the place where i share some parts of my life (yes, some parts! not all! hehe) But, most likely i'd share the good part ones, so it can remind me those happy moments and wonderful things dat come into my life.

Before going to any other talks, i'm going to tell you random things about myself first ^.*

Name: Ariesa Lie/ 李小玲
Date of Birth: April 5, 1988
Place of Birth: Jakarta, Indonesia
Spoken languages: Indonesian (bahasa), English and Chinese (i'm going to start my French course by tomorrow ^^)
Hobbies:
- watching Asian dramas (esp. Taiwanese & Korean) with romance-comedy genre,
- shopping-shopping-and shopping XD,
- net-surfing,
- singing @ the Karaoke,
- eating snacks (i dun't really like "heavy" meal but i'm definitely insatiable for chips & chocolates xp),
- exercising (@ home) just to get in shape ^o^,

What i L.O.V.E:
1. SUSHI.. never gets enuf of it.. xP too bad dat i just can eat the ones without shrimp and i don't eat raw food..
2. Coffee with milk & sweets.. i also like mocha & caramel frappucino @ bucks ^.*
3. Chocolates : either dark or milk choc, i love them all!!! hohoho
4. Levi's pants-- i just love the cut which makes me feel sexy when wearing them..
5. Esprit watches-- the style is just simple and elegant, they just go with any of my outfits
6. Freebies-- Lucky is my middle name, and Jesus gives me blessings in every way.. I get freebies very often and their values are quite high: iPod nanochromatic, watches (Esprit, Puma, Tommy Hilfiger, elle), Levi's pants, cosmetics and Crocs shoes..
7. SUPER SALE-- shopping is my biggest guilty pleasure, especially when it comes to super sale-branded items ^o^
8. Korean Cosmetics-- Love the packaging and how it goes on my skin <3.. They look sheer and enhance my overall appearance. My fave brands are: Etude, VOV, The Skin Food.
9. Traveling-- to other countries, esp. the uptown area & theme parks.. Yes, i like cities, high buildings and the crowds
10. Foreign languages

So, i think that's enough for 'about me' section. Anyway, you're gonna find out soon the real me after you read my posts.

I hope you enjoy reading my blogs and not forget to leave any comments on my posts.

GBU v^.^v