L'Occitane: Volumizing Shampoo & Conditioner

Pilah pilih produk skin care dan toiletries buat dibawa traveling itu menurut saya enga gampang. Pasalnya engga semua produk skin care yang kita pake tersedia dalam kemasan travel - hey don't we all hate bringing heavy stuff for traveling? Seringkali akhirnya saya membeli new brand for the sake of traveling size.

Untuk shampoo dan conditioner, biasanya saya beli kemasan sachet. - itupun cuma bawa shampoo doank dan leave alone the conditioner. What I don't like from kemasan sachet adalah kenyataan bahwa kemasan ini kagak bisa di-recycle dan saya nyampah tiap kali keramas. Before my recent trip ke Australia, saya sempat visit L'Occitane store di Kota Kasablanka. I was glad visiting this store. Saya disarankan untuk mencoba shampoo dan conditioner - volumizing set dan yeay, they are available in travel size.

I would like to highlight why I was easily persuaded to try this set...simply karena kemasan yang dipake oleh produk ini adalah kemasan yang bisa didaur ulang. Plus, the reward of returning empty bottles.. Setiap memgembalikan 5 kemasan kosong L'Occitane full size (untuk kemasan travel, 2 kemasan dihitung 1 - correct me if I'm wrong), kita akan dapat reward Shea Verbena Soap 50gr. Kemasan dengan eco design ini bisa dikembalikan ke L'Occitane store untuk dijual ke bank sampah dan hasil penjualannya akan didonasikan kepada yayasan tuna netra.

 (http://www.loccitane.co.id/recycle-donate-,41,2,31274,283633.htm)

L'Occitane Volumizing shampoo and conditioner set ini menemani perjalanan saya ke Australia. Well, now I would like to share my experience using this set..

Ingredients:   

L'Occitane Volumizing Shampoo Ingredient

L'Occitane Volumizing Conditioner

Benefit: 

Volumizing shampoo and conditioner ini cocok untuk rambut normal dan bisa digunakan daily. Shampoo dan conditioner ini memberikan volume, membuat rambut berkilau dan menyehatkan rambut normal

Detail:

My first impression: I love the packaging - simple yet elegant dan unik, mirip kaleng susu jaman dulu. Pertama kali pake shampoo dan conditioner ini, saya langsung jatuh cinta dengan aromanya yang natural, lembut dan menyegarkan. Aroma conditionernya lebih strong ketimbang shampoo nya but anyway it doesnt bother me. Nice essential oils scent!

Ketika dipakai, shampoo nya cukup foamy. Shampoo jernih ini membersihkan sekaligus melembabkan rambut. Setelah rinse off the shampoo, saya pake comditioner warna milky white dengan texture yang tidak terlalu kental seperti umumnya conditioner - malah cenderung watery. Setelah keramas, rambut terasa silky soft and yes the combination of this set gives volume to my hair. Rambut juga mudah diatur, tidak kering dan berkilau. Rambut saya sendiri sebenernya kering, kusam tapinternyata shampoo ini cocok juga for my hair.

Drawback:

Conditioner nya watery, jadi pakenya harus lumayan banyak to give impact.

Well yes, shampoo nya mengandung sodium sulfate laureth yang dikasih note kalo ingredient ini dihasilkan dari natural resources..

Overall, I love this set.. Next time, saya pengen coba the one for dry hair.

Anyway, the refreshing essential oils scent dari duo produk ini bikin keramas jadi hal yang menyenangkan! Try them yourself :)

Edamame

Do you like edamame?

This green bean snack is easily spotted at any Japanese restaurants. It often served as appetizer. I had my first edamame at Sushi Tei restaurant and at first, well, I didn’t think it special. It was just a green snack.  It’s nice to have. That’s all. But then I was so surprised when I found out that this green bean is not just an ordinary green bean. Edamame is rich in fiber, iron, Vitamin A and Vitamin C. It also contains protein. What a wonderful bean!  WebMD website listed the research findings from various institutions on the benefits of snacking edamame:

• Protein of edamame helps to improve the condition of kidney damage, and fatty liver in people with diabetes.
• Edamame helps to reduce LDL (bad cholesterol) and raise HDL (good cholesterol)
• Edamame helps to protect against cancer, heart disease and osteoporosis.
• Edamame may help prevent and treat hypertension.

Since then, I always have edamame in my fridge. There are two types of edamame I always buy: the frozen and dried one. I absolutely aware that original edamame is healthier than the salted one, but I stock salted frozen edamame and garlic and spicy dried edamame. I often crave for salty food and snack, and now I will run to edamame for satisfy my salt craving. For frozen edamame, it takes 20 minutes to make it ready to eat by thawing it. I always enjoy eating the fresh edamame at home, but I get used to carry the dried one to office – well, the garlic flavor sometimes is too strong that makes me have to brush my teeth soon after snacking it. The spicy one is ok; it’s not that spicy for me…

 Dried Edamame

 Frozen Edamame

I buy edamame from Edamame Station at Kota Kasablanka mall. The stall is just in front of Carrefour at LG Floor. There are original and salted frozen edamame, meanwhile there are 4 flavor options for dried edamame: salty, garlic, spicy and original. Edamame Station is run by CV Asia Green Foods which having interesting tagline “healthy can be tasty”. I can’t agree more!! Interested to try?

Corine de Farme: Hand and Nail Cream

Have you ever heard this brand? This brand is not yet popular in Indonesia. I knew this brand from a colleague – she’s a France and she introduced me to this brand. Yes, Corine de Farme is a French natural skin care under Sarbec Cosmetics. It just entered Indonesian market last year. This brand was featured at Cosmopolitan Magazine, December 2012 edition. Corine de Farme offers natural origin product without parabens, colourant, phenoxythenol, alcohol and phthalates. There are at least two product lines available in Indonesia, which are women and baby. This brand can be found in chain pharmacies such as Guardian, Century and Watson. I was excited to try!

I went to Guardian to take a look the product range of Corine de Farme. Hmm…for face skin care line, they have moisturizer – including anti wrinkle, rose water, make up cleanser, and hey they also offer hand and nail cream and intimate wash. Finally, I picked up the hand and nail cream. The reasons were so simple: 1. This is my first trial of this brand, so I better play safe not to buy face product; 2. My face skin care habit is always using a series from cleanser, serum and moisturizer from the same brand and for Corine de Farme, I can only find the moisturizer, so I better wait until they launch complete collection.

After using this product for more than two weeks, here is my review:

Benefit: Highly moisturize dry hand.

Ingredients: 

Detail:

At first I only applied this hand cream before bed. The texture of this milky white hand cream is a bit thick but once I applied the cream, it absorbs very well into my skin. It leaves a lovely texture and a soft flowery scent – ah a friend said it smells like grass hahaha..  When I woke up in the morning, I could feel my hand soft and supple. Then I started to use this hand cream during the day. I carry this hand cream in my bag. What I love most from this product is its long lasting effect. Even after hand washing, I still can feel the moisturizer effect.  

I have tried many different hand creams, I have to say this one is really gives me “value for money”.  A tube of Corine de Farme Hand and Nail Cream costs me less than 100k Rupiah (100ml) with natural ingredients and long lasting effects. I couldn’t ask for more!!

Drawback: NOPE.

I’m happy with this hand and nail cream! I’m tempted to try more products of Corine de Farme!! Have you tried any Corine de Farme products? Please share

Alila Living: Cooling Cucumber Eye Serum

Familiar dengan adegan orang bersantai ria dengan bath rope di spa, dengan wajah ditutup masker dan mata ditutup irisan ketimun? Atau malah anda sendiri pernah melakoni adegan tersebut? Sesi facial seringkali melibatkan irisan ketimun di bagian mata untuk menenangkan area mata and reduce puffiness. And yes, cucumber punya efek anti-inflammantory untuk mengurangi puffiness alias kantong mata karena cucumber ini kandungan airnya cukup tinggi. Ketika ketimun didinginkan di fridge dan ditaruh di bagian mata, maka kandungan air di dalam cucumber ini mampu mengurangi aliran darah di seputar area mata sehingga kulit sekitar mata jadi lebih soft dan kantong mata berkurang.

Karena berbagai alasan, kita tidak sempat atau mungkin juga seperti saya, malas, untuk melakukan ritual cucumber itu di rumah. But I was so happy when I found eye serum dengan manfaat cucumber di Alila Living boutique. Saya membawa serta produk ini ketika traveling ke Bangkok dan as usual, setelah paling tidak 2 minggu penggunaan secara rutin, baru saya bisa cerita tentang produk ini.

Ingredients: 

Benefit: Soothing, calming and replenishing eye area!

Detail:

Meskipun ketimun cukup popular dipakai di facial and spa, tapi so far bagi saya, menemukan eye treatment dengan cucumber engga gampang.  So what I love most from this product is definitely its ingredients with cucumber. Second thing I love is the bottle dengan pipet yang memudahkan saya mengambil produk ini secara higenis. Begitu saya buka botolnya, aroma herbalnya segera tercium. Eye serum ini tekturnya watery berwarna kekuningan yang sangat cepat terserap oleh kulit tanpa meninggalkan kesan lengket. Kesan setelah mengaplikasikan Cooling Cucumber Eye Serum yang light  ini sudah pasti rasa adem di sekitar mata. Dua tetes eye serum cukup untuk diaplikasikan ke seluruh kedua area mata. Meskipun di kemasannya disebutkan to use the product before bed, saya pakai eye serum ini sehari dua kali. Hasil setelah pemakaian teratur? Well, first, ketika saya di Bangkok, saya lack of sleep tapi produk ini efektif membantu mengurangi penampakan kantong mata. Eye serum dari Alila Living ini juga mengurangi garis halus di sekitar mata dan hydrates the skin. I can see the difference! Love it!

 

Drawback:

Teksturnya yang super watery bikin kita harus hati-hati ketika mengoleskan eye serum ini di sekitar mata. I had one experience ketika the product got into my eyes.

Alila Living: Rejuvenating Rose Facial Toner

Have you ever received a banquet of roses from your other half?

I didn’t have any favor to any flower until I received one rose per week from my husband back in 2007. I started to appreciate flower – ah, especially rose. Rose is known as the language of love – people usually express their love using red roses. Red roses represent the meaning of desire and passion, while the pink one symbolizes grace and gentility. But roses are not just beautiful aesthetic appeal, they have practical functions to our health and skin too.

Rose is a famous ingredient in skin care products. There are many different skin care products using rose as their main ingredient, from cleanser, toner to serum and moisturizer – you may also find different brands using rose, from Burt’s Bee, Jurlique to local brands such as Mustika Ratu and Martha Tilaar.  One of the rose skin care product that I wanna share this time is the one from Alila Living. It’s the rose toner and made exclusively by Sensatia Botanicals for Alila.

Ingredients

Benefits: Refreshing, uplifting facial toner, powered by nature

Detail:

I’m using this rose toner in conjunction with the vanilla cleanser, pure c serum and Indian fig cream (link). I spray this toner to my face and neck after cleanse my skin and I don’t wipe it. I just wait till it dries before applying serum and moisturizer. This serum smells heavenly rose!! I can feel the instant effect of using this toner: my skin is fresh and hydrated. This toner in glass bottle with pump is non oily, non greasy but it creates kind of layer of moisturizer on your skin. If you love the scent of rose and you have normal to dry skin, this toner is for you. This toner can be used as facial spray – so I can bring this to my office and when I travel. 

Drawback: nope!!