Alila Living: Indian Fig Finishing Cream

Last October I visited Bali and eventually managed to buy Alila Living products in Alila resort at Ubud. (link  Alila Ubud website).  One of the products I bought is Indian Fig Finishing Cream – it’s a day and night cream. I thought this product is made by using Indian fig as the main ingredient (note: Indian fig is a species of cactus with edible fruit. The medical and cosmetics uses of Indian fig are very well-known).  When I read the ingredients carefully, I don’t really understand whether this product is using Indian fig or not.  Anyway, I have been using this product for more than 2 weeks and it’s time for me to share my experience:

Ingredients:

Benefit: Daily nourishing cream powered by nature

Detail:

I use this nut-brownie cream day and night after applying Pure C serum from Alila Living. When I open the jar, I immediately smell the herbal scent. The herbal scent is kinda powerful and it lingers quite long. If you like herbal scent, this would not be a problem. This light cream provides heavy and rich coverage – uhm…how to explain..this cream is light, I can feel it on my fingers, but when I apply it on my face, this cream is a bit difficult to spread evenly, but it sinks quickly into my skin. What I love most from this cream is that it works wonderfully on my skin. I wake up with fresh and glow skin. My skin is nourished and soft. This cream, packed in an elegant black container and box, helps to reduce the appearance of my acne scars. Love it!!

Drawback:

• Yes I have to say, even to my dry skin, this cream makes my face looks  a bit oily. I use BB cream and loose powder to cover-up oily effect of this cream and they work!!

• I just do expect that in the future there will be an indicator of shelf life on the packaging.

L’Occitane: Shea Butter Hand Cream

Salah satu produk yang selalu ada di tas saya adalah hand cream – as I always believe that hand is our second face. Ketika saya akan traveling ke Australia dengan perjalanan 8 jam di dalam pesawat, I cant resist to try L’Occitane Shea Butter Hand Cream – with 20% shea butter. I read reviews on this product and I believe this hand cream is perfect to carry for my trip.. Here is my review…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3neRy1PTJ4

Ingredients:

Water, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Glycerin, Dimethicone, Cetearyl Alcohol, PEG-100 Stearate, Glyceryl Stearate, Polyacrylamide, Linum Usitatissimum (Linseed) Seed Extract, Honey Extract, Propylene Glycol, Phenoxyethanol, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Brassica Campestris (Rapeseed) Sterols, C13-14 Isoparaffin, Ceteareth-33, Alcohol Denat, Chlorphenesin, Methylparaben, Fragrance, Althea Officinalis Root Extract, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Fruit Extract, Laureth-7, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Benzyl Alcohol, Xanthan Gum, Benzyl Benzoate, Citronellol, Hydroxyisohexyl 3-Cyclohexene Carboxaldehyde, Coumarin, Butylphenyl Methylpropional, Linalool, Hexyl Cinnamal, Alpha-Methyl Ionone, Limonene.

Benefit:

Rich hand cream to moisture your hand, powered by 20% shea butter

Detail:

It’s super creamy hand cream I have ever had. Bahkan di website L’Occitane UK (link) produk hand cream ini disebut  “the Roll Royce of hand creams” oleh Cassie Steer, beauty writer of Marie Claire. This hand cream gives you instant result, tangan menjadi halus dan hydrate. Efek halus dan moist –nya juga tahan lama, I don’t need to reapply it many times. Meskipun super moist, hand cream ini sama sekali tidak meninggalkan kesan lengket atau[un oily. Hand cream dalam wadah tube silver yang elegant dan mudah digunakan ini is a must have if you suffer a dry skin…dan it’s a perfect for winter time.

Drawback:  Nope

It’s pricey but it does work wonderfully on my hand. Perfect companion for traveling…

Alila Living: Vanilla Praline Facial Cleanser

What’s in your mind about “vanilla”?

Me? I’m thinking of ice cream (and many different mouth watery desserts)

Anyway, I bought Vanilla Praline Facial Cleanser at Alila Spa and then I learnt the benefits of vanilla to skin. Vanilla is not a monopoly ingredient for food industry. Vanilla has been widely used in pharmaceuticals industry as it has a great antioxidant, anti-depressant, anti-carcinogenic and aphrodisiac properties. Vanilla in skin care products could help to restore damaged skin as well as to prevent skin from pollutants and toxins. As it has sedative property, vanilla is relaxing – read: vanilla calms brain, relaxes muscles, and promotes sleep. Amazing!

After using the vanilla cleanser from Alila Living for more than 2 weeks, so I think it’s safe now to share my experience:

Ingredients:

Benefit: Irresistible and smooth creamy cleanser, powered by nature

Detail:

I use this vanilla cleanser twice a day, in conjunction with other Alila Living products – Pure C Serum and Indian Fig Finishing cream (link). I just love this cleanser as it’s creamy but not heavy and thick. It contains kind of moisturizer so that this cleanser doesn’t dry my face. It smells like a combination of vanilla and tamarind – sweet sour kind of thing. My husband doesn’t like the smell but it doesn’t bother me as this cleanser makes my skin looks soft and healthier. It also makes my skin tone more even. The elegant black glass bottle with pump makes it easy to dispense. Be careful if you want to bring this cleanser for traveling. Mine was spilled over my luggage on my way back to Jakarta from Bali and left me two third of the bottle.

One important thing: As this cleanser is exclusively made by Sensatia Botanicals for Alila, this product is only available in Alila Living store in all Alila Hotel, Resort and Spa.

Drawback:  nope

Ah, I want my vanilla ice cream now….

Alila Living: Sunscreen SPF 30

Menjelang keberangkatan saya ke Australia, saya cukup pusing mencari sunscreen dengan kandungan ingredients yang ramah terhadap kesehatan dan lingkungan – bahkan ketika saya mengelilingi semua booth natural skin care products di Cosmo Beaute 2012, saya engga mendapatkan hasil apapun… Pasalnya, sunscreen selalu mengandung bahan kimia.. Ketika saya belanja di Alila Living, saya tertarik  membeli sunscreen SPF 30 yang tentunya diproduksi oleh Sensatia Botanicals. List ingredients nya menunjukkan bahan-bahan kimia yang dipakai, but at least I didn’t see parabens and PEG used in this product. Lemme give it a try…

Ingredients

 

Dari list ingredients di atas, yang paling sering mendapat perhatian adalah: Octyl Methoxycinnamate, alias OCTINOXATE. Then I did checking this ingredient using EWG website dan disitu disebutkan bahwa Octinoxate ini moderate hazard dengan skor 6 dan potentially berpengaruh pada gangguan hormone dan alergi.. hmm…

Ingredients lain yang patut dicek adalah Avonbenzone yang menurut EWG ada di level 2 karena limited data, dengan concern adanya pembatasan penggunaan ingredient ini oleh Japan’s Standard for Cosmetics dan adanya sifat carcinogen. 

Benefit:

Melindungi kulit wajah dan tubuh dari radiasi UVA dan UVB (yang menyebabkan skin burnt, skin damage, aging skin, sun spots dan bahkan skin cancer)

Detail:

Sunscreen alias sun block biasanya lengket-lengket dan oily dan susah diratakan dan diserap oleh kulit, but I didn’t find that impacts in this Alila sunscreen. Sebaliknya, sunscreen berwarna kuning pucat ini justru teksturnya light sehingga mudah terserap kulit dan mudah diratakan. Sunscreen ini juga engga meninggalkan kesan greasy atau oily ataupun lengket di kulit. One thing I love from this product is the light scent of lemongrass. Jarang kan nada sunscreen aroma lemongrass hehehe…

Seharian di bawah matahari pun, tetap sunscreen ini engga bikin lengket-lengket di kulit.

Di label botolnya disebutkan agar produk ini digunakan 15 menit sebelum melakukan aktivitas outdoor. Oh ya, label botolnya easily luntur ya, tapi tidak meninggalkan stain kog. Masih tentang kemasan, botol sunscreen dengan model pump ini bikin penggunaan produk jadi hemat! 

Drawback:

Sunscreen dengan bahan kimia yang beresiko terhadap kesehatan.

Well, it’s not easy to find 100% natural sunscreen. In fact, giving up sunscreen 100% juga impossible.. At the end, sampe saat ini saya putuskan memakai sunscreen hanya kalo melakukan aktivitas di luar ruangan lebih dari satu jam. Any other idea how to deal with sunscreen issue ini?