Body Lotion for the Lazy

I know body lotion is important when one gets older when the skin goes through all sorts of strange evolution. When I was younger, I could just do away with a small dollop of lotion every couple of weeks or so but these days? A couple of days missing body lotion means my skin feels like the sole of my feet. And I missed a lot more that a couple of days. Whenever I saw commercials on TV showing girls or women slathering their body with body lotion with such ease like they have ALL the time in the world to run their hands to every nooks and cranes of their body, it was like a mockery to my laziness to just spend 2 minutes before bed to reach for my lotion and apply several dollops to my hands and feet. I could do that quite religiously for maybe a week but afterward I get lazy. 2 minutes of extra time is worth spent reading a favorite chapter of a book or chatting to my kids before bed time.

So when I walked down the isle of Carrefour yesterday, my eyes caught sight of Olay Ultra Moisture In-Shower Body Lotion. Oh La La. C'est magnifique! It promised to improve hydration of dry skin with a fraction of time ordinarily needed for smoother skin. One just needs to step into a shower/a bath, use soap as usual, rinse off, then apply the lotion all over while body is still wet, then rinse off again before drying off. This product is like a prayer answered!

As soon as I got home, I immediately jumped under the shower, cleansed with whatever soap I could get my hands on then start smoothing the lotion onto my wet skin. I thought I had to wait for a minute or so like I usually do with hair conditioner, but upon rereading the instruction, I didn't have to. So I rinse the lotion off. And my o my, my skin did feel soft and smooth. Best thing of all, my skin still felt soft to the touch in the morning. SUPER!

For only Rp 24.000s a bottle, this lotion is something that I will definitely keep repurchasing.

Caring Colour Marthaa Tilaar Lipstick

Mahogany Red

Despite my leaning to mid-priced branded makeup, I love to venture down the makeup alley in the drugstores and super/hypermarkets. I believe makeup shouldn't be about price, but most of all it should be about quality and the ability to make women feel beautiful. I'm a fan of Maybelline because I know some of its products work for me. Its Eye Makeup Remover, although not top of the line, it still suffices to meet my need. Maybelline also has some pretty nail colors that make my mom asked about them. And you know, in terms of makeup and looking beautiful, my mom IS the authority.

But, I digress. Yesterday, I trolled down the makeup alley in Carrefour and I found this pretty color by Caring Colour Martha Tilaar. I made swatches of the lipstick and finally decided to get Mahogany Red, an orange reddish color which I always have difficulty saying no to, but I like this one because it comes with a conditioner in the middle.

I was a bit taken aback when I saw the white conditioner circle. It's very vintage looking! I could hardly remember any lipsticks with that kind of formula. Beside Clarins, I mean. And even back in the early 90s when it was still the rage, I wasn't convinced to purchase more than 1. However, at the moment, my lips are screaming "Conditioner, NOW!" and every possibility where I could eliminate/reduce my irritated lips are a must-try.

It's a pretty color, see. My lips also looked moisturized and soft. I'll definitely try this lipstick for a whole day some time soon.

Weekend Haul

I'm probably not the only one who can't wait for weekend or mini holiday AND at the same time is terrified of them. Why? Uncontrollable spending urge, lapar mata and the inability to say a firm "NO" to little kids whining to have more snacks or (this is the big one) one more toy for their collection.

I have this weakness for make up and it takes a LOT of self control not to drive to the nearest mall and just buy whatever is new in the counter. I wish I had this urge back when I was younger because a) there were tons of places to show up my make-upey face rather than just office and home like now. My kids now know that just because I put plenty of stuff on my face, that doesn't mean I'm going out. I probably would just watch DVD or clean the pool; b) I would have more time to build a good collection rather than just pointed at everything in sight and then got floored when I paid the purchase.

Last weekend was such a case.

Haul not including the girl

I got Maybelline Eye & Lips Make Up Remover, MAC fluidline backtrack, MAC Marisheeno lipstick, MAC Nanogold eyeshadow, The Faceshop basecoat for nails and a pinkish nude nail polish, Sunsilk Hair Fall Solution shampoo and conditioner, and Detangler comb.

Enough to make me smile and make my credit-card inner voice went Oh oh.

Weekend Lips

4 days of holiday gave me ample time to meditate; the number of MAC lipsticks I currently have (9 and 3 lipglasses), how many MAC eye shadows in my possession (7), and all the rest of my make up treasures. Perhaps if I own plenty of cars and other earthly possessions, I'd have been polishing them instead. I had to keep reminding myself, " No, you have enough. No more buying lipsticks and lipglasses, no more waiting for the next new collection" But then, it's true what they say, there are no such things as enough make up.

Anyway, as I laid in bed, the sun brightly shone through the windows, watching and waiting for my angels to be up, I started thinking through the various lip combo I could make out of my collection. Well, what can I say. It's a long lazy day ahead with nothing planned, not even coincidental ones.

Well, it's 8 am, and my lips apparently couldn't stand more that 3 different applications.

Dior Addict Ultra Gloss Reflect 537 over Marisheeno Lipstick
Prrr lipglass over Marisheeno lipstick
Purple lip pencil & PAC Orange lip gloss

My personal favorite combo is the 1st image. I don't think I totally loved it when I looked in the mirror, but the picture was lovely. Must be the morning light. However Uda (my husband) said the picture (not my lip colors; the guy is not densed) was a bit freaky. Killjoy!

My New Glasses!

Finally! After countless disappointments, I got a pair of new glasses! I had my eyes on the Cartier glasses, but these worked on my face, too so I absolutely had to have them.

However, wearing rimless glasses has its downside. It took some getting used to since with frame glasses my eyes were nicely rimmed by my dark frames. The upside, though is the fact that I can see my eye make up easily.

Unfortunately, some people thought that they preferred my old glasses. Killjoy! But here's some comparison :

Old Glasses

New Glasses

I guess I'm not going to rest my old glasses for good, but just ease my new glasses so everyone will get used to my new look.

My Dior Lip Palette

I adores palette for the reason that it makes carrying make up super light and I have lots of colors to choose from. Now, if the palette is designed in an uber fierce compact, that's l.o.v.e.

Let me present my Dior Detective Chic lip palette (from Spring 2007), a gift from my beautiful mommy ... (drum rolls)

Isn't it fab? I love love the color. It's just so me.

The lip palette consisted of 6 colors of Dior Addict lipsticks; 4 from Dior Addict line (#797, 579, 369, 489) and 2 from Dior Addict Ultra-Nude (282 & 220). I love Dior Addict line because it gives out a little bit of shine due to its multi-reflex pigments. It is also very moisturizing but quite lasting, unless a plate of oily fried noodles is involved. The palette also comes with a double-tipped lip pencil which is incredible.

Color rundown of the Addict lipstick
797, violet spectral
579 is a rose vision
369 is a rose cosmique
489 is a rose mirage

They are all gorgeous, and best of all are all permanent colors.

The Ultra-Nude are quite pretty but I couldn't pull the color off. Besides, they're no longer available so I don't need to elaborate on the color.

My favorite so far are 369 and 489. They're pretty nude but they give out a bit of a shimmer and they make my lips look better instead of super nudey kuntilanak lips. They could also be a dupe to each other because both of them look pretty similar on my lips.
See what I mean?

Street Performance

There's not many street performers in Jakarta, but out of those few, these are my favorites (found in Pasar Mayestik, near the exit.


This guy absolutely loved his rocking horse. Last week his tool of the trade was a kick-ass motorcycle and I loved watching him swooshing by back and forth in front of his master.

This guy stood still looking at me for a minute when I offered him money and just like a naughty kid who just couldn't resist to grab a chocolate temptation, he suddenly grabbed my fingers with his super smooth and tiny fingers before taking the money. Mind you, it was a mind blowing experience. I shrieked when his fingers touched mine not only because I didn't expect it but also because the coolness of his fingers. It happened so fast, though, that the memory part of my brain might not have to store that info for me. Just amazing.

Mineral Makeup - Summary.

I just hop on the mineral makeup bandwagon last week, when I received my ebay purchase, Bare Escentuals Foundation in Medium Dark and its dark brown eyeshadow. I love both of those mineral stuff and have been doing some browsing through the makeup sites to find out more about it. So here's my summary.

What is it?
Mineral makeup is made of all natural, finely ground earth minerals without using chemicals, dyes or preservatives. Since it's made of earth minerals, there will be no issue (I still need to check this out) of its halal feature.

What's the ingredients?
mica (absorbs oil), amorphous silica (absorb moisture so makeup lasts forever), titanium dioxide ( a natural sun protection), zinc oxide (prevent clogged pores and inflamed skin), iron oxide, ultramarine, ferric ferrocyanide, manganese violet (the last 3 are the coloring agent derived from minerals)

What ingredients you wouldn't find in a mineral makeup anything?
talc, paraben, cornstarch, bismuth oxychloride (the by-product of lead and copper refining, could irritate skin and clog pores)

The Duets

I still wonder why singers don't do duets much. Why not share a terrific song with equally terrific singer? I can't recall a lot of duets, but on top of my head, we have Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton Island in the Stream, Michael Jackson and Paul McCartner, The Girl is Mine, Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor, Come What May, and of course the classic, Captain and Tennile, Do that to me One More Time (hmmm...not sure if it's the correct title as it's awfully long).

I found this video of Reba McEntyre and Linda Davis Who from Go Fug Yourself and I thought, "OMG! That's just the perrrfect song for Teteh, AA Gym's wife." She might not go for the dramatic ending, but, hey! Imagination is the weakest revenge, but revenge still.

What's Your Poison?

My latest drink addiction is Coca Cola Zero. It's a bit confusing really what's the difference between CC Zero (which has Zero sugar, hence the name, Zero), and Diet Coke, my previous drinkie. I haven't really compared the taste because a) I'm lazy like that, b) why having 2 open cans at the same time. However, after opening CC Zero site, I found out that both has similar attributes, except Zero claims that it taste similar to regular Coke. Its target market is young men because men usually don't appreciate the word Diet on their drinks or meals.



My take? After sipping my supply in the office fridge, I noticed that Zero doesn't have a bitter after-taste. Its flavor is a bit thicker than Diet, which for me tends to taste watery, so Zero wins in in this. It's a tad more expensive at Rp. 3,450 vs Diet at Rp 3,000 at Carrefour, thought. Will I repurchase. Well, since the launch in February, I've bought 3 cans, 3 500-ml bottles. Bye-bye Diet Coke.

Lemons and Babies

I haven't blogged for several days which a bit unsettling for me because I've challenged myself to do this regularly. Why upset, you say? Compare to stop eating junk food or exercising regularly, blogging is totally a piece of cake. I shoulda been able to do it in my sleep. Shouldn't there a lot of things one could actually write about?

To my defense, my internet provider, Hell-o Speedy, was a total crappola in the past few days. I tried to keep things I wanted to write about in my mind, but we all know that I've lost a couple of memory cells already. Whenever I got an idea, I thought to myself, "AHA!, I'll write about that!", and completely forgot about the idea the next day.

Anyways, I watched this video on Weighty Matters blog, ran by the honorable physician, Yoni Freedhoff. Since then, I've been kicking myself for not videotaping my kids when they had some lemons.