ce n'est pas un blog.

Selling my LIZ LISA dress!

2014-07-28T19:20:00.000+07:00

[SOLD]

Hello! I want to sell this beautiful LIZ LISA dress. It's really pretty, but it doesn't really suit me, so I decided to give this gorgeous piece a new home.

It's from their past Chambre à coucher collection. I got it second-handed from Yahoo Auction, still in mint condition. Size Free. If you're busty, I'm afraid the chest part would not fit.

Here are some photos with indoor lighting!

Front

Back

Collar part. Ugh, somehow the color got altered on this one.

The lace is my favorite part! I hope they will use this lace again in the future.

On model. Lena Fujii and Yui Kanno wear the red version. Wait, is mine the brown or red version? I think the brown one has brown laces instead of white. Oh well, I think mine is red.

Price is Rp 637.000,- or $55 (shipping fee not included). Payment can be accepted through local bank, Mandiri or BCA, and internationally through Paypal or Western Union (I think I prefer the latter, I don't have experience with receiving money on Paypal...). Domestic shipping will be done via JNE and international shipping with EMS or any cheaper international shipping service you want me to use for you. I ship from Tangerang Selatan, Indonesia.

If interested, please drop a comment below or shoot me an email at contact@cottonkuma.net!

Maru Mise Buying Service Review

2014-07-25T19:16:00.000+07:00

It's finally holiday! Only one week or so though. I'm supposed to be doing my assignment but I'm a huge procrastinator--OH HEY let's not talk about assignment.

Are you guys into Japanese trend? I'm really into the marine theme! It's uber cute, I want to have everything marine-themed with sailor collar. Plus, they are for summer so I can wear them here! Humid Jakarta is humid.

I fell in love with this simple sailor one piece from Ank Rouge.

When I was browsing through Shoppies, I found the white version of it! Turns out I like the white version better than the navy one.

The cordiform buttons are red. To me, the white piece looks more appealing as it has three colors while the navy one only has two. Now, time to go to a buying service! I decided to try a buying service I had been eyeing for a while, Maru Mise.

(Facebook page here)

In the past, I have used Kawaiikkuma. There is a huge difference I noticed between Maru Mise and Kawaiikkuma. To make it easier to compare, I will write down the differences in bullets :

Kawaiikkuma

When asked for price estimation, they will calculate the item's price and domestic shipping fee. International shipping fee estimation comes after they received the item in Japan. Their rate is 1 JPY = 135 IDR.
Payment is done twice. Deposit for the item's value and domestic shipping fee, then international shipping from Japan to your place with EMS.
Their service fee is 5% × overall transaction for every transaction you make + 1000 JPY for every different seller.
The item will be either directly sent to you, or forwarded to them in Indonesia then sent to you. With EMS, you will get your item super fast.

Maru Mise

When asked for price estimation, they will calculate everything up until you receive the item. Their rate is 1 JPY = 165 IDR (for beauty products and fashion items, they have different rate for different kind of items).
Payment can be done once or twice. You can pay for all at once or deposit half of your item's value + domestic shipping fee and complete your payment later.
Their service fee is unknown, they take profit from their high rate.
Your item will be gathered together with other buyers' items, once they receive it in Indonesia they will notify you or send your item to you immediately if you have paid everything when you ordered it. You need to wait approximately two weeks for your item to arrive.

Huge difference! I don't even know how Maru Mise deal with the international shipping from Japan to Indonesia. My guess is they use cheaper international shipping service with money gathered from combining people's order. That is why it takes more time for you to get your item.

So, after waiting with patience and excitement, my Ank Rouge dress arrived safely!

(I actually forgot to take photos of them when they were still being wrapped, I was too excited)

Oh yeah, I also bought Ank Rouge's cherry hairpin. I asked my boyfriend if it's cute and he said that 'it is not suited to be worn here' because, uh, I know it's a bit too fancy, people will notice my hairpin (let's try beating my self-consciousness here) but its cuteness is irresistible. I love wearing hair clips!

They are my current favorite hair accessories! The gold hair clips are from daytime shooting star (Hirunaka no Ryuusei) × earth music & ecology Japan Label. I absolutely adore everything from this collaboration line.

Closer shots of the sailor one piece!

The fabric feels very soft! When I first saw it on the site I was afraid the material would be stiff, but it's not, I like it. The ribbon somehow always covers the (decorative) buttons, it's disappointing because the buttons are even cuter IRL! By the way I hate taking photos in my room, the lighting is terrible.

Are you wondering if the ribbon is detachable? It is! Here is the secret!

Tadah! I wish they could put some more buttons higher though, the ribbon looks a bit loose and if I could 'fasten' the ribbon, it would not cover the cordiform buttons.

Back collar!

I love little details!! I'm so in love with this dress and DID I MENTION THAT IT SMELLS SO SO SO GOOD? It's a second-hand piece, so the seller probably have used and washed it. And I need to know what kind of detergent or clothes perfume that the previous owner used because IT SMELLS FREAKING NICE LIKE SWEET STRAWBERRY. The smell is so nice and lingering I could be sniffing at it all day! No kidding!

Anyway, here is more about the two buying services (I can't help but compare).

Maru Mise is very practical if you want to buy a lot of items from different shops. Feel free to buy socks from Tutuanna, clothes from LIZ LISA, toilet papers from Amazon and so on. Kawaiikkuma charge 1,000 JPY per seller so--you can imagine how your wallet's situation will be if you want to do so.

And the best thing from Maru Mise is you can first pay half of everything!! You can pay for the deposit, wait for the item to arrive as you save up some more money. Doesn't it feel better to pay $50 then another $50 after some more time than paying all $100 at once? And their price calculation is precise, with Kawaiikkuma sometimes you could have a light heart attack when they notify you about the shipping fee.

Communication with Maru Mise was smooth. I personally recommend Maru Mise if you want to buy some stuffs from multiple sellers. I recommend Kawaikkuma if you want to buy many items from one store only and you want them quick. My recommendation doesn't apply if you want to buy heavy things like bags and shoes though.

Okay, see you, guys! Have a good day, I'm going back to procrastinating (only to regret it later but still do it every so often)!

Secret Key Sweet Glam Tint Glow Review

2014-06-30T19:35:00.003+07:00

Hi, guys! WOW I HAVEN'T POSTED FOR MONTHS. Ew, this freaking human *mumbles*. I promised myself to write at least three posts every month, now see how I'm doing. Things got real hectic, but ouch, I have no excuse, guys.

I came to this blog and some of you commented how you checked this blog to see if there's a new post, when you didn't find one you sort of protested (and 11k pageviews? Last time I checked it was still 9k or something). Thank you so much! Those comments surprised me and I can't believe myself. 'What? People actually revisit my blog and they are eager to see some updates--when I can't even write properly.' Again, thank you! It really made me super happy!! I won't abandon this blog (but oops, I did forget that I have a blog), buying the .net domain was a form of my commitment to the blog. I pay it yearly, so even if I forget that I own a blog, the bill will still come to me and be like, 'sup you still have that stupid cottonkuma thing of yours.'

Today I'm going to do a review of this one product--which, wait, looks very familiar.

IS THAT DIOR ADDICT LIP GLOW?

Nope. A dupe, obviously. A wonderful-looking dupe. Guys, guys, I don't want to spend $32 on a damn lip balm, okay? I have always been lusting on Dior Addict Lip Glow, but god knows my wallet is so thin I'm afraid it could disappear into thin air whenever it feels like going poof! Bye, loser.

First, what is this Dior Addict Lip Glow thing?

(or Dior Addict Lip Glow Color Reviver Balm, to be exact. It's this one.)

(The one I want is this one, the packaging is prettier.)

It's a lip balm with sheer, natural pink color that comes in a beautiful packaging from the high-end brand Dior (actually, who doesn't know Dior?). It has SPF 10 and is supposed to 'awaken and enhance the natural beauty of your lips'. It will look like your lip color--just much nicer! How does that sound? Not to forget that it's a lip balm, it's as moisturizing as lip balm and bonus SPF (not very helpful, minimal SPF for lips is 15, but better than nothing, no?). The color will also vary on different person. Yeah.

(In the photo above, the plastic cap appears more pinkish. The first photo of this post shows you the true color. I hate editing the photos of this one product, somehow the colors in every photo are inconsistent.)

Secret Key is a Korean brand that I have heard few times because of their snail products. This is the first Secret Key product I purchased. I was excited when I first saw this product, I didn't wait to buy one.

They do a great job in replicating the packaging. I feel good carrying this around with me, makes me feel sassy.

The twist mechanism works well and when you close the cap it produces 'click' sound. I like how it has lip bullet shape. Because, uh, it feels cool and very womanly. I had great time laughing when my clumsy friend tried to put it on her though, 'how the heck do you apply this?!' since lipsticks feel so foreign to us. I also struggled with it at first, but *cough* none of you will get to see that.

Swatched on arm, the color is nice sheer pink. When first applied on lips, it may appear too red. After a while, it will turn to be reddish on me and on my friend, very cute milky peach color. My friend complained how it was too red after application, but we chatted for a few minutes and I noticed the change. She went to look on the mirror and surprised herself. I'm really sorry I can't show you some photos to prove, no one liked the idea of being my model! (I don't like taking photos of myself too lol) I will come back to this post with some swatches.

First few days of using the lip balm, I felt wonderful, it felt very moisturizing and--just fabulous. But after two weeks or so, I found myself stopped raving it. The lip balm lasts only for few hours and leaves my lips dry, or worse, sometimes chapped. Even with another lip balm underneath. I like the color it gives on my lips, but as a lip balm, it doesn't do its job well.

As it's drying, it's logical to reapply as often as you can. However, after reapplying every two hours, I scared my boyfriend with my extreme red lips. When the moisturizing effect runs out, the stain stays. It's fine if you're a fan of red lips, though.

At the end of the day, will I say that it's a perfect dupe of Dior Addict Lip Glow?

No. It's drying, it's a huge con. How could a product claiming as a lip balm be so drying?

It could work, but here is how to :

Apply.
After around two hours, apply lip balm. Don't reapply Secret Key Sweet Glam Tint Glow.
Watch out, don't wait until your lips are chapped. Always apply another lip balm beforehand.
Reapply Sweet Glam Tint Glow only if the color is gone.

Don't you think it would be such a hassle?

Price :
Rp 119.000,- (approximately $10)

Where to buy :
I purchased mine from Chic Princessa.

What I like :

Elegant packaging.
Beautiful color that varies on every person. It's just fun.
Moisturizing--when it's still there.

~~What I dislike :~~

~~YO IT'S DRYING.~~

Repurchase? Only if they do something with the drying part. Until then, no.

~~Brb, I have a lot of catching up to do!!~~
~~(Edit : OH NO my brother is downloading 10GB++ movies!!)~~

UPDATE : I'm truly sorry, I think I misjudged this product. I tried switching back and forth to other kinds of lip balm and I think it's MY LIPS' DRYNESS THAT CAN'T BE HELPED (I'm that type of person who doesn't drink water much). I will edit this post properly once I'm done with my work! I specifically went online to edit this post so people won't immediately list this product as a no-no. See you now, I will be back soon!

UPDATE II (whaaat) : Yeah, I think it's just me always being not hydrated enough. I'm really sorry, I can now claim that this lip balm is not drying! It's just like any other lip balm, I'm using this product again! It is moisturizing and not drying. The only con on this product is that if you often reapply it, the color will probably be too much. That is all!

Whoa this post is such a mess--finals are near, I think I'm on the verge of losing my sanity.

O.P.I Nail Lacquer in Dulce de Leche Review

2014-03-21T00:27:00.001+07:00

I love this color, somehow I really do. It's O.P.I, so I would not be disappointed---would I?

To my surprise, it takes FOREVER to dry and IT CHIPS VERY EASILY, even after topped with the great Sally Hansen Advanced Hard as Nails Strengthening Top Coat (very recommended!). In a day or two, you should expect it to crack. I couldn't believe myself, so I gave it another few tries. And it still sucked.

My mom owns few O.P.I nail polishes, they all work great, so I kept wondering how this one failed to impress me. If you are questioning its authenticity, I will answer that I'm certain it's authentic, my mom bought it from the O.P.I counter directly for Rp 190.000,- (around $16)

This post has been sitting on my draft for months. I apologize for not showing how the color would look like when painted on nails. Every time I wanted to take a photo of it on my nails I feel highly unmotivated--then I decided I wouldn't do it. I know it's not going to be worth-it, I don't want to spend time beautifying my nails only to be disappointed the next day.

I love the shade, but the quality is poor and truly disappointing. I will not repurchase unless they make changes to the formula.

Anyway, I bought some items, I'm quite happy with my purchases and I want to review them! But I have 'use for at least three weeks before posting a review' rule I made for myself. Noooooooooo oh well can't wait to post! Have a good day!

Discover New Blogs

2014-03-06T20:48:00.000+07:00

Hello! What have you guys been up to? These days I'm--still busy--playing--with my cuties. Yeah, I'm still playing Fire Emblem: Awakening. I'm a bit disappointed that my husband prince doesn't call me with pet names. In Harvest Moon, you can choose how you want your partner calls you; Darling, Honey, or Dear.

'The people need to be saved! Wifey, let's go!' Probably like that. I want Chrom to sound badass and still dorky at the same time.

Guys, are you still there? Okay, I don't want to tire you out with my unnecessary gaming comments either.

Kind Melanie nominated me for The Versatile Blogger Award! Thank you, Melanie! Please do check out her blog! The Cherry Blossom World.

The Versatile Blogger Award rules:

Thank the person who gave you this award. That’s common courtesy.

Include a link to their blog. That’s also common courtesy

Next, select 15 blogs/bloggers that you’ve recently discovered or follow regularly and then nominate these blogs.

Finally, tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself.

Can you guys tell that I'm excited with this opportunity to introduce you some amazing blogs?!

Here you go, the blogs I'm nominating/tagging!

♡ kitten cuddler ♡
** J U N N I K U ** ★★★★ A fashion, beauty and lifestyle blog! ♡
Amour de ma vie
Biffsquiggled
Emily Marisia
MangoRabbitRabbit - Beauty, Fashion, Lifestyle Blog
moeri's story
My Glossy Affair
Naomi Aria's Blog
Oh Dear Bumblebees

And seven things about myself :

I'm indecisive and--slow-paced. I take minutes to decide if I want to buy something. I panic when someone tells me to 'just decide quickly'.
I have social anxiety. I like the advantages blogging gives me, I like sounding like I'm a bright and cheerful person. I don't feel guilty after blogging either.
I can sleep for ten hours (or more) straight. But I definitely don't enjoy being called kebo (or water buffalo).
I have obsession with neat handwriting and perfectly-made paper. My favorite stationary brand is Kokuyo! I'm proud of my handwriting and it's probably the only thing I'm proud of.
I haven't been studying French again, it's getting rusty--and I don't know if I'm going to do something with it (like majoring on it or something) in the near future.
Oh by the way my skin type is combination, leaning more to oily, and is acne-prone.
I'm now sick because three days ago I drank three glasses of instant ice lemon tea in one go. I'm an idiot. Don't you ever do this.

My head is throbbing, brb resting. Have a good day, guys.

My Makeup Essentials

2014-03-01T00:32:00.000+07:00

Most of the time, I get too lazy to go for 'full makeup'. I proceed without this and that. However, I'm certain we all have those products we can't skip before going out! Here are mines!

1) Sephora Mineral Foundation Compact
I got this from my aunty as a gift. It has a mirror and a puff, but after experiencing a breakout the puff gives, the puff sits there simply as a decoration (I was in France and I left the brush at home, wow stupidity). This foundation powder greatly gives my skin smoother look, I love this!! Lasting power and oil control are an okay but I love the result it gives! Normally, I carry it with me but I never actually retouch, I leave the house as I wish it would stand my oily face.

2) MAJOLICA MAJORCA Lash Enamel Glamour Volume On
Another gift, this time from a friend. My first mascara ever and I'm never going to switch brand. Majolica Majorca's mascaras are no joke, they are the real deal. Even if you sweat a lot, cry a pool, or run through the rain, it will stay still awesomely. This mascara is the queen! And just look at the gorgeous packaging! I actually did a comparison with my ex-housemate's Benefit They're Real! and Benefit was such a pain to remove, Majolica Majorca's could easily be removed with hot water. This one is supposed to give you more volume, but my friend said that my eyelashes are thick (not full, just--thick, every lash is just thick), so this mascara doesn't work so well on me. I tried it on my brother (yes, brother, because eh no sister) and it worked--wonderfully. Wow.

3) Whatever brow pencil *cough* Etude House Drawing Eyebrow AD
Full review here. I included it in this post because doing my brows is an essential routine of mine. This one pencil is dead though, the job's done, time to look for a new brow kit.

4) Shu Uemura Eyelash Curler
One of the best eyelash curlers out there, but it just doesn't really fit my eyelid shape. I tried an eyelash curler my friend bought from Daiso and it worked better on me. Even so, I still need this, Queen Majolica Majorca can't go without her throne curled.

5) Yves Rocher Stop Correcteur Malin
Full review here. A bit hard to blend, but works great on my dark circles.

6) The Body Shop All-in-One BB Cream
This and the Sephora Mineral Compact Foundation are a match. I can't achieve the 'smoother skin' look without the powder, and my face will be all shiny with oil without the BB cream. This BB cream has grains with color-changing feature, when applying you could feel the--grains--on your face--feels weird, but that's how it works. When my skin tanned greatly, I didn't need to replace my BB cream because it could adapt itself with my skin tone. Light coverage, okay oil control, but still feels great.

7) 3 Concept Eyes Pink Kabuki Brush
Affordable, about $9. Comes with an expensive-looking pouch. Washed few times already. Really soft, doesn't shed, doesn't irritate my skin. *dances*

8) Too Cool For School Milk Tint
Full review here. Lovely peach color and doesn't leave my lips dry. It's my favorite lip tint so far!

9) The Body Shop Born Lippy Stick Lip Balm
Well. Lip balm. You just don't skip it. Full review here.

Okay now have a good day, guys!!

Of Video Games

2014-02-27T08:11:00.000+07:00

I have been longing to post this! I looove video games, especially Japanese RPGs (and I'm posting this in hope of finding people with same interest). I grew up watching my brothers playing games, it looked so fun and there was no way for me not to want to try out playing them myself. Video games have always been a huge part of my childhood! I often had dreams where I turned to be the protagonist of my favorite game titles from my childhood (spoiler : one of them is me as Suikoden IV's Prince, being chased around by a dog ghost), this usually made me pick up the game again and have another playthrough.

Now we have next-gen consoles, I sacrificed my pocket money to obtain some new titles that keep coming out. These are some of my favorite titles!

Left to right : Final Fantasy XIII, Star Ocean: The Last Hope International, Tales of Xillia, Tales of Graces F, Eternal Sonata, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Theatrhythm Final Fantasy, Devil Survivor 2, Nintendogs + cats: Golden Retriever & Friends.

The winner, Star Ocean 4!! I purchased it as soon as it was released, even when my PS3 was still on its way to my house. My all-time favorite game is still Star Ocean 3: Till the End of Time though.

Notice anything saddening (at least to me)? Well, my SO4 box is clearly ruined there! You can see the corner of the cover art ripped and it looks like it's soaked. Normally I store my games in my room, but one day I forgot, I left it in the living room and the next day I found it it was soaked and sticky like someone spilled tea on it. It made me really upset, I couldn't find the culprit to put the blame on either.

I still prefer SO3 to this game, but SO4 is such an eye-candy, the graphic is awesome, Katsumi Enami made lovely character designs, the dungeons and the bosses are crazy as always, but the poor character development and the stupid AIs disappoint me.

Noooow, this game.

Tales of Xillia Japanese version which I treasure, this game is a present from my friend. There is only one thing that I regret, I beat the game yet I didn't understand the whole story. I'm only capable of reading hiragana, katakana, and few basic kanji. They only let you read item names, shops, characters' name and stuff. I enjoyed playing but heck, I didn't even know what was going on all along.

I bought Theatrhythm Final Fantasy when I was at Montpellier. I was looking for it everywhere. When I found it, there was only one available and it was a great deal, second-handed in perfect condition! It had warranty for six months too! I love game stores in France.

Actually I'm not going to talk about the Nintendogs, I don't even know why I included it in the photo. Yeah.

Nintendogs has--adorable fluffy dogs! Overall, it's a boring game. Well, at least it was entertaining for my mom and my brother to see me yelling out commands at my virtual dog.

And the game I have been playing recently is----

Fire Emblem: Awakening!

I never picked the Fire Emblem series before Awakening, I have heard them but never actually played one. Not to mention that tactical thing is definitely not my forte. Awakening got me.

This guy got me too.

It's a must-play. I struggled to choose between this game and Animal Crossing when browsing in the shop at Montpellier, in the end I went with Animal Crossing because it was the hype at that time.

My kind friend is lending her FE:A copy to me and I'm borrowing my boyfriend's console (because mine is Europe region, curse stupid region lock). These past days I can be found snuggling in my bed, making gross expressions and fangirling noises before a 3DS screen, trying to marry off the cute boys.

Without doubt, this game goes to my list of favorite games. It's been a long time since last time I really got into a game.

After finishing FE:A, my next target is----

Bravely Default! Another must-play game. I'm saving up for this game, I know it's going to be worth-it.

Lastly, Danbo says have a good day! (Another present from my friend--God, they shower me with presents!)

Brb getting married.

Etude House Drawing Eyebrow AD

2014-02-20T04:56:00.000+07:00

Why is there no 'review' in the post title? Because I planned to review it but before I could, it broke. Again.

Before I continue with my review, I would like to say HI HELLO HI HI how did your Valentine's Day go? I hope you all had a good time! I spent mine at my friend's place, we wanted to bake chocolate cheesecake but we were running out of milk. Eventually, we just looked for cute gift box printables and ta-dah!

Looks very nice, right? I was kind of disappointed that we couldn't make the chocolate cheesecake (I really wanted some for myself too! Well, it's cheesecake), but that's fine!

Now, about the product on the title!

The first time I purchased it, it broke because of my own fault, I twisted it the wrong way, so I made another purchase. And this time, I didn't even do anything but when I wanted to use it it just wouldn't budge as if I twisted it wrong again. But noooo, I haven't even done anything, I just removed the cap and twisted it--correctly (I have learned my lesson). No one borrowed my makeup so did it just--break on his own?

That's it, Etude House, I'm never going to buy any of your product again. Sure, Etude House's products are cute, adorable, affordable and all but I have always thought that the quality is so-so.

NOW I DON'T HAVE EYEBROWS.

I mean they are visible but not thick enough.

It's broken and I can't do swatch or anything but I'm going to do a short review anyway.

Etude House Drawing Eyebrow AD comes in six shades; #1 Dark Brown, #2 Grey Brown, 3# Brown, #4 Dark Grey, 5# Grey, and #6 Black. Mine is #5 Gray, because my hair color is black. Pick one shade lighter than your hair color for your eyebrows so it will not appear too harsh on you.

The pencil is replaceable, when you are running out of it you can buy a box of the refill. I can't find any seller that sells the refill box in my area though. The color itself is sheer and buildable, which is good because I don't want to overdo it. I just need my eyebrows to appear thick enough but not really obvious that I draw my eyebrows.

I hate sharpening and this one is an automatic pencil with triangle shape, also comes with a spoolie brush to comb the hair and soften your strokes. The spoolie is a huge help, I can just draw it messily and it will still turn out nice after being combed with the spoolie (I comb my eyebrows before and after), perfect for *cough* us students who often wake up late and do a little bit of makeup in a rush.

Unfortunately, it doesn't last long. Just few hours and it will disappear. This made me consider whether I should switch for other eyebrow pencil (it didn't wait long though, it broke on me).

Price :
Rp 36.000,- (around $3)

Where to buy :
I bought mine from Chic Princessa.

What I dislike :

Doesn't last long.
Breaks easily.

What I like :

Cheap.
Automatic triangle-shaped pencil.
Comes with a useful spoolie.

Repurchase? No.

I'm thinking of getting NYX Eyebrow Cake Powder, tell me if you have any (inexpensive) brow kit or bow pencil recommendation!

Comic Frontier 3

2014-01-12T21:28:00.000+07:00

December 28-29 2013, I came to Comic Frontier (commonly abbreviated to Comifuro) at Pusat Studi Jepang Universitas Indonesia as a circle!

What is Comifuro? 'Based on Comiket Japan, we are trying to establish the Indonesian Comic Market called Comic Frontier,' according to Comifuro's official Twitter account. It's basically a convention where you can buy anime-manga merch that other fans make and sell on their own, go cosplaying or participate in the karaoke. Sounds awesome, no?! It's exciting to see my artist friends printing their own drawings, promoting and selling them. They are all great artist, if I buy from them I get to support them. Plus, what I will get is a legit merch, not some stuff people take by googling without actually getting the permission for commercial use (yes, this is serious, guys!).

I don't go to this kind of event very often, but last year I decided I wanted to open a booth there with my two friends for the first time! Wtf I was super nervous.

....And we did not get a good spot.

Super Kumatcha at F1. It was a bit hard selling stuffs there. Not many people passed by.

Anyway, here are some stuffs from our circle!

Suikoden IV and Suikoden V's hero phone straps by me! I spent days working on this chibi crap--wtf I work veeeery slowly and I'm not very satisfied with the result. I wanted to draw more stuffs but we were short on time (I wish I could work faster...). Might be because I always use Photoshop too, my friends have been telling me to switch to SAI but I have gotten too used to Photoshop it's a pain to switch to other software.

Gatchaman phone straps by my friend! Don't tell me they are not cute.

Her Mondaiji buttons! And many Kagepro buttons. And prints. Wow she made so many, I adore her productivity.

If you are wondering about my other friend's work (there was supposed to be three of us at the event), she couldn't make it on time. She actually finished it, but she couldn't come to the event. It was very unfortunate of her. She made JKT48 trading cards, she showed me some of the finished pictures, they are pretty!

Aaaaand our first day! Please don't expect photos from other booths--I really looked for the chance to be able to take some but I didn't want to leave my booth often and I didn't want to be seen busy with my phone when there were potential customers--oh well, I'm sad too, they all were selling really cute merch!

My friend cosplaying as Momo from Kagerou Project!

We had to bring our own tablecloth because they did not provide you any, so I brought my mom's brand new waterproof tablecloth (yes, important, my friend spilled water on it and no mess was made!) with cute fruit pattern! At first, I thought it was normal that they did not provide you tablecloth, but apparently my friend said all events she had attended in Malaysia provided every booth with tablecloth. Comifuro staffs definitely need to keep this in mind for the next event (I forgot to write it down on the survey paper they gave out though HAHAHA).

My dad made this acrylic display for us.

Our buttons and prints.

Our name cards. I used different email there!

Neighbor booth, selling Vocaloid stuffs, free music all day during the event! If only I had Vocaloid merch, I would have given them some to thank them!

Our side view. We got our booth outdoor, our spot was not really great, but at least we got wind breezing so it was not too hot, although sometimes the wind blew too strong we had to tape the tablecloth and the prints.

If you could see the pink-haired girl, she was cosplaying Kurousagi from Mondaiji (from what my friend told me), there was a photo shoot going on.

Second day!

We didn't look very energetic--the day before was tiring enough, we took a shower and went to sleep as soon as we got home. I didn't know coming to an event as a circle like this could be that exhausting, I knew from the start that it would be very tiring but not to that extent! NEVER underestimate those circles who often appear at events, guys!

Uttatemita Stage! The only air-conditioned room. Not a karaoke competition, so feel free to sing your heart out on the karaoke stage!

Neighbor booth doing some cool DJ stuff with Vocaloid songs.

Now, of all buyers, there were two memorable person who bought my Suikoden straps. The first day, when I was keeping the booth alone, bored, spacing out. Until I heard a loud gasp, I turned and found a short-haired girl standing before our display, looking so surprised with her hand covering her mouth. She shouted 'aaaahhhh! Suikoden!' as she grabbed my Suikoden V strap excitedly. 'I want! Oh my, it's so cute! Aaaahhh I love the prince (the protagonist of Suikoden V is a prince) so much!'

We talked for a while, I found out that she had been looking for my Suikoden V strap for a while. She came to the front booth who was selling Suikoden fanbooks, people at the booth mentioned about 'other booth who sells Suikoden merch too'. She went to my friend Riisu's booth (who also had Suikoden merch). Kind Riisu and her kind friends told her about our (remoted) booth. Finally, she found our booth and she was very happy! The pleasure was mine, I was surprised that my drawing could actually make someone's day like that.

The nice girl then excused herself and told me that she was going to tell her fellow Suikoden fan friend and that she was going to come again the next day.

The other memorable person is a guy who walked in a rush with his wallet ready and eyes fixed to something---from afar. He stopped at our booth, with his eyes turned out to be fixed to my Suikoden straps.

'How much?' he asked. He did not even glance to me, the seller. Before I could answer, he answered it on his own. 'Two for 25.000, right? I'll take two.'
'Okay! The Suikoden V one is the last stock, but we still have a lot of---'
He took down the straps from the display on his own. He handed out the money to me and left me speechless.

Then the girl from the day before really came again, she pointed at our display, saying 'ah, it's sold out already! I'm glad I had bought one!' She also showed me her phone with my strap on it proudly, 'look! I love it so much that I didn't wait to attach it on my phone!'

Oh. My. God.

I thank you those who visited our booth, you don't know how much happiness it gave me.

It was hot and tiring, but we sold our merch unexpectedly pretty well, I got to greet my artist friends and buy their stuffs, and I bought beautiful merch from other circles too.

I tried my best to restrain myself from crazy shopping--but I still had only Rp 11.000,- (less than a dollar) left in my wallet in the end, wow. I got some freebies as well, thank you!

I enjoyed the event!!

Hiding Bunny Nails

2014-01-07T01:22:00.000+07:00

Here you go, another simple nail art idea!

Surprisingly, many of you liked my 'Panty' Nails, so I thought of posting another nail idea (actual situation : I was bored and I decided to draw on my friend's nails). At first, I wanted to draw snowflakes but my attempt successfully failed because I didn't use small brush, I couldn't draw it neatly. Please don't bother looking at the messy nail polish around her nails, I told my friend to just clean on her own at her home later lol.

Here are what I used!

1) The Face Shop Base
2) Sally Hansen Diamond Strength in 77 Antique Bronze (I love this color!)
3) The Face Shop WH002
4) Etude House Ice Cream Nails #OR201
5) Etude House Ice Cream Nails #BR401

As for the tools--I just used whatever I could use. Unused pen or anything.

So, yeah, hiding bunny. Do you get what I mean?

Baviphat Apple Jelly Lip Scrub Review

2014-01-06T00:58:00.000+07:00

Wow, it's already 2014! Thank you for your company on my blog, guys! I really like reading your comments, you guys are super sweet! By now, have you noticed that I used exclamation mark a lot? I don't even know why but, yeah! Exclamation! Mark!

Please bear with me.

Okay. My first post in 2014 is going to be a review for a lip scrub. It deserves a post because it really had saved me during my bad lip days!

Another cute fruit-shaped packaging from Baviphat (I previously wrote a review of Baviphat's Strawberry Mask here), it's like a tinier version of their Apple-In-One Peeling Gel. Who is a sucker for cute packaging? You may raise your hand with me.

It contains 6g of the product and it's really tiny, but since you only use a small amount of the lip scrub, it will probably last forever.

I actually didn't buy this myself, a friend gave it to me. If you are wondering why the gel is yellow-colored (unlike in the stock photo, which is pink), I'm sorry that I have no idea.

You can actually make your own homemade lip scrub, but if you are lazy like me and often have very dry lips, I suggest you to grab a cheap lip scrub. There's no need to buy a 'luxurious lip scrub' because they all basically work the same way, and I bet the ingredients are not that different (wait, does a luxurious lip scrub really exist?).

It's absolutely not the best feeling when you have very dry lips. Lip balm alone can't help your dry, chapped, and flaky lips to recover. Don't even try applying lipstick on your lips when they are very dry, flaky lips are not flattering. Moisten your lips by scrubbing them first, apply lip balm, then finally you can go with your favorite lipstick! Make sure your hands are clean before you dip your finger into the product.

I don't scrub on daily basis--but this really helps when I have super dry lips. It smells and tastes sweet! It's obviously not something for you to eat, but who can resist?

Do note that the smell is a bit strong, some of you may be overwhelmed by it. I'm sensitive to fragrances myself, but this one doesn't bother me. After scrubbing, wipe your lips with water because I'm sure some sugar will stay if you try removing only with a tissue.

Price :
Woahh I'm sorry, I don't know!

Where to buy :
Same answer as above.

What I dislike :

Jar-type packaging without spatula provided, might be unhygienic.

What I like :

Cute and travel-friendly packaging (you don't want to be rubbing your lips in public though).
Moisten my lips.
Smells and tastes sweet.

Repurchase? I kind of want to try Lush's Bubble Gum Lip Scrub, but it's not available in my area so I will probably repurchase this! Oh wait, it lasts forever.

Kawaiikkuma Buying Service Review

2013-12-31T02:47:00.000+07:00

HELLO GUYS, MERRY CHRISTMAS! Okay, this is late. Did you guys have a merry Christmas? I hope you all did! I only went to the church on Christmas Eve and spent the Christmas lazing around at home but I was truly happy! This year all my best friends are in the town (they all go to different uni) hehehe.

Three or four days ago, I wrote an entry but I was not able to finish it. It's about an event called Comic Frontier that I participated in. I promise I will post it as quickest as possible! (Edit : Posted here.)

Speaking of Christmas, I usually do Christmas shopping with my mom and my brothers, but apparently it was not possible to do it this year. Still, I wanted to get one, so I decided to look for this LIZ LISA dress I fell in love with online and I found it on Yahoo Japan Auctions.

Link here.

Questions popped up. 'How do I do things on this site? Can the seller send it to my country? Should I use Tenso? But to use Tenso's forwarding service, you have to buy the items you want on your own with credit card---right? Oh, this is starting to be confusing. Okay, buying service that is!'

I stumbled upon Kawaiikkuma!

(site link here, or for fellow Indonesians, Kaskus thread here.)

An online store who has been selling Rilakkuma merch from Japan in Indonesia and overseas for years. They undoubtedly can handle this stuff perfectly fine! And oh hello you got kuma on your name too.

They charge 1000 JPY per item and 5% payment fee for their partner in Japan from overall transaction for every transaction. For example, since my item is an auctioned item, I will have to pay for the deposit first and pay the rest later, so I got charged 5% twice.

Kawaiikkuma offers two types of buying service; All-In-One Service and Direct Service. For the first option, your item will be sent to their partner's address in Japan, then to Indonesia, and finally to your place. They will take care of the things with customs and everything. Direct Service is--basically just like its name, from their partner in Japan then to your place. If you are not residing in Indonesia, I guess this will be your only choice. Worry not, I chose the second service too! Since I want my pretty dress to arrive as soon as possible lol.

Here goes the journey!

17/12/13 : Placement of order. I emailed them at 1 PM and they replied me at 7 PM. Not very fast but they still reply on the same day!
18/12/13 : I made the payment and they put bid on the item.
19/12/13 : They congratulated me for winning the auction!
24/12/13 : My item arrived on their place in Japan. Photo of the dress in package attached on the email. And here comes the pain, settlement invoice!
25/12/13 : I completed the payment at 1.34 PM but--
26/12/13 : Item sent to Indonesia. I was disappointed that they did not send my item on the day I paid. I made the payment as fastest as I could so they could send my item on the same day, but I guess I still could not make it?
30/12/13 : PACKAGE ARRIVED PARTY TIME. Wait, Christmas has passed! It's actually for Christmas!! Whatever, PARTAAAAYY.

Charge details :

First payment
1,900 JPY (max. bid, amount deposited for the auction) + 1,000 JPY (service fee) = 2,900 JPY
2,900 JPY × 130 IDR = 377,000 IDR

300 JPY left from the auction, used for shipping fee.

Second payment
90 JPY (domestic shipping fee, it was 350 JPY at first but turned out to be 390 JPY on the invoice) + 110 JPY (bank fee, charged because the seller used different bank account) + 155 JPY (5% payment fee from the first payment) + 1,240 JPY (EMS shipping fee for a 600g item) + 62 JPY (5% payment fee from the second payment) = 1,657 JPY
1,657 JPY × 130 IDR = 215,410 IDR

Total amount paid : 592,410 IDR (What.)

I took the image above from their Kaskus thread. I can tell that they are very organized, they have this posted on their thread for every order made. This might be unnecessary but they used various fonts and colors on their thread, making their writing looks cute, neat, and easy to read. I was surprised, people on Kaskus don't usually pay attention to this kind of thing, really.

Anyway, photos!!

WOOOHOOOOBUHOOO

Open it like a Pocky box!

'What? Did they put in a Pokémon pillow by mistake?' I thought. By the way, I like the old version of Pikachu better. The new one looks like it's been told to work out, it's doesn't look so fluffy and puffy anymore.

It's only a plastic bag from Pokémon Center! It has XY's legendary Pokémon on it, makes me want to buy Y because I like the deer (I'm certainly keeping this uber cute plastic bag). Inside the bag is my beautiful Liz Lisa dress!!

*goes crazy over the dress*

No photo of me wearing the dress because I suck at OOTDish photos. I tried though.

The quality of the dress is not questionable. At first, the skirt part is not as fluffy and as soft as I thought it would be, the white color also turns out to be more beige, but it's still soooo nice I was overwhelmed when trying out the dress. The top part's material feels super nice. I have been wanting for a Liz Lisa dress terribly bad and I finally have one.

Back to the review!

The person replying my emails was very nice and actually reply me real fast too (except for the first day). I'm satisfied with their service and I have no complaint! (Edit : Ok I probably have a complaint. That is the service fee. At first, I assumed that all Japan shopping services are expensive as heck, but I found this. 1000 JPY for every item is just--ugh, it pains when the service fee costs more than the item itself, but it's my poor wallet's problem ok.)

I definitely would recommend their service to you whenever you want to buy something from Japanese online stores. The person in charge of replying my email was very nice, they reply fast and they always give me updates of the order--which feels reassuring. They always mark your package as a gift too, so no need to pay more tax when you receive your package.

Now it's almost the end of the year, I would like to thank you for reading my blog! Happy new year to you guys! Excuse me, my head is fuzzy, I write this blog entry as I drink wine I want to throw myself to bed now.

First Excursion

2013-12-21T05:58:00.001+07:00

Post that is supposed to be up since August-September. Never mind, it's here!

The excursion is a part of our school, held for us students so we can go on a tour around the cities in France. Everyday they have different program of tour and they are all interesting! After class you can go to the administration building to sign up and pay, but you to be quick because they have limited places!

For the first excursion I attended, we went to Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert. It's a small village near Pont du Diable, a river where we would do canoë-kayak later.

Photo taken from bus window---so, yeah. Can you see the river with greenish water there?

See the river?! Ugh, I swear it was hard taking good photos of the river there. Really, I want to show you how cool the river is!!

After our bus stopped. Street view. Whatever, I like it.

TA-DAH! Eighteen posts and finally a photo of me (I'm just not a fan of selfies). When I had this as my profile picture on WhatsApp, some people were surprised because they know how I never go out with shorts (and that's the only shorts I have before I decided to buy another during summer sale). But I figured I had to wear shorts there. It's more practical and for my first two weeks there I always got people looking at me weirdly because I wear t-shirt, jeans, socks and shoes to class. 'It gets hot just by looking at you,' my housemate said to me. Well, in my country you can't go to class wearing tank top, shorts and sandals, unless you want your teacher to be glaring at you!

*dramatic BGM plays* It's here. The village! I'm coming for yaaaa!

WAAAOOOOWAAAWWOOOO the old village is so pretty, I can't even describe, I will let the photos explain for you!

*drools*

Inside l'abbaye de Gellone. An old church. I didn't listen to the tour guide very well, I can't tell you the history behind the church lol. But don't be mistaken, I like seeing old churches!

Would you like to try pronouncing these names?

You can buy some candles for you to pray.

The altar.

Et le verre s'est fait chair. 'And the glass is made from flesh'? I like the typography!

The church's fish pond. The church itself is actually pretty huge.

And finallyyyy

Main activity of the excursion I was looking forward to! Canoeing! I didn't take any photo after this one. We changed into our swimsuit and got into a small boat in a group of two person. I went with my housemate, I took the front side and we struggled to get the boat to move properly. We weren't doing it right, IT WAS SUPER TIRING. The tour guide had to come to help us, he brought our boat to where everyone was gathering. Then everyone swam happily--except me, because I CAN'T SWIM. I was only--floating, relying on my life jacket. PUTTING MY LIFE ON IT.

It would be really fun if I could swim *cries* I cringed whenever I see someone climbing the cliff and jump off into the water.

I still have more photos from other excursion, I will post them later! Thanks for reading, guys!

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami Book Review

2013-12-20T08:47:00.002+07:00

A wild book review appears.

I have been wanting to write a book review for a while, now I finally got to do it. It's going to be short. Not spoiler-free. If you plan to read this and you don't want to read any spoiler, I don't suggest you to continue reading this review.

296 pages, bought for Rp 96.000,- (around $8) at Periplus (can be bought online here).

Haruki Murakami is a popular author, known worldwide, not only in Japan. He is popular for one of his best-selling books, Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (which I have not read). Many said that his writings are poetic. I picked this book because I simply craved for books that are poetic and not straight-forward. Rather than the actions of the characters, I could be more captivated by the feelings and situations described carefully by the author--which I failed to find in this book.

The melancholic story revolves around deaths, suicides, and mental illnesses. With lots of sex. In the story, Toru reminisced his memories of his teenage years.

Toru Watanabe, Kizuki, and Naoko were childhood friends. Kizuki and Naoko were also a couple. At age seventeen, Kizuki took his own life, leaving his girlfriend and best friend with deep, incurable wound. They had to keep on living, getting older, while their Kizuki would stay seventeen forever.

Toru and Naoko later developed romantic relationship. However, their relationship did not go like how other couples could be. Naoko moved to a sanatorium where she could recover from her illness, communicating with Toru only through letters. Toru filled his loneliness by hanging out with his so-called super charming womanizer buddy, Nagasawa, who helped Toru to hit on girls and get them onto bed.

(Wow my level of seriousness in writing the review is dropping here. But I'm still going to finish!)

Nagasawa also had a girlfriend who was truly kind and faithful to him. But through news Toru got few years later, after Nagasawa moved abroad, the girl, Hatsumi, could not hope for her love to be returned any longer and got married to someone else, then committed suicide.

Sometimes Toru visited Naoko, they spent time together in the sanatorium with Naoko's guardian, Reiko.

To me, Reiko is the character who stands out the most in the story and has important role in it. There is one thing in her background story that does not make sense though, the part where she got seduced by a thirteen-year-old girl, did sexy dirty things with the girl and later regretted it, because apparently the girl had a twisted evil mind who could victimize herself and turn people to make Reiko feel terrible with her life. Feeling like a burden, Reiko divorced her husband. Thus she came to the sanatorium and met Naoko.

As time passed, Toru fell in love with his colleague, Midori. Although he was not sure with his own feelings, he wanted to end everything with Naoko first (even when he already had promised to wait for Naoko to come back) before he could start another new relationship with Midori properly.

Naoko hanged herself.

Devastated Toru appeared.

Reiko visited Toru and slept with him.

(You probably have realized by now how I don't enjoy writing a review for this book.)

Story finished with Toru speaking with Midori on phone and questioning himself where he was after wandering to only-God-knows where, suffering from Naoko's death.

I wanted to like this book. I really wanted to. But I hardly could find any essential meaning that the book is trying to tell us. The protagonist's personality itself is hard to grasp. All characters failed to leave me with a deep impression. The writing style is way too straight-forward.

I thought that maybe it's because I read the English translation version. It's always better to read a book in its original language. But in the end, I concluded that Murakami's writing is just not my cup of tea.

The novel has been adapted to a movie too and it did not change my opinion towards the story.

If not for Kenichi Matsuyama (Toru Watanabe) and Kiko Mizuhara (Midori), I would not watch the movie until the very end.

Anyway, those who like 'erotic, twisted love story' might like this (I still don't think it's going to worth your time though).

Off continuing Artemis Fowl: Le Paradoxe du Temps now!

Yves Rocher Stop Correcteur Malin Review

2013-12-08T01:37:00.000+07:00

My first post in December! I'm sorry I have not been able to write much. Do you guys have certain plan for Christmas? I wish that this month will be another great month for you guys!

I will now review another product from Yves Rocher I randomly grabbed when I was in France! Which I use very often. To my surprise, all of their products I bought didn't go to waste. My friend loves the brown mascara I gave her, my mom uses the lipstick (I didn't get the chance to ask her whether she likes it or not), I use the concealer and the lip gloss.

I did a brief introduction of the brand Yves Rocher and a review of the lip gloss before, if you have not read it, do check it here yay!

So what does the product do?

Yep, you read it yourself. It is a concealer that Yves Rocher claims to be capable of concealing your acne, pimples, or any 'imperfection' and making them dry faster. Sounds amazing, no?

I assume this product is only available in France, because I could not find it in the US and Canada ones, so--here you go, in French, from their site :

Camoufle les imperfections et accélère leur disparition
Un correcteur indispensable à garder au fond du sac pour camoufler les imperfections et accélérer leur disparition.

Testé sous contrôle dermatologique
Composants d'origine végétale : Extrait de scutellaire

Son + : hyper pratique, c'est le produit complice par excellence, à emporter dans son sac à main partout avec soi.

What kind of writing is that, Yves Rocher?! 'Son +' (its +), really? Please try to write the description for your own product properly.

Aaaanyway. Google Translate in action.

Camouflages imperfections and accelerates their demise
Indispensable to keep in your bag to conceal imperfections and accelerate their demise checker.

Tested under dermatological control
Components of plant origin: Extract from Scutellaria

The Plus: very practical, the accomplice product par excellence, to be carried in her purse anywhere.

Ingredients (written on its plastic sealer) :

Ethylhexyl Cocoate, Paraffin, Ozokerite, Cera Microcristallina, Phenyl Trimethicone, Salicylic Acid, Copaifera Officinalis, Resin, Tocopheryl Acetate, Scutellaria Baicalensis Extract, CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499, CI 77891

It contains 1,4 g of the product.

Expiration date and color of the shade. Unfortunately, they apparently only have one single shade for this product, I asked the shop clerk there for other shade option and a tester, but they did not have any. I read on their site that a lot of people complained for not having more shades available.

Stick type, you can use up all of it, the advantage of a stick-type concealer.

As you can see, the shade is actually very deep.

Without and with flash. Deep shade with orange undertone.

A little bit of rant from me :

This shade actually suits my skin tone really well. Before I went to France, I ordered a concealer from CANMAKE. It arrived when I was in France. After going back, I was surprised that this was the only concealer that worked on my tanned skin (I thanked my randomness for grabbing this thing!). My Etude House Surprise Essence Concealer and CANMAKE Cover & Stretch Concealer UV (both in Natural Beige) turned out to be too light for my tanned skin *sobs*

I did not even intend to tan my skin (when my friends back there tried really hard to get tanned). I was looking forward to try my CANMAKE concealer, forgetting the fact that the sun in France was harsh. My friend would not stop staring at me, wanting to have 'sun-tanned golden skin' I had. Well, it comforted me. Thank goodness my BB cream has this color-matching system, so I did not have to buy another in deeper shade.

End of rant!

So, does it really work?

It works on my dark circles well, better than my other concealers. Peach and orange tones are the best for your dark circles. The coverage is also great for other areas. But the texture is not creamy enough, it feels dry and it's hard to blend it out, especially on your dark circles. Yes, it works well there but the texture is the problem. While patting motion is the best way to blend out concealer under your eyes, it doesn't work with this concealer. I usually blend it out by rubbing and--reminding myself not to be harsh on my under eyes.

As for its lasting power, there is nothing outstanding. I'm sorry, I always failed to check how many hours it could last on my face, I can't tell you how long exactly it could last, but what I know is it's definitely better than Etude House Surprise Essence Concealer's lasting power.

It smells like---your foundation powder. Faint, does not bother me.

How about the 'drying imperfections' claim? Nah, I used it quiet diligently on a few pimples, it didn't medicate any of them.

Price :
4,10€ (around $5.6 or Rp 67.000,-)

Where to buy :
Yves Rocher stores. Use the store locator here. Yves Rocher's products are mostly available in America and Europe, the only Asian country who has them is China.

What I dislike :

The dry texture, making it hard to blend out around under eyes.
Does not last for long time.
Does not actually make acne dry faster.

What I like :

Works great on dark circles.
Cheap (yes, this has to be added!).
Matches my tanned skin well.

Repurchase? No.

ONE OK ROCK 2013 'Who Are you?? Who Are We??' Concert in Jakarta

2013-11-28T00:08:00.001+07:00

November 24th 2013, I went to my first live concert ever, one of my favorite Japanese bands', that is ONE OK ROCK. YEP. YEP. Until now the excitement is still there (but now I have better control of containing the feelings...)! They are doing Europe and Asia tour!

I remember I found out this band from my friend. One day I asked my friend if she had any recommendation for any artist similar to BACK-ON and m-flo, she answered with ONE OK ROCK. I went to YouTube to check it out and I wasn't really interested at first because it was 'too American band-like', but I just couldn't forget it so I kept going back to check their songs and I found myself LOVING IT (yeah, you got me!).

Here is one of my favorite songs!

I know you want the mic. And the singer. *cough*

That time I totally had no idea if the band is actually pretty popular--because my top favorite Japanese band, BACK-ON, is very underrated, so I assumed that people are not really into Japanese bands. Later I was surprised that many people talked about One Ok Rock wtf (I will now write the name this way to make it--more pleasant to read in the entry, I guess).

When I was in France, they were already selling the tickets. I knew I wanted to go to the concert no matter what, so I contacted my friend (who also introduced the band to me) and had her book a ticket for me--without even knowing when and where the concert would actually be at!

AND FINALLY. HEHEHEHEHE. MUAHAHAHAHA.

But first, I would like to warn you that this is not going to be a full report of the event, as I nearly passed out in the middle of the concert.

That day, I came to the venue at around 5 PM, people were already gathering since morning! Then we met up with my friend's buddies. During our conversation, a guy interrupted, he wanted some of us to be interviewed for a TV channel. Well, rather than 'some of us', it actually ended up with all of us being shot, I kind of hid myself behind my friend's back and there was only one of us who did all the talking, though.

After few hours of waiting and lining up, they opened the gate. Women were prioritized to get in (great!), but they collected back the tickets, so no memento from the concert, ugh! Truly glad I took a photo of it (and my friends later realized that I did a great job of taking photos of the ticket, they 'boo-ed' me before for being so bouncy and excited for it!!).

The concert started at 8 PM (or not? Knowing how Indonesians tend to be late at everything). But before it started, they clearly announced that no recording was allowed. As soon as One Ok Rock's members appeared, the audience went hype--without forgetting to activate their recording devices (duh).

And I started to make my way forward through the sea of humans, determined to see them closely.

It was a war zone.

Still, I sang my heart out (as I pushed people to go through), I jumped around (as I elbowed people--wtf I'm a jerk aren't I), and I enjoyed it to the fullest. I managed to stand at 3rd-4th row.

TAKA WAS THERE. SO NEAR, IN FRONT OF ME. WTF HE'S TOO BEAUTIFUL. It stunned me. I love them for their songs but now I feel like I could turn into a fangirl. You won't know how beautiful he is until you get to see him in person.

I did tell you that it was a war zone, didn't I? Due to the lack of oxygen, I barely could hear Taka's singing (let me cry here). The voices were far, my ears were ringing, I wanted to vomit, and slowly my vision went pitch black. My friend, who actually almost fainted too, had to help bring me to the side of the arena, I fell on my knees and some people helped me.

After a while, I recovered. Not wanting to pass out, we had no choice but to go back far from the stage.

By the way, my friend is super strong! If you see her as a 'sweet, delicate, fragile girl', your eyes are playing trick on you. When I was kept being pushed back, she stood still, holding my back, keeping me from falling. We were such a great team, we managed to get to the front line, if there wasn't a girl who kept asking us if we were okay, I'm sure we could get to second, or probably first row.

I tried recalling, but I can't remember the things that happened in order, so here are some things that happened during the concert :

Taka brought Indonesia's flag to the stage!!!!

Tomoya said 'selamat malam, saya Tomoya! Saya suka bakmi! (hello, I'm Tomoya! I like noodles!)'

Taka said 'saya cinta nashi goreng! (I love fried rice!)' I swear it was 'nashi' instead of 'nasi'! lololol Japanese accent (which I find adorably cute!). He also said 'you guys are fucking crazy!'--with his perfect English.

Someone threw a bag to the stage, Ryota took it and handed it over to Taka. Inside it was--a panty. But then Taka put it into his pocket!!! It wasn't funny to me, though, I find it inappropriate. I think Taka was only trying to keep the concert enjoyable to us by pocketing the panty instead of being upset. Dear mad fan, whoever you are, don't do it ever again.

Toru said 'mari jadi gila! (let's get crazy!)'

Ryota sang a line of Indonesia's national anthem.

There was a crazy obnoxious girl who wouldn't stop pushing and shouting 'Toru (or Ryota? Can't remember, don't care), daisuki!!'

The concert was closed with the encore song Wherever You Are.

In fact, I had to look up for these things first because I really have problem recalling them. I didn't know running out of oxygen can take off your memory. I think I missed a lot of things while recovering too.

On our way after the 'war', again, another guy stopped us, asked if he could take an after-concert picture of us for a magazine. Sure! Messy hair, all gross, smudged makeup, clothes drenched in sweat. But I felt like I was a survivor of the sea of humans and it needed to be appreciated! We let him snap a picture of us then we went away.

Nevertheless, I ENJOYED IT. First concert I attended, so amazing!!

THANK YOU, ONE OK ROCK, PLEASE DO COME AGAIN!

Etude House Dear Girls Be Clear Moisturizer SPF 30/PA++ Review

2013-11-16T03:16:00.000+07:00

We know that applying toner and moisturizer before going with your BB cream or foundation is very essential. When I first started doing make-up, I didn't own any moisturizer at the moment, so I grabbed this right after Etude House released their Dear Girls line which used only organic ingredients and comes in 5-Free System; paraben, talc, mineral oil, artificial colors, animal ingredients.

Etude House's products always have pretty packaging! Look at those flower and ribbon decorations!

Pump for your hygiene's sake. Contains 50g of the product.

'Ingridients'? What.

So what do they say about this product? (from en.koredepart.com)

Adheres to skin to brighten skin tone without stickiness.
Blocks UV rays to create healthy skin.
5-vitamin extract and 7-organic extract offer full of nutrition to skin.
5 Free System (Paraben, talc, mineral oil, artificial colors, animal ingredients)

It's always good to have some sun protection in your make-up, I was happy finding out this moisturizer has SPF 30 in their formula. And that 5-Free System is just great!

Now, let's see how it works.

Hada Labo's moisturizer comes in transparent white liquid while Etude House's has thick white liquid with refreshing floral scent that stays on skin for minutes.

Blended out.

With flash.

While Hada Labo Ultimate Moisturizing Milk gives clear, watery finish, Etude House Dear Girls Be Clear Moisturizer leaves you with a matte white cast. Note that it doesn't last long, but you need to give some time for it to give you the brightening result you want before you start going with your BB cream or foundation. There was one day where I applied it with BB cream and powder in a rush, the white cast wouldn't tone down even if I waited for minutes. It was horrifying, my face was way far brighter than my neck. I ended up restarting my whole make-up.

I have to tell you that you need to be very careful with this moisturizer, apply it thinly with your fingers! With Hada Labo, I don't need to worry about applying too much moisturizer, let it dry for a while and BB cream time! With this one moisturizer, one full pump is too much. When it's too much, it leaves you a white cast that lasts long and if you go out, being exposed to the sun, IT MELTS.

IT.

MELTS.

No kidding, when I visited my boyfriend he asked, 'what is that white thing on your forehead?' FREAKING EMBARRASSING GRAAAAHHHH

*cough*

Well, if you apply it evenly, thinly, and carefully, you will get the result you want. I really like how it brightens my dull skin without sticky feeling. And it has SPF 30 so no need to apply more sunscreen! I don't get breakouts from this moisturizer too. But having to be careful upon application is too much of inconvenience for me, so I switched to my Hada Labo.

Price?
Rp 76.000,-/around $6.7

Where to buy?
eBay. I purchased mine from Chic Princessa.

What I dislike :

One full pump is too much? WHYYY. The pump should have been designed as its own measurer that gives you the perfect amount! Or do I expect too much?
White cast that stays forever when applied too much.
It melts (again, when applied too much) under the sun.
Wtf why so much work to get the result I want.

What I like :

Refreshing floral fragrance.
Cute packaging.
Hygienic pump.
SPF 30/PA++ for your sun protection.
Brightens the skin tone--when applied correctly.

Repurchase? No.

Thanks for reading, have a good day!

It's Skin Macaron Lip Balm in 01 Strawberry Review

2013-11-13T21:40:00.000+07:00

Bon appetit ! Omnomnomnom.

Okay, no, don't. It's a lip balm, not a real macaron for you to eat, no matter how tempting it looks please don't eat it. Once, my friend and my boyfriend saw this, my friend jokingly told my boyfriend to eat it. He took it, he opened his mouth and I swear I had a light heart attack there. My friend and I gasped when we saw it gone into his mouth as he made gulping sound. Of course he was also joking, he didn't really put it inside, but the lip balm could fit into his mouth! *inhales*

Onto the review!

What made me buy this lip balm? The packaging, obviously! *hides*

It's Skin offers the Macaron Lip Balm in 01 Strawberry, 02 Green Apple, 03 Grape, and 04 Pineapple. It contains 9g of the product. I chose Strawberry because I felt like--smelling strawberry? I don't know, later I regretted for not going with mint-colored green apple instead.

It's bigger than normal macarons (or maybe it's normal macarons that should be this big, yum). Don't try giving people heart attack by seeing if it could fit into your mouth, okay?

So far, this is my favorite lip balm. On lips, it feels lighter than my The Body Shop Born Lippy Stick Lip Balm. The strawberry scent is very faint yet so sweet. Remember how I told you that sometimes I can be such a sensitive ass with fragrances? Not even once this lip balm makes me feel sick. It does its job well, it moisturizes your lips, no chapped lips. Nothing outstanding from the lasting power, though, it lasts for 2-3 hours like any other lip balms, then you will need to reapply it.

Although the packaging is really cute, it has its own disadvantage. It comes in jar without applicator, which makes it possible for it to collect bacteria. There are three ways to apply this kind of lip balm; you can use a lip brush, your clean finger, or just dip your lips into it. I usually use the second or third way myself.

Still a favorite lip balm of mine!

Price :
Rp 65.000,-/around $5.8

Where to buy?
eBay. I bought mine from Chic Princessa.

What I dislike :

Jar type without applicator, collects bacteria easily if not careful.

What I like :

Sweet, faint strawberry scent. Good for those who can be extremely sensitive with scented lip products.
Very light on lips.
Cute packaging!
Moisturizes the lips, not leaving them dry and chapped.

Repurchase? Nah, there are still tons of lip balm to try out!

As for you guys, how do you like lip balms in jar packaging? How do you usually apply it?

Thanks for reading, have a good day!

'Panty' Nails

2013-10-25T06:07:00.000+07:00

HAHAHA I don't know what to name it.

I wanted to redo my french manicures but I can't do it neatly without french manicure stickers. I was too lazy to use one so I went ahead as I imagined this in my head :

Like first bra and panty for little girls in manga!

Here are what I used!

*clear throat* Yes, I don't have dotting tools neither proper brushes for nail art. It was around 4 AM, I grabbed whatever I could use. Ça marche !

1) First, I used Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Hardener for the base coat (I seriously love Sally Hansen's nail polish brushes!).
2) Then The Face Shop Lovely Me:ex in transparent pink (I'm sorry I can't find the code for this shade!).
3) The Face Shop Lovely Me:ex WH002 for the laces.
4) Etude House Ice Cream Nails #OR201 for the ribbons and 'stitches'.
5) And finally, Sally Hansen Advanced Hard as Nails Strengthening Top Coat.

The pattern goes more or less like this :

If you want to do neat french manicures but you are too lazy to do it and want something with a hint of cuteness, I think this would work for you.

Have a good day you guys!

Too Cool For School Milk Tint in Milky Orange Review

2013-10-20T04:14:00.000+07:00

Who is not a sucker for cute packaging? Not me! Who doesn't like milk? Not me! Put them altogether and you have me scratching my monitor!

Another lip product review. F--forgive me. Seriously, I don't know why but milk-related things in a packaging always look irresistibly cute. The first time I saw this from Cominica's review, I knew I had to grab it.

By the way, I just recently moved my domain to .net and THE COMMENTS ARE ALL GONE. If you guys commented and I didn't reply, I'm sorry but I lose all of them! Sob.

Moving on!

What do they say about this product? Prepare to scroll down for the long image!

Yep, there are two shades of them.

Mine is #2 Milky Orange. I tend to avoid pink shade because most of the time I'm afraid they will not suit my warm skin tone.

Please don't chug it down.

Shortest lip tint wand I've ever had. Does the color appear more pinkish to you?

(Actually useless to swatch it on wrist but I couldn't take a photo of me on my own)

The fact is the color is not very orange, it's more peachy. It makes your lips look livelier, it has hints of lovely orange color but not eye-catchy orange so I don't look like I just ate an orange candy. Last time I used Etude House's Sweet Recipe Candy Stick in Orange I looked like I rubbed something orange all over my lips and it was embarrassing.

'Once applied, stays lively for a long time.' Yes, it's correct. The lasting power is pretty surprising, it stays even after eating and drinking. It doesn't last all day but obviously it lasts longer than Yves Rocher Gloss!

'Moist without lipgloss'? It doesn't moisturize your lips all day but it doesn't leave my lips chapped and dry like other lip tint!

The thing that bothers me is the smell. It smells like it's perfumed, it doesn't smell like something natural (floral or something) and it's quite strong. When I'm being very sensitive, I avoid this lip tint because for the first few minutes after application, the smell stays on lips. It's tolerable but sometimes I can be a sensitive ass. Well, eventually it will bring out the color on your lips and last long!

Price :
Rp 72.000,-/around $6 at Chic Princessa. I bought it somewhere for Rp 98.000,-/$8 though.

Where to buy?
eBay or somewhere. I forgot where I got mine, this has been around for quite a long time.

What I dislike :
1) The scent.

What I like :
1) Soft, lovely peachy color.
2) Lasts long.
3) Doesn't leave my lips chapped.
4) JUST LOOK AT THE PACKAGING.

Of Summer and Tears

2013-10-17T18:31:00.000+07:00

Nah, I like opening my post with a photo. It was taken near La Poste (France's post office) when I was waiting for my uncle to pick me up because I lost my way HAHAHA. He came with his friend like, 'so you lost? How can?' I'm sorry I'm terrible at remembering streets and directions (and Montpellier is such a small city!).

This post will tell my epic fail experiences during my stay there. Opinions are mine, not necessarily representative.

I didn't get the chance to blog because unbelievably, I had hectic days! When my housemates went out, most of the time I had to stay in my room, doing HOMEWORK. Are you thinking jeez dude you are in damn France in summer what the heck are you doing with homework yay fun. Now, I'll tell you why!

Long story short, I aimed for DELF B2 certificate. What is DELF? Diplôme d'études en langue française, basically it is like French version of TOEFL and IELTS (wow short explanation). I had morning classes and one-to-one lessons, the one-to one lesson one was the one (what) who gave me bunch of homework! The teacher was very kind and sweet yet had no mercy.

After a hell of (undeniably useful) practices, I finally faced the day of the DELF examination.

Wait. Not yet.

This is going to be a pretty long post, I warn you!

There was a dramatic story behind my test. Completed with tears and ugly crying face. Actually, I was not sure if I wanted to post this--it was embarrassing and upsetting, but nah might as well make it something laughable now, it is in the past anyway. But seriously, being a student who lives in a country where everything feels wallet-draining without scholarship gives you mental pressure. It was not easy for me, at least.

To register for the examination I had to pay 100€ when I had no more cash on me. My aunt kept my money for safety's sake and I never own a credit card or something. In the end, I uncomfortably asked my landlord to lend me some money for the test fee. She agreed to it, but apparently life doesn't want me to be at ease so she received a call from the school, telling her to tell me to borrow it from the school instead. I surely did not have the best feeling at that moment!

The next day, I went to see the school's office person (or whatever you call it) for the said matter. Guess what she said!

'Ask your brother or dad to give me the money now and I will give it to you' (she knows the people in charge of paying in my family).

Are you kidding me. It was because I had no money ON ME so I had to borrow it from someone! The school was just making things more difficult. Not to mention that the last day of registration was very close! I tried talking to her but negotiating with a French is no use. Very stubborn indeed. Frustratedly, I phoned my brother (with my French number expensive credit YES I AM COMPLAINING sorry can't help), told him everything and we came to decide to take the money from my brother's credit card. I managed to go home with the money for the test fee.

'Not so fast,' life said.

The day after, I took the tramway straight from class without lunch to the place where the test would be held. I swear summer in France broke me out, my skin turned incredibly bad, I went crazy with sun lotion and I didn't want to leave home without sunglasses. The place was pretty far, but I managed to find the registration office and--SURPRISE, CLOSED. LUNCH TIME.

And my dear, I skipped my own lunch time.

Damn French very strict with food time, I always forgot. There was this time when I went out with housemate to eat lunch but all the restaurants were already closed, it was still friggin' 2 PM!!

Anyway, I had no choice but went home and at two I was already back in the office again. Only to be told that THEY DID NOT ACCEPT CASH!! Yes, people, when you decide that you will live in France, bring out your cards and checks!

I actually had my one-to-one class, so I rushed to school afterward. Complained to my teacher and the office person, and they even mentioned that it was weird for them to refuse it too! You say oh weird, I say cool not tiring and time-wasting at all going back here and there.

On the last day of the registration, I came with a check the office person made for me after class. I took the exam and--voilà ?

STILL NOT SO FAST. Are you shaking your head now? Dude what kind of sin have you committed, you wonder.

On the day of the test, I left home earlier and I didn't go to class, obviously, because the test started in the morning. I wanted to buy something for lunch later but no store was open that early. So I went ahead, I did the first session of the test rather smoothly, it was pretty easy. As for the second session, speaking test, I got my turn early. I went out to search for food but I couldn't find anything I wanted, I stupidly took the tramway to go back to my place only to buy a bread and I came back fifteen minutes late.

The teacher, the judge, asked me in very unfriendly tone.

What made you come so late?

Why?

How come?

I know it well that it was my mistake but I didn't expect the lady judge to be that angry. Well, being Indonesian, it has become a habit to come to an appointment late, or as my Swedish housemate called, I am 'time-optimist'. But no, in France I tried to get rid of this habit that Europeans detest. Inevitably, I have other habit of eating at my usual place.

Still, I was given the chance to do the test. I had plenty of time to eat and rest. I made sure I left earlier.

For heaven's sake, my stupidity has no cure.

I showed myself up at 4.30 - 4.40 PM when the actual test started at 4.25 PM.

I remembered the time wrong. WONDERFUL, SELF. I came at 4.25 but I thought that I still had time I didn't show up!

To make the situation even better, the same lady showed up. This time she burst with more questions, and even unfriendlier tone.

What did you do. How can this happen. Seriously, what did you do. I cannot believe you. What made you come late for the second time.

I felt terribly guilty, and really, this one judge scared the heck out of me. We walked to the room and went with the test. It didn't go well. Not satisfied, SHE WENT AGAIN WITH HER QUESTIONS. In my head I screamed ENOOOUUUUGH.

....honestly, Europeans didn't leave me good impression. It's like they think everything logically without sympathy involved, don't exactly like sharing with others, and rather selfish. This impression came up to me most probably because our difference in culture, though. I kind of understand it now why my landlord loved asking me what I think about Europeans when Europeans think the Asians are kind and warm.

Now, where is the teary part? Here we go!

As I have told you above, I had money problem. Not only on me, but also on the family. The course fee is ridiculously expensive (spoiler : it could buy you an Hermès necklace), it even used up my dad's saving (this is one part that gives you the 'pressure') and it wasn't enough with Rupiah currency dropping. We discussed this and that, problem here and there, until the office person called me to ask regarding the charges. But that day, there was no any way to pay on the day she asked for. I phoned my dad and we kind of fought. I had panic attack, I cried, she went on angrily

you do know that you have to pay

you do know that we have to pay the teachers

what makes it so complicated

why can't you pay like when you paid for the DELF

we try our best to understand you but we are a company

IN DAMN FRENCH.

And of course I replied in French too. Sobbing. Tears all over my face (in shoujo manga, how could the girls look pretty when they cry? I swear I look like a melting mudman). In the office!

Like, I had panic attack and it wasn't enough, I still had to process moonspeak *cough* French through my throbbing head. In the office.

Okay, that's all for now! I hate remembering that one day, I hope I won't have to experience another. In other side, I also have priceless experience.

I shall excuse myself now *melts*

Yves Rocher Gloss Review

2013-10-12T02:33:00.000+07:00

Hello, finally a new post! My mom lost the DSLR's memory stick, yesterday she found it back and today I took quick snaps. I struggled with the lighting--and God, someone needs to teach me how to use the camera properly. I always take photos when it's dark, I don't want my family to see me taking photos of a lip gloss!

Anyway, another lip product review! This time, a lip gloss from Yves Rocher. I used to hate using lip gloss because of the STICKINESS. But this one lip gloss surprised me!

...I had to stick my cow sticker on it because I didn't put it on a flat surface, it kept rolling down.

What is Yves Rocher? Other version of Yves Saint Laurent? (I got some people asking me this)

No! It is a beauty brand founded by French entrepeneur Yves Rocher. The company maintains a botanical garden in La Gacilly, Bretagne, France, which is open to public for free in warm months. Awesome company!

In their promotional posters, they say «Se réinventer chaque jour» and «Créateur de la cosmétique végétale», means 'innovating everyday' and 'creator of végétale cosmetic' (sorry for not being a good translator). In short, they use natural ingredients for their products. Yes, it is for you people with sensitive skin!

Honestly, I didn't even know this brand exists until I passed by the Yves Rocher store near my flat. I walked into the store, curious. The shop clerks were all smiley and nice, they will ask you whether you need their help as soon as you walk in (I will creep you out with my terrible French!). I bought some mascaras, lipsticks, a concealer and this lip gloss. The only things I keep for myself are the last two ones, I gave the rest to family and friends as a gift. Their products are rather cheap, really, I grabbed them without thinking much. And talk about quality!

Alors, what do they say about this product?

Yves Rocher USA | Yves Rocher France (The French one is the only one that has images and buyers' testimony.)

Ultra-light, non-sticky texture
A gloss as translucent as water. A sensual texture that is non-sticky and does not clump, enriched with Raspberry extracts for a sensory experience.
Glossy effect for light coverage and delicious lips.

The Plus: It's applicator’s design, moulded to the shape of the lips for an easy application and its soft tip which is a pleasure on the lips.
Paraben free formula.

0.15 fl.oz. Tube / 4.5 ml

Simple and nice packaging with a floral print.

Text in French with translation in English. Good, no need for me to translate anymore.

There is a spring inside the cap (white tube), make sure you secure it tightly after usage. I often forgot so it jumped.

Yes, the shape of the applicator is unique!

....my super tanned hand

I have to say that--IT LIVES UP TO THE CLAIM. Everything they say about the product is true. At first I didn't expect much from it, it was just something I grabbed randomly in a rush. And it surprised me! It is light, not awkwardly too shiny, sheer, buildable, and most importantly, not sticky at all. It has floral/fruity (can't determine) scent that is a bit strong, not very faint, you still can smell it when applied on your lips, but it's not overwhelming so I don't have a problem with it. This is something you need to note, though, the smell is a bit strong. I know some people can be extremely sensitive with scents.

I always apply lip balm beforehand because it doesn't have moisturizing effect. It lasts for 1-2 hours, gone after regular drinking and eating. Leaves my lips dry afterward, that's why I always use a lip balm first.

Oddly, on the site they only have up to nine shades while mine says on the bottom of the tube that it's the eleventh shade! Nah I don't know anymore.

Where to buy?
Use the store locator here. Yves Rocher products are mostly available in America and Europe, the only Asian country who has them is China.

What I like :
1) Cheap. 4,50€
2) Light, sheer, not sticky.
3) Great applicator shape, easy application.

What I dislike :
1) Not available at local stores.
2) Has rather strong scent.

Recommended? Yes!

Le Français Part I Have No Idea

2013-08-26T23:54:00.000+07:00

I'm sorry for starting the post with boring french grammar book, I put the M&M's bag there to make it look a bit more interesting. But that's what I'm going to talk about here. No, I'm not reviewing the grammar book which actually amazes me because of how useful it is, I'm going to share about some things I've experienced related to language-learning and some trivial things--that are quiet unexpected upon arriving here. Well, this also could be a rant post for me.

I started learning French during second year of high school. I took extensive courses, twice a week, for one or two months (I can't remember exactly how long). Unfortunately, the institute was too far from my place, I missed a lot of classes and I ended up abandoning them.

After I graduated from high school, I decided that I wanted to study in France. I restarted my class from the lowest level until the advanced one for seven months. Time skip, here I am, in Montpellier, a lovely small town in South of France. Since Asian and European culture are not similar at all, we have some ways of doing things that are completely different and sometimes, bizarre, shocking.

I'm not going to mention it one by one, I'm not writing for a culture magazine, these are my opinions, experiences, and impressions I have. Anyways, here are some things qui m'étonnent.

1) Everyone, even the youngsters, own a card. The landlord asked me wonderingly, how do you live in France if you don't have a card? Apparently, it's very essential. Charges here (course fee, registration fee, etc) are mostly made with card or check (yes, check!). In Indonesia, it's very uncommon for youngsters to hold their own credit card, only adults and those who have proper job can have it. There were times where payment turned out to be complicated to me because I only bring cash.

2) You came to France to practice your French. You planned to speak in French to everyone, every single day. But your housemates are not in the same level as you. Oops. I didn't predict it, really. I have housemates all from different country, England, Brazil, Venezuela... Some of us don't speak French really well (like me, I'm not so bad at writing but weak at speaking, meh). We're housemates, we live together, we want to be able to understand each other well. I had difficult time trying to understand what a housemate of mine actually wanted to tell me, we ended up misunderstanding some things--which are not good because we are not just in a debate in French class, but we are trying to build good relationship as we live under the same roof. So, yeah, French during class, English at home!

3) The weather is a bitch. I clearly underestimated the sun here. Indonesia is always hot and sunny, but it's very humid and dry here during summer. I didn't even bring sunblock and sunglasses, I bought them here. Sometimes it also gets windy and cold when it's very hot, it confuses me whether I should wear jeans with a sweater or shorts with a shirt.

4) I'm slow at responding. I know the correct grammar, conjugations, and masculin-feminin. But that's the reason why I take time to respond, I create the phrase carefully in my head before I speak when I should just respond to simply make the other person get the idea of what I'm talking about. Some people are impatient, we speak in English eventually.

In short, I wanted to engage in conversations in French as often as possible. But it's not that possible. That's the main point what I wanted to talk about here---originally.

That's all for now I don't feel like writing anymore (gosh, what a lazyass). Off laying down and play some games!

The Body Shop Born Lippy Stick Lip Balm Review

2013-08-11T01:40:00.000+07:00

I always carry lip balm with me and I'm kind of a lip balm junkie. Once, my friend said "why do you only buy lip balms?!" Because they're cute, they vary, practical to carry and the easiest make-up to apply! Well, not really a make-up, but let's just say they are.

I remember these photos were taken a day right before my departure so they were rushed and a bit blurry, I apologize.

"You will need these," said my mom as she handed me over two lip balm sticks, she remembered that by the time I arrive in France, it will be summer. No for chapped lips, yay for lip balm!

Nice packaging, but not that adorable. Born Lippy comes in stick and pot with many fruity scents. These two are plum and pomegranate.

Notice a difference there? The red twister is a bit off, but it still works perfectly fine. I like how the cap covers the stick almost entirely. The last time I purchased their chocolate stick lip balm, it came with short cap, I put it it in my bag, it got dirt and all, ugh, gross. Not to mention it made me feel really sick many times (even before it got dirty), will never repurchase that one.

I thought it was grape, though.

And I thought it was apple! See, the twister is a bit off.

So what do they say about these two on their site?

Our cult lip balm in a stick format. Gives lips a pop of colour, a shot of moisture and a soft shine.
Plum/red tint
Subtle shine
Fruity plum/pomegranate flavour

Wtf what 'pop of colour', The Body Shop? They are not tinted at all. These are lip balm, not tinted lip balm. I didn't even know if they're supposed to tint your lips until I checked the site. Both smell nice, not too strong but it's not as faint as It's Skin Strawberry Macaron Lip Balm is. Those of you who are very sensitive with smell, avoid this.

I like the twister, it feels secured on your grip, the product slides out and in easily, unlike Etude House's Sweet Recipe Candy Stick--the product slid out but then it got stuck when I twisted it, I had to push it in manually with my finger.

I have been using the plum one for five weeks and I never felt sick (their chocolate lip balm traumatized me!). Lasts for 3-4 hours, like other ordinary lip balm.

Nooooowww.

Where to buy?
The Body Shop stores! They are everywhere.

Pros :
1) Nice fruity scent.
2) Long cap, protects it from getting dirt.
3) Proper twister.

Cons :
1) Not tinted, unlike their claim.
2) Might smell a bit too strong for those who are extremely sensitive with smell.

Repurchase? No, there is still a lot of lip balm out there to try out, but this is recommended!

Hawaiian Tropic Silk Hydration Lotion Sunscreen SPF 50 Review

2013-08-08T03:36:00.000+07:00

Summer! What do you guys do in summer? Do you go to the beach, to the lake (not possible in Indonesia, I believe), or to the pool? Do you enjoy the sun? Don't forget to take a sunscreen, the extreme sunlight will damage our skin! And here, I picked the best sunscreen I have ever tried. First review I wrote during my stay in Montpellier, I guess (I don't have a DSLR neither supporting tools to create white background, nooooo).

I love this product so much I want to post the review as soon as possible.

I use this sunscreen everyday. Even when I woke up late, I made the effort to apply it all over my exposed skin before I go to school, I feel insecure without it (and it has to be SPF 50!). When Europeans try anything they can do to tan their skin, we, Indonesians, have enough sun already, we'll say no to tanning! I'm happy when people compliment me for my skin but I don't want my skin tone to go down by two shades, no (which already did).

Now, we want to enjoy the summer without getting sunburned!

Ingredients :

Aqua, Octocrylene, Benzophenone-3, Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane, Ethylhexyl Benzoate, Glycerin, VP/Eicosene Copolymer, Cetearyl Alcohol, Diisopropyl Adipate, Isopropyl Myristate, Isopropyl Palmitate, Phenethyl Benzoate, Polymethylsilsesquioxane, Polyethylene, Sodium Polyacrylate, Caprylyl Glycol, Dimethicone, Coco-Glucoside, Ceteth-10 Phospate, Dicetyl Phospate, Xanthan Gum, Disodium EDTA, Paraffin, Silk Amino Acids, Butyrospermum Parkii Butter, Mangifera Indica Seed Butter, Panthenol, Sodium Ascorbyl Phosphate, Tocopheryl Acetate, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Carica Papaya Fruit Extract, Colocasia Antiquorum Root Extract, Mangifera Indica Fruit Extract, Passiflora Incarnata Fruit Extract, Plumeria Acutifolia Flower Extract, Phenoxyethanol, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Parfum, Hydroxycitronellal, Linalool, May Contain:, Mica, Bismuth Oxychloride, Iron Oxides.

It has Benzophenone-3 (or Oxybenzone) which is commonly found in sunscreens and is believed to have side effects. There are good sunscreens with Benzophenone-3, I assume this is one of them, it even has a recommendation stamp from Skin Cancer Foundation on the back label, but if you're really concerned about it, forget this product.

Anyway, here is what they say for the product on their site (which offers useful informations about sunscreens too, go check them out) :

Introducing our new sunscreen lotion, the only sunscreen with hydrating ribbons for continuous in-sun moisture. With its ultra-luxurious hydrating silk ribbons, Hawaiian Tropic Silk Hydration™ lotion sunscreen nourishes and pampers skin while providing broad spectrum UVA and UVB protection and 12-hour moisturization when out in the sun.

Features & Benefits:
• Lightweight, luxurious hydrating ribbons infused with silk protein pamper
and protect skin when in the sun, providing 12-hour moisturization
• Safe and effective broad spectrum UVA and UVB protection
• Nourishing antioxidants
• Exotic botanicals
• Warm tropical fragrance
• Lightweight feel

The bottle contains 180 ml of the product.

Sounds great. We all hate the greasy feeling that sunscreen gives. How about this one?

Refreshing orange color. Can you see those orange lines of the hydrating ribbons? Yup, you can actually see them!

It's not greasy AT ALL. Super light. Water resist. High protection from both UVA and UVB. Nice fragrance, but rather than 'warm tropical fragrance', it reminded me of chocolate the first time I smelled it. It's not a strong fragrance, so those of you who are sensitive with smell, no worries.

And, bonus! It moisturizes your skin for 12 hours.

Left : without. Right : with Hawaiian Tropic Silk Hydration sunscreen. I super love how it gives instant glow to my skin!

I have headache now and I need to go to sleep early so let's just move to the final judgement.

Where to get?
Amazon, maybe. I got mine from Monoprix near my flat.

Pros :

High protection from both UVA and UVB.
Good fragrance.
Light texture, nothing greasy.
Moisturizes skin for 12 hours, gives glowing effect to skin.

Cons :

Contains the controversial Oxybenzone.
Maybe--just a bit pricey, 14€. But it's totally worth-it.

Repurchase?
Definitely! I have used 3/4 of it!

Have a great summer!

By the way, do any of you know where I can find Shu Uemura stores in Montpellier, near Place de la Comédie? Please tell me if you do!