[Etude House] Dear My Deep Color Nails - DOR201 Energy Orange (Review & Swatch)

In this post I'm only going to show you swatch, color description, and the quality (opaqueness) of the product, for the basics of the product (price, quantity, cruelty-free or not, etc) go HERE.

I also won't say anything about the "long-wear"ness of this nail polish, because it really varies to your everyday activity. It can last me for a week, but maybe only lasts you for 3 days and vice versa.

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Hi there stranger on the internet, I'm gonna do another review on the etude house nail polish (as you probably already know from the title). I really have nothing to say in this intro, so let's just get right into the review, shall we?

DOR201 Energy Orange

Sorry for the blurriness in second pic. Didn't relalize until now X(

Color

It's a bright coral orange color, that's for me, screams S U M M E R, but could also be a nice accent color in this fall winter //edit *I wrote this back in October* weather :)

Finish
Creme

Formula
Another one with great formula out of the Dear My Deep Color Nails, a nice "liquidy" consistency that glides smoothly onto your nails. A bliss to work with :)

Opaqueness
You can almost get away with 2 coats, but I prefer adding a 3rd one to get a nice shine and creaminess as shown below.

3 coats

P.S. do you prefer I pin point my review like this or the usual paragraph like before? :)

Toodles, xoxo

Help Please?!

Hi, guys, this is a really quick post :)

I just want to ask for your help if you don't mind. If you are on Windows 8 Operating System, please download DPS Personality Test, which I will link below or you can just search it on Windows Store. It would help a lot!

Thank you so so much! xoxo

CLICK HERE to download

Lolabox January 2014 Review

Another lolabox review for you...hope you're not getting bored..

After receiving last months' satisfying box I had been eagerly waiting for this month, and this box came at my doorstep on the 16th. Gotta love the punctuality of Lolabox! I never received my box late once in the last six months I'm subscribing to them.

Click HERE to subscribe to lolabox.

[Wangsa Jelita] Natural & Healthy Lotion in Green Tea

Today I'm going to review a local Indonesian brand that I just knew of recently from Lolabox

Wangsa Jelita

Wangsa Jelita means "The Beautiful Dynasty". Such a beautiful name, isn't it? I'm always happy to find an up and coming local brand, and Wangsa Jelita is one of those. They provide bath & body products, such as soap bar, body lotion, body scrub, and beauty oil.

travel-size

Basics:

• Retails for Rp 45.000,00 / US$5

• 250 ml/bottle

• Available in green tea, rose, and vanilla

• Paraben-free

• Phthalates-free

• 100% non-harmful chemicals

• 10% profits goes to farmer community

• Ingredients: Aqua, Camellia sinensis (green tea water extract), Ricinus communis (hydrogenated castor oil), Stearic acid, Dimethicone, Cetyl alcohol, Isopropyl myristate, Octyl methoxycinnamate, Tocopheryl acetat (vitamin E), Glyceryl caprylate, Green Tea Fragrance (phthalates free).

• Made in Indonesia

Packaging

The packaging is probably the major drawback for this lotion (note that I have the travel size, I don't know whether the full-size have the same type of bottle or not). The bottle is like one of those hotel's conditioner/shampoo bottle, which makes it hard to get the product inside since the lotion is thick and the bottle is un-squeezable. I have to store it upside down and bang the bottle neck to get the lotion out. It's not THAT hard, but it is quite troublesome.

Scent

I looove the scent! It smells exactly like green tea, maybe like green tea frappuccino but less sweet, more fresh. I'm not good with describing scent (obviously), but I feel like this is a neutral scent as in I don't see anyone would be offended by it. The scent lingers for about 2 hours or so.

Consistency

This lotion has a thicker consistency, which is one of the reason why it is a bit hard to get it out of the bottle, but it absorbs to your skin REALLY quickly. I'm very very extremely picky with my body lotion because I hate the sticky feeling left by it and so far my favorite -almost HG if I do say so myself as I kept repurchasing it, halfway through my 3rd bottle now- body lotion is the one from The Body Shop, especially the Satsuma one, as it doesn't left a sticky feeling. To my surprise, despite the thick consistency, this Wangsa Jelita body lotion actually beats my TBS one in the "no sticky feeling" department. TBS body lotion usually takes a minute or so to absorb, but this Wangsa Jelita body lotion only takes seconds and even more non-sticky than TBS.

Moisturizer

The moisturizer of this lotion is pretty good. It left my skin velvety smooth, soft and hydrated for a good hour or so (note that my skin has been quite dry lately). 

Where to Find? 

Reseller information is still not available on the website, so for Indonesian, you can go HERE to buy their products online and for foreigners, you can go HERE(Singapore) or HERE. 

OVERALL: I like this body lotion, especially the scent and how quickly it absorbs into my skin. The fact that it is a natural Indonesian brand is just the cherry on top. It might replace my TBS body lotion for a quick on-the-go lotion since it instantly absorbed to my skin and not to mention it is half the price too. For everyday lotion though, I think it's less moisturizing than TBS one.

xoxo, Lily

New Year's Eve BBQ

Just another long overdue post..typical me..

How did you celebrate your New Year's Eve? Hope you had lots of fun with your loved ones! Mine was fabolous!

All my direct relatives (My dad's brothers and their family) came to Jogja. It has been such a long long time since all of us get together. I mean, I visit to Jember from time to time, but it has been a long time since all of us get together in the same place at time same time, usually there were always one brother's family who's not present, etc.

I also got to meet my cousin, Jayden, whom I have only met when he was just weeks old. Now he's almost 3! Time flies. I also got to meet his little brother (I  have only met him once before), Felix, who is sooo freaking adorable and reminds me a lot of my late granddad from my father's side whom I miss so so much.

All in all, one of the best, if not the best New Year's Eve of my life so far. . .

Prepping for the barbecue

The spread

The BBQ meats and veggies my mom prepared: corns, shrimps, beef slices, chickens, salmons, squids, some kind of fish, pineapples, onions and capsicums. My favorite is pineapple! They are sooo good and becomes sweeter when you grill them.

More spread: hot dogs, meatballs, and the sauces. I really liked the Saori teriyaki sauce. Do try them when you're having a BBQ.

Sticking the meat to satay stick

My brother and father grilling

I really love the charred part. Kinda missing these right now hehe.

Can't you tell I'm super excited??!!

Jayden and his dad

While BBQ-ing, we were also playing and running around at the front a lot! And Jayden is handsome, isn't he? Behind him is my other cousin, Matthew, and beside him is his sister, Ching-ching.

My brother helped Jayden with the bicycle. Such a sweet moment! I also played this with him and after pushing him around the complex for 2 rounds I was already exhausted (really need to get fit!).

Grilling all day err day~

This is me being overly proud of my creation lol

Felix

I really love this photo of him and I found his expression to be really funny lol.

He looked so irritated and pissed off and is about slap the heck outta you lol, like "What?? You're not done taking my photo? You better be done soon or I'm gonna kung fu kick your butt off!! Don't belive it? Want a piece of me? huh? huh?! HUH?!"

Of course, ain't no New Year without fireworks!!

Look at Jayden's face, he was like "What kind of sorcery is this??!!"

I think my brother tried to spell his name here

Mooaaaar fireworks

We only play the hand-held ones because we don't want to disturb our neighbor, but there are already lots of big fireworks in the sky from other places that night, so we still get to watch big fireworks!

My mom cleaning the aftermath lol

Anyway, every now and then I'm gonna post more personal post like this since I started this blog as my virtual diary :)

xoxo, Lily

[Cottage] Shower Gel in Strawberry & Mint (Review)

I got this Cottage shower gel deluxe sample from my Lolabox this month (I will put up the review for the box next week hopefully) and I got the scent Strawberry & Mint!

Have you heard about this brand before? It's a French brand and I think they just launched in Indonesia not too long ago.

Basics:

• Retails for Rp 58,000.00 / US$6

• 250 ml/bottle

• Available in various unique scents (strawberry & mint, caramel, vanilla, green tea, ocean blossom, etc) 

• Paraben-free

• Silicon-free

• Contains SLS (Not Sulfate-free)

• Recyclable bottle

Packaging

The packaging of this shower gel really reminds me of those old school milk bottle, which I think is a really adorable concept. To me, the cap looks like it is made of those cheap plastic material (you can see the rough line in the picture above), so I'm not entirely fond of the overall packaging "look", but the fact that it's 100% recyclable helps.

          

Consistency

This shower gel has a milky consistency just like a regular shower gel. I love how I can make a lot of bubbles with just a small amount of the shower gel. It leaves my skin very soft and smooth after shower.

Scent

When I first use this, the scent really reminds me of a fresh strawberry juice with a bit of minty smells. It's a very refreshing scent. Suitable for people who love fruity smells like me. The scent lingers after I finished my shower, but not too much, probably for 2 to 3 hours max since the lingering scent is not too significant to begin with.

Where to Find?

As far as I know, in Indonesia, you can get them at Ranch Market and Guardian, but I think only selected one, cause I have yet to find it in Guardian store near me. I'll try the other guardian next time.

OVERALL: I do like this shower gel as it leaves my skin soft and I'm intrigued to try the other scents too. The cons are probably the fact that it is still not easy to find in Indonesia and the price point is quite expensive for a shower gel in Indonesia market. I also wish the scent could have lingered on longer since it is such a lovely scent.

xoxo, Lily

Pre-Birthday Dinner | Sushi Tei Yogyakarta

This is a little family dinner on 26th of December to celebrate my birthday a bit since on the day itself (27th) we have wedding invitation and the actual birthday dinner will be on 29th to wait for Sam to arrive. I decided on sushi tei because I love sushi so much and on your birthday week you get a complimentary birthday sushi!

My get up for the night, wish I'd have put more effort into it, but it was just a casual family dinner so I didn't even bother hehe.

Played domino

Ocha

Do you know that the refillable cold ocha and hot ocha is actually FREE? 

I didn't know this until a few visits ago before this one. I have always ordered a cold ocha every time I went to Sushi Tei, but never noticed that it wasn't billed. On one of the visit sometimes ago I actually noticed that our drinks weren't on the bill and thought it was a mistake, so I asked the waiter and he told me that Ocha has always been a complimentary here since ever O.O. Before I knew this, Sam didn't order drink on one of our visit because he want to save money and when I told him later that the ocha is free he was pissed off lol.

Inari Sushi

I always always order this when I eat here. Sooo sooo good!!

Agedashi Tofu

Baby Octopus

 This is my brothers'. I actually really like baby octopus sushi, but eating it on its own creeps me out.

Salmon Hana Ikura

I don't remember the name of this one and it was my first time trying this. It is rice ball filled with cheese and wrapped with thinly sliced teriyaki beef. So so only. Not gonna order this again.

Chicken Katsu

Okasama Sushi Set

MORE inari suhi :D :D :D And see that white sushi thingy behind the inari? It's scallop sushi and it is so freaking yummy. My new favorite sushi. The roe sushi wasn't that good though.

Crunchy Lobster Roll

This one is my absolute favorite sushi roll! Definitely give this one a try!! Anyway, I am curious why the crunchy lobster roll here in Jogja is bigger than the one in Flavor Bliss. The one from flavor bliss is so itty bitty :(

Birthday Sushi

This is probably the most nearly decent photo in this post. I don't even remember the filling of the birthday sushi, but it was so so. I'm fine with it though since it's free and adorable :3

Had lots of fun and really full that night!

P.s. Do you know the complimentary candy you get when you pay at Sushi Tei's cashier? I loveee them. What is the brand name of that candy? It looks like mentos, but taste a bit like relaxa. I always get at least 4 of them haha

xoxo, Lily

Sushi Tei Yogyakarta
Jalan Gejayan
Komplek Colombo No. 9
T: (62274) 552 637
F: (62274) 552 637

Lolabox December 2013 Review

Hi loves!! This is going to be my review for the December 2013 Lolabox!

Waaay waaaay long overdue, huh? Well, I was going to post this while I was in my hometown, but I forgot to bring the little card which I wrote all the information on with me, so I have to wait until I'm back hehe.

Enough chit chat and let's see what Lolabox have in store for you (which some of you probably already know from other diligent bloggers who have posted this last month).

Click HERE to subscribe to lolabox.

[Anna Sui] Nail Polish - 902 (Review & Swatches)

I'm back with another nail polish review and it is NOT another Etude House one (although I still have lots of Etude House nail polishes to review, so they are coming at you soon!)! YAAAAYYY for that. I feel like all my nail polish review is Etude House lol.


Today I'm going to review a brand I've never tried before

Anna Sui

Anna Sui Nail Polish in 902

I've never thought I will eventually try Anna Sui, mainly because it is so expensive and I'm just not willing to spend that kind of money on nail polish. Fortunately, this one is featured on December 2013 Lolabox (which review is coming to you next), so I was ecstatic about that!

Basics:

• Retails for Rp 150,000.00 / around US$15

• 10 ml

• Not Cruelty-Free

• No information about the formula, so I presumed it is not 5-free

One of the reason why I have always been intrigued by Anna Sui is the always so adorable packaging. I mean, look at that rose detail on top of the cap please!!! You also have to see their dress nail polish. SO. FREAKING. CUTE. HERE the google result. And also HERE for their special Minnie Mouse nail polish. The best nail polish packaging I have ever seen, that's for sure.


That's my general thought/review on Anna Sui nail polish, now let's get in this specific color.

1 coat

It is a nice leaf green color with beautiful gold shimmer and I really like the color.

As you can see, one coat gives you a very very sheer payoff.

Do you know may coats I layered to get to this opaqueness?

12 COATS!!

The thing though, even though it is 12 layers, as you can see from the photo above, the end result does not make your manicure  as "bulky" as I would have thought a 12 layers nail polish would do.

With that being said, I would still not recommend you to use this nail polish on its own (unless you have the patient and time to wait for each layer to dry), just use this as a top layer since the color really is beautiful.

Not very clear, but you can see the gold shimmer here. The formula of this is really great and very easy to work with.

P.s. formula and opaqueness is a different category for me. Formula= consistency of the nail polish, while Opaqueness= well, the opaqueness of the nail polish

Overall, I do like this particular Anna Sui nail polish, but I wish it could have been more opaque (personal preference). Nevertheless, I love the formula and I'll probably wear it on top of other nail polish as I can imagine this would be a gorgeous greenish gold shimmer topper :)

xoxo, Lily

Prosperity

Do you know what am I gonna talk about today?

No, I'm not going to give you a lecture about humanity, living life or some sort of things like that.


I'm just going to let you into my own little "new year tradition" ...


Every year, around New Year and Chinese New Year, McDonald's always have this seasonal menu called the Beef Prosperity.

YES, I'M GONNA TALK ABOUT A MCD's BURGER!! 

*Didn't see that coming, did ya?! Or may you did, oh well*

Anyway, this tradition started four or five years ago when my friend, Detta, introduced me to this oh so good burger. Then after that, every time new year rolls around I WILL get out of my way to go to McD's and get my hands on a Beef Prosperity Burger at least once every year. Mind you I'm not a big junk food eater, except for the occasional KFC here and there *does pizza hut count as junk food too?*, but McD? I probably can still count with my fingers how many times I go there in a year. But this beef prosperity always have me coming back every time it's available.

This year will be either my fourth or my fifth year keeping this not-so-healthy tradition alive. Believe it or not, I'm quite proud lol, since I don't really have many tradition of my own I stick with.

So, that's my little tradition I wanna share with you, now let's get down to business. 

I really wish I could have taken better pictures, but the sun just wasn't agreeing with me and we couldn't wait to eat them all, so it is what it is.

Double Beef Prosperity

Beef Prosperity is basically beef patty glazed with black pepper sauce, topped with onion slices, and sandwiched between two burger buns. Sounds pretty simple, right? But they're just so good. I really love the crunch and the bitter sweet taste from the onion and the touch of spiciness from the black pepper sauce. Not to mention the meat is also thicker than their usual burger patty.

They are available in single patty and double patties (pictured above) and I actually prefer the single patty because it just has the perfect meat to onion to bun ratio imo.

This year, Beef prosperity is accompanied by this curly fries (also seasonal). 

They're not bad, but I wish they were crunchier on the outside. I definitely prefer last years' shake fries.

Ps. Can you spot the runaway regular fries? ;)

left: Mixed Berries right: Mango

And lastly, the drinks it comes with this year, mixed berries fizz and mango fizz. They are just soda with syrup and flavored nata de coco. 

I'm not really a fan of carbonated drinks (except for mountain dew, but I can never find it for the last 4 years or so), so I got these two just because they're included in the package. The mixed berries is not bad, but not as refreshing as the mango one. Sam said the mixed berries tastes like cough syrup lol. We both liked the mango fizz better.

These beef prosperity packages will be available until 10th of January 2014. Yes, today is the last day, so go and run to your local McD's if you haven't had it. 

From 11th of January 2014 to 10th of February 2014 (I think) they will change it to Chicken Prosperity which I just heard about this year, so you bet I'm gonna go and give it a try too, although it's hard to imagine it will beat beef prosperity.

As far as international availability, I think beef prosperity only available in Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia, but I'm pretty sure it's not available outside of South East Asia, let alone US and Europe. Too bad. Well, we don't have McRibs, chicken wraps, etc, or those fried cheese thingy I tried when I was in the UK, so let's call it even!

xoxo, Lily

NEW (ish) Layout!!

Alrighty, the reason I haven't been blogging this month (aside from my lazy-ass habit - exhibit A: this post has been on my draft for probably around 3 weeks) is because I wanted to revamp this blog's layout a bit before posting anything new. So I did. I worked on it for about almost a week in between classes (and movies and TV series -I'm addicted to Revenge now-) and I'm finally happy with it after changing it TONS of times.

If you went to my blog before this post up you'll see that something in my blog, be it the header, background, color,etc, is changing for every minute or so because I honestly always having a hard time deciding these things so I have to go back and forth to make sure which one do I like the best.

Now I'm gonna go through a little bit about a changes I made :)

Top: before; Bottom: after

For the header, the actual pictures actually stay the same, only thing I did was adding the twirly border. The twirly border actually the only thing that take quite some time (about a couple hours), but I think it's so worth it!

This part actually doesn't change other than the reduce opacity on the white background.

Added a lace pic under blog post title. No specific purpose, just thought it'd be cute hehe.

Finally added a "Profile/About Me" on the sidebar :D Have been planning to add it since a year ago but never got around to actually do it. The social media buttons I made was actually my Human Computer Interaction class assignment and I couldn't be bothered to make different ones for this blog, so I just use these. It's good enough for me.

And the last tweaks that I did is for the sidebar, basically I just grouped all the labels together and make it more organized. This one took the longeeest since I have to re-label all my posts, but in the end I'm really happy with it because now it's waaay easier to find certain things. I'm really into organizing like that lol, which is weird because I don't like to organize my day, stuffs that I need do, etc, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE organizing my stuffs a certain way.

Anyway, new label, Beauty label will be coming soon once I've had maybe 5 or so beauty related posts ;)

So that's all I hope you like the new(ish) layout as much as I do and Merry (belated) Christmas and Happy (also belated) New Year!! Hope you have fun and great year ahead of you!!

xoxo, Lily