Do you consider yourself as a big fan of Lush's Bath Bomb? If yes, then this article is made just for you! If you live in a country that doesn't have a Lush Store or you can't justify the price for the bath fizzies, then quench your skin-moisturizing thirst by making your own bath bombs at home! The steps are quite simple with only a few ingredients that will leave you soaking in relaxation in the end. So if you feel like doing a little bit of a craft and experiment, then try this DIY and give yourself a relaxing spa day at home!

You will need:
- ½ cup of powdered citric acid;
- 1 cup of baking soda;
- ¾ cup of cornstarch;
- ¼ cup cane sugar;
- food coloring (depends on what color you prefer for your bath bombs);
- and essential oils.

Throughout my whole trip to Japan, my skin was so dry and parched due to the cold weather. I was lacking of water, moisturizers, and basically everything that you need to prevent your skin to be really dry and parched during the winter months. Now I have rounded up some things that could have been my savior during my trip to Japan. Hopefully it is not to late for you to prep and save your skin from the colder weather with these babies, enjoy!

1.         A facial cleanser which will bring back glow to your dull-looking complexion: Oskia Renaissance Cleansing Gel, here

2.         A hydrating serum: Caudalie Vinosource S.O.S. Thirst Quenching Serum, here 
3.         A hydrating, moisturizing, and illuminating facial oil: Kiehl’s Midnight Recovery Concentrate, here 
4.         A moisturizing lip balm: Clinique Repairwear Intensive Lip Treatment, here 
5.         A hand cream: La Roche Posay Cicaplast Hands, here


Pictures are taken from cultbeauty.co.uk 

Do you sometimes find yourself feeling worn-out with having absolutely nothing to do? Well, we think a little bit of pampering will do you good in times like those. And we have got you covered with all the essentials that you might need for a do-it-yourself-at-home-pampering. Here are some of our favorite essentials for the ultimate pampering session!

1.  The coziest pyjamas you own

2.  A bath oil for a soothing bath: REN’s Moroccan Rose Otto Bath Oil, here

3.  A moisturizing scrub to scrub all your problems away: Aesop’s Geranium Leaf Body, here

4.  A nourishing oil for your hair: Shiffa Invigorating Hair Oil, here

5.  A cleansing balm to soothe your skin: Omorovicza’s Thermal Cleansing Balm, here

6.  A beneficial face mask for a glowing complexion: Borghese Fango Active Mud Mask, here

7.  A very moisturizing moisturizer for your face: Kate Somerville’s Goat Milk Cream, here

8.  A very moisturizing moisturizer for your body: Origin’s Ginger Souffle Whipped Body Cream, here

Pictures are taken from: viviannadoesmakeup.com 
 

If any of you are planning to catch a flight somewhere this holiday season, I have rounded up some things I personally call essentials which are needed when I'm in a long flight when our skin tends to be parched due to the dry-air-conditioned-air and when we don't feel quite comfortable in general. Here are some things that I think would bring back comfort to our skin and to our being: 

1.   A book of your choice (in which case I chose the Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card) 

2.   Bioderma

3.   Origins Drink Up Intensive Overnight Mask, here

4.   Oskia Get Up & Glow, here

5.   This Works Perfect Look Skin Miracle, here

6.   Bobbi Brown BB Crème, here

7.   By Terry Touche Veloutee, here

8.   Jo Malone Peony & Blush Suede Cologne, here

Take a gorgeous blonde girl, put her in a flowing white dress, and capture the moment with cool, ethereal-looking cinematography. Sound familiar? It's a tried-and-true Sofia Coppola formula that hopefully brings back memories of The Virgin Suicides, but this time she's working her movie magic for Marc Jacobs. 

"I loved doing the commercial for him because we have similar taste, and I think I know what he’d like. I especially wanted to a good job because it’s for my friend.” 
Sofia Coppola on Jacobs.

Sofia once modeled for Marc Jacobs and they'd shared a sweet friendship ever since, and now she's switching from the girl who modeled for Jacobs into the girl behind the camera directing the new daisy ad. It only lasted 21-seconds long, and i wish it could have been longer, but i guess Sofia and Marc shared some similarity which is Simplicity. But my favorite Daisy ad would probably be the first one, since it got some summer dream tunes "Dream a Little Dream of Me" by The Mama's & the Papa's, it was just plain beautiful (video also attached below if you haven't watched it!), but I also got to admit that this commercial and other Daisy commercials totally makes me want to run through a field full of daisies in the summer, all giggly and barefoot without a care in the world, and wear Marc Jacobs Eau So Fresh Daisy Perfume.

For all Tributes, are you ready for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire in theaters? Because COVERGIRL will make you the most beautiful girl in the district! COVERGIRL has created looks inspired by the 12 districts in Capitol and all you gotta do is pick your district and voila! They’ll simply teach you how to get the look by video tutorial. They also have the before and after picture for comparison and quick tips. 

Not just the inspired looks, they also have the Capitol Collection! The collection consists of limited edition Flamed Curl Mascara, Glosstinis Nail Polish, Sizzle Gloss, and Nail Stickers! The limited edition Glosstinis has 9 shades available, while the Sizzle Gloss has 8 shades available. The Flamed Curl Mascara has the limited edition packaging, which is very pretty. I wish I could try them all.   

My favorite look from district 1 until 12 goes to District 9: Grain! They said their inspiration is golden neutrals and the earthiness of grains. Yes, I've always loved neutral and earthy look because they're quite wearable during the day and you can build up neutral look for the night by simply applying red lipstick on the lips! Just click here to pick your favorite look. 

Exercises are definitely good for your body, but here’s the worst thing: when you have the post-exercise breakouts, you cannot blame sweat for it. Some people might’ve forgotten to take care of their skin and ended up having breakouts or several skin problems. Here’s how to take care of your skin and keep it healthy even after heavy exercises that make you sweat a lot :

1. Remove any makeup you might’ve had on your face before the exercise. Having a makeup, especially foundation on your face during the exercise is a big NO. Let your skin breathe by not having any coverage on your skin because foundations and concealers clog your pores. Pores are the access for the sweat to come out from our skin so if it’s clogged… you don’t want to say hello to breakouts.

2. Apply moisturizer on your skin. If you’re going outdoor, use the one that contains SPF and PA to protect your skin from sunrays. It is important for you to use moisturizer because during exercise you’ll lose some amount of water, especially heavy exercises. Therefore, you won’t get dehydrated.

3. After the exercise, cleanse your face by following these easy steps:
1) Don’t cleanse your face immediately right after the exercise because you are still sweaty. You have to cool down first, and then start to clear the sweat from your face by gently pressing the towel onto the face. Do not rub your face.
2) Start to cleanse your face with your daily cleanse-tone-moisture routine that suits your skin type.

4. Don’t forget to take a shower with warm water. It refreshes and removes dirt from your skin. If you don’t want to shower at the gym, at least change your clothes. It is important to apply a generous amount of body lotion post-shower to rehydrate your skin.

5. Gym bag essentials. Towel, spare clothes, water, and skincare essentials (face cleanser, toner, moisturizer, body lotion, shower gel). Touch-up kits such as BB cream, lip products, mascara, and eyebrow pencil are optional.

Isn't it easy to take care of your skin? The most important thing is to keep a balance between exercising and taking care of your skin. Well, keep doing the exercises and don't forget the skincare routines above!

Since there isn't any LUSH shops here in Jakarta (Though they used to in Plaza Senayan if I'm not mistaken), looking for the shop in Wisma Atria a few weeks ago when I went to Singapore was really exciting. I've been reading lots and watching lots of videos and stuff of bloggers or beauty gurus blab about their favorite LUSH products, and honestly I'm one of those kind of people who's really curious about a certain rave that's going on, especially the Snow Fairy Limited Edition Shower Gel, which I didn't find.

The things that were on top of my shopping list for LUSH:

1. No Drought Dry Shampoo; (You can see I've been wanting one since last year, which I featured in my April 2012 "Current Obsession" back on my blog.)
2. Snow Fairy Limited Edition Shower Gel;
3. Bath Bombs. (No specific ones, was planning to sniff every single one and decide there)

The things I bought in total with my mom and sister's stuff:

1. No Drought Dry Shampoo; (HA. Finally. Smells fresh, and really easy to use. Perfect for one of those wash-or-not-wash kind of days. Put it on your hair, massage a little, then I usually finish by brushing to get the excess powder off.)
2. Honey I Washed The Kids Soap; (They told me it was one of the best sellers there. The smell is so yummy and really really honey-ish if that even make sense. Very moisturizing and leaves your skin really soft. Plus the scent lingers all day long on your skin, AND bathroom.)
3. Easter Egg Hunt Soap; (The kind of soap that smells like food and you literally just want to bite it. Not quite a big fan of this, though I got to say it's perfect for one of those rainy cold days when you just want a really nice cozy shower.)
4. Whoosh Shower Jelly; (Was quite fun to use since it's basically like taking a glob of Jell-O to shower. Perfect when you just need a little wake-me-up in the morning kind of thing.)
5. Sea Spray; (Says to freshen up your hair or something. Basically holds your hair after you are done blow drying or styling it.)
6. Dirty Body Spray; (Smells really fresh and minty.)
7. Imogen Rose Solid Perfume; (Absolutely love this thing, since I love roses. But there wasn't really much of the perfume itself on the bottle thing-a-ma-jig.)
8. Emotional Brilliance Lipstick in Glamorous. (Can be used for the lips, cheeks, and eyes. The color was absolutely stunning but at the same time is really subtle. Works really well for the lips, I usually just dab once on the upper and lower lip and smear it with my finger. All set.)

Then for my birthday last 19th, Indi got me:

1. Think Pink Bath Bomb; (Contains tonka, vanilla, lavender, and loads of more ingredients from heaven that made this bath bomb smells really girly. Plus, it'll make your whole tub pink!)
2. Space Girl Bath Bomb; (Can't quite explain how this bath bomb smells like, but it is the mix of bergamot oil, almond oil, and last but not least grapefruit oil. Perfect for when you just need to get out of this planet.)
3. Phoenix Rising Bath Bomb; (Specially made for one of those cold and rainy days, when you just want to soak up in a really warm cinnamon scent.)
4. Popcorn Lip Scrub; (Exfoliates really well and will leave your lips really smooth and naturally pink. And the best part is, it tastes like salted caramel.)

Still can't thank her enough for those things!