Review: YSL La Laque Couture Nail Lacquer

I picked up this nail polish when I was vacationing in Munich, Germany last month. I saw the YSL counter and was lured by the dark galactical bronze shade of this color called “28 Bronze Aztec” from their fall collection. With the tiny gold particles mixed in the dark base color, the shade look rich and glam. Again, similar to the Estee Lauder’s nail polish bottle, YSL also comes with a gold cap and squared glass bottle. Perhaps this combo reflects luxury in packaging for the high-end beauty products.





This is my first bottle of YSL nail polish and although it is on the expensive side, I am satisfied with my purchase. I would rather invest on a premium quality nail polish for dark colors because the low quality ones usually gives a stain on my nails after removal.  Yes, you can use a base coat before application to prevent the staining, but I personally like my manicure routine as short as possible.  So any unnecessary step that I can skip is quite worthy to me.

The bottle gives 0.34 fl. oz. / 10ml for $25 USD.



For more info: Sephora.com

xoxo

Sari Soepono

Review: Philosophy Take a Deep Breath

For a while, I have been in the hunt for a perfect gel moisturizer. Why gel moisturizers? Because they tend to be lighter and oil-free, which is perfect for my combination/oily skin (On a cooler weather my face can get really dry, and very oily in a damp weather like Jakarta. That is why I have different moisturizers for different weather, depending on where I’m going). Plus, I wanted something lightweight yet effective, that soothes without making my skin feel greasy. I have tried Clinique’s Moisture Surge and Vichy’s Aqualia Thermal cream, which are great products, but the winner goes to Take a Deep Breath by Philosophy, an oil-free, energizing oxygen gel cream moisturizer.


Four things I look for in a moisturizer:

1. Quickly absorbs. I hate, hate, hate it if I still have that sticky or greasy feeling 5 minutes after I put on my moisturizer, which a lot of heavier, more moisturizing products have.


2. Does its job well – Moisturizes!! just as it should be. You know how some moisturizers left your skin feeling soft right after you put it on, and left your skin feeling dull for the rest of the day.


3. Blends well with make-up. Not so good moisturizers can become flaky after you apply them sometimes, which makes them hard to blend with your make-up.


4. Doesn’t have a strong scent. I can cope with a little bit of scent, as long as the product works well.. But once a moisturizer is heavily scented, it will probably stay on my drawer until I ran out of my favorite ones.

Philosophy Take a Deep Breath has everything I look for in a moisturizer. The formula is lightweight,  and stays hydrating throughout the day. As soon as you apply it, especially right after you’ve washed your face, you’ll feel refreshed instantly, as if your skin is actually breathing. Even my husband uses it. This product doesn’t have SPF in it, so you can actually use it at night too.

I am on my third jar so far ( I have never been this loyal to a moisturizer), but sadly, they are not available in Indonesia yet, so I might have to find a substitute until I got the chance to restock them.

If you have a normal/combination skin, or acne-prone skin, I highly recommend this product.

S.S

Prague - Czech Republic

This isn't my first time in Prague, and yet there's something enchanting about the city that cast a spell upon me, the Bohemian spell. Although it's always packed with tourist all around the year, traveling in Autumn is a good decision. No need to bundle up in thick clothes and yet, no over sweating from the heat as well. My trip on September-October was close to perfection.

Prague is the capital city of Czech republic and when you are in it, you simply can't resist rushing yourself to experience the beautiful old town which form the heart of the city, together with the square and the surrounding quarter. The buildings are varied from Gothic to Baroque style and the city was built on the 14th century around the Prague castle.

Me and my cousin started our trip from up the hill on Prague Castle and walked down through the Charles Bridge to my fave part, the old town square where you can see st. Nicholas church, Tyn Church, Kinsky palace, the Jan Hus Monument and the old town hall (the famous astronomy clock is attached to this building. It's the third oldest astronomy clock in the world and the only one that still in function to this day).

For lunch, we tried the local cuisine at a restaurant right across the astronomy clock called Cafe Mozart in Grand Hotel Praha , followed by chilling in Caffe Italia in front of the Jan Hus statue for a glass of Baileys, some ice cream, and Tiramisu. I should not fail to mention that in this square, I tasted one of the most delicious Crepes I ever had. I didn't even get them at a fancy restaurant, but on a street booth where they sell some local food. The smell of sausages, pancakes and this curly bread that I had no idea what its called was teasing me, but I was full from my earlier lunch so I skipped that chance. I regret it now.

- Santi Soepono -

Munchen - Oktoberfest

This trip to Muchen was kind of a blur but SO MUCH FUN. So I will try my best to describe and tell you guys how this trip went. Obviously, the time had been involving alcohol (Read: Oktoberfest). Things kind scattered around my head. We stayed in a hotel a block away from the train station where we took the a 2-hour train from Salzburg to Munchen. The whole reasoning behind this trip was to experience Oktoberfest first hand. I honestly thought it was a brilliant idea since this was our last destination out of the entire trip.  And no, we didn’t leave Germany hung-over. LOL

xoxo

Sari Soepono