Wednesday, June 15, 2016

My Skincare Routine

As a part of the beauty series assigned by one of my classes in uni, I wanted to share a bit of my skincare routine.

FYI about my skin condition: a graveyard of acne scars. Luckily, now I never had any major breakouts, only normal hormonal ones. The scars tho. Huge pores. Super oily on the T-zone and have a tendency to dry out in several places.

I started getting my skincare game up on the early, second year of uni. I KNOW, IT'S SO BAD. I was 19. Could've started sooner? Before, I used to just wash my face with a foaming (!!!) wash and put makeup straight away, skipping SPF (I still cringe...) and when I'm done with the day, I wiped my face off with micellar water, re-strip my natural oils with a foaming wash, and put my Hiruscar as my scar treatment. 

I have had experiences with dermatologist since I'm 12. I started having major acne problems during my youth. Let's just say, my perfect skin was inexistent when I needed them the most (angsty teenage years where you want to get cute boys AND good grades). Lets just say dermatologists in Indonesia have the tendency to rip us off and giving their own concoction that resulted in an addiction, and once I stopped using them, things got worse. As I get older, I just want to use the over-the-counter ones that didn't give me double acne breakout when I switch or left them out of boredom. 

P.S. I'm not generalising; I believe there are great dermatologist out there in Jakarta. I just haven't found them, and have decided to spend zero energy testing them one by one. If you have one that works great, then awesome. If it works, why bother fixing them?

Let's start.

AM Routine

Cleanser : The Body Shop Chamomile Cleansing Butter. It has a balmy texture that takes off everything, from foundation to bulletproof eyeliner to stubborn mascara. I use it mainly because I hate the 'pulling' effect foaming wash gave you. For some people it can feel quite heavy in the morning, but I really like the moisturised feel I get after I cleanse with this.

Toner : I use Hada Labo Shirojyun Clear Lotion. It supposed to lighten your skin, so I was hoping that it will light my skin up too. I notice that my skin is much more lighter, but the acne scars don't really fade with this.

Treatment : Hiruscar Post Acne. I 100% credit Elin Ivana for this. It doesn't really improve my dark marks, but it does wonders on my skin texture. I have used this for almost 3 years now. It doesn't make my skin perfect, but it definitely plays a part on improving it.

Moisturiser : Clinique Moisture Surge Extended Thirst or Benefit Cosmetics Total Moisture Facial Cream depending on what mood am I in. The Clinique is very very light while the Benefit one can get a bit heavy. Sometimes I get dry patches on around the nose and cheek and both are a life saver. Benefit one is very scented though, but it's fairly relaxing.

SPF : I used to use Biore UV Aqua Rich. It's awesome. Light, non-greasy. Protection wise, it's 50 with PA+++. But since it's getting harder and harder to find it, I use Skin Aqua Moisture Milk SPF 50+ PA+++. It's much greasier and leave my skin oily, but very good if you're putting it on your body.

PM Routine

1. Micellar water : Bioderma Hydrabio (blue top, clear water). I used to use Sebium (green top, blue water) but it leave my skin feeling tingly and a bit uncomfortable. Hydrabio is perfect.

2. First cleanser: same as above. The Body Shop Chamomile Cleansing Butter thingy.

3. Second cleanser: The Bath Box Goat Milk liquid soap with no scent. Smells awful, but works well for keeping acne in bay.

4. Booster : Kiehl's Iris Extract Activating Essence. Do I need it? Probably not. But its claim that boost/activate/help things works better over it sold me.

5. Retinol : Only twice a week. Getting into retinols was kinda scary. I'm only 20 when I started, but cannot deal with the amount of scars I have. Initial breakout happens but nothing major. I can confidently say my skin is better now. I use Paula's Choice 1% Retinol only in my troubled areas.

6. Essence : Sarange Phyto Whitening Essence. To further help the retinol lighten my scars. Korean. I don't really like Korean skincare, but my Mom said it doesn't work for her and it might work for me since I have 'younger' skin. But I think it helps, my skin is much lighter than before, but probably since my 'cocktail' is full of brightening agents as well. It's light in texture.

7. Moisturizer : same as above. Usually at night, I use the Benefit one as it's really seals everything.

8. Eye cream : My OG eye cream, Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Eyes. I suffer from darkness but not puffiness. This is bomb. I can totally see a difference after I pull an all nighter for a 5000 words essay.

9. Facial oil : Even though I'm oily, I cleanse with a balm and topped off my skincare opera with an oil. Oily people shouldn't be afraid of facial oils. They're cool. I use Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Concentrate. If I had to choose this and the eye cream, I choose the eye cream more. But this seal everything nicely and I can actually wake up with better skin. 

Haven't achieve that flawless skin yet, but we're going there. 

Black Wood Cookies

This recipe is a favourite one, my Mom used to bake these during Eid when I am little and I will literally finish tins and tins of it by myself.

Black Wood Cookies

Ingredients:
225 grams of butter
210 grams of caster sugar
Half a teaspoon of vanilla
Pinch of salt
3 whole eggs
100 minced, roasted cashews
50 grams of cornflour
30 grams of powdered milk
25 grams of cacao powder
1 teaspoon of baking powder
230 grams of flour
100 grams of whole roasted cashews
Chocolate cereals for topping


Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius. Prepare tins by lining them with baking paper. Cream the butter and sugar, incorporate eggs one by one.
2. Sift all the dry ingredients. Mix in the dry ingredients until all incorporated. 
3. Remove from the mixer and put in the minced cashews. Mix with wooden spoon.
4. Scoop the batter into small balls, top with cashews and cereal.
5. Bake until set, remove from the oven, left to cool for minimum 30 minutes.

Macaroni Panggang

This recipe originally found in www.kulineri.com, but I have adapted and changed several components.

Makaroni Panggang

makes 2 small pyrex pans


Ingredients:

200 grams of macaroni
150 grams of corned beef
200 grams of grated cheddar cheese
300 ml of full cream milk
1 big onion, chopped into cubes
4 garlic, chopped into small pieces
Butter for sauté
3 whole eggs
Half a nutmeg
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Boil macaroni in salted water until al dente, set aside.
2. Sauté onions and garlic until translucent, put in the corned beef, season. Mix until the aromas are released.
3. Start preheating the oven to 200 degree Celsius. Bring down the heat and start putting in the milk, once at a time. After mixed thoroughly, mix in 3/4 of the cheese. While letting the cheese melt, mix three eggs in a separate bowl. 
4. Put in the pasta and start mixing the eggs slowly into the batter. We need to keep the stove in low heat so the egg won't scramble.
5. Scoop batter into the pans, sprinkle cheese on the top, making sure to cover the whole surface of pan. This will create a nice crust during baking.
6. Bake for 45 minutes in 200 degree Celsius.

Tuesday, June 7, 2016

My Top 5 TV Shows

I hate watching TV, but I love TV Shows. I often watch it on my laptop, killing the life of my laptop slowly but surely. I feel like it's a thing about millenials; they like to binge watch things. Falling into the category, I am sure that I prefer waiting a season to finish and then binge watch it, rather than waiting one episode every week.

In this post, I'm going to tell you about my Top 5 TV Shows that is much better to binge watch than wait weekly. Thankfully, most of them are either finished or been going on for quite a while, so if you're starting to live this amazing experience that is binge watching tv-shows, these shows will not disappoint.


1. Gilmore Girls (2000-2007)
Tomato Rating: 90%
This show is set in an eclectic town of Stars Hollow, telling a story about a mother-daughter duo we all want to be. Lorelai and Rory Gilmore is 16 years apart, but the connection you gained will be a lifelong relationship with the character. Lasting seven seasons, we can really see how the character develops throughout the show. I personally grew up watching this show and it definitely shapes me as a person. Luckily, this show is coming back for the penultimate final season, consisting of 4 hour-long episodes, launching in Netflix.


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2. Game of Thrones (2011-now)
Tomato Rating: 94%
We cannot talk about TV Show and miss this one. Game of Thrones is a brilliant show, with complicated story plots that will not stop killing off our favourite character. I learned it the hard way that you cannot get attached to one character, because the moment you are rooting for them, they will be either beheaded or stabbed or basically, dead. It is a brilliant show, and even though not for the faint-hearted, it is worth to watch.

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3. Bob's Burger (2011-now)
Tomato Rating: 89%
Bob's Burger is a funny, cynical, dry joke type of cartoon that is targeted for adults. My favourite character is Louise, which is the youngest of the bunch. This show is really fun to watch and I find myself coming back for them everytime I'm looking for a nice, light watch to rewind.

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4. Sherlock (2010-now)
Tomato Rating: 91%
The main reason you should be watching this show is because Benedict Cumberbatch, but if you need further convincing, it is a really well-written show. The shows has brought so many cinematography innovation, one of them being innovation in showing text on screen. This show is quick-paced, witty, and smart.

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5. Friends (1994-2004)
Tomato Rating: n/a
Two words: true classic.