BB cream Swatch and short review 1

 From left to right : Missha perfect cover #21 - Missha perfect cover #23 - Skin food peach sake bb cream - banila co. let me bebe

I know, this review is loooong overdue. all this bb creams are my old collection. wait, then where is my new collections? hahaha.. well, i submitted my order, need to wait for the goods to arrive.
all this time i guess i was so lazy to make this review, untilll some days ago i realized, some of my bb creams i finished even before i make a revies.. i looked everywhere for my BRTC jasmine water and gold caviar, i have them in 5ml jar, and when i finally found them... they are finish!! nothing left to even make a swatch.lol. so i decided to take a photo of this 4 bb creams before i finish them.

look at them. they are 4 different colours. missha #21 looks so white, missha #23 looks natural, skin food peach sake looks so yellow and banila co looks a little bit grey.. but magically they are all match my skin tone!!! this is something i am so amazed about bb creams. how come this 4 different colours can match my skin?

ok then, short review now.

missha #21 and #23
first i tried missha #23, i liked it, so i ordered missha #21 just because i was curious, and i like it even better. both gave me nice coverage, no need for foundation or concealer for me.i can't comment for oil control as i am not really oily type. what i like better from #21 is that it gave me more fresh look, while #23 at the end of the day made my face looks dull. although the colour of #23 suits me better, so natural while #21 looks  a little bit white at first application, but after 5minutes or so, it blended perfectly.

the skin food peach sake bb cream
i read reviews about this on some beauty bloggers and most of them didn't like this. well, yeah, it is so so. comparing to other skin food bb cream i've tried ; mushroom, aloe, agave cactus, this one is the last on the rank. the colour a little bit too yellow, although it blended well too, but it didn't provide good moisturizing for me, and the coverage also poor. anddd... the scent is weird, not as lovely as peach sake toner/serum/emulsion.

Banila co. let me bebe
Banila co. is not really famous in Indonesia. I mean, if you compare with skin food/etude house/the face shop. Maybe because they open their stores here, while banila co. you have to purchase online. well, this is bb cream i am using right now. it is so so for me. moisturizing and coverage are average, not great and not bad. only the scent that is a little bit minus... it smells soooo artificial.. not lovely or nice one, but kind of chemical..

BAKSO!

Bakso... Mungkin untuk yang tinggal di indonesia ngga ngeh betapa "mengangenkannya" makanan satu ini.. Living faaar away from indonesia, one thing i really miss from my beloved country is.... the food. Nasi goreng kampung, soto2an, sate2an, tekwan, pempek, nasi uduk, dan pastinya... BAKSO!! kanggeeeennn banget sama bakso.. tapi satu2nya cara kalo mau makan bakso di sini, harus buat sendiri!huhuhu..
the amazing thing is bakso is my husband's favourite indonesian food. he could eat bakso everyday when we were in jakarta. Bakso abang-abang, bakso es teler 77, bakso lapangan tembak,, di mana ada bakso dia pasti mampir. and when we finally moved to Yemen he kept asking me to make bakso. he always said, you are indonesian. you must now how to make bakso... my first reaction was.. whaatt..??? it is not easy to make bakso!! in Indonesia you can buy frozen bakso in supermarket or bakso from traditional market, ready bakso, you just have to make the soup. Here, there is no bakso. people here don't even know what bakso is!

Seriously, i never imagined myself making bakso from zero, you know from the fresh meat! i've tried making bakso a year ago when i have indonesian maid here. the thing is, there is no tapioca (tepung kanji) here, which is the most essential thing of making bakso. My maid said, you can substitue it with corn flour (maizena flour).. we tried, and... Gagal total!!! Hahahahah the meat didn't form a ball and seperate when i dipped into the boiling water. we tried again, again again,,,, the taste was also tasteless... until... we gave up.

our next visit to jakarta, i bought tepung kanji, and one day i decided to try again. i looked for bakso recipe from the net... i found some interesting fact, about you should mix the meat with ice cube while you mince it in food processor. really? i found two blogs mention that. i chose the recipe i found in sexy chef blog from masakmasak.blogspot.com, cand... thanks to her... finally.... sukses!
here is the recipe
Bahan :

Bahan	Persen %	Jumlah (gr)
Daging Tapioka STPP Garam Merica Bubuk Bawang Putih Es Batu	100 10-20 0,25 4 0,25 1,5 20-30	500 50-100 1,25 20 1,25 7,5 100-150

*STPP : sodium tri poli phospat : pengenyal daging, dalam pembuatan bakso ini saya tidak pakai ini, karena ga tau juga beli dimana, ada yang tahu?*

Dengan bahan dasar ini rasa bakso sudah memadai tapi kalau mau lebih variatif dapat ditambahkan :
▪2 sdm bwg goreng
▪2 bh daun bawang cincang halus

Cara membuat :
■ potong2 daging hilangkan lemak2nya
■ masukkan daging ke meat mincer, sambil digiling masukkan juga es batu sedikit demi sedikit
■ lakukan penggilingan minimal 5 kali supaya tekstur halus
■ campur daging giling dengan semua bahan
■ giling lagi supaya adonan tercampur rata
■ setelah itu buat bulat2an daging dan langsung masukkan ke panci yg sudah diisi air dan sedang mendidih

and.. here is my bakso!

when my husband tasted it, he said, "now finally it is the REAL bakso!"
wow. i am so proud of myself! lol,, it is so easy to eat bakso in jakarta as you can find it everywhere. and now i made it by myself! started from a fresh meat!! mince it with food processor, mix with other ingridients, dan pastinya,,, bikin bulet2an bakso itu pake tangan... and my daughter likes it too!! she kept asking, "bakso! nau bakso!"

now i make bakso once a week. 500gr meat, i can store the rest in the freezer, for nasi goreng, nasi gila, even sometimes at night my husband ask indomi with bakso for dinner.

if you live in jakarta or somewhere in indonesia, just buy bakso from gerobak abang2 or any store. it is much much easier. lol. unless you are looking for something healthy for your kids, this is a good choice. add bakso to their foods, like soup, nasi goreng, capcay, or any stir fried, the kids would love to eat. well, at least it works with my daughter.
if you live abroad and you miss bakso, i reccomend you to try this!!

another beauty product found here : Yoko Papaya set & Papaya soap

If you read my previous post about beauty haul & shopping in Yemen, then you know a little bit about cosmetics& brands here. If you were wondering, here i tell you, here there is no the body shop, watsons, sephora, nyx, nooooo noooooooo, you will not find anything like that here. So many beauty shops, but you will never know what you will find there.. they imported many brands from all over the world.
I was so happy when i found this last week..
1st, look at the packaging..it's a set! i love a set of beauty or body care
2nd, the brand is Yoko from thailand. i've know yoko for quite some time. In indonesia, the famous product for yoko is that Yoko milk bath salt.
3rd, look at the packaging once again, the body scrub and body butter tube just like the body shop!
4rd, cheap.. this is less than 10 usd.

i haven't tried this, so i will just post some pictures.
what's written in the packaging:

 

look.. it's in english, arabic and thailand!

The package contains : Papaya spa salt shower bath, papaya herbal soap, and papaya body butter cream

look at the body butter.. the packaging, color, everything just look like the body shop!

And the other thing i found is papaya soap... this is not the first time i found this papaya soap, it is the 3rd time i found and bought this. it is just soo cute and smells lovely

the brand is pure skin, made in phillipines.

this is what i like about this soap.. can you see that papay chunk inside the soap? sooo cooollll

well, that's it for today...i will keep looking for other cool products available here..

Review : Etude house Honey wash-off pack

I bought this item because..
1st. i wanted to try etude house wash off pack/mask. i have tried skin food wash off pack and satisfied, i wanted to try etude house, and when i checked the pre order price, this one is cheap with 4 variations. under 50,000 (can't remember)
2nd. well, who doesn't know how good honey for you, not only for your health, food, but also skin..for looong ago people use honey (the real honey) as a face mask..just spread all over your face, tadaaa.. you will get soft, moisturized skin. i have tried this with the real honey at home, and it was too messy, sticky, although the result was great. so i thought i'd give it a try..

what's written in the packaging :
facial massage pack formulated with medicinal herbs and honey to soften, nourish and replenish skin.
active ingridients : honey, ginseng, red ginseng, cactus, angelica extracts.
directions : after facial cleansing and prior to toner, massage pack onto facial surface. avoid contact with water.leave on 10 minutes and rinse off with warm water.
12gx4 pack.

so yes, there are 4 pack which contain honey and different ingridients in each pack; ginseng, red ginseng, cactus, angelica. the packaging reminds me of butter/ strawberry jam or other jam for breakfast..lol.

1 pack i can use it for 2 times. for 1 times use is just too much.. so i just spread half of the pack, wrap the rest and keep it in the refrigerator.
The product it self, well, i just tried one, which is ginseng. when i first open the pack, the smell was soo strong..herbs smell, but the nice one. the texture is just like honey

sticky, but not as sticky as the real honey.. it feels soo nice on the skin.. it's just the stickiness a little bit annoying, specially when my hair got stuck on my face..well..that's honey..what do you expect, right..
during my waiting for 10 minutes, i can feel my face sooo moisturized, and when i wah it off with water.. well, that's the hard part to remove this mask.. i need to use some cloth, with water, ahh finally i an remove it.
too bad.. the moisturizing effect doesn't last long.. i felt moisturized during application and when i rinse off with water, but after that, that's it.. i was dissapointed with this not last long effect. because for a mask, i expect at least it wiil last for a night..
my skin food mask, and my beauty diary sheet mask, both gave me all night effect of the mask.  i mean, all night i can feel my face sooo moisturized, all night i couldn;t stop touching my face..hehehe..but this one.. noo..

well ,i still have 3 others pack to try..let's see

breakfast : classic pan cake & waffle

Before i started browsing food blogger, breakfast was just past of routine for me. I didn't really enjoy my breakfast.. Every morning i was just having bread with butter. I didn't cook or bake anything. First, i can't be bother to cook in the morning. in my mind, cooking = ribet!!! hehehe lots of hassle..
Of course, in one point, having the same breakfast everyday, i got fade up, wanting something new.. then i started browsing for breakfast recipe. Pancake and waffles are one of the easiest and don't require too much effort. i have tried cooking pan cake before, in my first year living in Yemen, but wasn't successful. the texture, the taste was just wrong!

i found so many pancake recipes, and finally i found my fav one, here i will share:

Classic buttermilk pancake (recipe from finecooking.com)

3 Tbs. unsalted butter; more for serving
9 oz. (2 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
2 cups buttermilk
2 large eggs
Vegetable oil for the griddle
Pure maple syrup for serving

---

Heat the oven to 200°F. Melt the butter in a small bowl in the microwave or in a small saucepan on the stove and set aside to cool briefly.
In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk the buttermilk and eggs. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Whisk gently until the dry ingredients are almost incorporated; stop before the batter is evenly moistened. Add the cooled melted butter and mix just until the batter is evenly moistened (there will be lumps). Let the batter rest while you heat the griddle.

Heat a griddle or a large skillet over medium heat (or set an electric griddle to 375°F) until drops of water briefly dance on the surface before evaporating. Lightly oil the griddle. Working in batches, pour 1/4 cup of the batter onto the griddle for each pancake, spacing them about 1 inch apart. Let cook undisturbed until bubbles rise to the surface and the edges look dry, 1 to 2 minutes. Check the underside of each pancake to make sure it’s nicely browned; then flip. Cook until the second side is nicely browned, about 1 minute more. Transfer the pancakes to a baking sheet and keep warm in the oven while you repeat with the remaining batter.
Serve hot with butter and maple syrup.

Classic crispy Waffle  (recipe also from finecooking.com)

3-1/2 oz. (3/4 cup) bleached all-purpose flour
1 oz. (1/4 cup) cornstarch
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup milk
6 Tbs. vegetable oil
1 large egg, separated
1 Tbs. sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Heat the oven to 200°F and heat the waffle iron. Mix the flour, cornstarch, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a medium bowl. Measure the buttermilk, milk, and vegetable oil in a Pyrex measuring cup; mix in the egg yolk and set aside.In another bowl, beat the egg white almost to soft peaks. Sprinkle in the sugar and continue to beat until the peaks are firm and glossy. Beat in the vanilla.
Pour the buttermilk mixture into the dry ingredients and whisk until just mixed. Drop the whipped egg white onto the batter in dollops and fold in with a spatula until just incorporated.
Pour the batter onto the hot waffle iron (mine takes about 2/3 cup) and cook until the waffle is crisp and nutty brown (follow the manufacturer's instructions for timing at first and then adjust to your liking). Set the waffle directly on the oven rack to keep it warm and crisp. Repeat with the remaining batter, holding the waffles in the oven (don't stack them). When all the waffles are cooked, serve immediately.

My say :

Me and my husband like our waffle to be crispy, not soft. i was trying many recipes and tricks to make it crispy. after i found this recipe from fine cooking, now my waffle is crispy. so the secret is with the cornstarch and put them in oven while making the 2nd batch!!

there are some variation for waffle and pancake. add cinnamon, chocolate chips, peanut butter, cornflakes,raisin, anything you like!! but still the classic one is my fav.
ever since i found this recipe, now i enjoy my breakfast tume!

Review : skin food Grape seed oil rich cleansing oil

from all my skin food cleansers i have right now, this is the last one to review. i have 5 stocks of skin food cleanser : cappuccino mousse foam, apple vinegar fresh foam, milk mania cleansing emulsion, milkshake point make up remover, and this one.

This is my 2nd cleansing oil. After satisfied with skinfood honey black tea cleansing oil, i decided to have another bottle of cleansing oil. In fact i deciede from now on i have to have at least one cleansing oil in my toilet.
How is this one? well, first thing i like is that it smells sweeeet... when i first opened the bottle i felt like a deja vu.. like i was so familiar with the scent.. like i have been using some products with similar scent.. than after a week i remember.. it was my the body shop mist passion fruit!! the purple one,  that i left in my office's desk/drawer, if i needed some refreshment in the middle of the day..
it smells nice, sweet.. it doesn't smell like grape.. well as i told you it smells just like the body shop!

the cleansing power itself, well, i like using cleansing oil at night when i don't go out anywhere, or when i only put bb cream, no other make up. it is good, just like the honey black tea. i tested it with my gel eye liner, and it removed the liner without rubbing it too much. but for a day with make up, i still prefer double cleansing with my cleansing emulsion + cleansing foam.

the good thing of this cleansing oil is that it is suitable for every season.. winter, summer, when my face so dry in winter or when my face a little bit oily in summer, this is just suits any time. i think it is same like skin food honey black tea in cleansing power and the effect of my skin. no tight feeling, light and gentle, no dry skin after washing.

this is the list of ingridients and some info from the back of the packaging.
the only thing i don't like from this is the bottle/the packaging!! it can get messy sometimes.. i prefer pump style for cleansing oil. it would be more convinient.

Review : skin food fresh juice c serum

I can't believe that i skipped this one to review after i wrote about fresh juice cream and toner.. well, i think i made a short review about this on my post about the fresh juice set before. Now that it's only 1/3 left,, i just want to update that overall i like this, eventhough it's not my favourite. gel cream/serum based is just not my fav..

what i like most about this is..... the packaging!!

look at this,,, soo coooooll.. it's like an infant medicine.. you press the top, then you get the product and the good thing is that you can control the amount of serum you want/need.

the srum itself, it is light, but quite rich at the same time. it gives me fresh feeling and moisturised a little. for whitening effect, well,,, i don't believe whitening promise anyway. i bought this because i want some fresh scent and my face sometimes looks dull. i don't see any whitening effect, but sometimes when i didn't go out and just stay at home all day, i just apply my fresh juice set, no bb cream, no powder, nothing.. just fresh juice toner-serum-cream, and my face all day was fresh and stay ok, i mean, not dull or something..

well, that's it my esperience of my skin food fresh juice products.. i almost finish them all.. now i am gonna start using my skin food peach sake series..

Review : skin food Gold apple hand balm

I'm not a fan of hand balm or hand cream. For me, body lotion is enough. why do i need hand lotion when i have body lotion that i can use for my hand too? this one from skin food, i didn't purchase this. it is a gift from my husband from his bussiness trip to china. He knows how much i love skin food so he bought me this and other skin food products from china.
As i'm not a hand balm/lotion person, i forgot that i have this item, untilll... my maid got married and went home.. pulang kampung, gak balik... then.. there i was, in very dry winter, dealing with laundry, detergen, chlor, dish washing, and other ckeaning chemical stuff.. my hands were dry,, flaky,,itchy... and somehow lotion didn't help. Vaseline would help, but of course,  made my hands sticky..
and then i remember.. hey, i have skin food hand balm!
what's written on the packaging:

fresh hand cream that contains citric acid-rich apple extract to make your hands gently soft without a sticky after-feel.
to use : apply it after hand washing or whenever you feel the hands are dry.

gold apple? i don't know why skin food named it with gold. is there any gold in it? i don't think so. the first thing i did when i opened this, of course, sniff on the product, and yeeeaaayy.. it smells sooo lovely.. not smell like a fresh apple, but smell like creamy apple.. reminds me when my daughter started eating puree,, i made an apple pure with milk, blend them together.. that's how it smells. creamy apple!
the products itself, well, i'm glad that it works! it is creamy and rich but absorbs quikly, no sticky feeling after. and after some days, i can't remember, my hands were healed, back to normal. since then during winter i applied this cream everyday until it finished.
The packaging, i think it is a little bit too bulky. not convinience to carry around, unless you have a big purse. and you must close it tightly or else, if you have a toddler like me.. yup... my daughter once opened it and dipped her fingers in it!