Skin Care for Winter Trip

December, always be my favorite month. Christmas, continued with New Year Celebration, we will have a long holiday at this month. Usually, i didn't travel abroad at this season. Why? Because this is a peak season and everything will be more expensive. However, this time we will go to Japan for celebrate Christmas and New Year ^^

I haven't been to Japan before, so this is the first time for me. I searched about the weather in Japan in December, and find out that it will be cold in Japan. As an Indonesian, i never had an experience with the winter season because we don't have it here. So i find out about what to bring and what to use in winter, so we'll feel comfortable during our trip.

At this post, i will write about the skin care that you need for winter season. While the weather was cold, your skin will getting dry. It also happen with your lips. That's why, we need a "special" skin care to hydrate our skin, and i trust Laneige with its Water Bank series.

Laneige Water Bank series is a moisturizing line that delivers intensive moisture to dry and rough skin for a smooth and supple appearance. It contains mineral water for skin generation and Water Pump System for moisture circulation for safeguard skin moisture and hold it in to leaved the skin moisturized and smooth. It also contains chestnut extracts and seaweed extracts to enchance keratin turnover to fight roughness and energizes the skin for a smooth and healthy texture.

I bought the travel size of Laneige Water Bank series which called Water Bank Kit. This Water Bank Kit contains :
1. Laneige Water Bank Essence_EX (10 ml)
2. Laneige Water Bank Gel Cream_EX (10 ml)
3. Laneige Water Bank Moisture Cream_EX (10ml)
4. Laneige Water Bank Eye Gel (3ml)

However, since i have a dry skin type, i asked the Sales Assistant to change the Gel Cream with the Moisture Cream. So i have 2 Moisture Cream and i think it will be enough for 10 days trip ^^

Beside this basic skincare, i also bring Shea Butter from L'occitane. It's recommended from my friend who has been to Japan before. She told me it's really helpful to moisture the dry skin in winter. It also contains organic ingredients, so it can be used for kids. You can use this shea butter on your face, lips, and any part of your body. The price is IDR 167k for 10ml size, and i think it's worth with the quality of this product.

Well, that's all i bring for my winter trip in Japan. I hope it's enough for my skin, and it won't get crack. Anyway, if you have another recommendation product for winter, you can leave the comment below. 

New Hair Color for Winter 2015

Winter has come!! Not just make up, the hair color also need to be changed. If last summer i chose the bright color for my hair, at this season i changed it become more natural.

Actually i feel little bit bored with the ombre style on my hair. I want to change my hair color become darker and only in 1 color. However, when I was in the salon, I feel pity to change the color of my hair that has been bleached into a dark color. I needed a long time to repair my damaged hair after the bleach, just to get a beautiful hair color. Finally, I decided to keep it ombre, but use colors that are not too bright.

A few days ago, i went to Habb Hair Gallery, a Korean hair salon. Why did i choose this salon? Because i know that i could get the "unusual" color only at Korean / Japanese salon. As i live in Serpong, Habb Hair Gallery is the nearest salon from my home.

I asked Mr. Shin, the Korean hair stylist to color my hair. He showed me the choices of hair color that they have. (FYI, they use Amos brand for the hair color). I was interested with the pink color. As you know, my favorite color is pink ^^. However, i was hesitated if the pink color couldn't fit on my hair, because i only bleached my hair once. Mr. Shin told me it will be good on my hair, and i trust him.

He started from the top to the middle of my hair as the first step. I waited for about 15 minutes, and he asked the assistant to clean my hair and make it dry.

After it's dry, i could see my hair color turned into red. I really like it. It looks so different with my "old" hair color, and it makes my face become more fresh. The next step, he started to color the rest of my hair, from the middle to the bottom, with the pink color of course.

After the first step

To be honest, i was worried if the color was too bright and became a "hot pink". At the end, i found out the color's surprisingly adorable. It's not too bright at all. The color is really soft and looks natural. It's exactly what i wanted. Mr. Shin told me to do a hair manicure to get the perfect result and make my hair become glossy. However, i didn't have much time. So i will do it next time.

Outdoor

Indoor without light

Indoor with lights 

Extra story :
Anyway, i was going to the salon with Aurelia. While she was waiting for me, i asked Kevin, the Indonesian stylist to cut her hair. Overall i like her new hair cut. She looks more chubby. I was satisfied with the service at this salon. I will definitely come back again to do another treatment.

Habb Hair Gallery
Summarecon Mall Serpong, 1st floor - 226
Next to Centro Department Store
Opening hours : Mon - Sun : 10.00 - 22.00

[Europe] Les Invalides, Pont Alexander III, and Place de La Concorde

Actually, we wanted to spend this day only for shopping in Paris. However, we would pass these 3 places to go to the best shopping street in Paris. As a tourist, we didn't want to missed these beautiful places for a photo stop.

We started our trip from Les Invalides. Les Invalides is a complex of classic European style buildings. In this place, you can find the Napoleon Tomb, Church, and Museums. The beautiful design of these buildings, make this place become famous for tourists to take some pictures.

The next place is Pont Alexander III, one of the famous bridge which across the River Seine. It was located right in front of Les Invalides. We just across the street to go to this bridge. In addition to the location which close to Les Invalides, this bridge is also famous for its own charm. The golden statue, with the Eiffel Tower as the background. This bridge is perfect for a photo stop.

After across the bridge, we turned right to Cours-la-Reine. Cours-la-Reine is a public park and garden promenade located along the River Seine. Strolling along this garden is one of my favorite things to do in Paris. We're walking on this street for 700m, but we didn't feel tired at all. With a nice weather, and green scenery, this street is really good for afternoon strolling.

Eiffel Tower and Pont Alexander III seen from Cours-la-Reine

At the end of Cours-la-Reine, finally we reached our last spot for a photo stop. It's Place de La Concorde, a public square which famous for its fountain and Egyptian Obelisk.

Unfortunately, while we were there, the fountain was under maintenance. So we couldn't get closer to take a picture of the fountain. FYI, Place de La Concorde is located next to the Tuileries. If you have more time, you can continue your trip to go to the Tuileries Garden, and enjoy your afternoon..

[Europe] Louvre & Tuileries (Funfair)

Louvre is one of the famous iconic place in Paris. You can't leave Paris without take a picture in front of the Louvre. We were going to this place on Sunday, after had an afternoon strolling at Eiffel Tower and Trocadéro. By taking Metro, we're heading to Louvre, and stopped at Palais Royal - Musee du Louvre.

When we walked out, we didn't see any pyramid-shaped building. It looks like we're inside the shopping mall. I didn't know where we are. We just followed another peoples. I felt little bit worry because this mall looks empty. They only have a few stores such as Apple Store, Printemps, etc.

However, i think this place is really good for shopping. You can get what you want without queuing. In Galeries Lafayette, you need to queuing about an hour at Longchamp for buy a bag. In here, you can shop without queuing. Because there's no another customer. It's just me :D

Another thing that makes me like to shopping here, i could claim the Tax Refund in CASH (without queuing of course). In Galeries Lafayette, you need more than an hour to claim the Tax Refund. Because there's a lot of tourists there. They also only give the Tax Refund by credit card. If you don't have any credit card, you should claim the Tax Refund at the airport.

After shopping "little" bit, we found the way out to go to Musee du Louvre. And we just know the name of that shopping mall. It's  "Carrousel du Louvre". Stepped out from this mall, i saw Musee du Louvre on the left, and Tuileries on the right. We chose to go to the Musee du Louvre first for a photo stop.

At that day, the weather was gloomy. We just stopped about 30 minutes to take pictures in front of Musee du Louvre. Right after that, the drizzle began to fall back. We didn't have any place for shelter. So we just keep walking to Tuileries.

Tuileries is famous for its garden. Parisians like to spend their time by relaxing at that garden. Actually we wanted to go to the garden for look around and take some pictures. However it was a dinner time. We both felt hungry and the cold weather make it worse. So we just go to the Fête Foraine des Tuileries (Tuileries funfair).

To be honest, it was the first time for us to go to the funfair. I never had an experience before with the funfair. I felt so excited about this funfair. Especially when i knew they only open in summer, i felt so lucky can visit this funfair.

This funfair is like a heaven for us. There's a lot of foods, snack stalls and slushie!!! If you come here, you should try the churros. It's really tasty, especially when you eat that with the chocolate dipping sauce. There's no entrance fee to go to this place. It's all free, except if you want to play the ride. You need to pay based on the ride that you want. Usually it costs around €3 - €8 / person / ride.

We're waiting until the sky is getting dark for ride the "Ferris Wheel". I heard that we can see the beautiful  light of Eiffel Tower from the Ferris Wheel. However, the darkness came very late in Europe during the summer. The sunset was at 9.30 pm. So i had to wait until 10 pm to see the light of Eiffel Tower.

Ferris Wheel Tickets Price

Paris looks so pretty at night. I could see the breath-taking view of Paris city from the Ferris Wheel. However, the Eiffel Tower looks really small. I couldn't see the beautiful light of the Eiffel Tower clearly. I think it's because the location is too far between Ferris Wheel and the Eiffel Tower. Otherwise, the pods also covered by a plastic glass window.

Even though we couldn't take a picture of the Eiffel Tower at night, we still feel happy to go to this funfair and ride the Ferris Wheel. Especially for Aurelia. This place is like a second "Disneyland" for her. It was already 11 pm, but she didn't feel sleepy at all. I could say it was the best night for us in Paris, the city of love.