Time for some late empties post again ! 😁😁😁

These are the products that I managed to finish during the months of September to October. Well this is actually a back-log post because "Empties post" took the longest time to create considering there are lots of pictures to take and edit, and lotsa things to write too, so yeah... as always... late empties post again! (*grin)

So anyway, these past 2 months I didn't finished quite a lot of products because most of my products now are recently opened ones, so I needed a few more time to finish them up. And I was also slacking in skincare and makeup department lately so I didn't finish as much products as I want to.
Anyway, without further ado... here are my empties for the months of September and October ..

As usual, I divide it into several sections depending on its categories such as "bodycare", "makeup", haircare", etc... just to make it easier to read.

I also tried to shorten the mini reviews of every product so this post hopefully wouldn't be too long. So let's start with the Make-Up products :

NYX Color Lip Balm in CLB12 Shukran

I found this old product stranded on a corner of my working desk and God knows how long it has been left alone there. I actually forgot that I had this, but as far as I remember I actually never liked it. In fact I kinda hated it, because it didn't moisture my lips at all and the formula feels too dry for a moisturizing lip balm. The only good thing about it is the scent which reminds me of bubble gum ;)

> Not Recommended 

Maybelline Fruity Jelly in Berry Bella

I got this since a long time ago and finally finish this up just recently. This is a lip gloss from Maybelline with fruity aroma. This one smells sweet and fruity, and it gives your lips some moisture while giving it a very glossy wet look. I used to put this on when my lips was getting dry because putting on lip gloss actually hides your ugly dry cracked lips, so this was my go-to lip gloss for when my lips is super dry and chapped.

> Recommended 

April Skin Magic Snow Cushion (shade #23)

Actually this was my first ever BB Cushion and I finally finished it up! Well this goes dry quite fast, I used this almost everyday until I can't get the product out of the cushion. I'm not sure whether it has dried up or there was too small amount of product inside, but all I know is the product didn't come out again even after numeral times I pressed the cushion. Anyway, mine is shade 23 which is normally the acceptable shade for Asian medium tan skin. I love the formula as it gives smooth skin illusion and creates an even complexion. It also has a subtle lovely scent and the shade (although not really an exact match for my skin tone) but it still look okay for an overall complexion. The coverage is sheer to medium. One layer is very sheer and two layers would be medium-light. It doesn't look cakey and my skin feels smooth to the touch. I actually love this BB Cushion but I prefer more coverage so I might not repurchase this, but I would still recommend this to those of you who is looking for a good BB Cushion to try out.

> Recommended 

Burt's Bees Hand Salve (travel size)

This has been in my travel bag for so long and I almost never used it. Maybe because I hate the idea of putting my finger inside to scoop up the product (I have long nails so I hate using products in thin flat compartment like this because the product would get underneath my nails everytime I scoop it up). The jar is very thin and small so it's really convenient to bring everywhere, but I just don't like the texture. It's like vaseline type of product and I don't really like vaseline because it's too sticky for my preference. So I think I have only used this 2-3 times and it's already passed its expiry date now.

> Not Recommended & Won't Repurchase

Ovale Lulur Bali Body Scrub in Honey Coconut 

This is actually my 3rd tube of body scrub from Ovale, a local Indonesian brand of traditional bodycare. I love Ovale body scrubs because they all smells really good. They have a few variants and I've tried three of them. All the variants smells so good and the texture can be used dry or wet. I think I've tried the Milk one, the Jasmine one, and this Honey Coconut one. This one in particular left you smells good and your skin moist and smooth.. Aannd it's affordable too :)

> Recommended 

Mustika Ratu LILY Roll On perfume

I prefer dry sticks because I don't like the wet feeling of roll-ons underneath my arm, so this is defo not my favourite. But I like the lily scent though... And I think this is less wet and less sticky than other roll on brands out there.

> Won't Repurchase

Bath & Body Works COCONUT LIME BREEZE Fragrance Mist

This is my travel body spray and I love the breezy refreshing scent of it. Probably one of my favorite scent from BBW tropical collection: this is fresh, breezy, airy, cooling, and very uplifting!

> Recommended & Would Repurchase

Juara TIARE JASMINE TEA Bath & Shower Gel

I finally finished this up because it is such a huuuge bottle, it took me months to finish this. Love the scent, and the mild but smooth formula, doesn't leave you with tight feeling on skin, and can be use as shower gel or bath gel. You can read the complete review of this product (& amp;other Juara products) HERE.

> Recommended & Would like to purchase other scent if only it wasn't expensive 😘

Aroma Dew TEA TREE & ROSEMARY Soap

Replacement : Saboon DRAGON'S BLOOD Natural Soap Bar

I got this as a souvenir from my friend who went to Japan. I originally use this as a hand soap because it is rather small and it is a hard soap bar type so it won't melt easily. But then I grew to like the aromatic balsamic fresh scent and used it up as a body soap half down the road. Love the packaging and the aromatic scent, but the formula not so much.

No:Hj Aqua Soothing Face Mask

Replacement : Lots of other sheet masks in my stock drawer

I have used this sheet mask several times and have talked about it many times in this blog, so you can read about it instead by clicking HERE for the review, or click HERE to read about my "7 Days of Sheet Masks" project.

Crabtree & Evelyn ROSEWATER eau de toilette

Replacement : Jo Malone WOOD SAGE & SEA SALT Cologne (sample size for travel)

This actually dried up by itself pretty quickly although I always kept the lid on very tightly. This smells like vintage rose scent, quite powdery yet soft but sharp. It's not my favorite scent and I've tried the Lavender one from Crabtree & Evelyn too and that wasn't my favorite scent either, so I've yet to find a Crabtree & Evelyn eau de toilette scent that I like ;)

Freshcare Teens Aromatherapy Roll On

Replacement : Freshcare LAVENDER Aromatherapy Roll On

I always use aromatherapy roll on because I can't stand the smell of traditional oil such as minyak kayuputih, and the likes. So I always kept a few of these aromatherapy roll ons with me everywhere. This one smells like bubblegum and was one of my favorite scent of these roll ons, so it deserves a mention here on this blog, Lol.

Etude House Oh My God Dry Shampoo

I've read some good things about this dry shampoo before, but when I actually tried it myself I didn't really get the positive vibes about it. I've tried other dry shampoos before and I would say that this one from Etude House doesn't really deliver. I've finished the bottle rather quickly because you have to use lots of it for it to work, so you will finish it quickly. It also doesn't really work that good (at least for my oily scalp / normal hair). I would prefer other dry shampoo such as the one from Oscar Blandi.

> Not Recommended & Won't Repurchase

> Replacement : No replacement, will open a new bottle of the same shampoo from my stock.

The Skin Pure Lime Cleansing Foam

I finally finished this up after many months because I think this tube holds a lot of product inside it and you only need a small amount of it everytime you use it, so it really lasts very long. It's a no brainer cleansing foam that I use as a morning cleanse. It does dry up your skin a little bit if you use too much product, but just slather some moisturizer afterwards and you'll be okay. You can read the detailed review of this product (& The Skin Cleansing Oil) HERE.

Lavine Clarity Toner

I love toner because it moisten your face and makes your face feels refreshed in an instant. I like this one and the formula is light and non-sticky too, plus it suppose to give you some clarity on your skin. Read the review of the whole Clarity set I got from Lavine Cosmetics HERE.

Secret Key Starting Treatment Essence

I bought this because SK II FTE is too expensive for me, Lol. Some says this is the dupe for SKII FTE, and this contains Galactomyces which is one of my favorite ingredient because it seems to work well with my skin. The result is not instant but if you use this routinely you will get the result of a healthier, smoother, plumper, and even-skin-tone on your face.

> Recommended & Would Repurchase in the future

Evian Facial Spray

#CarolineHironsmademedoit - Nowadays there's always a facial spritz of some kind on my vanity ever since I read Caroline Hirons blog 😉 If I don't have any spritz toner available then I would just buy mineral facial spray like this one from Evian and use it as a replacement instead. The smaller bottle makes this easier to carry on your purse too for those sweltering hot days.

St.Ives Blemish Control Apricot Scrub

I have no idea that St.Ives apricot scrub actually has its own different variants until I found this in Mustafa centre, Singapore. I was there looking for the popular St.Ives apricot scrub but when I found the rack there are actually different variants of St Ives apricot scrub there, making me confuse which one to buy. I decided to get this "Blemish Control" one (+ another tube in "Timeless Skin" variant), and this has been a saviour for my days of blemished skin. 

Lavine Clarity Moisturizer

This is one moisturizer that I actually enjoy using. This one absorbs quickly into the skin, not sticky, not oily, and goes on smooth especially on my combination skin. But I think every skin type can also use this moisturizer. You can read the whole review (along with other Lavine Cosmetics products) HERE.

Laneige Water Bank Essence EX | Laneige Water Bank Gel Cream

Both of these are lovely. The formula is nice and light enough for my combi-oily skin. They absorbed rather quickly and not sticky at all.

Laneige Water Bank Eye Gel 

The texture is like a lotion and I'm afraid that it's a tad bit too rich for my sensitive under eye area. I was hoping for a cooling gel texture but instead it is like a white lotion. It absorbed fully into the skin though, but I think I would prefer a thin watery formula for my sensitive / oily under eye area.

The Face Shop the Smim Radiating Moisturizing Cream

That's a long name for a small sachet sample, Lol. I love it because it has thin texture which my skin drank up almost immediately. It really moisturizes my face, making it plumped and smooth, ready for makeup!

Yass, that's all for my September-October Empties!

I managed to finish 18 full size products + 2 travel size products + 5 sachets = a total of 25 products. Though it might be considered a small number for two months period but I think it's alright. I was slacking in all departments and that resulted with less numbers of finished products. Hopefully I can finish more products next months so I can purge and clean up my vanity and stock drawer a little bit :)

If you want to read my previous Empties post, click HERE.

So there's a cute little cafe not far from where I live, I passed it quite often because it is located at the road that I frequented a lot. It is nearly hidden behind the lush greenery wall out front, and it has a green area at the side which I thought would be nice as addition to the cafe, because nowadays it's hard to get a little greenery here in the big capitol.

So after passing it by for what might be the hundredth time, I finally took a turn and enter the gate. It was a little bit after 7pm and guess what? It's so dark at the parking lot because it has closed for the day! What, are you kidding me? After I finally went in, the cafe is closed for the day? (*insert sad & confused emoticon here*).

BUT I'm not the type of girl who gave up easily, Lol. I came home that night and browsed for some information. Apparently they are closed before 7 pm, so the next day I went in early in the afternoon. It was raining a little bit so it's a perfect time to sip some coffee inside the cozy cafe.

The cafe's name is Caswell. If you frequented Ampera Raya street near Simatupang area you might notice the almost hidden sign of the cafe. It is located right at streetside but it got lush greenery wall so if you're not paying attention you might just missed it.

The cafe is rather small inside. I mean the building itself is pretty big but inside they divide it into some areas. The barista bar is smacked in the middle of the room and the seating area is right behind it. The seating area only consists of a few small tables and chairs/sofas but there are also other seating area right outside through the side door overlooking the green area. It is actually a dog park too so you might see dog owners taking their dogs here at the green field. But dogs are not allowed inside the cafe. And fyi there's pork on the menu but there are other menus and cakes that don't have porks in it.

Udah pada tau Miniso kan? Itu loh, toko barang-barang printilan dari Jepang yang harganya terjangkau. Sebelumnya ada juga Daiso, yang kurang lebih sama dengan Miniso yang jualan printilan dari mulai barang keperluan rumah tangga sampai stationary, beauty stuffs, dan random stuffs deh pokoknya. Mungkin bedanya kalau Daiso itu barangnya lebih banyak macam ragamnya, tapi kalau untuk kualitas dan varian barang aku sendiri lebih prefer Miniso.

Awalnya tau Miniso sih dari selentingan online dan dari postingan temen-temen blogger yang kebetulan udah duluan ke Miniso. Saat itu Miniso baru pertama kali buka di salah satu mall di Jakarta Barat dan itu jauh dari rumahku, jadilah aku gigit jari aja waktu temen-temen cerita soal Miniso yang di Jepangnya pun udah terkenal.

Berhubung nggak boleh potret-potret di dalam toko Miniso jadi ini foto-foto toko Miniso dari website nya langsung yah buat yang belum tau tokonya :


Tuh lihat kan di foto diatas itu barangnya serba printilan hahaha Tapi walaupun printilan barangnya termasuk barang yang kepake banget, jadi bukan cuma barang pajangan / asesoris kurang penting gitu doang, melainkan banyak barang yang dijual di Miniso yang memang useful untuk sehari-hari. Dan nggak cuma untuk cewek aja, Miniso juga menjual barang-barang yang bikin cowok-cowok pun pada tertarik masuk, misalnya asesoris gadget, topi dan kacamata, sampai parfum cowok :)

Untungnya semenjak pembukaan toko Miniso yang pertama di Jakarta (yang berakhir sukses karena selalu ramai pengunjung) akhirnya setelah itu Miniso banyak buka cabang dimana-mana, daaannn akhirnya ada juga dua cabang yang nggak terlalu jauh dari rumahku. Dan inilah hasil belanjaan dari dua lokasi miniso tersebut 😛

Foto diatas adalah hasil dari Miniso One Bell Park (maaf kualitas fotonya kurang bagus karena aku ambil dari IG ku). Yang di One Bell Park ini tokonya sedikit lebih besar dari yang di Margo City dan walaupun suasananya masih ramai dengan pengunjung tapi karena tokonya lebih besar jadi nggak terlalu crowded. Enaknya belanja di Miniso adalah barang-barangnya selalu cepat gantinya, jadi setiap kali masuk toko Miniso barangnya biasanya sudah ada yang baru lagi. Seperti ketika ke Miniso One Bell Park ini, lumayan banyak barang baru, dan ini yang berhasil saya bawa pulang :

1. Small Postman Bag

2. Eyelash Glue

3. Tempered Glass

4. Pompom Flip Flop

Setelah beberapa kali selalu bolak balik ke bagian tas Miniso dan selalu ragu-ragu, akhirnya kali ini memutuskan untuk mencoba beli tas-nya. Pilihan jatuh kepada tas selempang hitam kecil ini karena : (1) Muraaah cuma 59,000 - dan (2) Kebetulan lagi pengen tas selempang kecil buat sehari-hari. Ternyata setelah dipakai dan dilihat lagi kualitasnya bagus loh, untuk ukuran harga 59,000 kualitas tas Miniso ini cukup well-made dan nggak mengecewakan. Modelnya juga up to date. Trus pompom flip flop nya lucu banget yah, buat sendal rumah aja ini sih.

Untuk eyelash glue nya, banyak yang bilang kurang oke tapi kalau untuk aku sendiri yang jarang pakai bulu mata ini lem nya udah lumayan sih. Memang apply nya harus agak banyakan biar yakin nggak akan lepas, tapi warna lem nya sendiri bening jadi nggak akan kelihatan walau kita pakai agak banyak di falsies. Botolnya juga cantik banget, dan modelnya kuas gitu which is my favorite tool to apply eyelash glue. Jadi for me this eyelash glue is nice enough to use.

Terakhir, waktu aku posting Miniso haul ini di IG (@yurikristia) banyak yang nanya: "Ada tempered glass yah di Miniso?" Jawabannya: "Ada!" hahaha... Tapi waktu kemarin ini terakhir aku ke Miniso lagi sih aku nggak lihat ada tempered glass, ya namanya juga barangnya selalu berganti-ganti, jadi kalau pas lagi ada cepet beli aja karena belum tentu minggu depannya masih ada di Miniso hehe..

Jadii, kalian udah beli apa aja di Miniso?

Coba kasitau :)

When I first started to delve in skincare world I liked to try different products and different brands. One of the new-to-me brands that I was dying to try are Sukin and Antipodes. Both are Australian/New Zealand brands and both are more into natural products. But Antipodes was more expensive so I turned to Sukin first 😉

Sukin is a natural skincare brand from Australia that offers a variant of affordable skin & hair products formulated with the best natural extracts and essential oils. I kept seeing them in beauty blogger’s world especially on Asian and Australian bloggers, and this is my first time trying them out.

I purchased them via Benscrub and I chose the Sukin “Super Greens” Starter Kit to start my introduction to their products. I also bought one of their face toner along with the starter kit mentioned. So far I have finished two of the products from the starter kit, and still has two Sukin products left to use. And here's my review of them :

Sukin Super Greens Starter Kit :

Detox your skin with this kit to purify and hydrate. 

The starter kit consists of three products : Detoxifying Facial Scrub, Facial Recovery Serum, and Nutrient Rich Facial Moisturizer (photo below).

This starter kit consists of products from their “Super Greens“ line which is enriched with super green actives and packed with nourishment for a healthy, glowing complexion. They are 100% vegan, 100% carbon neutral, and no animal testing is included in the process of making the products.

Sukin Detoxifying Facial Scrub

Infused with micro jojoba beads and ground bamboo for a gentle polish to remove dirt and impurities from the skin. This face scrub is made of green actives blend of kale, spirulina, chlorella, and parsley for detoxifying your skin as well as giving antioxidants and vitamins for the skin. It also has extracts of white pineapple, licorice, and lime peel to promote a clear and radiant complexion.  

Basically it's green veggies and fruit compote for your skin! You know how green veggies are good for your health, right? With this "super greens" range it's like a healthy veggie smoothie for your skin. The texture of the scrub is like a white lotion with granules. You can feel the tiny granules in it scrubbing your skin and sloughs away dead skin but in a softer way. You would still feel the scrub buffed around your skin but it doesn't feel rough on the skin at all. It doesn't give you any brightening effect as it is not what they advertised, but you would see a healthy projection from your skin if you use this continuously.

Sukin Facial Recovery Serum

A refreshing daily facial serum with detoxifying green actives of the same "green / leafy" ingredients as the facial scrub above, but this one has added vitamins in it to restore a healthy glow. I would say that from all the products in this set I love this one the most. The serum is light enough for morning use, especially for combo-oily skin like mine. It absorbed quickly by the skin, doesn't leave any greasiness, and it layered beautifully with other skincare or even makeup. It makes my skin moisturized, plumped, and (hopefully helps me fight free-radical damage). Usually it would took me a long time to finish a skincare but I finished this serum very quickly as I love to use it every morning without fail. Most of the time I find it hard looking for a serum that's light enough for oilier skin but this one is worth to try, you guys... seriously.

Sukin Nutrient Rich Facial Moisturizer

A daily moisturizer enriched with the same "green actives" as the facial scrub and recovery serum above, but with added goji berry and acai extracts for more antioxidant properties, and also rosehip, avocado, and jojoba to lock in moisture. It says "a light moisturizer" in the package but for combo-oily skin like mine I find it a bit on the thicker side. The lotion felt a little bit thick and heavy for our tropical weather here, so I only use this as night moisturizer instead. The formula is very moisturizing though, so if you have dry skin condition this one might do good for you.

Sukin Hydrating Mist Toner

Lastly, aside from the Super Greens Starter Kit above I also purchased Sukin Hydrating Mist Toner. This one is not part of the "Super Greens" range, so it is just a regular face mist from Sukin. This was the first product that I finished from all four Sukin products because I kept using it everyday (because I love it so much!). I'd say this is my best favorite out of all Sukin products I purchased so far. It's a toner that comes in spray form, and it is alcohol and paraben free. It combines chamomile and rosewater to help soothes, toned, and cools tired skin. And I love how the spray mist doesn't really makes my face wet. It refresh my skin in an instant and it doesn't interfere with my makeup and other skincare as well. Truly a must-try!

Overall, I love Sukin products, from their formula and approach to natural products. Their formula and ingredients are very natural and promises good things for your skin in a good way. I would like to try other range from Sukin apart from their Super Green range, because although I have no problems with them but I just think that it suits more those with combination-dry skin. HOWEVER I do love the Super Green Facial Recovery Serum for it's super light formula. I also love the Hydrating Mist Toner (not from the Super Greens range) and I think it's one of the best face mist I've tried so far.