December 25, 2013

ELLEJESS X STELLALEE CHRISTMAS 2013

2013 has been a rollercoaster year for us.

We went through a bit of a rough patch business-wise at the beginning of the year, but thanks to our positive mindset and hard work, we could get on our feet again and had even more opportunities that we couldn’t even imagine! And one of them is… becoming friends with Stella Lee :)

Even though we are in the same field (blogging), we had never talked to each other, didn’t follow each other’s SNS, let alone meet up.

Then, one day, fate brought us together. *jeng jeng jeng*

Three of us were invited to Japan by METI (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry) as CoFesta ambassadors from Indonesia (read the whole story here).

We first saw her at the Soekarno Hatta airport when we were going to board the plane; she looked so tired in her grey hoodie that we were reluctant to say hi. We also thought she was this shy, quiet and reserved girl that didn't like to chat, lol. So we just spent our first flight together without any single hello, not even an eye contact! Luckily our seats were not side by side; can you imagine how awkward would that be?!

Anyway, we finally talked to each other after we've landed in Japan while waiting for another blogger (Beckii) to arrive. And after about 15 minutes of conversation, our prejudgment of her TOTALLY faded away!

She’s super friendly, talkative, loud, and straightforward! Haha, completely took us by surprise! But one thing that makes us really clicked besides the fact that *ahem* all three of us are earth signs (Capricorn, Taurus, Virgo), is that we share the same way of thinking about many aspects (business, friendship, etc)! And of course, our undying love for Japan haha..

Long story short, back in Jakarta we did our very first collaboration:

*`•.¸(¯`• CHRISTMAS COLLABORATION •´¯)¸.•´

It was actually an impromptu session, but fortunately everything went well (thanks to the talented photographer, Nara Pratama) and we had a LOT of fun!!

All right, enough talking, LET’S SEE PICTURES!


THE PILLOW FIGHT!

That's all!

We hope we can do another collaboration with Stella in the future. On a trip if possible! xD

Do follow Stella’s Blog and Instagram!
She’s a beauty expert and loves to share; you can learn a lot from her!

Ok, see you on our next post! Thanks for reading J

WE WISH YOU A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS
AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS!! Take care, everyone!

X O X O,

December 23, 2013

Body Skin Care Routine and Tips for Underarm Problems

Photographer: Nara Pratama
Often we get too focus on taking care of our facial skin that we forget to take care of our body skin. We might think, “Ah, what people will notice more is my face, so it's better for me to take extra care of my facial skin than of my feet, or underarms, and so on.”

Well, those often-forgotten skins are more important than you may have given thought to.

Your skin is your largest organ; it protects our bodies from the outside world. If you are not taking care of it, not only may it lead to unattractiveness, it can also lead to serious disease and infection.

My mom is not a fan of makeup, but skin care is her thing, especially body parts. Everything I know about body skin care I learned from her. Since I was 13th she’s been telling me how important it is to take care of your body skin, that it is a long-term investment. At first I doubted her, but looking at her beautiful and glowing skin at such age, I thought to myself, “Maybe this woman does know what she’s talking about!” So, I decided to do as I was told, and I couldn’t be more thankful. :)

Today I’m going to share with you the things I regularly do to keep my body skin smooth and healthy:

1. Body Scrub (before shower, once a week)
Body Scrub is used for exfoliation. It helps get rid of dead skin cells and your skin renew faster. It also keeps pores clean, and prevents clogging, which can cause body pimples!

2. Body Lotion or Body Butter (after shower or at bedtime)
Your skin can become dry, rough and looks unattractive due to environmental factors like climate and air conditioning. That’s when body lotion and body butter come to the rescue! They can moisturize your skin, keep it hydrated and make you smell good!! I opt for a body butter if I've used a body scrub beforehand because it is more moisturizing than a lotion, but the downside is, it's kind of greasy and it will leave your skin sticky.

3. Sunscreen (when I’m going to be out in the sun)
Every article I read about beauty regimen has one thing in common: wear sunscreen everyday. Yes, it is THAT important especially when the ozone layer is depleting. Sunscreen can protect our skin from harmful UV radiation that can cause skin cancer (the scariest threat!!!), brown spots and skin discoloration.

4. Drink a lot of Water (as often as I can)
Yep, as simple as that. Drinking water is the easiest and cheapest way to flush toxins and poisons out of your body, hence healthy and glowing skin. I always keep my 690ml bottle filled with water by my side. J

5. Underarm Protection
This is the tricky part of all! I’m going to explain about this part a bit longer.
There are three noticeable underarm problems that can affect our daily lives: underarm odor, underarm hair, and dark underarms. Let’s take a look at them one-by-one, shall we?

a. Underarm Odor
You might think our sweat causes it, but actually sweat is odorless! The real culprits are the apocrine glands. They produce high protein sweat which when brought together with bacteria that live on the skin, can give off some funky smells. (Click here for the complete article in Indonesian language)

Solutions:
-Keep the armpits clean by washing them regularly to keep the number of bacteria low
-Get rid of the underarm hair because it holds back the evaporation of sweat
-Use a deodorant as it can slow down the production of sweat. Less sweat = less odor.

b. Underarm Hair
Many believe that it is such a huge turn-off when women have hair under their armpits, no matter how beautiful or sexy they are.

Yeah I hate them. We all hate them. But we can’t make them stop growing. At least I still don’t know how. So, what we can do is to get rid of them temporarily, either by shaving, plucking or waxing.

Solutions:
-Shaving
Image credit: Nugcafe
For facts and myths about shaving, click here.
-Tweezing or Plucking
Image credit: Beauty Impex
Click here to know how to tweeze the safe way.
 -Waxing
Image credit: A Spa to Remember

-Epilator
Image credit: Philips

Epilator is a bit expensive but it's a really life safer and worth the investment! It is an electrical device which removes hair from the roots and provides lasting smoothness. Just like waxing or tweezing, only more efficient. :D

c. Dark Underarms
It’s not enough to just get rid of the underarm hair; some of us also have to suffer from dark underarms. Dark underarms are bound to leave an impression that one is poorly groomed. It could also affect one’s self-confidence especially when wearing sleeveless shirts in public. You can’t raise your hands freely; reaching books from high places or tying up your hair becomes a very uncomfortable situation.

One of the main factors responsible for the occurrence of dark underarms is shaving. When you shave your underarm hair, you only remove the top layer of your hair and leave the roots below which can show through the skin’s surface; making your underarms appear darker. Another factor is when we shave, some of our skin got shaved too and it can cause skin irritation, resulting the skin to form a layer of dead skin cells, which makes underarm skin appear darker.

Solutions:
-Wax it out! Or use epilators! They are a bit painful but they remove hair from the roots, so you can get that bright, smooth underarm skin that you desired. They won't hurt as much after several times anyway.
-Just like this article says, you can use a deodorant with Omega 6 that can help speed up the skin regeneration process and moisturizing cream to nourish underarms skin. For example: Dove Ultimate White Deodorant.
-Need more solutions for dark underarms? Click here.

***

Now that your body skin is healthy, smooth, and bright, especially your underarms, you can confidently wear sleeveless shirts or dresses anywhere and anytime you want!! :D



X O X O,
Elle Yamada

December 22, 2013

Pineapple, Sleepover and a Letter

What I Wore: GOWIGASA Pineapple Crop Sweater, Striped Pencil Skirt, Black Slim Backpack | Jeffrey Campbell Boots

Actually pineapple is one of the fruits that I don't like haha, but whatever, this sweater looks cute and fun! :D

Two days ago I had a sleepover with Jess and Stella at Artotel Hotel, and it was so great! We did a bunch of girly things like putting on face masks, wearing body scrubs, talking about guys, sharing our experience in blogging with each other, etc etc hahah.. We should do this again, seriously!! <3

Stella brought 3 face masks for us! ↑ Ahh the perks of having a sleepover with a beauty blogger~ xD

Anyway, this morning I woke up to an email that made me smile ear to ear! 

Things like this make me so happy!!! Thank you dear :D

Ok, back to work now!! Hundreds of photos I need to work on!

X O X O,
Elle Yamada