SPA Getaway in Yogyakarta with Cetaphil

Hey, what's up!
About a week ago we took a trip to Yogyakarta city. Jess had never been there, while Elle had only been there once, for a school trip in 2004. And now, thanks to Cetaphil, we've finally visited the city together PLUS got ourselves pampered (and more)!! xD

Before we checked in to our hotel, we paid a visit to Guardian at Plaza Ambarrukmo first. Guardian has always been supporting Cetaphil, so if you are wondering where to get a Cetaphil product, look for a Guardian store nearby!

Posing with the girls and Guardian staffs :) ↓

After about an hour and a half ride, during which we slept most of the way, we finally reached our hotel, Plataran Borobudur Resort and Spa. It's actually located in Magelang (about 45km from Yogyakarta).

↑ Lobby situation ♪ ♫

↑ Oh by the way, we were on this trip with these four girls who are the winners of this Cetaphil Spa Getaway! Yes, this trip is actually the result from a competition held by Cetaphil on their Facebook:

So you might wanna like their page here, because they LOVE to give awesome prizes like this, useful beauty tips and of course, their products!

And here are the winners' reviews (≧▽≦)づ

Yep, there were actually two more winners, but they were unable to attend, which is quite a bummer because:

 ↑ We were all so happy to be here!!!
Plataran Borobudur is very secluded and surrounded by nature, so it's perfect for a relaxing getaway!

  ↑ But first... lunch! The new faces are (L-R): Benita from Bonsey Jaden, Debby from Cetaphil Indonesia, and Elisabeth from Popbela).

↑ Although the food was average, we could see Candi Borobudur (AND the people there, no kidding) from here through this binoculars! It was pretty cool!

↑ Took outfit shots before headed to spa. We went for something comfortable and lightweight because Yogyakarta is just as hot and humid as Jakarta. ↓

↑ Jess with her all-time favorite white backpack from Braun Buffel. And yes, that's the spa location down there! Go, go!!

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Time for Spa!

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It's unlike any other spa, it's a spa using Cetaphil products!! ♥

 Finally!! What we'd been waiting for! It's just that we didn't sleep at all the night before because the flight was at 5am, so we were very looking forward to this!!! xD

 ↑ Milk bath overlooking the forest and Borobudur Temple? Yes, please!

 ↑ No matter how badly we needed the massage, we still managed to take some pics in their cute robes, ha! #bloggers

 ↑ Started from the bottom...

...now we're here!

♡ Heavenly afternoon ♡

 Continued to facial massage. They cleansed our face using Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser, and then moisturized it with Cetaphil Daily Facial Moisturizer SPF 15. :)

 After that, we rinsed off the scrubs in this milk bath before finally applied Cetaphil Moisturizing Lotion to our body. Fyi, it's important to apply body lotion after scrubbing to replenish any moisture lose!

↑ Credit for our photos during spa session goes to this sweet masseuse, Tari! She was so awesome in taking photos, seriously! She knew the good angles and even suggested some poses! hahah

After the spa, we went to our room to freshen up a bit for dinner, and greeted by these sweet welcome gifts from the hotel and Cetaphil:

♥♥♥

↑ Wheee, it's the complete combo (Cleanser - Moisturizer - Sunblock), a nice addition to our existing Cetaphil family! XD Thank you, Cetaphil! ♥

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Dinner at The Kastil

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The decor of this restaurant kind of reminded us of Dracula's castle with the candle, carpet, window, and overall colors. We love it, but we don't wish to be left here alone, lol!

↑ Elle's OOTN: Dress from Japan, Michael Kors Boots, Bershka Necklace. The dress code for dinner was black, which matched The Kastil's atmosphere well!

↑ Tasty Soto!

↑ Of course it wouldn't be complete without Sambal ;)

Before we reached the end of our dinner, there was a Skincare session with Cetaphil's guest speaker, Dr. Arum! ↓

She shared her knowledge about skin and how to take care of it. It was very interesting, here we snapped some of the slides for you, take a look:

↑ Types of skin: sensitive and tough. Sensitive skin is more likely to deal with acne, itching, and irritation. (FOL)

↑ Types of skin colors and how they react to the sun.

 ↑ How important it is to protect your skin from the sun using sunblock! UVB can cause burning and skin cancer, while UVA can cause burning, pigment darkening, wrinkle, and premature aging.

 ↑ Look for a sunblock that can protect your skin from both UVA and UVB.

↑ You can also take care of or improve your skin with a healthy lifestyle. That includes enough sleep (6-8 hours a day), balanced nutrition, regular exercise (at least 30 minutes a day, 3x per-week), no smoking, no alcohol.

It's always fun learning about skincare, especially while enjoying these simple, yet yummy Indonesian desserts! xD ↓

↓ Dr. Arum with Debby from Cetaphil.

Thank you so much, Dr. Arum, for sharing your time and knowledge with us! ♥

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Morning Yoga

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The next morning, we wanted to catch the sunrise at 5am, but the sun was hiding behind the mist. T___T
This led us to our next schedule... YOGA!

We rarely do yoga (especially Elle), so there was quite a lot of challenging poses, lol! But overall it was so fun and peaceful :)

↑ The sun was starting to get hot and bright by this point that it was hard to see our yoga instructor, so we turned our back to the sun. It was to protect our face too (most of us forgot to put on sunblock).

↑ Warrior pose. xD

↑ Child's Pose, which is like our favorite pose hahah, love this picture btw! Both of us look like lemper.

ANDDD..... DONE!!!

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Sayonara Lunch

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After checking out from the hotel, we headed back to Yogyakarta and had this suuuuperrr delicious lunch at Sasanti Restaurant and Gallery!

Everything was yummeh, but our most favorite was the Wagyu Sate and this appetizer called Mentho. Despite it's not-so-Instagrammable appearance, it was super freaking moist and delicious, no kidding:

You should really try it when you visit Yogyakarta! Here's the address:
Jalan Palagan Tentara Pelajar No. 52A, Sariharjo, Kec. Sleman, Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta

↑ The complete menu!

↓ Before headed to the airport, we made a stop at Batik Rumah to shop shop first! Elle bought four batik dresses :D

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Product Reviews

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Being Cetaphil fans, we have our own Cetaphil products here, which we've been using for some time now:

↑ click to enlarge the pic ↑

A little background story of how we first met with this simple yet loved-by-many brand.

On 2011, we had a major acne breakout, and (on top of seeing dermatologist(s), taking this medication and that treatments, etc.) of course we surfed the internet to find a holy grail. And that's how we knew Cetaphil for the first time; the brand -specifically the Gentle Skin Cleanser- shows up a LOT on forums, blogs, etc. and people raved about how safe and gentle it is for treating their acne. So we looked around for it but back then, it was really hard to get because Cetaphil was not officially available in Indonesia yet.

Fast forward to January 2015, Jess woke up to a nasty rash on her thighs, which has never happened before.

***WARNING***

Don't click if you're scared to see disgusting images or have a Trypophobia (intense, irrational fear of irregular patterns or clusters of small holes or bumps). But if you want to see how bad it was, here's the pic.

J: I panicked and went to a doctor in nearby hospital, and the doctor said that I experienced a skin allergy, which might be caused by a contact with something unhygienic. The only thing I can remember was that the night before the thigh rash happened, I was doing an outdoor yoga session. And the unhygienic stuff might the mat which was provided by the host (I was wearing a thin legging). T_T Long story short, the doctor prescribed me some stuffs and when I bought them at the hospital pharmacy, I was really shocked because turns out one of the products he prescribed me was what we were desperately looking for on 2011: THE Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser (apparently, Cetaphil officially came to Indonesia on 2012)!! Doctor said I should only shower with it and well, there were also some prescribed oral meds, but they sure did work, my thigh rash disappeared in less than a week!

Fast forward again to May 2016 (yes, to this awesome spa getaway), Cetaphil gave us this bunch of goodies!! (ﾉ≧▽≦)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

↑ click to enlarge the pic ↑

GENTLE SKIN CLEANSER -- OILY SKIN CLEANSER

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We use the Oily Skin Cleanser after removing our makeup (for our double-cleansing ritual) and we love it. It's a bit hard to build up the foam, but even without the foam, you can still feel that it cleanses your skin well. The only difference between the two is that the Gentle Skin Cleanser leaves your skin feel clean + slightly moisturized, and the Oily Skin Cleanser simply leaves your skin feel clean and oil-free without the feeling of being stretched out, if you know what we mean. Both are very mild and yes, you can use the famous Gentle Skin Cleanser for both face and body, even on baby's skin and of course, on super sensitive skin. Heck, you can even use it without water; just rub it on your skin as usual and remove the residue with a towel or facial tissue. We tried it during the spa getaway, and it really does not feel sticky afterward!! If any, it makes our skin feel soft! But we don't recommend this no-water way for cleansing your face yah.. Double cleansing with water is still the best way for us!

MOISTURIZING CREAM -- MOISTURIZING LOTION

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I think they got the label wrong for the Moisturizing Lotion ↑. It's supposed to be like this one, we think. As you can see from the swatch, the Moisturizing Cream has heavier and more solid texture than the Moisturizing Lotion, which is more watery. Afterall, the Moisturizing Cream was specially formulated for chronic dry, sensitive skin. We use it for super dry areas on our body (elbows, crotch, knees, feet, and toes), and it works wonders for us! It's not greasy despite being super moisturizing, and it keeps our (usually super dry) skin soft! The Moisturizing Lotion is also a great product. We've been using it for more than a year now, so this one from the getaway is a nice additional stock lol.

UVA/UVB DEFENSE SPF 50+ -- DAILY FACIAL MOISTURIZER SPF 15

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Remember the slide from Dr. Arum up there? Yes, using sun protection products everyday is a MUST because it's one of the best 'long term investments' for your skin! The Daily Facial Moisturizer SPF 15 is true to its claims; it's lightweight, non-greasy, non-comedogenic and it's comfortable for daily use, even when we're just staying at home.

Jess: As for the UVA/UVB Defense SPF 50+, I was super glad I used it right before the yoga session started because as you can see:

...it was a super hot, sunny (and sweaty) morning.

Elle: I forgot to use it, so I tried to avoid the sun as much as I could. T___T

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Thank you, Cetaphil!

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White shirt, blue jeans♥ We're all holding our precious Cetaphil goodie bags!

Thank you once again, Cetaphil, for arranging this fun, relaxing, and inspiring trip. Can't wait for another awesome trip(s) to come! (ˆヮˆ)づ♡

If you'd love to get FREE Cetaphil products, click here:

http://bit.ly/freecetaphil

We also did an interview with Popbela, talking about beauty stuff, which you can read here:

http://bit.ly/popbela

XOXO

Elle and Jess
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