March 31, 2017

What Does 'Charming' Mean To You? | Bagimu, #MemesonaItu Apa?

When you hear the word 'charming', what do you see in your mind?
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Saat kamu mendengar kata 'memesona', apa yang terlintas di pikiranmu?
It could be anything from a stunning smile, confident personality, caring gestures to... well, anything based on your personal outlook about the word.
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Senyum yang menawan, karakter yang penuh rasa percaya diri, sikap yang menunjukkan kasih sayang, ...bisa jadi apapun, tergantung dari persepsimu mengenai kata 'memesona' tersebut.


To me, when I hear the word 'charming',
especially when it comes to describe a female,
I see a financially independent woman.
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Menurutku, ketika aku mendengar kata 'memesona',
terutama saat menggambarkan kaum hawa,
aku melihat sosok perempuan yang mandiri secara keuangan.


Big, full credit to THIS woman:
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Pengaruh terbesar dari mama:
Mom - circa 1990. Yup, when she was exactly my current age!
 I remember seeing her at work, in her 'career woman' outfit: blazer, trousers, heels and all. I couldn't find a picture of her wearing all that (too bad there's no Instagram back then, else there might be a hashtag #FifiWears 😁), but there was something about that attire that says she's a smart, confident, trustworthy, professional woman who knows what she's doing and where she's going (she's all that, but the clothes were just 'reconfirming' it). Fascinated, I remember thinking to myself that, "A career woman looks so cool! Someday I wanna look like that! All those clothes, PLUS driving in a red convertible!"
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Aku ingat melihat mama saat bekerja, mengenakan segala atribut 'wanita karir' nya: blazer, celana panjang, sepatu hak tinggi, dan sebagainya. Sayang tidak ada fotonya (coba kalau Instagram sudah ada dari dulu, mungkin ada hashtag #FifiWears 😁), tapi ada sesuatu dari setelan pakaian tersebut yang mengatakan bahwa wanita ini cerdas, percaya diri, dapat dipercaya, profesional, tahu apa yang dia mau dan langkah selanjutnya yang akan dia ambil (mama memang sudah seperti itu, tapi penampilannya seperti 'mengkonfirmasi ulang' hal-hal tersebut). Terpesona, aku ingat saat itu aku berpikir, "Wanita karir keren banget! Suatu hari aku mau terlihat seperti itu, pakai semua baju itu PLUS sambil nyetir mobil merah dengan atap terbuka!"

My childhood perspective of a 'successful career woman' // 'Wanita karir yang sukses' menurut Jess waktu kecil 😂😂😂
Talking about image, notice that I said, "I wanna LOOK like that"? That's because as a kid, I only saw what's projected on the surface. I did not know for sure what it really means to be a career woman (or a self-employed / businesswoman / etc., but whatever the job is:)
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Bicara soal penampilan, kamu sadar gak aku bilang, "Aku mau TERLIHAT seperti itu"? Itu karena saat aku kecil, aku hanya melihat bagian luarnya saja, tanpa benar-benar mengerti apa arti sebenarnya dari menjadi seorang wanita karir (atau wanita yang bekerja sendiri / pengusaha / dsb. Intinya, apapun pekerjaannya:)


It means to work and earn her own money.
To be financially independent.
And THAT's the essence of the look.
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Artinya adalah bekerja dan menghasilkan uang sendiri.
Menjadi mandiri secara keuangan.
Dan ITULAH esensi dari penampilan tersebut.
That's what makes it look 'charming' to me, even now. Not saying that work attire should always be like that (as a person who work in creative department, I should know this best. Heck, I even work in shorts or pyjamas sometimes 😅), but the image just sticks, and so I'm embracing it altogether in this post.
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Hal itulah yang membuat penampilan tersebut 'memesona' untuk aku, bahkan sampai aku dewasa sekarang ini. Bukannya mengatakan bahwa pakaian kerja harus melulu seperti itu yah (sebagai orang yang bekerja di bidang kreatif, tentuya aku paling mengerti soal hal ini. Kadang saja aku bekerja sambil mengenakan celana pendek atau piama 😅), tapi citra dari pakaian itu sangat melekat di pikiranku, jadi sekalian saja aku pakai di post ini, mumpung lagi pas topiknya hehe.
Me, overdressed for my job 😂 | Location: SRSLY Coffee
Why 'financially independent', you ask, 'that's so specific'.
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Mungkin kamu bingung. Kenapa harus 'mandiri secara keuangan', itu kan 'sangat spesifik'.


It's because to me,
being financially independent
feels very liberating.
It means you're on your own.
It means you can buy whatever you want.
But you can choose not to.
It means you have options.
And it's a very priceless feeling,
having the privilege of choice.
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Karena menurutku,
menjadi mandiri secara keuangan
terasa sangat membebaskan.
Artinya kamu sudah berdikari.
Kamu dapat membeli apapun yang kamu mau.
Dan di saat yang bersamaan,
kamu dapat memilih untuk tidak membelinya.
Artinya kamu punya pilihan.
Dan perasaan itu tak ternilai harganya,
memiliki hak istimewa untuk memilih.


My answer here on ask.fm should describe it better:
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Mungkin jawaban ask.fm aku ini bisa lebih menggambarkan soal itu:

So, let's go back to the first question:
"When you hear the word 'charming', what do you see in your mind?"
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Jadi, yuk coba kita kembali ke pertanyaan awal:
"Saat kamu mendengar kata 'memesona', apa yang terlintas di pikiranmu?"

Location: SRSLY Coffee
This article is a submission for a blog competition under the theme #MemesonaItu.
If you want to join:
- Create a blog post and tell your story about #MemesonaItu
- Visit http://bit.ly/blogmemesonaitu
- Click ‘ceritakan sekarang’ and register your entry before April 10th, 2017
There are 2 mirrorless cameras as the main prize, 5 MAP vouchers worth IDR 1,000,000, and many more attractive prizes waiting for you!
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Artikel ini aku buat untuk kompetisi blog yang diselenggarakan dengan tema #MemesonaItu.
Bagi kamu yang mau ikutan:
- Blog mengenai #MemesonaItu versi kamu
- Klik ‘ceritakan sekarang’ dan daftarkan link blog kamu sebelum 10 April 2017
2 orang pemenang utama akan mendapatkan kamera mirrorless, 5 orang pemenang akan mendapat Rp 1.000.000 voucher MAP, dan masih banyak hadiah menarik lainnya. Yuk ikutan, aku tunggu ya!


Thank you so much for reading and see you guys on my next post! ♡

X
Jessica Yamada
By ELLE JESS at 5:38 PM 9 comments

Masque Maison Kefir Mask Review

Hey guys! The product I'm about to review today is 'masker kefir' a.k.a. facial mask that is made from fermented goat milk. If you're into beauty products (or simply exposed to Instagram online stores on daily basis), I'm pretty sure you've heard about this kind of mask because it's pretty popular right now.

Kefir masks from @masque.maison

The Product
The ones I've tried and am going to review are these two:
the charcoal kefir mask & the original kefir mask.

Bubble wrapped..

..and sealed for your protection! 💋
P.S. Since they're made of fermented milk, you gotta keep them refrigerated always, ok!

My Review
Let's start with the Original Kefir Mask! I wrote a mini diary for both masks actually haha, here's the original one's:
May 2nd (night): 1st time wearing it. Skin condition: super bad with small acnes, especially on left cheek. First impression of the mask: smells like cheesecake. After rinsing it off, skin becomes pretty red (similar to sunburnt skin), maybe because the mask also acts like a scrub when you rinse it off.
May 5th: After religiously using it morning and night, this morning I skipped using it because I got to run to campus for group assignment. When I washed my face, my skin is really in super super bad condition. At night when I washed it, there's this underground(?) acne on my left cheek (the painful one that's gonna stay for a pretty long time wth) & small acne on top of my lips. Keep calm and use the mask again at night.
May 6th: When I washed my face this morning, the left cheek's acne became smaller already, and by nighttime, the upper lip's acne is totally gone. To be fair, I always use on-the-spot acne cream as well, but still, normally, the acnes won't dry out this fast.
May 7th: The cheek acne is getting smaller, skin texture is nicer, smaller pores..
May 8th: Nice skin texture. Smaller pores, acne scars look better. Every time I wash my face after using the mask, my skin would always feel softer, bouncy, moist, less oily.

Moving on to the Charcoal Kefir Mask!
June 21st (morning): 1st time wearing it. Skin condition: oily, a bit dull with some small acne / whiteheads on forehead, cheeks. Btw this mask has super strong unpleasant odor. T_T
June 23rd (morning): 2nd time wearing it. There's a pustule (acne with white centre) on the chin.
June 24th (night): All zits are dried out, seriously no bumps at all. But skin is still oily.
- - -
August 23rd (night): 1st time wearing it again, there are acnes.
August 24th (morning): Use the mask again. Btw the acnes got better already and skin became more matte.
August 26th (morning): After religiously using it morning and night, last night I fell asleep with it! When I washed my face this morning, I was really shocked because my skin looks so much better hahaha. Smaller pores, a lot less bumps, dry skin (too dry actually).
August 27th - 29th: Acnes keep coming back, no matter how many times I use the mask. I think this time it's out of the mask's league because it's hormonal acnes.


CONCLUSION 
Not bad, huh? I'm actually loving the result from both masks, especially the charcoal one because I think it works better than the original, and every time I used it, my skin became less oily, even though the effect doesn't last that long (damn you oil factory skin). They do work for my acne-prone skin, but last time after I came back from Europe (end of August 2016), I got horrible whole-face acne situation and as you can read up there, even the charcoal mask couldn't help it. Maybe it doesn't work for hormonal acnes (I'm guessing the Aug '16 acnes are hormonal, triggered by hours in the sun with full make up on during the trip), but well, the masks work when they work, as I mentioned on my mini diary. 😁
Anyway, if you're interested to try them, you can order here:
IG: @masque.maison
(instagram.com/masque.maison)

Thank you so much for reading and see you guys on my next post! ♡

X
Jessica Yamada
By ELLE JESS at 2:38 PM 16 comments
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