Phutawan pomegranate Body Lotion review

So, a friend was coming back from Bangkok, Thailand, and one of the souvenirs she bought from me was this organic pomegranate body lotion, an authentic Thai product, in a small bottle:

100 ml; the size is ideal for travel. Let's close up to what it's written on the packaging: 

Brightening Skin plus sunscreen protection

Pomegranate body lotion that brighten your skin by gently regenerating the new 

skin cells, allows you to always remain young. Blended with vitamin B3, this

amazing lotion helps to (eliminate? reduce?) production of dark-skin cells, thus radiated your skin.

With the nutrients from vitamin C, the perfect anti-oxidant compound, protects your

skin from oxidative elements, brings back your youth skin, to brighten your day.

It's from Phutawan brand; unfortunately they don't have official website that displays their whole product range, but from what I browse this brand makes organic products, which means they contain no paraben, alcohol and artificial fragrances.

Anyway. Although this lotion says it has sunscreen, but I prefer to use it at night before I sleep because it smells so good, so yummy like the real pomegranate fruit, so delicious that I feel like I want to eat my skin, lol. I don't really like to use it in the morning or afternoon since the scent tends to fade quickly when I'm sweating, unless I don't do a lot of activities during daytime. 

By the way, I forgot to photograph the substance, but it comes in this light orange color:

The scent can last for 7 hours, it still lingers on my skin when I wake up. Lovely. And as personal favourite, I love to spray Peach Delima body mist cologne from Dewi Sri Spa after I wear the lotion, for a more long-lasting effect. It makes a perfect combination with the lotion smell. FYI Delima means pomegranate fruit in Indonesian/Malay :)  

I [heart] Martha Tilaar

Got these gorgeous brochures from one of Martha Tilaar outlets in the town here, just few days ago...

It has always been a pleasure to visit any Martha Tilaar outlets, as I love to look around the products and talking with the staffs (I know most Martha Tilaar promoters and beauticians in the town, actually, lol).

If you're wondering what's printed inside these booklets, you can check it out directly from the official websites of each Martha Tilaar brands:

Dewi Sri Spa

PAC

Sariayu 

And the annual makeup collection, as shown in the booklets:

Sariayu Colours Trend 2009:

"The Beauty of Eastern Java" (Cantika Jawa Timur)

Sariayu Colours Trend 2012:

"The Ethnics of Lesser Sunda Islands" (Etnika Nusa Tenggara)

Sariayu Colours Trend 2013: -the latest- 

"Shore of Central Java" (Pesisir Sentrajava)

Modeling for Martha Tilaar apprentices training

I had fun times last week! My two neighbours were having their cosmetology training session and they asked me to be their model for 4 days. They work in the same beauty product outlet and spa, which is of Martha Tilaar brand.

At first, it's like a normal beauty workshop (the teachers came from Indonesia just for this training session!). They were explained some stuffs about skin layers, types of skin and colours in makeup that suit to skin tones... Basically from the beginning, knowledge that all beauty bloggers can also explain! And most important, working in the Martha Tilaar outlets and spa, they need to know the whole products from A - Z, the names, the benefits of the products for skin and working etiquettes when dealing with the customers.

What differs this from a normal beauty workshop was, it's not just about the explanation and simple demo, but all of the trainees must going through the practical session. Sounds more like apprentices, rather than just trainees, right?

Since the training place was a bit inconvenient, so they only focus on face for the facial treatments and makeup application techniques. That's why they need real models for practicing.

It was not just about the basic facial regime (you know, the facial steps from cleansing to moisturise), but they were also taught about facial massages. Wow, I never know this before! There are actually variations of movements on how to massage a face, either with bare hands or with hot stones. Yeap, stones. Have you heard about hot stone massage?

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They specially use smoothed black basalt stones for this type of massage, with the stones heated or chilled before hand. This type of stone can detoxify your body and relaxes your muscles (depends on which body part you want the stones to be placed).

For 4 consecutive days, the training took place from 9 in the morning to 4 in the afternoon. Quite tiring, yes? But everything was worth it! I was impressed, because they didn't just trained and practicing the skills, but in the last days of the training, they actually had tests about everything they learned, both theory and practical. They were taught in a  REAL beauty school style! The teachers looked at the overall performance and professionalism of the trainees when they gave facial treatment and applied the cosmetics. That's how they being judged in the test.

Okay... I don't want to blurb more, so let me just upload the gallery from the training session:

The most expensive body scrub I ever found!

 I thought it is The Body Shop that sells most expensive skincare items, but last night when I wanted to buy the coconut body scrub by Dewi Sri Spa from the nearest Martha Tilaar branch, just 10 minutes away from my home...

The shopkeeper said, the price is $30. Seriously! The packaging is not that big and they imported it here from Indonesia (for God's sake, it's only 2 hours by plane from the country where I live!) and they sell it for a $30??? What makes it so darn expensive? (haha, no, I don't sound like I'm angry). My gosh, that even beats the Body Shop body scrub prices! (Body Shop normally sell their Body Scrub, far far away from the UK for $20+, and you still have the privileges of 50% - %10 if you're a member). And I just knew apparently Dewi Sri Spa stuffs are the most expensive of all Martha Tilaar products...

I am interested to try their coconut body scrub 'cause I used to read a review it has a very delicate smell and it is long-lasting (not forget the multi-benefit of the coconut itself...). But with such expensive price, I think I'm gonna buy it next time 'cause I just spent nearly $40 after I bought some stuffs from the Body Shop just few days ago...

There are some other body scrub brands, mostly are flower smell, but I ended up buying Citra green tea scrub as an alternative. Not bad. At least I could feed my skin with antioxidant! Only $2.95 (what a big difference!)

It really smells like green tea in perfume! Very traditional, delicate and relaxing! Since I love herbalism this much, I always choose skincare products that have health benefits for skin, not just for the fragrance :D 

Javanese beauty

I think I'm becoming obsessed with these herbalism stuffs... From my new hobby researching about benefits of plants on human skin, now I carry on researching about local brands inspired by the traditional skincare (after took some time looking at makeups during my weekend, lol!). There are two legendary brands in my country, (they also creating their own collection of cosmetics, but now I focus to skincare), using traditional beauty philosophy in their production... Using herbs, and some mixture of herbs are even originated from formula used by the royalty princesses in the past centuries, in order to make their skin not only healthy but to shine and envyingly glowing brightly like no other.

Those two legendary brands are Sari Ayu and Mustika Ratu. All their skincare products are made from natural, fresh resource and some are very traditional as the plant ingredients are only found in Indonesia.

So, yesterday I took a look at some products by Dewi Sri Spa. Dewi Sri Spa is another skincare brand by Martha Tilaar, the same founder of Sari Ayu. When I visited their website for the first time, I was so mesmerized. The whole design and concept are just classically gorgeous, matched with their philosophy and mission, and I love reading their philosophy and beauty tips.

"As an agricultural nation, Indonesians rely heavily on rice (Oryza Sativa) production. The Indonesians embrace the rice philosophya s a wisdom principal. On top of being the major staple food, it embodies the culture of patience and humbleness, as the paddy plant 'bows' lower as it grows heavier."
- Dewi Sri Spa philosophy

Since I was a little girl, I've already admired their product design, like in the samples above, the body lotion and body scrub from their classic series. The classical font type really matched with the colours background and their iconic picture that looks like lithograph or painting of the Goddess Sri, known as the goddess of rice in Indonesian myth, is so graceful that it captured my attention. Later on I knew that the brand name is also inspired by this mythical goddess, hence the name 'Dewi Sri Spa' (Spa of the Goddess Sri) and what's so special, most of the products contain rice extract! I think this brand is truly a trademark of Indonesia!

By the way, I watched a beautifully quirky video by PAC cosmetics featuring Dewi Sandra as the model glamorously wearing Javanese jewelry, hair updo and clothes. Personally I'm not into Javanese cultures and stuffs but watching this remind me the ancient beauty of their performance art.