October 12, 2016

From Paris with Lux: Creating Our Own Perfume at Givaudan Perfume House!

 Bonsoir, mon amour!

A while ago, we had the pleasure to visit the city of love with Lux and other influencers from around the world to enjoy some perfume-related experience! Let's get into it! :D

DAY 1
After a 15-hour long flight, we finally landed in Paris and arrived at our stylish hotel, Hotel Bachaumont. This is the view from our room :)

Greeted by this cute purple box from Lux on the bed! What's inside: a box of Ladurée macarons, Lux body wash, notepad, mini Eiffel, and a robe with each of our names embroidered on it!
 Jess took the opportunity to pose with the robe immediately! I wanted to but couldn't because I had menstrual cramps, you know that pain in your lower tummy? Ugh.
So, instead of taking insta-worthy pictures, I just laid in bed all afternoon nomming my macarons. Such a shame though, because the weather was so nice that day:
Look at the clouds! They looked like a pack of cotton balls <3
 Here's Jess with her OOTD picture wearing sweater from GOWIGASA and holding a bouquet of flowers from Lux :)

Around 7 PM, we all went to dinner which was held at this restaurant called Maison Blanche.

From this trip, we learned that Parisians love to take it slow, especially when it comes to food.

Before our actual dinner started, we sat down for like 15 minutes chitchatting with everyone over wine and Amuse-Bouche* like this:
This is super yummy by the way, make sure you get your hands on it when you visit Paris!

*)Amouse-Bouche is a little bit of food which is served before the meal to stimulate the appetite. The difference with Hors d'Oeuvre is that an Amuse-Bouche is not ordered by the customers. They are brought to the table free of charge. Everyone in the restaurant gets the same amuse-bouche. (Source: http://www.yourdictionary.com/amuse-bouche)

 It happened at almost all restaurants we went to. I think they wanted us to sit back and relax before we enjoy the meals, which is totally different than our Asian culture where everything is "chop-chop"!

So, after a short time of mingling, we were seated right away and here's the menu:

The most spectacular aspect of this restaurant was the Eiffel view from the balcony:
This was taken right before the sunset. Sooo pretty with the cotton candy sky!
And when the sky gets dark, it's just as magical. 

DAY 2
On the second day, we visited the famous Givaudan Perfume House or Givaudan Perfumery School! It was quite far from our hotel, took a 45-minute ride on a mini bus. And for me personally, this is my most favorite and memorable activity during my trip with Lux, you'll see why in a bit! ;)
(Image credit: https://twitter.com/CEEVO95)

Givaudan has a long history of innovating scents and tastes (over 250 years!), and some of the world's most famous scents were created by their perfumers. No wonder there are thousands of applicants from all over the world each year, yet they only accept 1-3 applicants! Imagine how proud you are if you got selected!

Welcomed by foooood! <3
Anyway, in the USA, Lux is branded as Caress.

First session: Theories!
We were gathered at this meeting room, seated, and listened to the moderators and perfumers like good students, but it was anything but boring!
Here are the examples of what we learned:
↑ How our nose works. How the odours get translated into smells in our brain.
 ↑ The three parts of perfume: Head (top notes), Heart (middle notes), and Base (base notes).

For those who are interested to know:
Perfumes are a blend of different levels of scent, also called “notes”. When you spray a fragrance on your skin, it moves through these notes in the following order:
- Top notes are what you smell first. They are also what disappear first, usually within 10 to 15 minutes.
Middle notes appear as the top notes die off. These are the fragrance’s core, determining which family the perfume belongs to — for example, oriental, woody, fresh, or floral.
- Base notes accentuate and fix the fragrance’s middle notes, also known as its theme. They comprise the fragrance’s foundation, making the scent last up to 4 or 5 hours on your skin.
(Source: wikihow.com)

↑ Perfume trends over the years.

Besides watching slides, we also got the opportunity to compare A LOT of fragrances or 'notes' from well-known brands, such as Versace, YSL, Chanel, Prada, and so on.
Sniff all day long~

Next: Lunch Break!

 The lunch itself was a unique experience because all the meals had a touch of edible flowers. YES, you can eat the flowers! This was the first time we tasted flowers, and it was quite nice actually!

↑ Our absolute favorite:
Pan-Seared Scallops with Herbs & Fennel Mousse

 ↑ Dog filter FTW!

On to the main session aka LAB SESSION (Wheeee!!)
  Before we went to the lab, we were shown three of Givaudan's students' creations. They created not only perfume, but also various types of beauty products, like body lotion, candle, and shower gel.

Seemed fun and easy, right?

Ok, now it's our turn!
 All ready with our lab coats and safety goggles!
 Our task was simple: we were given Lux Magical Spell fragrance to smell (which smelled so good, btw) and we had to RECREATE it by mixing the Head (top notes), Heart (middle notes), and Base (base notes)!
 The challenge here was the RATIO. We had to do a lot of trial&error to find the correct ratio of the fragrance!
 Just keep sniffing~ (Candid by Pratama Eka Dharma)
 When you realize you just messed up. 

Geez, I'm telling you, it wasn't easy at all! Well, unless you have a very sharp nose that can differentiate and identify each scent easily like Jean-Baptiste Grenouille from the movie Perfume!

We all failed btw, but the whole experience was all that matters. We felt so happy for learning and experiencing new things! That's what makes us feel alive, don't you think? Never stop learning :)
Posing with our own creations!
Another sweets at the end of the day: Meringue and Pierre Hermé macarons! :D

 The cherry on top?
Givaudan surprised us by giving each of us a bottle of perfume that they thought were in accordance with our characters haha, so cute right!
Thank you, Givaudan, for being an amazing host.
Thank you, Lux, for being so thoughtful the entire event and for this unique experience.
Thank you, YOU, for reading this post.

Stay tuned for our Grasse trip!! :)

XOXO

September 30, 2016

Finding a Four Leaf Clover

"It has been estimated that there are approximately 10,000 three-leaf clovers for every four-leaf clover"

It was a really hot day in Ancol, Jakarta. I was out for a photoshoot and as I was walking to find the perfect spot for the shoot, I stumbled upon a clover field under a big tree.
Realizing they're clovers, I quickly scanned for the four-leaf one, because it is well known that a four-leaf clover is a symbol of luck. And to my surprise.....


 Within a few seconds of scanning, I found this sweet four-leaf clover!

I was sooo happy!! After making a wish while holding this lucky charm (yes, yes, I'm quite superstitious ^^), I returned to the clover field to find another one because hey, if I could find this one so fast, there must be another ones, right? #greedy #opportunistic

But turns out, after minutes and minutes of scanning, I couldn't find any more of it! :O So I guess it must be a real lucky shot! (ノ≧ヮ≦)ノ*:・゚✧

Outfit of that day:
This OOTD is featured here on this blog and here on Wolipop (Detik).

More about four-leaf clover according to this blog:

 Thank you for showing yourself to me, four leaf clover!


Wishing us all a happy, lucky day! ˆ)づ♡

X
Jessica Yamada

September 27, 2016

20 Ide Outfit untuk Pengendara Motor Wanita

There are so many women riding motorcycles, especially in Jakarta. If you are one of them and looking for outfit ideas, this post is for you, female riders!
We've created 20 looks for 10 different themes that we think are comfortable yet stylish for your riding time! Enjoy! :)

Don't forget to click on the pictures to enlarge.










That's it guys! Thank you for reading and happy riding! :D

September 07, 2016

Stay Connected While Traveling | Wi2FLY Portable Wifi Review

Ahhh, portable wifi. A marvellous thing invented by a genius who loves traveling and would very much like to stay connected during the trip, I suppose.

Earlier this year, I wrote about this awesome portable wifi (a.k.a. mobile wifi router) in Singapore, and now I'm gonna introduce you to its newly born Indonesian sister, who's now ready to serve our wifi needs all around the world: Wi2FLY.

Some of you have asked me various questions about traveling, and one of the most frequently asked questions is: Do I prefer to travel by myself or use a travel agent? The answer is the former. I enjoy traveling by myself, creating my own itineraries according to things that really interest me, following my own schedule (which is very 'flexible', I must say), and so I posted this DIY traveling tips last year on my ask.fm page:
As you can see, upon 'Arrival', I strongly suggest to my readers to have a portable wifi ready with them, because imagine this. You're arriving at this deserted terminal at midnight, carrying two heavy suitcases -one on each hand- and nobody's picking you up. It's cold outside but you have to wait for a taxi that seemingly would never come, but it is your best option because you might get lost if you try to walk further from that taxi stand, and besides, it's too cold and the suitcases are getting heavier and you're getting more and more tired.

IF ONLY there is a good wifi connection around, right??
Then you can connect your smartphone and contact a friend or family who can pick you up, or order a local cab, or perhaps find the best route from that terminal to your hotel and get on with it by yourself, because at the very least... you wouldn't get lost.

And that's just one of many perks of having a portable wifi around when you're traveling, my friend.


Maldives

Now now, without further ado, let me re-introduce you to Wi2FLY, the wifi solution that I mentioned earlier.
"Wait, it's black? I thought you were holding a white thing..."

Yes, because for this review, I had the chance to try Wi2FLY on both my Maldives and France trips, and this lil black one got my back in Maldives!

Although during the first night it didn't work (the connection kept failing), that I needed to connect to the wifi in the hotel lobby, the customer service from Wi2FLY replied me quickly and helped me check on the connection:
And so, the next days, I was able to surf (geddit geddit, surf~) around the island, happily connected to the outside world. Without it, I wouldn't be able to publish any of these posts on my Instagram:
And many more on my Snapchat, Shine, Twitter, Facebook, etc. XD


France

In France, I used Wi2FLY everywhere I go and it worked REALLY nicely for most of the days.
Yes, there were a few glitches (the wifi would suddenly stopped working), but most of the time, I easily solved it by pressing the power button on the device to turn it off and and on again (restarting it), and voila, it's back to work.

I used it while browsing the pretty streets in Paris:

Used it all day long while enjoying the beautiful views in Nice and Grasse:

Heck, it even accompanied me in the plane for more than an hour due to my delayed flight from Nice to Paris:
Thank you, Wi2FLY!

Wouldn't be able to post these pics without you:

(( Not to mention how you helped us keeping in touch with our family, friends, clients, customers and employees during the trips ))

(( Also, how you enabled us to use these helpful apps on the go: Google Maps, Uber, Waze, TripAdvisor, Google Translate, Weather Forecast, Currency Converter, and so on ))

(( Really, thank you, Wi2FLY! ))


About Wi2FLY

This baby doesn't come alone.

So, what's in the package?
When you order Wi2FLY, you will get a red bag which consists of the router itself, a SUPER USEFUL travel adapter (seriously, this thing is the bomb, it's a one-plug-fits-all adapter and I was really thinking to keep it. I didn't btw), a charger cable, and an troubleshooting card in case of any problems:

Here are some useful informations about Wi2FLY (benefits, pricelist, worldwide area coverage, how to order) that I found on their website:
As you can see from the info up there, the router is DELIVERED FOR FREE* to you 1 day before your departure!! How convenient is that??
*You can also choose to pick it up at their office


Special for our readers

When you're ready to order:
2. Enter your destination and traveling dates
3. Use this Discount Code 'W2INJESS' to get 15% OFF your purchase*!!!
*this code is valid until 30 September 2016, so make sure you use it before thattt XD

And that's it, enjoy your trip!

Okay guys, I hope you find this post useful. See you again soon! :D

X
Jessica Yamada

August 20, 2016

POKEMON GO: How I Gained 78000 XP in 30 mins! - Indonesia (Eng Sub) | Elle Yamada

Hi everyone! As you all know, Pokemon Go is all the hype right now! There are so many people got hooked on the app, and I'm one of them. In this video, I share how I gained a lot of XP in just 30 minutes! Hope you enjoy it and find it helpfulthumbs up if you do! :)


Don't forget to watch 'til the end for the bloopers! xD

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more videos: bit.ly/ejsubscribe

Thank you so much for your support, I sincerely appreciate it! 

XOXO