Pink and Undecided: hair products

Unboxing : Althea Massive Haul! (SPONSORED)

Haiiii guyssss!!!!!

I just got back from my fun trip to Penang, Malaysia and been bombarded nonstop with endless events and meetings right away (i need my beauty sleep T.T) so only now i got the chance to sit down and ~~brag~~ share with you my latest, massive haul from Althea!

Yasss, i got a LOT, so so SO SPOILT by Althea i can't even T.T...

First of all, you do know that Althea Indonesia is BACK, yea? I mean, i have shared lots of posts of them since months ago so surely you do know about this amazing news? What you might not know yet is that they have a brand new website : https://in.althea.kr/ !

Althea Indonesia stopped operating for a while due to custom problems but our prayers was answered when they resolved the issues and now we can grab Korean cosmetics that we can't easily access in Indonesia with very pocket friendly prices again - HALLELUJAH! And also since Althea now has their own beauty line, we can finally get our hands on them too!

There is a little but tho, due to Indonesian custom rules, there are a few rules that must be applied and you as a consumer must be aware of since it does affect all of us and how we shop at Althea. Nothing to major or concerning, but it is essential for us to know and follow them.

You can read all about the new rules and restriction here but in short :

1. You can only order max of 8 products per order (honestly, if you want to shop more just wait a day or two then make another order, it's really no big deal as their free shipping starts from IDR 299,000 orders anyway, i'm sure you'll reach IDR 299,000 if you order 8 items!)

2. You can only order maximum of 8 items per category

3. You need to wait for 24 hours before making another purchase

4. You can only order IDR 1,100,000 per order.

Other than that you also need to verify your ID (our KTP), you only need to do this ONCE at check out on your first order. Don't worry about your information leaking, they will store and encrypted these data super carefully and will never be used for any other purposes (other than to follow Indonesian custom rule) or by third party.

Not bad, right?

Other than that, there is only good news : It is possible to COD (Cash on Delivery) now!!! Woohooo, no need to stress about payments anymore if you happen not to have credit card/debit card yet! For COD, your max order cannot surpass IDR 550,000 and only available on certain postal codes. You also can only pay with COD when your previous COD payment has changed to "Complete COD". ^^

Now, are you curious on what i grabbed from Althea???

Ofc i split my order in three :)) i got way too many things!

Let's see them in details hm hm hm :

Prreti Perfect Clean Cleansing Tissue - IDR 19,000 each
My friends raved about this cleansing tissues and since i needed some for traveling, i decided to grab two! It's crazy cheap (only 19k for 30 sheets!!!) and i have used them by now - i love it! A highly recommended product that i would keep on repurchasing for sure!

Plu Scrub Wash in Raspberry Mint - IDR 114,000
Hmmm, raspberry mint sounds sooo yum and i wanna smell yum too :D. I am so extra that even show wash i also have to order from Korea one *flipshair

Missha Perfect Lip & Eye Remover - IDR 52,000
This is just a basic need, you can never go wrong stocking up on makeup removers especially if you wear makeup frequenly like i do! Proper cleansing methods are a must for me so i cannot imagine running out of removers! I have never tried this one from Missha but i do love Missha products and it's so affordable so i decided to give this a try.

Esfolio Aloe Vera Moisture Soothing Gel Mist - IDR 52,000
Another product that i need backups for my backups for *LOL*, facial mist! I use facial mists savaely nowadays, to soothe my skin (it's suddenly so allergic prone :( soothing mists really helps!) and they also work as a makeup setting. I am currently loving the Aloe one from Innisfree and when i saw this super cheap one from Esfolio, i just need to try it as well!

Etude House My Beauty Tool_Lovely Etti_Standing Hair Brush - IDR 73,000
I honestly never thought that i'd ever purchase a hair brush from Althea *LOL*, usually i'm pretty generic when it comes to hair brushes and combs (read : i buy them at supermarkets *LOL*) but i just can't resist this super duper pretty one from Etude House. And the good news? It's awesome too! I actually am thinking of reviewing it hahaha

Etude House Play Color Eye in Peach Farm, Cherry Blossom and In the Cafe - IDR 211,000 each.
Yes, i went gaga for eyeshadow palettes and i love Etude House in general, they always come up with such cute products - their quality's top notch too. I still have my eyes on the other eyeshadow palettes from Play Color Eye series :p.

Coringco Pink Square Dual Cheek - IDR 113,000
I got this to complete my collection (there are only two shades, this one i got in no 1 because i already have the no 2) teehee

Now, another thing that makes Althea super special compared to other online shops is the fact that they have crazy promotions - and it's quite constant. For February they actually gave away free stuffs - all full size and with very good value as well. They had three different free gifts and if you order three times then you can get all three of the freebies (as long as they are still in stock). This is actually the reason why i split my order in 3 *LOLOLOL* (the minimum order was only IDR 300k some more!) you know i am super kiasu one. Unfortunately i missed one freebie T.T but i am still super duper happy with the two that i did get!

Freebie one : Mise-en-Scene Pefect Repair Serum - IDR 110,000
With my heavily bleached hair, i cannot survive without hair serum. This is a very welcome addition to my stock!

Freebie Two : VDL Expert Color Lip Cube EX - IDR 302,000 (it's unfortunately no longer in stock in Althea)
Yes, you read that right, the freebie is worth more than the minimum spending required to be eligible to grab it. Now you see why Althea is my all time #1 fave cosmetic shopping platform?

So yeeea, that's my entire haul! Super duper happy with what i got and ehm... I already got another package on my way :DD! Anything from this haul you want to review? Even if i can't review on the blog i will make sure i will share my thoughts on my Instagram feed/story, just leave your requests below :D.

#Pink

8:27:00 PM
2 Comments

Hair-O-Logy 05 : Rudy Hadisuwarno Hair Intense Repair Serum

hair

Hey guys...

I'm finally back with another product review, i have more than a year worth of backlogs on products *very heavy sigh*, i'm such a bad beauty blogger *LOL*. No wonder i'm more of those event-attending bloggers than review-back-to-back kind of blogger, i really do enjoy going to events and write about them more than writing reviews *LOL*. But of course, i love reviewing products too, it's just a bit more brain-cell consuming that lazy me like to shove them at the back of my mind.

But i just forced myself to sit in the past few hours and shift through last year's photo folders, prep product pictures (and even re-take some pictures that were super blurry i cannot possibly post it here as much as i want to, slightly blurry-i'd post it, but extremely blurry until you can't really see anything... I think my blog's worth more than that *LOL*) and upload them-continued with forcing myself to start reviewing again hahaha.

So, last hair related post was on July, which is not bad at all compared to other reviews like masks >.<, and now it's time to review Rudy Hadisuwarno's Hair Intense Repair Serum.

I didn't purchase these serum myself but i got two boxes from now defunct beauty boxes, and after using them for months and months, i am more than qualified to review them haha! Actually finished both boxes long time ago and continued on trying out other serums for my hair (but i now cannot do without applying some serums after washing my hair, something that i never even touch less than two years ago :D).

Let's talk packaging first. Each Rudy Hadisuwarno Hair Intense Repair Serum comes in a set like box with six small plastic bottles inside.

The box is a normal carton box with domination of different shades of gold. Not very eye catching for me, looks "old" and "boring". I'm a visual person and love everything kawaii, so this probably isn't something i would personally reach for when i'm looking for a hair serum (yes, there are cute hair serum packaging too, in case you don't know!)

Part of Martha Tilaar beauty, immediately increase the credibility but the name Rudy Hadisuwarno should be enough to convince you in the first place! (He is a very famous Indonesian hair stylist, btw)

Each bottle contains 9ml worth of serum

The serum's bottle's small, the height is exactly the same as my thumb and it's 1.5x fatter than my *fat* thumb. I notice that a lot of hair serums comes in small packaging (especially the famous capsules) but i have no idea why? Is it better than the others that comes in a normal, bigger bottles (which probably contains the same amount of product as these bottles combined)? I cannot answer that (if you know the reasons why, please enlighten me!!!) and sometimes i wonder if it's got to do with quality control? Or just so it's easier to travel with? Hm...

It comes in with a twist off cap and pointy dropper. You just need to gently squeeze the body of the bottle to release the serum inside, the pointy opening makes it easy to control the amount of serum that got out of it.

I have very long hair (but they're very fine) so i always use a pretty generous amount of serum every time

The serum itself has a clear runny gel consistency which is more watery than Makarizo Advizor Hair Recovery (which i reviewed here). You don't need a lot of amount to apply and there is no exact rule on when to apply them (i like to apply hair serum on a damp, towel-dried hair but you can also apply it on dry hair to help make it look shinier and to tame flyaway hair).

It's super easy to use (like every other hair serum out there), just pour a suitable amount (according to your hair length and thickness), rub them on you palm and apply them on your hair shaft. I prefer to apply it on the lower half of my hair and avoid my scalp as far as possible because i have very oily scalp and limp hair as it is. No need to rinse. They got absorbed into my (damp) hair super fast and leave no greasy trail on my hands at all. It doesn't make my hair greasy but more shiny and healthy instead.

Rudy Hadisuwarno's serum has a very nice, perfumy-floral, sophisticated (smells very luxurious and not cheap for me) scent that i really like. I am picky when it comes to scents, Makarizo's serum makes me feel nauseated sometimes-Rudy's definitely smells a LOT better for me and it's one of the best smelling hair serums that i've ever tried so far (this is purely my taste, of course).

Contains Argan Oil (which is like, the holy grail ingredients in hair serums) and pomegranate extract

Claims to deliver vitamin and nutrition to hair shaft, protects hair against chemical process and heat, helps repair damaged hair , smoothen hair so it becomes more manageable and maintain healthy shiny hair (OMG i just realized that the English parts of the explanation's super bad zzzz).

Did they deliver what they promised? In my experience : It certainly makes my hair (which is quite damaged from constant dyeing and regular blow dry) a lot healthier than before. It totally really helps protecting my hair against the harmful hair dryer! I once found a split hair (much to my horror because i never had one before) before i started to take better care of my hair, but ever since i start using conditioners+hair serums (and this serum is the one that i've used the longest), i face no such problems anymore. No more dry hair ends for me!

And the help smoothen hair part was true for me too, even though my hair's super straight and silky, sometimes they got tangled after towel drying, as soon as i apply this serum on my hair i can immediately comb it through with no tangle whatsoever. So yeah, it definitely delivered all of their claims for me! I am a very satisfied customer!

I love to support local brands!

Price wise, according to the beauty boxes it should be IDR 73.000 (which is quite expensive for a local hair serum compared to their competitors), but a simple browse on the internet proves that beauty boxes love to jack up products' prices to make their boxes seems more value-for-money than they really are -___-. It's actually only IDR 47.000-51.000, which placed them in a normal price range. I get more than a week's worth of usage for each bottle (closer to 2 weeks, actually!) so each box last me for more than two months! Very affordable indeed!

You can easily find them in most major local supermarket and drugstores, of if you're too lazy to step out of your house you can buy them online as well (for example here).

Rudy Hadisuwarno Hair Intense Repair Serum is definitely a great product, one of my firm all-time-favorite hair serums! It keeps my hair healthy, shiny, manageable, it's affordable and it smells wonderful!

I would highly recommend this for anyone looking for a great performing hair serum to add to their hair routines. Would not recommend this for... Nobody, really. But my hair is not severely damaged nor it is very very dry so i have no idea how it's perform on those types of hair, still-there's no harm in giving a try! In my experience, i found no negative effects but every individual is different and what works for me doesn't always work on others ^^.

Personally love this a lot and would definitely repurchase it!

Do you currently use hair serums too? What brand are you using and how do you like it?

#Pink

8:20:00 PM
1 Comments

Hair-O-Logy 03 : Pantene Pro-V Protect & Care Leave On Treatment

conditioner

Hello!

For someone who claims to be a total noob when it comes to hair care, i sure act like i'm a pro-already on my third hair stuff review and all! LOL! This empty tube had been collecting dust in the basket for a while, waiting for its turn to be reviewed before being chucked on the bin-and since today i am having a little mood to write a review *it's rare, needs to be milked whenever it appears. I'm pretty sure this was me over-compensating for feeling like wasting my 30 minutes re-writing the entry that Blogger suddenly did a magic trick of disappearing on yesterday. This kind of accident's no good for OCD people, or maybe it's good? Since it whipped my lazy ass into reviewing mode again?* so let's start!

Pantene Pro-V Protect & Care Leave On Treatment

First i couldn't find the official picture on the internet when i typed the name. So weird. I even went to Pantene's website and even there i couldn't find the product in their list, double weird. Since i hate not having the pretty, professional photos before showing you my own pathetic photography (if it can even be called that *LOL*), i tried again. I finally found that picture above in online stores (that one was from Lazada.com). But it's still different from my own tube since it was the bigger version. Here's mine :

I got mine in the smaller, 45 ml tube

I do not remember whether i bought the smaller version because i wasn't sure i was going to like it (since i am used to the regular conditioner and as a creature of habit, trying different ways can be difficult for me) or because it was the only one available at the time (most probably the first).

I bought this leave on treatment (actually i'm still confused, is this a leave in conditioner so you do not need to use a separate conditioner? Or is it the next step after conditioner? I couldn't find a satisfying answer to this! Why the whole thing about this product's so confusing? LOL. It did said in indonesian "no-wash conditioner" but shouldn't the name suggests that as well?) since i needed a leave on conditioner while i was using Dove Cream Hair Treatment because i couldn't bear the thought of having to double the wait in the shower if i use another conditioner after i used the hair treatment so i went and hunt for something that i could use after shower and doesn't need to be washed off. I remember using this type of thing (from Pantene too, i believe) many many years ago, and i ended up finding this in the supermarket.

The 45ml version came with a short and fat (not like me, at least i am not short :p) tube made of light, glossy plastic.

And a normal, easy to handle flip cap

The texture was quite thick, slightly see-through white gelly-like cream. It was quite similar to Dove Cream Hair Treatment's texture. It smells good, quite perfumey and for hair treatments i do like stuffs with scents that reminds me of expensive hair saloons *i dunno if it's weird or not!* and this one does so the scent got my stamp of approval :p.

They stated that you'd need 3-4 drops for shoulder length hair, my hair's down to my waist *this was written before i cut it shorter* so i used quite a lot of them (but then again i always seems to be quite heavy handed with any products, eh?). I always find leave on things to be quite repulsive, mainly because my hair's so limp and the root's so oily already, the thought of adding more products scares me! It'd totally weight it down, yes? Wrong. As long as i do it while my hair's still wet (i would finish showering, towel as dry as i could, put on clothes and put this on right away) or even damp (most products suggests you to put them on a half-dried hair, thing is i can never be patient enough to wait until it gets half dried. No problem, i only had to use slightly more products when my hair's wet as opposed to a damp one) and it won't be a problem at all.

While putting it on a dry hair might make my hair even limper and oily (and sticky. Ew), doing it on a towel dried hair left no such effect. The cream was absorbed really fast into my hair, and it didn't even leave a sticky residue on my palm. This works on my normal hair with very oily scalp, i have no idea how it'd work on a dry hair (maybe both applications, half dried or dried, will be fine on dry hairs?). This leave my hair smelling good (even though the scent doesn't really linger, i don't think), feeling soft and surprisingly-light weight after being hair-dried! So as opposed to make my hair feels heavy and limp (like how it usually does whenever i'm using the regular conditioner in the shower), it actually makes my hair lighter and the roots actually stayed fresh longer!

This product claims to protect and care for your hair, and i believe they totally delivered. It kept my hair soft, silky and smooth as well as protecting it against damage even when i actually use hair drier every day (because i wash my hair every day as well). I started using hair vitamin and oils ever since i feel like my hair's getting drier due to the daily exposure of hot air and they had successfully returned the conditioner to its original silky softness, this leave on treatment have the same effect as any hair oils that i've tried so this could be an alternative for those who wants to kill two birds with one stone (you know, use a hair conditioner/treatment at once without having to use both... I personally do not recommend that though. I think conditioner and treatments/vitamins totally complement each other...)

The only problem with leave on hair conditioner for me is unless i have another hair treatment to use in the shower, i'd have to deal with slightly tangled and sticky wet hair (the result of shampooing. Yes, even on my super soft and dead straight hair!) and i HATE that! So, i probably won't be using this unless i find another in-shower hair treatment that i want to try out.

This is a highly recommended product for those of you who are too lazy to wait for your conditioner to penetrate and prefer a non-washed version or those of you who are pressed for shower time (with this you can just go go go, put it on after shower and you're good to go), it's also very affordable (it was really cheap, i can't remember how much. According to Phanie it was IDR 9.900 for this small version, i have no recollection of the price at all) and easy to get (in any local supermarket/drugstore). Seems to be suitable for every hair type as well.

Not recommended for people like me who hates tangled hair (in the shower) after shampooing, it actually helps detangles when you applied it but not as miraculously as the regular one (It can be used without weighing your hair down in conjunction with an in-shower hair treatment though but it certainly compromise the no fuss part haha).

Still a very solid product that i would definitely repurchase if i ever (i would most likely to though) have another in-shower hair treatment that needs to be followed with another conditioner.

Have you ever tried this leave on treatment? Did you like it?

#Pink

11:00:00 PM
31 Comments

Hair-O-Logy 02 : Sunsilk Co-Creations Shampoo Frizz & Weather Defense

hair products

Heyyllowww!

So, here i am, ready to talk about hair stuffs again! What an improvement, no? While i still have no intention to blog about the usual hair stuffs i use daily (yes, i wash my hair daily, i cannot stand even the thought of a smelly scalp, IYUCCCKKKK!!!), you know... Whatever shampoo and conditioners Pantene or Dove has (i tend to buy whatever's on a promotion, anything from those two brands works well for me), at least not for now (i am entitled to change my mind sometimes y'know...) but whenever i'm using something (a variant i mean) new-ish, i decided to review it. And this time it's :

Sunsilk Co-Creations Shampoo Frizz & Weather Defense (Picture courtesy of Google)

Now, even though i've never tried this variant before, Sunsilk is definitely not a new brand for me. Not by a long shot. Sunsilk is one of the best known drugstore brand in Indonesia for their shampoo and hair cares, so much that plenty (including myself when i was younger) mistaken it as a local brand (or at least no longer recognize it as non-local). It performs well and very easy on the pocket, i don't think there are any Indonesian who have never heard of Sunsilk!

I myself used to be their super loyal user (of the yellow one, was it Soft & Smooth?) for YEARS. I never even dreamed about trying something else for years and years (i think it was for more than 5 years). Until one day, it stopped working for me, my scalp became super oily and itchy whenever i used it. I guess my hair got too used to it (apparently it's a common thing that can happen if you've been using one product for a very very long time) so i gave up and moved to Pantene (until i discovered Dove and now i alternate between the two brands while recently began trying other brands as well). I didn't dare to purchase any Sunsilk shampoo anymore (i still use their conditioner and hair treatments once in a while) because i was too traumatized by how the yellow shampoo made my head so itchy in the end until i saw this in the supermarket.

Yep, the trick to get me to buy stuffs : feature an interesting bonus. LOLOLOL. I know, super kiasu right! I was a bit hesitant to use it at first but i was like "Ehhh what the hell, i already bought it! Let's try it anyway! If it's horrible i can always pass it to my maid or something." So i did.

Comes with the usual, boring looking bottle with slanted top

Yeah... i'm not into hair trends or whatever so i have no idea who Teddy Charles is and if he's even remotely any good hehe

I really hate the bottle's color hahahaha. I usually quite like blue, you know... baby blue, robin's egg blue, navy, whatever. But this blue, seems to look very cheap and fugly for me

The usual flip cap, which closes and opens easily. i have bad experiences with flip tops (too hard that it hurts my fingers trying to open it, too loose it won't close properly, material too frail i snap it off after the first use, the list goes on) but this one held itself pretty well until i finished the last drops

First thing i noticed when i used it? How PRETTY the actual shampoo was!!! LOL. It was iridescent baby pink!

Yep, i'm a little girl at heart as you know, i pretty much squealed happily when i tilted the fugly blue bottle and beautiful baby pink liquid poured out! It actually made me happy whenever i used it *LOL*. And the second thing i noticed? How good it smelt! It's very cheery-smelling, and to my nose it smelt a lot like fruity candy! I think it's one of the yummiest smelling shampoo i've ever used (because i'm used to a regular, boring smelling ones of Pantene and Dove that pretty much all smell similar)!

Consistency was runny, it lathers up easily and heartily. Didn't have to rub so hard to create a full head of lather! It didn't say anything about being suitable for oily scalp hence my further worries upon trying it on, but it actually works pretty well for my oily scalp! It even left my scalp oil-free longer than Dove and Pantene that i can stand not having it washed longer (okay, by longer i meant 1.5 day, or 2 tops. But i really very rarely leave my hair unwashed for more than 24 hours though!). Another thing that i noticed was that it left my hair less limp (makes it feels very lightweight) and a teeny tiny bit more volumized than usual! It wasn't sticky and didn't cause any itchiness to my scalp (my scalp can be quite sensitive, i got bumps all over it when i first used Dove because it was a bit too rich for me).

It stated to control frizz for 24 hours, my hair's not frizzy at all in the first place so i can't really say anything about it, but i also see nothing but good thing of its performance on my hair! Weather defense's also quite fitting since it helped me go through super hot weather better than my usual shampoo (you know, keeping them fresher for longer) so i was actually very satisfied with this shampoo! Totally performed better than i expected. I'm no so sure that it would be very suitable for very dry and damaged hair though. When i used it before adding up conditioner, my hair felt a bit dry and straw-ish, and my hair is very fine and straight to begin with, i imagine it'd be worse for dry hair!

Would recommend this for people who are looking for a cheap, sweet smelling, great performing, fuss free drugstore shampoo that works for oily scalp and limp hair who wants more lightweight and volumized hair. Not recommended for people who hates candy smells on their hair hehe, also in my opinion-not suitable for people with dry hair.

Please note that i am recommending it in lieu with my own experience, therefore i can only tell you how it's working on my hair type (oily scalp, very fine, colored hair, dry at the end). Sadly i cannot tell you if it'd work for very frizzy hair or not.

Will i repurchase this? I think so, if it's on promotion or better still, comes with a bonus again! LOL. Lemme show off the little bonus that the main reason why i purchased this shampoo in the first place!

You actually get to choose out of the three but i only spotted the bracelet. I have lots of freebie nail polishes from Veet and i don't wear bandana (they won't stay on my slippery hair!) so even if all three choices were available i'd still go for the bracelet!

Half golden metal and half yellow rubber band with Sunsilk's logo as the hook


Pretty unique looking and good quality for a freebie! And the shampoo's price already very cheap in the first place

That's all for now, hope i'm not so horrible at reviewing hair stuffs :p, i think practice makes perfect so i will do another one (hopefully) soon haha. What's your favorite shampoo? Are you a drugstore/supermarket brand hair care user or more of a high end hair products lover?

#Pink

PS : I want to thank everyone who took their time to read my photo-less and very wordy (and probably whiny) last post about mummy guilt, i've also received a lot of sweet and encouraging responses that makes me feel even better! Since my heart-pouring posts seems to be received well, i will try to do that type of posts more often, but maybe not too often because it really requires me to have a specific kind of mood and determination to write. It's always easier to talk about trivial stuffs and just paste lots of pictures you know haha. Thank you for being such wonderful readers! Virtual hugs for everybody!