Healthy Skin Is A Beautiful Skin

Haaaiii..

Beberapa hari lalu saya diundang oleh D&I Skincentre untuk datang ke klinik cabang terbaru mereka di Bintaro.
Mereka menjelaskan bahwa mereka tahu saya dari blog ini dan beberapa kegiatan komunitas Indonesian Crafter yang sempat beberapa kali diliput oleh media dan mereka mengundang saya untuk bisa mengenal treatment - treatment yang mereka punya.

Tentu saja saya happy diundang untuk mengenal lebih jauh tentang skincentre yang menawarkan prinsip program "Cantik Untuk Semua" itu dan menjadwalkan appointment untuk melakukan treatment pertama saya.

Sewaktu saya datang ke D&I Skincentre pada saat jadwal appointment, saya disambut dengan sangat ramah oleh customer service mereka. Dan saya merasakan atmosfer yang nyaman, beraroma sangat menenangkan dan homey pada ruangan tunggu di D&I Skincentre, jadi tidak seperti masuk pada satu klinik yang steril dengan aroma pembersih ruangan yang menyengat.

Kemudian saya diantar untuk menemui dr. Elsya Pahlawati yang akan bertindak sebagai dokter saya dan yang akan mengawasi segala tindakan treatment dan medis atas diri saya nantinya.
dr. Elsya lalu mulai melakukan pemeriksaan awal atas kondisi kulit wajah saya dan menginformasikan pada saya bahwa pada dasarnya kulit saya tidak terlalu bermasalah, jadi mereka akan melakukan treatment awal yaitu "Glowing Peeling", treatment ini akan membantu mencerahkan kulit wajah saya dan menyamarkan bekas jerawat atau flek kehitaman pada wajah saya.

Ini adalah dr. Elsya yang sangat kooperatif dan ramah..such a nice lady..:)

Setelah konsultasi, lalu saya diantar ke ruang treatment dan di ruangan sudah ada Mba Dinda, my personal beautician, she was also a very friendly girl and so helpful with all of my questions about how to take care of my skin.

Mba Dinda lalu mulai melakukan tindakan pertama yaitu membersihkan make up dan debu pada wajah saya dengan air hangat dan setelah itu mengeringkannya, dan sambil melakukan perawatan pada wajah saya, Dinda juga menginfokan pada saya agar saya rutin melakukan perawatan wajah dasar dan memakai sunblock agar terhindar dari paparan sinar matahari langsung apabila saya banyak melakukan aktivitas di luar ruangan.
Setelah membersihkan wajah saya, Dinda lalu mulai melakukan treatment "Glowing Peeling", pada saat saya bertanya apakah treatment ini memang dilakukan oleh beautician dan bukannya dokter, Dinda menjelaskan karena ini adalah peeling awal atau dasar, jadi memang treatment ini yang mengerjakan adalah beautician, tapi treatment selanjutnya nanti akan dilakukan oleh dokter estetika atau dokter spesialis, tergantung treatment yang akan dilakukan pada pasien sesuai dengan hasil konsultasi dari dokternya.

Dan treatment ini tidak memakan waktu terlalu lama, hanya sekitar 15 - 20 menit. Jadi apabila jadwal kita padat, kita masih bisa menyempatkan diri untuk melakukan perawatan wajah di tengah - tengah jam makan siang kita, lalu bisa kembali beraktivitas di kantor lagi.

Selesai melakukan treatment dengan Dinda, saya diantar kembali untuk menemui dr. Elsya dan melakukan pemeriksaan sebentar oleh beliau. Setelah itu dr. Elsya mendaftarkan saya untuk kembali datang 2 minggu kemudian untuk melakukan treatment kedua yaitu "Facial Glowing".
Dan dr. Elsya juga menganjurkan agar saya tidak membersihkan wajah saya dulu dengan facial foam atau toner atau mengoleskan krim malam dulu setelah peeling treatment ini agar kulit wajah saya tidak menjadi kering.

Saya ini orangnya practical, bagi saya membersihkan wajah dengan facial foam sehabis beraktivitas di luar rumah dan hanya meminum vitamin C untuk kesehatan kulit dan stamina itu sudah cukup. Saya bahkan jarang sekali memakai sunblock...oh my, such a lazy girl i am, huh ? hahahaha..

Ternyata merawat wajah itu sangat penting dan sangat basic.
Kita pertama kali bertemu klien atau kolega dan mereka akan melihat wajah saya pertama kali. Apabila wajah kita terawat dan terlihat sehat, maka orang lain pun akan menghargai kita sebagai a person dan pada akhirnya mereka akan bisa mempercayakan saya akan sebuah atau suatu pekerjaan apabila kita sendiri menghargai wajah dan tubuh kita.

Well, lesson's learned.
Mulai saat ini saya sepertinya harus lebih memperhatikan perawatan wajah say dan menjaga agar wajah saya selalu sehat juga terawat dengan baik.
Karena cantik itu bukan dari polesan tebalnya make up, cantik itu adalah percaya diri dengan wajah yang sehat dan terawat.
2 minggu lagi, saya akan memulai treatment ke dua saya.
Wanna read the rest of the story ? You need to wait for it, i will post it again here in my blog or you can follow my Instagram account for more pictures.

You can check D&I website here
Follow D&I Instagram account here
Or follow my Instagram account here

See you..:)

Walk A Mile In Her Shoes

Ever heard about this campaign before ? No ?
It's okay. Me neither.

But stumbled upon their website just now, and this movement is amazed me. Like seriously !
People need to do this campaign more, men must participate here.

What is Walk A Mile In Her Shoes ?

A Walk a Mile in Her Shoes® Event is a playful opportunity for men to raise awareness in their community about the serious causes, effects and remediations to men's sexualized violence against women.

First You Walk the Walk
There is an old saying: "You can't really understand another person's experience until you've walked a mile in their shoes." Walk a Mile in Her Shoes® asks men to literally walk one mile in women's high-heeled shoes. It's not easy walking in these shoes, but it's fun and it gets the community to talk about something that's really difficult to talk about: gender relations and men's sexualized violence against women.

Then You Talk the Talk
It's critical to open communication about sexualized violence. While hidden away, sexualized violence is immune to cure. Unfortunately, it's difficult to get people talking. People unfamiliar with men's sexualized violence against women don't want to know it exists. It's ugly. People that have experienced sexualized violence themselves want to forget about it. How do you get people talking now, so they can prevent it from happening? And if it's already happened, how do you help them recover.

A Walk a Mile in Her Shoes® Event is abundant with opportunities to get people talking. For preventive education, it helps men better understand and appreciate women’s experiences, thus changing perspectives, helping improve gender relationships and decreasing the potential for violence. For healing, it informs the community that services are available for recovery. It demonstrates that men are willing and able to be courageous partners with women in making the world a safer place. The Walk Event Experience provides a description of how these opportunities might present themselves at a Walk a Mile in Her Shoes® Event.

Not Just a Women's Issue
Here Sexualized violence does not just affect women. It affects the men who care about them, their families, their friends, their coworkers, and their communities. Sexualized violence is epidemic. Some of the statistics: Every two minutes someone is raped. One in six women are victims of sexual assault. That means someone you know, someone you care about, has been or may become the victim of sexual violence. It may be your mother, your sister, your friend, your girlfriend, your wife, your coworker or your daughter.

History of Walk a Mile in Her Shoes®
Frank Baird created Walk a Mile in Her Shoes® in 2001.
What started out as a small group of men daring to totter around a park has grown to become a world-wide movement with tens of thousands of men raising millions of dollars for local rape crisis centers, domestic violence shelters and other sexualized violence education, prevention and remediation programs.

Who can join the campaign ?
All of us.
From USA to Arabia. From Netherland to Pakistan.
We should encourage our male friends or coworkers or families or colleagues to join this event and participate more.
You can register to their website here and starting to organize your event in your country.

I would like to organize one here in Jakarta.
You coming with me ?

Pictures credited to Walk A Mile In Her Shoes website and from other organizations who condone the same event around the world.

So..
Are you men enough to wear your red high heels and join us ?

The Formula - or 'how to price your wares correctly'

It's crazy how often the topic of pricing comes up in conversation around here.

- It might be triggered by our frustrations with a comment on a blog about how such-and-such beautiful, bespoke, handmade item is 'too expensive'.

- We might be throwing around business ideas & offering advice to a intern or friend who wants to start a small business.

- Or we might be discussing a new venture for our own business (such as Inklet), trying to figure out if a product is actually viable to produce and sell at a reasonable price.

The thing is, pricing yourself correctly is HARD. there are so many things working against you when you're a small, local business trying to sell your wares. Like the fact that 99% of the products in your marketplace are manufactured overseas with poor ethical & enviromental standards and sold at a price that you'll never be able to match. And the fact that in your own community there are people who will operate at a loss on a hobby basis because they don't depend on the income from the business. And because people as whole have a mindset that cheaper is better and haven't been educated about the 'real cost' of their purchase.

Since the very beginning, we've always tried to price our textiles correctly. If it wasn't for the wonderful book Craft Inc., we might never have known about The Formula (as we have dubbed it), and by now we would have worked ourselves into the ground.

But fortunately we did know about The Formula (said with a reverent tone) and would like to share it with you today:

What do you reckon? Sounds pretty full on, huh? All those x2's! Well let me tell you, those x2's are there for a reason and without them we wouldn't be here writing this post to you today.

Let's break it down:

Cost price

Your cost price is the cost of your time (or someone else's) plus the cost of your materials.

Time cost
If you're doing the work yourself you need to pay yourself an hourly rate. We calculated our rate based on what we'd have to pay someone else to do the job for us. Because if we got bigger, that's what we'd have to do. Make it a realistic figure. For us it's $20per hour. You might be able to work to a lesser figure, that's fine. If you outsource, remember to factor in any time you need to spend liaising with or managing your makers.

Material costs
These are your direct material costs, not equipment or setup. For example, we factor in the cost of our basecloth, our inks and our heat setting, but not the screen exposure.

Wholesale price

Your wholesale price is your cost price, doubled. Why double it? Because you need to cover all your overheads! Your rent, electricity, equipment, etc etc etc. If you were paying someone else for their labor then you'd be making nothing for yourself if you didn't mark up the price. Update - double might not work for everyone, everyone's overheads are different, but the important point is that you need *some* markup here. If you material costs are very high then double might be extreme, though it's important to remember that high material costs come with high investment and risk, which you should be covering yourself for.

Retail price

Finally, your retail price is your wholesale price, doubled. Again, why doubled? Because retailers will typically need to mark your goods up by 100%. That sounds extreme, but a retailer also has all of their overheads to cover, plus they have to factor in losses from goods that don't sell. Update - 100% is the standard for *our* industry. If your industry has a standard markup of say, 50%, then you can work to that. Do your research and find out.

The important thing to note is, you need to sell at the retail price (or close to it) in your online shop and at markets. Even if you don't wholesale yet. For three reasons:

1) Because when the time comes to start wholesaling your goods, you can't be undercutting your wholesale customers.

2) Because there are additional overheads involved in playing the role of retailer yourself - packaging costs, shop fees, time to photograph & list items, market stall fees etc etc.

3) Because you're potentially doing the rest of the handmade industry a disservice if you don't.

That last point is a crucial one. And a tough topic. On the one hand, it's important to acknowledge that not everyone can launch into their small business selling at a 'proper' retail price. And one could argue that it's those stallholders with more affordable handmade items that help keep our handmade marketplace a thriving and dynamic one. But on the flip side, other businesses who have set their prices at a sustainable level aren't able to compete. For example, a fully lined zip purse made from our fabric with the above formula would need to be sold for around $35. How often do you see these being sold at markets for $15 or less?

One last thing
Whilst we're here, let's just take a moment to reflect on how the above formula applies to a $15 t-shirt from a large chain store. Considering that some large retailers have markups of 200 or 300%, how much did the person who sewed that garment get paid? Society seems to be more educated about battery hens than their human counterpart.

We hope this post has shed some light for both customers and other business owners alike. We figure if we're going to selling fabric for $96 a metre and t-shirts for $45 then it's important for you to understand where those figures came from. And we hope you'll think about this post when you next think of someone's wares as being 'too expensive', or when you find you next 'bargain' in the stores.

*Repost from http://inkandspindle.blogspot.com/

Back Again in 2015

Hellooo...

For those of you whose waiting for my blog update through 2015, i am really sorry because so many things happened during early 2015 and i couldn't keep up to kept writing my blog and doing house chores at the same time.

Plus my kid kinda needs more of my time cause he was in his stage of being a selfish little kid..hahahhaha...

And so does my dad. I kinda think that my dad can be a bit demanding for my spare time than my son...hahahahaha...

But, am back again now.
I tried to post once a day or twice a week for my own pleasure, but bare with me.
Cause, let's be honest..am just an ordinary housewife..:)

Asbestos Awareness Week

As you guys already known my history with cancer, since my mother battled breast cancer in 2009 and she won the battle, but then 2 years ago, it struck again and the cancer was spread and destroyed my mother heart, lungs and kidneys.
My mother may not win the battle this time -she died on April 20th, two years ago- but she was never lose the war.

Couples of days ago, i met a new special friend via social media.
Her name is Heather Von St James.
She was diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma.

Have you heard about mesothelioma ?
Oh neither did I, and so we did the corespondent, mostly me asking Heather what is mesothelioma and her answer was shocking me.
She got mesothelioma because of asbestos.

Asbestos is not banned in the US, yet it’s the only known cause of mesothelioma. She was exposed to asbestos through her father's work jacket when she was just a little girl, her diagnosis came about 30 years later.
Once diagnosed, most patients die within 2 years. She is one of few survivors who openly share their story and work to spread awareness regarding the dangers of asbestos.
Asbestos was once used in more than 3,000 consumer products including household items such as toasters and hair dryers – some of which may still be in use.

Every year around 3,000 people are diagnosed with mesothelioma.

Heather is a survivor.

Today, she is a eight-year mesothelioma cancer survivor and have made it her mission to help other mesothelioma victims around the globe. She shares her personal story to help spread hope and awareness for others going through this, in hopes that one day no one else will have to.

In honor of upcoming Asbestos Awareness Week (April 1-7), she have created a webpage dedicated to raising awareness.

Here’s the link to her website : mesothelioma.com/heather/awareness

Please help spreading hope and be a voice for the victims.

LEARN MORE about mesothelioma and the dangers of asbestos.

New Year...New Hope..New You !

Hello everyone..

So sorry for such a very late post..
Been almost 6 months since i wrote this blog..so many things happens during that time that makes me evaluate and reviewed my life and others around me.

I lost my aunt this January, and it still hurts for us to go back to our feet.
But life goes on..as sad as we are, we need to move on for the sake of our family too..

We are heart broken, but in other time we feel hope.
God still loves us and He wants us to keep on living full of life and have a faith in Him.

I promise..
After this "curhatan", i will try to post one story at a time.

See you on the next story..:)

Make A Quote

Just random stuff to cheer up your day if you feel like you aren't in the best look of your day..:)

Sendratari Wayang Orang Jawa

Sebagai seorang Jawa tulen (ayah saya orang Jogja, ibu saya orang Solo) saya cinta sekali pada kebudayaan Jawa.
Tarian Jawa, cerita - cerita dari Jawa, makanan Jawa (sebetulnya saya suka makan apa aja, tapi entah kenapa masakan Jawa selalu mengingatkan saya akan rumah) sampai urban legend asal Jawa pun saya selalu antusias mendengar kisahnya.
Bukan berarti saya ngga cinta pada kebudayaan yang lain, tapi di dalam darah saya mengalir kata - kata "Jawa" dan membuat saya selalu merindukan apapun yang beraroma Jawa.

Saya lahir dari keluarga seniman Jawa.
Keluarga besar ibu saya dulu adalah penari istana pada saat kepemimpinan Presiden Soekarno.
Sedangkan keluarga besar ayah saya adalah penyanyi dan pelukis. Eyang saya dari pihak ayah sangat pintar dalam menciptakan lagu, beliau hapal seluruh tangga nada dan not balok hanya dengan menggumamkan senandung lagunya.

Tapi saya justru heran, kenapa saya kurang bisa nari Jawa ??
Kenapa suara saya sangat bagus hanya pada saat bernyanyi di kamar mandi ?? Hahahahhaha...
Dulu waktu sd, saya pernah belajar nari Jawa.
Pertama, jadi rusa. Saya lupa nama tariannya.
Gerakannya lincah, seperti anak rusa, berlari kesana kemari mengitari panggung.
Lalu jadi anaknya ratu.
Kalo yang ini hampir tidak ada gerakan sama sekali walaupun masih menari...karena gerakannya sangat pelan dan lembut, saking lembut dan pelannya, saya hampir tertidur saat itu.

Beranjak besar, saya ngga begitu mendalami tarian Jawa lagi.
Mungkin karena saya belum kuat hati.
Seorang penari Jawa, menurut saya, haruslah mampu mememendam seluruh perasaannya dalam - dalam, tapi harus bisa mengalirkan perasaan yang terpendam itu ke dalam gerakan tari di kepala, tangan, badan serta kaki mereka.
Beda dengan penari Bali yang amat lincah, menghentak, meluap - luap emosinya. Sangat energik.
Seorang penari Jawa memendam betul emosi mereka tapi harus bisa terlihat oleh penontonnya pada saat mereka menarikan lakonnya.
Itu yang susah buat saya.
Pada saat remaja, saya adalah tipe remaja yang pecicilan.
Rame, suka ketawa ngakak - ngakak, dan meluap - luap.
Kalo saya harus memendam emosi dan perasaan saya pada saat menari, saya ngga sanggup. Bukannya memberikan tontonan yang cantik, nanti saya malah dikira lagi dagelan. Hahahahhaha..
Tapi saya dulu juga belajar nari Bali dan Yapong. Dan modern dance.
Yep..:)

Dan satu hal yang sekali lagi membuat saya jatuh cinta terhadap tanah leluhur saya adalah Sendratari Wayang Orang.

Saya suka sekali nonton Wayang Orang.
Entah itu baju - bajunya, dandanan mereka, sampai pada gerakan lembut pada saat mereka menari sebagai putri atau pangeran, atau juga gerakan yang penuh dinamis pada saat mereka menari sebagai ksatria atau bhuto (raksasa).

Salah satu kelompok wayang orang yang paling saya kagumi adalah kelompok Wayang Orang Bharata.
Karena dulu ibu saya, bude saya, sampai adik saya pernah tergabung di dalamnya..oh dan ini menjadi PR saya untuk membongkar tumpukan foto - foto saat mereka pentas..nanti saya update lagi fotonya yaa..:)

Dulu hampir setiap minggu saya dan ayah saya mengantar, dan menjemput ibu atau adik saya latihan nari di WO Bharata.
Wajah - wajah cantik dan tampan yang sering saya lihat di tv, pada saat di luar panggung menjadi wajah - wajah seperti orang kebanyakan saja yang bisa saya temui di sepanjang jalan.
Tapi begitu mereka mulai menari...kayak ada ruh yang datang dan mengambil alih tubuh mereka dan mereka pun berubah menjadi sang Gatotkaca, sang Arjuna, sang Shinta, sang Rama.
Sungguh mereka sangat cantik dan tampan walau hanya berbalut kaos partai dan celana yoga !

Dan tempat favorite saya sewaktu mereka pentas adalah backstage.
Di backstage, saya bisa melihat mereka bertransformasi menjadi lakon yang mereka bawakan.
Saya bisa bertemu Gatotkaca, bisa bertemu Bhuto Ijo, bisa bertemu Arjuna. Bisa ketemu Srikandi.
Duuhh..rasanya pengen balik jadi anak kecil...

Nonton wayang orang buat saya adalah jadi salah satu hiburan yang penting, karena saya udah mulai bosan dengan segala sesuatu yang berbau K-Pop atau J-Pop atau Hip Hop...hahahahaha....
Dan juga berfungsi untuk menetapkan kaki saya supaya tetap menginjak tanah pada tanah leluhur saya, JAWA.

Jawa akan selalu mengalir di dalam darah saya dan darah anak cucu saya.
Semoga kelak mereka juga akan dengan bangganya mengatakan bahwa...

"Saya bangga jadi orang JAWA, namun terlebih bangga lagi jadi orang INDONESIA !"

Wayang Orang Bharata :
Jl. Kalilio no 15, Senen, Jakarta Pusat
Jakarta, Indonesia

Foto - foto diambil dari sini.

Kelompok 52 - Kelas Inspirasi 2013

Ini dia para Inspirator dari Kelompok 52 untuk SD Negeri 01 Benhil Jakarta Pusat sewaktu Kelas Inspirasi kemarin..

Selamat Menginspirasi !