Short is HOT

I know this post about short hair is long over due. The trend has been around, for, like, a decade or something but I was known as the girl who always had long hair and no matter how much I like seeing all tose cute pixie-ish hair cuts I just couldn't imagine myself with short hair. Images of my junior high schoool days when everyone was in love with Demi Moore's cute crop in the 90s hit "Ghost" including my mom and myself always held me back from taking that plunge. You see, that obsession with Demi Moore, led us to a hairstylist one day, and I ended up walking out of there with the (then) coveted do. It was a terrible decision. Back then I did not realize that the decision to cut one's hair boy like, means that one has to strive even harder to prove that one is truly a woman. I was a late bloomer and more in love with my beat up jeans than my floral dresses. That said, you can probably imagine what I must have looked like. Yup, I looked like a boy! and this was the day when the only item of makeup in my bag was a chapstick. Hmmm... A friend of my mother even mistook me for a son instead of daughter. That day I started washing my hair everyday in the hope of making it grow faster. I also made a vow to myself never again to have short boyish hair cut.

However... 15 years down the line, I started to become intrigued once again by that oh-so-cute cut. First its Audrey Tatou in Amelie with her extra short fringe and cute, wavy bob . But that is still quite modest, it is still a bob and it is still quite feminine. Some years after that movie the bob craze took place, and I succumbed. I let Wisnu from Irwan Team Pondok Indah Mal do the owner of cutting my long locks short for the first time in 15 years. I was so happy with the result that I have never gone back to having long hair again.

After almost 2 years of the bob cut. I needed a change. I was thinking to myself, maybe it's time to look into super short cuts. I first fell in love with Sienna Miller in Factory Girl looked with her Edie Sedgwick short hair and large lashes. And then there was the super cute Miss Deyn with her peroxide pixie cuts. I wish I had the guts to die my hair that color (even though I do not dare to think of how much suffering my black hair will go through during the 8 hour dying process). After some thoughts, having the guts to go super short was the first thing I needed to do.

I thought I would do it one small step at a time, by asking my trusted hair stylist to cut off a little bit more each time. So in my head, my next hair cut would on the short side but not super short. But Wisnu was more cunning than I thought. As usual I spent the hour and a half reading my book (this time its Toni Morrison's Tar Baby) while looking forward to the pleasant surprise ahead when I look at the mirror. After the last few finishing touches, I looked up and saw that my hair was shorter than what I wanted it to be. YOu know the whole Rihanna craze? Yeah, I got that with some modifications. The sides and the back are a bit longer. At first I was horrofied, but after I stepped out of the salon and walked around the mall abit (checking my reflection everywhere I saw a mirror), I started loving it! Now I can proudly say that I LOVE MY HAIR! The cut has settled (I always say that a hair cut needs at least one day to settle to your daily life and routines and also to take the shape of your head) and now my daily beauty routine is cut short from 15 minutes to 5 minutes! Yeay! A bit of wax and a mess up and my hair is ready to go. I don't think I will ever go back to long hair now :)

A bit of fashion please..

It has now been three and a half years since I left the beauty and fashion world (so to speak, I started counting when I resigned as the beauty editor of one women's magazine in Indonesia). I have now a totally different occupation, which, I have to admit pays for the bills (mostly bills from my shopping and partying!). While the old one involved working with lipsticks, eyeshadows, hair spray, makeupartists, other beauty and fashion editors, and fashion photographers this new involves working with the finance section reporters, economic news, insurance news, bogus CSR programs and meetings with boring men in suits and boring women in suits (one with a particularly big 'jambul' or quiff as some might say it). Hmm very different I have to say. I am learning A LOT of new things, but sometimes I just miss being back in my old world. I miss having an excuse to look through fashion magazines, call friends for work and a bit of gossip (they were all working in the same field), and being one of the first to find out and have new makeup and other cool stuff. I realized how much I missed this world when I was calling up journos the other day to try and "sell" a story on a CSR program a client did (they like to call it CSR, but frankly speaking it's all bull). I realized that I don't know how to sell these stories because for me they are not important. Well if this was a "real" CSR program then I would do it wholeheartedly, but this was just some lame event that involved a samll amount of donation. And they expect Kompas to write an article on it? Hmm.. I was a journalist (before being a beauty editor I also worked in dailies as well, mind you) and I can spot a time waster a mile away. Anyway.. lets just hope some news paper will pick it up. Right now I want to go back to browsing through beauty and fashion blogs. I just wish that soon we will get a lifestle or fashion client!

Ms. Match's Beach Trip

If anyone is willing to endorse me, I will gladly turn in my laptop (my sole tool of working) and become a full time beach bum. I am a beach person. If anyone asks whether I like the mountain or the sea my answer would always be the sea. There is just something about the smell of the ocean and the sound of waves crashing that lure me to spend countless hours sitting on the hot sand marinating myself in coconut scented sun block and baking in the hot sun. I just love it! And the fact that there are countless bikinis and large shades to choose from just makes it even more fun. But what to do about makeup?? I am sure nobody likes to have racoon eyes after a long day at the beach. But what's a girl to do without her beloved mascara?

Well on my last trip to Kata beach, Phuket, I have found that you only need to carry 5 things with you to ensure a pretty day at the beach:
The first one is my trust worthy Shu Uemura Eye Lash curler. This just doesn't fail and will never run. Forget your mascara! Do you want to slave away trying to clean your clumpy lashes from that ultra strong formula of waterproof mascara when you are just ready to drop dead on your bed? One quick press and my lashes are all set. Well you can try a coat of clear mascara just to hold the curl, but for me the eye lash curler will do.

Second, my Avene sun cream. You have to always remember that the sun is still evil. It will cause wrinkles, spots and in the worst case...the dreaded skin cancer. To prevent that don't get cheap on your sun creams. Slather lots and slather often. Remember the basic SPF equation. Take what ever number is written on the tube of your chosen sun goo and multiply it by the length of time your skin does not burn when you are out in the full blaze of the sun. That is how long your sun screen will protect you. When you have passed that time limit, slap on some more.

Third, my oasis in a bottle, Shu Uemura Depsea Water spray. Just imagine being able to spray on some cold sweet smelling water on your face after baking in the sun. Enough said. I put mine in the fridge just before I head out to make sure that it's icy cold. A friend even went as far as bringing a small cooler box for her Depsea Water.

Fourth, my Body Shop Shea Butter Lip Butter. Before I left for this 5 day trip I was slaving away on my computer until the wee hour of the night (every night for a week)trying to finish all my articles and work stuff. I was not paying attention to what I eat let alone what I drink. By the start of the trip my lips have become so dry and parched that even drinking water was a pain. To get rid of this I drank litres of water everyday, slathered on lots of lip butter, and took a double dose of vitamin C. It worked! My lips were all soft and kissable again by the second day of the trip.

Fifth, my Clarins compact. After putting on tubes of sun cream my face I'm sure you would be able to see your reflection on my cheeks. And the whole greasy look is soooo not me. But with a quick dab of my Clarins compact all the greasiness is gone and I am left with a natural looking color. Mine is a transparant color which looks rather light in the packaging but actually disappears on your skin as soon as you blend it.

Oh I almost forgot. The there is another staple that never leaves my beauty case, my Shiseido blush stick. I am just totally in love with this piece of makeup that I have to have it everywhere with me. The creamy texture lets me put on the blush directly on my cheeks to give them a sunkissed look (I apply it to the apples of my cheek and dab it inwardly towards my nose to create a subtle sun burnt effect). Because of the creamy texture, it does not run that easily and it looks super natural, which is a big plus since I want people to think that I get this healthy color by sun bathing everyday.

So there you are. Six things you should never ever leave behind in your hotel room on your beach trip.

A friend who is also a director for video clips, ads, etc approached me to be the stylist for his upcoming work. A brand new boy band. I thought, styling boys, hmmm why not? After negotiating budgets over YM, he added as an after thought, "This includes makeup for the talents ya!" And I was like, "what??" Doesn't he know that stylist and makeup artist are two different professions and require a different set of skills?

Maaann...at that moment I had flashbacks of a job interview with my current boss (the owner of a PR agency). When I said that I was a beauty editor which was also a freelance stylist and writer, he looked dumbfounded. And he said,"So what does a stylist actually do?" I mean this is coming from a man who has worked with media almost all his life. I am sure he has come across some fashion and life style magazines as well.

I took a deep breath and tried to explain what my job description was as a stylist. I gues there are a lot of people out there who does not know how a picture in a fashion magazine was produced (or any magazine for that matter).
Oh well.. I guess the good side for me is that there is less competition in the market for stylists. The bad side is to convince people how badly they need a stylist.

Twist and Turns: Cools Updos To Try

These photos are from a shoot I did for Hair Ideas Magazine Indonesia. The concept for this one is volume. I tried to find subtle yet cute ways to apply volume to hair without the girl looking like 'ibu-ibu pejabat' as we Indonesians say it. FYI Ibu-ibu pejabat means wifes of government officials, and usually they sport a rather high teased hair do resulting in a bee-hive-like-mass atop their heads. I certainly hope I succeeded :-)
Credits:
Model : Vonnie
Hair and make up: Qiqi Franqy and team
Photographer: Adi Nugroho

Those Winter Wonderland Photos

I am sure you have all seen pictures of Asian looking faces with a background of a winter scenery. These pictures usually feature snow covered pine trees with some snow falling in the background, a snow man, and bundles and bundles of thick jackets and other winter garb.

I came across one of these today as I was reading a blog on Indonesia popular culture. The blog was written in English and it was also quite enjoyable. I enjoyed it so much that I was curious to know the guy behind the writing. I only saw a reference to a uni in the wisconsin and I thought,"Ah, this must be written by some American scholar who took a major in Asian studies at his university."

But when I was looking through the blog for a photograph I came across one which feature an Asian looking guy grinning frozenly from ear to ear all wrapped up in a huge puff jacket, complete with ear muffs, beanie, gloves, and all the works. "Hmmm must be an Indonesian guy," I though to myself. And when I finally found his profile I was right.

I also remember looking at friendster accounts with pictures of friends (some first degree some second degree) in a similar pose with a very familiar background. All looking like a shapeless bloated snowman with a smile that could be mistaken for Batman's archenemy's iconic grin.

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against people wanting to parade their holiday trips to a four season country while the rest of us here must suffer the heat, humidity and not to mention pollution of this metropolitan we call Jakarta. It's just that, if you are going to post your winter pics on the net for everyone to see, why not show off your excellent fashion style. Cold weather meands layering. And layering spells FUN and COLORS! Why not try donning bright puff jacket with a cool glossy Fendi spring '07 belt around your waist? Open the zip and show off your black and white striped cashmere sweater. Pair it with some worn grey skinny jeans and a pair of mean boots. You're set! Or better yet, check out some of my favorite winter looks from the 2007-2008 Fall/Winter runway shows and try keeping the chills out while looking H-O-T!
*Note: From left to right: Balenciaga, Balenciaga, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Marc by Marc jacobs

Back In Time

This maybe a bit late for an introductory post, but what the heck? I didn't have time to do it yesterday when I started the blog, so here goes.
This is just a blog to post all my ravings and my secret obssesion to beauty and fashion. I was a beauty editor for 4 years. I spent one year as an associate beauty editor at Female magazine Indonesia and then, due to some dissatisfaction with the ehm ehm..management, i resigned and spent the next 3 years at Cosmopolitan Indonesia as a beauty editor. Why is this so discreet you might think? It's because now I work for a PR firm handling mostly IT clients. So not me!!
Well that's what most of my friends would say, but here I am, and doing the job every day. No complaints yet. Well.. not that much anyway..

But I do miss writing about beauty and fashion. I miss being one of the first people to try the newest designer perfume (and being able to say,"No Mbak, I already have that one," to every perfume sales girl in the dept store preparing to pounce on me). I miss being on the invitee list of some of Indonesia' s hottest spas and salons (I once tried treatment in a spa whose client list include Donna Karan and Brooke Shield and the price one treatment there can pay for a full months meal of a whole medium sized village in a third world country). I miss going on five star trips abroad to do a photo shoot and to cover a beauty or fashion story (I remember sipping champagne while taking a nice warm bath scented with real rose petals and watching fashion TV on the huge LCD TV mounted on the bathroom wall). and most of all I miss styling photo shoots and writing articles. Hence the blog.

Anyway.. I thought I would be staying far away from the beauty and fashion world but I just couldn't. I remember jumping at the chance to write again for Cosmo and also several other life style publications as a freelance writer and stylist. So now I still get to keep my 'corporate' job while still having fun writing about fashion and beauty.

This blog will feature some of the non edited version of articles and photoshoots I've done and also some personal rants and raves about fashion and beauty products I've got my eyes on. Enjoy!