Love your skin

I looooooove weekend....

Mungkin tepatnya, I love Friday afternoon... hehehe, karena dua hari berikutnya libur, apalagi Senin depan kan libur juga .... ah, senangnyaaaaa.... libur panjang, bisa manjain diri... .... mungkin nonton film-film romantis.... , dengerin musik.... ... makan minum bersantai ria... .... Ah, hidup memang indahhhhhh.... .... heuheuheuh.


Lagi pengen nulis yang gak pake mikir ah, jadi ini mah rubrik girl's talk . Dulu-dulu sih, biasanya di YB suka ada pertemuan rutin pas wiken, di mana kerjaannya ngerumpi, sharing update-an terbaru, dan tentu saja biar lebih gaya pake acara sharing keilmuan, yang mana tujuannya adalah mengatasi kebosanan di Groningen yang aman damai ini, hehehehe. Sekarang mah masing-masing udah punya kegiatan sendiri-sendiri, termasuk Rachma.... udah bisa dong ah nyari kesibukan sendiri, yah... walo masih ada lebay-lebay dikit kalo lagi ngerasa lonely mah ya lonely ajah, hehehehe.


Anyway, karena ini mah girl's talk... Rachma mu review beberapa holy grail.... yang beneran Rachma tulis dari sudut pandang Rachma sebagai cewek, bukan sebagai scientist atau apapun label lainnya (misal, sampai sekarang pun Rachma masih kurang sreg kalo dipanggil akhwat, duh... asa kumaha kitu,,, dan dalam hati suka protes kalo dipanggil ukhti, nama Rachma ya Rachma, bukan ganti jadi ukhti.... ~ uneg-uneg gak penting, hehe ~ ).




1. Revlon Super Lustrous Lip Gloss - Feelin' Flirty

Rachma suka sama warnanya, dan tentu saja harganya yang murah meriah... hehe. Ya kalo dibandingin ama Dior sih hasilnya masih lebih elegan Dior... tapi mengingat harganya lebih ekonomis, lip gloss satu ini layak dikoleksi.


2. Benefit Dandelion Brightening Face Powder Pink

Blush on satu ini asli hasilnya bagus banget di wajah, shadenya tipis dan blended banget, hampir kaya gak pake blush on saking keliatan naturalnya. Sebenernya sih di sini mah gak perlu pake blush on, udara dingin dan surga angin dengan sendirinya akan membuat pipi blushing... I really mean it . Tapi dalam rangka hunting koleksi... ni blush on bisa jadi a must have, terutama bagi yang merasa hobi dandan. Rachma mah kan cuman pake buat bereksperimen aja .


3. Juju Cosmetics Aquamoist Essence

Kandungan Sodium Hyaluronate-nya memungkinkan pengikatan air lebih banyak, alhasil kulit wajah keliatan sehat banget, fresh pisan. Mencrang lah pokoknya... .


4. Borghese Active Mud for Face and Body

Seneng luluran? Wajib punya ini dunk.... at least nyoba lah sekali, soalnya harganya kurang bersahabat... hehehehe, mesti kaya raya dulu kalo beneran mu rutin pake Borghese buat luluran .

5. Sisley Exfoliating and Mask Express Flower Gel

Luxury? Go get some French's skin care. Tapi mesti nyadar diri, berhubung masih status mahasiswa, jadi ya... be wise when using it .


Sebagai PhD, di mana kalo stres sedang melanda (ah, perasaan juga emang stres tiada henti, hihihihi), akan terlihat sindrom-sindrom berikut:
- hawa-hawa horor, melanda saat deket-deket deadline, ditandai dengan banyak diem dan raut wajah serius, sangat formal. Kalo yang lain mah kalo gi stres tuh ada yang jadinya sering ngomel, kalo Rachma mah justru aman damai tenang sentosa, padahal di otak mah mumet, tapi diekspresikan menjadi "cool...." ... kul dong ah, kul.... heheheh
- gak nyadar suka ngomong sendiri, terutama kalo lagi mikir "what's wrong with this experiment?"
- ngadak-ngadak lupa hari, tanggal, jam, dan sejenisnya. Eh, kadang lupa nama orang juga, terus kalo ngobrol kadang gak konek. Terjadi saat otak dipenuhi berbagai macam hal, ini biasanya berujung dengan melakukan kesalahan saat ngelab... yang ujung-ujungnya nyusahin diri sendiri juga karena mesti ngulang eksperimen.... [tuh kan, makanya fokuuuuus, hahahahah]. Kadang, saking banyaknya yang dipikirin, ampe kerasa otak tuh ngebuuuul, kerasa banget pusing pening dan sakit. Tapi, yang asik kalo saking sibuknya, eh tiba-tiba udah wiken lagiiiii, ah itu mah bahagia, semangat pisan, semangat liburan maksudnya.... hihihihi.
- abis dari lab bawa data se-abreg ke rumah, ceritanya sih semangat 45 mu mempelajari tuh data, mu dianalisis, tujuan mulia ingin memahami hasil riset. Namun pas dateng ke housing, tidur dengan suksesnya.... hahahahaha
- nyari lahan nge-junk di milis, fesbuk mungkin, atau.... ya kaya di blog ini, heheh


Kalo lagi mumet-mumet gak jelas, ada peraturan tak tertulis sebagai berikut, semua berkenaan dengan kulit:
- apa pun yang terjadi... senyum... senyum... senyum. Ingat, terlalu serius apalagi kalo raut muka ditekuk bisa menimbulkan kerutan di wajah. Kalo udah ada kerutan, susah lagi ngilanginnya... [alasan lebay, tapi manjur. Maklum, lebih sayang kulit daripada ngagugulung stres....]
- secape apa pun nyampe housing, sempatkan minimal pake milk cleanser dan toner. Sebelum itu, tidak diijinkan tidur [hahah, galak ama diri sendiri, but it's worth it]
- kalo ada masalah hati, selesaikan secepat mungkin, recovery seefektif mungkin [again, alasannya lebih sayang kulit daripada mesti berlebay-lebay ria, kekekek ]


Hahay, teu jelas ieu nulis naon di blog. Dah ah, tidur duluwww.... [dan postingan ini pun Rachma masukkin ke 'gadget' .... produk skin care setara ama macbook, haha ].

Feeling blue

And I...
Never thought I'd feel this way
And as far as I'm concerned
I'm glad I got the chance to say
That I do believe I love you

And if I should ever go away
Well then close your eyes
and try to feel the way we do today
And than if you can remember

Keep smilin'
Keep shinin'

Knowin' you can always count on me for sure
that's what friends are for

For good times and bad times
I'll be on your side forever more
That's what friends are for

Well you came in lovin' me
And now there's so much more I see
And so by the way I thank you....

Ohhh and then
For the times when we're apart
Well just close your eyes and know
These words are coming from my heart
And then if you can remember...

That's what friends are for


~ That's what friends are for, Stevie Wonder ~

Lagi feeling blueeeee, denger lagu itu pun nangis,,,, ahahahahah... lebay . Abis liriknya... duh... coooooo cwiiiiiiiit ... . Kadang emang bersyukur banget punya air mata, kalo lagi suntuk bete sedih, tinggal nangis ajah... heheheh. Dan biasanya kalo lagi gloomy-gloomy gini, kalo berdo'a khusyu banget, kekekekekek.... lebih pantas disebut curhat daripada do'a . Udah bukan sambil nangis-nangis lagi eta mah, kadang ketiduran di atas sejadah... hihihi. Apalagi kultum pengajian sabtu kemarin topiknya tentang waktu-waktu maqbulnya do'a... hoho, mari optimalkan semua waktu do'a (nyadar diri banyak maunya ).


Dulu kalo lagi suntuk, obatnya nelpon orang rumah. Sekarang mah... lagi menghindar nelpon rumah, ihihihihi, abisnya diceramahin jodoh mulu . Endless topic tampaknya. Tapi curiganya, ntar kalo dah nikah, diceramahin kapan punya anak, kalo dah punya anak... diceramahin kapan menikahkan anak, kalo anaknya dah nikah, kayanya akan ada pertanyaan... kapan punya cucu.... heuheuheu.... lanjut terus.


So, for the last gloomy week... I suddenly miss my husband-to-be... kekekekek, asli lebay. Sometimes, I feel my self weird because of that... I mean... is that normal? Missing an imaginary person? [my heart says: that's weird... ]. Normally, when I miss someone, I pray for him/her, a looooooong pray. And that's what I did recently, mostly becoming my daily habit, asking God... "is he, whoever he is, is he doing fine? Is he okay? Is his bussines -whatever it is- running well?" Not to mention that I also ask God to take care of him, "if he is sad, please take away his sadness, please brighten up his days. If he is busy, please help him handle it. If he is not feeling well, please cure him. Please guard him to be always on the right path of Yours". I know it's weird, but I am doing it everyday, weheheheh ... it's kind of expressing my longing, and it does makes me feel better afterwards.


Kadang kalo lagi bengong abis sholat, udah berdo'a, udah tidur-tiduran... terus masih bengong juga... biasanya Rachma suka iseng ngedo'ain salah satu orang yang Rachma kenal... heheheheh. Habit yang random, could be anybody, dan itu awalnya emang iseng ngisi waktu sih. Kadang alasannya mungkin... ummm, if I'm in the person's position... it really doesn't feel good to face a problem alone, so if there's something I can do, I'd love to. And as moslem, we know... a pray can turn to be a great help. Jadi kata awal berdo'anya gini: " Ya Allah, boleh gak ya Rachma ngedo'ain (*nama*)...? Jadi ya dari yang Rachma tau dia itu... bla bla bla...." panjang lah do'anya, eh curhatnya maksudnya . Tapi tentu sajah, biar do'anya makin maqbul, yang dido'ainnya gak boleh tau duoooong... kalo dia kadang Rachma do'ain...hihihihi. Oh, yang lebih iseng lagi... Rachma do'akan semua orang bahagia ... yang mana menurut hemat pikiran orang dewasa, yang ini teh asa gak logis sebenernya. Heuheuh... asa gaya, udah 24 mah udah boleh bilang "menurut hemat pikiran orang dewasa".... kekekek ... .


Ada quote lucu, dari Hannah saat usianya masih 8 tahun: "If you're feeling blue, try painting yourself a different color".


And I choose pink, pul op leup... ...

Pride

* Taken from web

No mountains too high, for you to climb
All you have to do is have some climbing faith, oh yeah
No rivers too wide, for you to make it across
All you have to do is believe it when you pray

And then you will see, the morning will come
And everyday will be bright as the sun
All of your fears cast them on me
I just want you to see...

I'll be your cloud up in the sky
I'll be your shoulder when you cry
I'll hear your voices when you call me
I am your angel
And when all hope is gone, I'm here
No matter how far you are, I'm near
It makes no difference who you are
I am your angel
I'm your angel

I saw the teardrops, and I heard you cry
All you need is time, seek me and you shall find
You have everything and you're still lonely
It doesn't have to be this way, let me show you a better day

And then you will see, the morning will come
And all of your days will be bright as the sun
So all of your fears, just cast them on me
How can I make you see...

I'll be your cloud up in the sky
I'll be your shoulder when you cry
I'll hear your voices when you call me
I am your angel
And when all hope is gone, I'm here
No matter how far you are, I'm near
It makes no difference who you are
I am your angel
I'm your angel

And when it's time to face the storm
I'll be right by your side
Grace will keep up safe and warm
And I know we will survive

And when it seems as if your end is drawing near
Don't you dare give up the fight
Just put your trust beyond the sky...

I'll be your cloud up in the sky
I'll be your shoulder when you cry
I'll hear your voices when you call me
I am your angel
And when all hope is gone, I'm here
No matter how far you are, I'm near
It makes no difference who you are
I am your angel
I'm your angel

I'll be your cloud up in the sky
I'll be your shoulder when you cry
I'll hear your voices when you call me
I am your angel
And when all hope is gone, I'm here
No matter how far you are, I'm near
It makes no difference who you are
I am your angel
I'm your angel

~ I'm your angel, Celine Dion and R. Kelly ~

There are different kinds of dehumanization. One of them is when you have to stay angelic. No matter how people treat you, you have to keep your positive thoughts. No matter how suffered you are, you are not allowed to blame another person. No matter how sad you are, you have to keep the sorrow for your self, and stay bright... smile a lot. No matter how tired you are, you have to use whatever energy left in you ... to stay angelic. Until one moment flashes right in front of your eyes, and you realize... you feel lonely.


I believe everyone has their own definition of what is called as 'pride'. But how many people actually know how to guard their pride right? When you let someone takes advantage of you, I would say that you let your pride taken away. When you are not able to say 'no', when you fool your self to keep loyal to something unworthy, you unconsciously break your own pride. And the best moment when pride might be at its lowest price is... when somebody is in love. Let's say, everyone has love, though formed in a different way. I would happily acknowledge, that love is priceless, such that it should be granted to the right person, to the right thing, in the right way, on the right time, in the right moment. Unfortunately, there might be some mistakes we do in which life teaches us,,, forces us to redefine what actually love is.


A couple weeks ago, I happened to chat with my lovely sister, she told me that her almighty boyfriend cheated on her, for all her happy two years relationship. I asked her some questions:

me: Did you cry?
ms: Yes of course. It's so unbelievable that he cheats on me. And it's for these two years. How could I not know that he has another girlfriend?
me: Are you sure that it is girlfriend, not girlfriends? [try to break the ice ]
Why did you cry anyway, was that because you were sad?
ms: Not sad, but it's just... disappointed. How could I be such a fool to trust him?
me: So you are not sad... That means you are not that into him.
ms: Maybe.
me: Maybe? So what are you going to do next?
ms: I talked to my friends. They said that I might not cry for such kind of man, that I deserved someone better. But they also suggested... maybe I should just mess him up and ask for explanation.
me: Wo wo wo, take it easy my lady... [can such person even be considered "a man"?]. Stay in grace. Don't do anything disrespectful. We all know that what he did is not respectful, but that doesn't mean you have to do the same. Just stay calm, take your time, pretend that nothing happens, and see what he'll do next. And your friends are right, you deserve someone better. Look at you... you have a lot of things to offer. Why would you invest your time and energy on somebody who doesn't respect you?
ms: Yeah, a lot of handsome men out there.
me: Well... just one thing, be careful with someone handsome and someone kind. Now you see how your holy handsome boyfriend might turn to be.


a couple days after...

me: So how was it?
ms: He kept texting me nice words. He was nice and kind, as usual.
me: Hmm... that's interesting. So he doesn't realize that you already know that he cheats on you?
ms: Ya. I saw him dating his another girlfriend. And she is my friend. We know each other very well. How could he do that to us? What if the girl knows that he cheats on her?
me: Hmm... well...
[my mind flew somewhere far far away... to the edge of what is called 'stay angelic'... a breakthrough to what is called 'being cool' ]
There are people who like to play safe. Men might not feel guilty for that, some consider such thing as affair if they are bound to marriage. Before marriage, some men consider that as 'selection'.
ms: But that's not fair.
me: Well... Just don't let yourself do something unfair. Now you know the truth. Isn't it better to know it sooner?
ms: Yeah, right.

Again, my mind flew away.

You have pride when...
you value your self for good
you value your life for real
you love your self as best as you can grant
you respect and honor your self
such that you do not let your self suffered for no reasons
you do not let your self sad because of other's disrespectful behavior
you do not let your self drowning in unworthy things
you let your self shine to its brightest state
you let your self free to enjoy a life you do deserve
that you also gather all the merit in this universe
to respect another person's pride

*A hectic state, after watching 'Angels and Demons' and 'He's just not that into you' movies.

Happy smiling

“You haven't lost your smile at all, it's right under your nose. You just forgot it was there.”
~ unknown author ~

Hari ini baca berita, bahwa berdasarkan survey, Indonesia ada di posisi pertama sebagai negara yang rakyatnya paling murah senyum, pleus paling ramah cenah... Ngomong-ngomong tentang ramah, salah satu profesor di lab pun emang pernah cerita kalo yang paling berkesan saat kunjungannya ke Indo adalah keramahan... yang waktu itu malah kita mah nyimpulinnya, mereka mah excited-nya kayanya bukan karena niat ramah sebenernya, tapi karena excited liat ada bule, heheheh.

Ngomong-ngomong tentang senyum, Rachma diajarinnya harus banyak senyum ... di depan orang yang gak disukai sekalipun. Bahkan ketika lagi ngobrol pun, ngobrolnya sedemikian sehingga seolah-olah lagi senyum (tepatnya di antara senyum dan ketawa). Cenah itu teh akan menunjukkan air wajah (hahay, idiom bahasa Indonesia ) yang ramah, menyejukkan, pleus menentramkan hati (diborong semua ). Singkat cerita, Rachma terbiasa untuk sering senyum sama orang, tapi jarang ngomong (bukan bermaksud jaim, tapi... yah, gimana ya... Rachma cerewetnya ama yang deket aja sih, jadi kalo gak mau dicerewetin sama Rachma, ya berarti jangan kenal deket ). Kalo dulu mah pas masih kecil, ama salah satu Uwak seringnya dibilangin: "Neng... matanya bagus, senyumnya manis,,, sering-sering senyum ya....". Rachma yang masih polos pun senang-bahagia-tersipu-tersanjung , dan sangat percaya sama perkataan sang Uwak, terdoktrin dengan kuatnya, menghasilkan kepedean tingkat tinggi, hihihihi. Makanya ama anak kecil mah mesti hati-hati kalo ngomong, percaya-percaya ajah soalnya, haha. Tambah lagi ama Mama atau mMih suka dipanggil: si sayang, si geulis... ato kalo ketemu sodara yang jarang ketemu, suka dikomenin: Neng, meni tambih geulis wae.... ah, udah weh, eta mah bibit-bibit kenarsisan tumbuh dengan suburnya, kekekek . Ato dulu pas di kampus waktu masih sering ngasi tutorial kidas TPB, baik yang kerja sama antarhimpunan ato yang ama gamais ato kabinet, kan suka ada daftar hadir pleus kolom komen/kritik/saran... terus suka ada yang ngisi komen "Teteh pengajarnya cantik"... dan Rachma lebih suka baca komen-komen itu dibanding yang beneran kritik saran, nyahahahaha... . Udah gitu, sekarang di Groningen... tiba di suatu kawasan di mana jiwa artis adalah syarat wajib jadi warga Groningen, hihihihi, jadi weh kenarsisan berkembang sangat pesaaaat....


Senyum bisa dianggap sebagai terapi, dalam artian kalo lagi sutres dan mumet...coba deh luangkan waktu untuk ngambil nafas panjang, terus senyum. Karena senyum identik dengan kebahagiaan, setidaknya dengan membiasakan sering senyum, kita belajar meng-acknowledge... apapun yang terjadi... hidup ini indah dan sudah sepantasnya disyukuri. Senyum juga bisa jadi signature. Tiap orang punya senyum yang khas. Yah, walopun ada grade-grade tersendiri, hehe, ada yang senyumnya biasa aja, ada yang ampe bisa bikin orang terpesona. Tapi, Rachma kira semua orang setuju, lebih seneng liat orang senyum daripada yang lagi cemberut (oke..oke, ada pengecualian, nu geulis mah lagi cemberut pun tetep we geulis, ahahahahah ).


Senyum adalah shadaqah, tidak hanya bagi orang lain... tapi juga bagi diri sendiri. Jadi, mari kita budayakan senyum. Let's brighten up our days... Happy smiling!

Today, give a stranger one of your smiles.
It might be the only sunshine he sees all day.
(Quoted in P.S. I Love You, compiled by H. Jackson Brown, Jr.)

Observation

I am not a person who easily trusts somebody. Well, I have prejudice that as long as I cannot prove that someone is lying, I have to be able to accept a premise that the person is not lying. To accept the premise that someone is not lying doesn't necessarily mean that I trust the person.... hahaha, kitu we lah pokoknya .


So, if for example... after a couple of months, or maybe years, I find out that someone is lying or kind of hiding something... sure deep down I feel a bit sad, but mostly I am grateful to know it sooner. No grudges, no hates, cause I am more excited to invest my energy on gaining weight than hating someone, heheh. Yeah... why should I hate somebody anyway? Hating someone is not a must thing to do, right? I try my best to understand that every person has their own reason to do something. Even if it's something that I can't understand clearly, sure I have no rights to mess it up only to feed my curiousity. Let's just leave the rest to common sense.

It's really interesting to observe some attitudes of a person who cares so much about the image-related things. For example, a person made a mistake, then asked for apology, then made sure I was not angry, then bla... bla... bla. Well, by default, I have abundance forgiveness to share (lebay ), I have great ability to accept broadband attitudes, I am well-trained to do so. But as the question "why should I hate you?" is kind of tricky to explain, then the same goes to "why should I trust you?". Sometimes, in a devil mode , I find it funny when a person cares so much about what the other people thinks. I mean, if the person is really good person... even if people think he/she is bad person, the person is still good person. God knows that, and so do the angels, and most importantly his/her self. And when a person does bad things, even if the other people don't know what he/she is doing, that doesn't change the history that the person does something bad. And when a person, for example, defend his/her self with a lot of argument or theory... there will be one point to face: will the reasoning also be valid in front of God? If yes, then the person is safe, if not.. then what other people think will not help at all.


Let's say, by default I respect every person. But as time goes by, the respect value (aha, teori baru ) may increase or decrease, or maybe disappear at all. In fact, I can live really well with a person I don't respect at all. Haha, and yeah, I find it scary sometimes... to understand that I have the ability to potray a very nice attitude, even in front of a person I don't respect.


As a person who is usually able to find happiness in every moment by my self... I find it really refreshing to know somebody who is genuinely kind to others. Based on one question: is this person also longing another person to be kind to him/her, to make him/her happy? And for some reasons, I like to give some surprises to such person. With one intention: I want the person to smile nicely. Even if I don't see it in person, even when the person is a complete stranger... knowing someone happy is always nice. This nice feeling is true except in a devil mode, when I know that a person who has done something bad is unhappy for some reasons... sometimes... the devil inside me whispers: it serves you right ... .... huehehehe, makanya minimal baca istighfar per hari tuh 100 kali,,, hihihi.