Ayudya Lulur Pengantin Body Scrub Review

Body scrub is one of the compulsory beauty routines that every woman has (and should never never never ever be skipped if you ask me!) I am a big fan of body scrubs because it's a great method to keep my skin healthy and clean through exfoliation. Over the weekend, I received a couple of body scrubs, body butter (read the review here!) and lotion (read the review here!) plus a request to do a review on those products from dear Jacqualine (thanks Jac!) who's retailing Ayudya Lulur Pengantin and Bali Ratih products in Malaysia. You can check out Jac's website here!

First off, I am going to do an honest, unpaid and unbiased review on the Ayudya Lulur Pengantin Body Scrub.

Ayudya Lulur Pengantin is a brand from Jakarta, Indonesia and has been around for almost 10 years. Some spas and beauty saloons in Malaysia do retail them and the scrubs are a favourite amongst brides to be (hence the name Lulur Pengantin which means Bridal Scrub!).

There are eight types of body scrubs from Ayudya that you can choose from:

1. Mutiara (Pearl) - to soften and brighten skin like a pearl (this one is the best seller and comes highly recommended!).
2. Bengkoang - for whitening and moisturizing (also one of the hot selling scrubs!).
3. Herbal Spa - to heal body pimples, mosquito & insect bite-marks and rashes, great for polishing dull skin.
4. Green Tea - calming, enhances mind concentration, prevention of skin infection and improves skin elasticity & firmness.
5. Avocado + Vitamin E - anti-aging.
6. Milk Bath (Mandi Susu) - to soften and moisten dry skin.
7. Aromatherapy Spa - relaxes the mind and body, improves mind concentration and removes flaky skin and other impurities.
8. Coffee Scrub + Lavender - has a de-stress effect, helps reduce cellulite & tiredness of joints, improves blood circulation.

These body scrubs comes in 300 gm refill packs, 1 kg refill packs, 150 gm jars and 300 gm jars.

For my reviewing purposes, Jac had supplied me with two 150 gm jars of body scrubs which are the Mutiara (Pearl) and the Bengkoang scrubs. The Mutiara scrub is said to be great for skin refining & whitening and skin will become softened and brightened like a pearl. It has seaweed extract plus vitamin E for anti-aging effects. It also contains the combination of squalene and olive oil to make your skin supple.

The ingredients printed on the jar label for Mutiara Body Scrub is: whitening milk, seaweed extract, olive oil, vitamin C & E, squalene, natural oils and minerals.

The other jar of scrub is the Bengkoang Body Scrub which is supposed to be great for body whitening especially areas like your neck, armpit, folds of your thigh and black nodes/spots on your skin. It also contains Vitamin E which is good for skin moisturization and protection.

The ingredients printed on the jar label for Bengkoang Body Scrub is: whitening milk, bengkoang extract, olive oil, vitamin C & E, natural oils and minerals.

The two jars of body scrubs: the left is Mutiara Scrub and the right is Bengkoang Scrub.

The jar is made of durable plastic with screw-on lids. An unopened jar is sealed safely and has to be twisted counter-clockwise to break the safety seal and open the jar.

The jar with the safety seal still intact.

The mouth of the jar is wide enough which makes it easy for me to scoop out the scrub paste. This is how the two opened jars looks like:

Two opened jars of body scrubs.

The colour of the Mutiara Scrub is off-white and the Bengkoang Scrub is purely white.

Can  you see the difference?

To use the scrub, you would have to take a shower/bath (shower for me!) and then pat yourself dry with a towel. Then, you can spread the scrub onto your dry/damp skin, then scrub the creamy scrub paste on your skin in circular motions until the creamy substance turns into dry particles that will drop off easily. The circular motion is very effective in helping the natural ingredients seep into your skin (no circular motion but more unorganized pattern of motion if I am in a hurry! Hehe!). Then you would have to rinse yourself clean with water (no need to use soap). It is advisable to use the scrub once in three days or once a week.

The texture of the Bengkoang scrub is creamy with fine granules in them:

 Oops! Scooped out a little bit too much!
The fine granules is almost invisible to the naked eyes.. (my naked eyes, I guess!).

The texture felt light against my skin and the lotion-like cream made it easier for me to spread the scrub all over my skin. This is what the paste looked like before I put my scrubbing action into gear:

Had to reduce the quantity of the too much portion scooped out for this scrubbing test on the back of my palm.

Here's what the scrub looked like after I started scrubbing in circular motion for about 10-15 seconds:

The scrubbing action took about 30 seconds to turn the fine granules and creamy substance into dry particles. 

 The creamy and fine-granuled texture had turned into dry particles. 

Can almost see a lighter patch of skin underneath.

The smell of the Bengkoang Scrub reminded me a lot of Lux Bar Soap (the white one) that I used to use when I was a little girl. The smell of the Mutiara Scrub is a little bit more subtle and has that light flowery note that I can't pinpoint (lavender plus some other sweet smelling flowers perhaps?). Both the scrubs have fine granules but the Mutiara Scrub has a slightly coarser granules in them. I can actually feel the difference between both scrub granules when I was doing the side to side scrub test with my arms.

The result: Soft and smooth skin. Love it! The scrub really made my skin felt supple and it left a nice subtle & soothing smell that lingers. Hmm.. nice!

Can't really tell from the picture but my skin did felt smooth and smelled nice after rinsing it with water.

My verdict: I find that both these Bridal Scrubs are great scrubs and can be used by everyone, not just for brides to be, including men! (I'm not a bride and I did enjoy using them!). They did make my skin felt smoother and clean after using them and the lingering smell is nice and subtle without being too overpowering. The best part is that these scrubs are highly affordable. I would definitely recommend these scrubs for those who want to try them out.

For more information or if you want to purchase these scrubs, you can visit Jac at her website.

My Lip Stuff Lip Balm Review

I was googling for information (as usual) on lip balms (yes, again!) and I came across the My Lip Stuff lip balm which got quite a lot of good reviews on the internet by beauty buffs. It got me interested, I felt that I definitely have to try it out.

My Lip Stuff (MLS) is created by Brea, a vegetarian who concocted her own natural recipe for the perfect lip balm using natural butter, oils and beeswax to moisturize dry lips. Her creation started out for personal use but it turned into a mini word of mouth business. She started to seriously think about setting up a full-fledged business to market her products after she had a bed-ridden pregnancy and had to deliver her baby boy prematurely 5 months into her pregnancy. Now, My Lip Stuff has become a thriving online store with the mission to create products that are skin, earth and animal friendly. The products are handmade in very small batches to ensure freshness.

My Lip Stuff actually have lip balms with over 500 flavours! I can imagine myself being dizzy just to pick a flavour to try! In the end, I decided not to be too adventurous and try a tube of MLS Shamrock Shake (Peppermint and Vanilla Ice Cream flavour). I purchased my MLS lip balm at My Lip Stuff Malaysia (thanks Cynthia!). Each tube costs RM12 excluding postage cost. Postage cost depends on your choice of delivery method either by PosEkspres (cheaper) or by PosLaju (higher price but more secured and faster). I chose to have mine posted by PosLaju, so the total that I had to pay was RM19 (RM12 + RM7).

I received my lip balm a few days later after confirming my order (really prompt and friendly service!) and I loved the fact that it came securely wrapped in bubble wrap.

My bubble wrapped lip balm.

The label is white with the brand printed prominently and followed by the flavour of the balm (you should not handle the tube with wet hands because it will cause the printing on the label to run). A tube contains .15 oz of balm.

See the flavour? Shamrock Shake is actually Peppermint and Vanilla Ice Cream.

The ingredients printed on the label is: sunflower oil, beeswax, cocoa butter, sweet almond oil, castor oil, jojoba oil, avocado oil, aloe vera, essential and/or flavour oil.

The tube is sealed and the cap had to be twisted to break the safety seal.

Safety seal still intact.

This is how the opened tube of lip balm looks like:

A newly opened and unused tube of lip balm.

The balm is in a usual bottom-twisting kind of tube found in almost every types of lip balms. The balm glides easily in and out of the tube according to how much twisting action you are making.

Twisting the balm out.

As promised and advertised, the balm glides very smoothly over my lips (I fell in love with the first glide!). It doesn't have that waxy feeling that is usually found in lip balms at all. The smell of peppermint and vanilla is obvious but not in a bad way. The smell blends very nicely and gave me a soothing and refreshing feeling. There is a bit of a tingly and minty feeling from the peppermint and the balm is quite tasteless. I would have loved it if it were sweetened with a little bit of stevia (blame it on my sweet tooth sickness!). The soothing smell and tingly sensation dissipates after about 30 minutes later. The balm leaves a nice sheen over my lips making them look wet and smooth.

Here's what the balm looks like on my skin. Looks like a wet patch doesn't it?

My verdict: I find that the balm is indeed very moisturizing and it lasts quite a long time without the need for reapplying. But I do reapply quite often just to smell the heavenly scent and feel the smoothness of the balm gliding over my lips. You should try it. It's really addictive! The sheen of wetness doesn't hurt either. This balm is going to be a favourite. I would definitely purchase this balm again!

Click here to go to My Lip Stuff official website.
Click here to purchase My Lip Stuff lip balms in Malaysia.

Update: I tried leaving the balm on my lips overnight and I woke up with nice and supple lips the next morning. Thumbs up!

Chili's Grill & Bar Restaurant Review

Earlier this year, my sister, her husband, my husband and I joined the Hospis Tresure Hunt 2010 and we received RM100 voucher for Chili's Grill & Bar Restaurant (among other vouchers). Since we never dined at the greatly raved restaurant, we agreed to go on a weekend when everyone is free.

We finally went to Chili's at KLCC and had to wait 30 minutes after leaving our name at the receptionist. We were brought to a table near the window (non-smoking section). We had a view of the pool outside of KLCC. The restaurant is quite packed with hungry people enjoying their lunch.

The menu was quite extensive and there were a lot to choose from depending on your preference for meat, poultry or fish. I chose to have the Crispy Honey-Chipotle Chicken Crispers (RM24.95) which was basically strips of chicken hand-battered then breaded and fried to perfection for the extra crispy crunch. The chicken was topped with Chili's spicy and smoky honey-chipotle sauce. The Crispy Honey-Chipotle Chicken Crispers was served with a corn cob on a stick and fries.

The strips of chicken was indeed fried to perfection and I really liked the honey-chipotle sauce which had that sweet and not too spicy taste to it. The portion of the dish was quite large too.

My husband ordered the Firecracker Fish Fillet (RM28.95) which was a grilled fish fillet (dory perhaps?) brushed with sweet & spicy glaze and garnished with red chile tapenade & sesame seeds. The fish was served with vegetables and rice.

The fish fillet was very tender and moist and it didn't have that fishy smell or taste (thumbs up!). The sauce complements the fish and goes well with the rice. For someone who doesn't really like fish, I find that the dish is delicious.

My sister wasn't feeling too adventurous that day and she ordered the Fish & Chips (RM22.95). The description on the menu for this dish states that this dish consist of prime cut of fish fillets fried in Chili's own crispy batter, served with home-style fries and tartar sauce. There was the usual wedge of lemon you'd normally find on any fish and chips dish.

My sister enjoyed this dish but I find that I didn't really like the tartar sauce (we usually disagree on food taste anyways.. hehe). I had once came across a very delicious tartar sauce but I don't remember from which restaurant. The fish was fried to perfection and also didn't have that fishy smell or taste which is good.

My brother in law wanted to try something different so he opted to have the Fajita Trio (RM40.95) which was tender grilled steak, marinated grilled chicken and spicy garlic & lime grilled prawns, served with onions and bell peppers. This dish was also served with three or four (I don't remember!) fajitas.

The grilled steak, marinated grilled chicken and spicy garlic & lime prawns

The fajitas and garnish plus the sour cream and guacamole (I think) cream sauce

The whole dish altogether

The portion of this dish was very large. I think it really was meant for three people to eat (hence the Trio). The taste of the garnishing and sour cream and the green stuff was not that bad actually. I had eaten fajitas at another restaurant sometime last year and I didn't really like the sourness of the cream. But Chili's fajitas were quite okay for me and my sister did enjoy them (she likes these kind of dishes).

For drinks all of us ordered Bottomless Fruit Juices (Mango, Apple and Orange) except for my sister who opted for Grape Soda (also bottomless). I'd say it was a brilliant move on her part!

The fruit juices were okay but I didn't really enjoy them since they were not too sweet (I have a severe case of sweet tooth!). The orange juice had a bitter taste to it. My brother in law tried to finish off the juice and wanted to change to Green Guava but the waitress always came and took his glass for top ups before he could finish his drink. He ended up drinking three glasses of bitter orange juice! Hehe.. we had a good laugh about it later.

For dessert, we ordered a slice of rich, smooth and creamy cheesecake served with a bit of strawberry sauce. The cheesecake was indeed very rich and creamy. The strawberry sauce compliments the creamy texture of the cake and it balanced the sweetness of the cake. Since all of us were quite full from the main dishes, we had quite a tough time finishing off the cake.

The total of our lunch that day came to a whopping RM189.25.

All in all, it was quite a gastronomical dining experience. I'd really like to go back and try other dishes but I think I will always remember the Crispy Honey-Chipotle Chicken Crispers the best.

Note: The portion of all the dishes are large! No kidding! :)

Here's the link to Chili's Grill & Bar Restaurant (Malaysia): http://www.chilis.com.my