Gue pernah lihat salah satu video di TikTok, agak absurd sih videonya:

Setelah banyak membaca gimana cara pakai menstrual cup yang baik dan benar, gue mendapatkan konklusi kalau:

Gue paling nyaman sama punch down, karena lebih mudah buat dimasukkin dan gampang kebuka juga pas udah di dalam. Tapi take note, ya, awal-awal kalian harus nyobain semua cara biar tau mana yang paling enak di kalian. Kalau yang paling banyak dipakai sih, katanya C fold dan punch down fold.

Nah, datanglah waktunya gue harus mengaplikasikan ketiga hal tersebut.

Sebenarnya disarankan untuk latihan pakai menstrual cup sebelum menstruasi dengan bantuan water based lubricant, tapi kan gue gak punya lubricant ya.... jadi gue percaya diri aja langsung pakai pertama kali pas gue dapet hari pertama.

Gue coba masukkin dengan metode punch down fold dengan nopang kaki gue di toilet. Percobaan pertama berhasil masuk, tapi pas gue nyoba untuk duduk, rasanya super gak nyaman. Mungkin karena tangkai dari menstrual cup masih di luar, jadi pas duduk lumayan ngeganjel. 

Akhirnya, gue ide banget buat motong tangkainya. Awalnya cuma sedikit, terus gue coba lagi tapi masih ganjel, sampai gue putuskan untuk potong semua tangkainya. Problem solved, menstrual cup masuk dan gue merasa nyaman pas duduk karena udah gak ada yang ganjel.

Nah, di awal pemakaian tuh emang kerasa banget ada sesuatu di bawah sana. Tapi, setelah lo beraktifitas, lama kelamaan menstrual cup-nya akan semakin masuk ke dalam, sampai akhirnya gak akan terasa lagi tuh sesuatu di bawah sana. Gila sih, life-changing moment banget. Gak ada lagi tuh yang namanya pembalut nyempil, kulit iritasi, atau gak bisa gerak bebas karena takut bocor.

Okay, so everything was going well. Sampai akhirnya gue harus buang darah yang ketampung karena udah enam jam lebih dari sejak gue pakai menstrual cup-nya. This was where the nightmare came. 

Jadi, pas mencoba untuk mengeluarkan menstrual cup itu dengan memasukkan jari gue ke dalam, seketika gue panik karena gue gak menemukkan menstrual cup-nya. Jujur, udah rasanya gue udah ngubek-ngubek daerah situ tapi tetep aja gak ada.... badan gue lemes dan udah keringet dingin, di kepala gue udah kepikiran kalau gue harus ke rumah sakit cuma buat ngeluarin si menstrual cup ini.

Di tengah-tengah kepanikan itu, gue berusaha untuk tenang dan mengingat apa yang harus gue lakukan ketika mau mengeluarkan si menstrual cup ini. 

Yes, gue harus relaks dulu, kayak waktu mau masukkin. Inhale, exhale, you got this, girl.

Karena menstrual cup-nya udah masuk ke dalam, jadi cara untuk mendorongnya keluar adalah dengan ngeden. Gue pun melakukan hal tersebut sembari mengecek menggunakan jari gue apakah menstrual cup-nya sudah muncul kepermukaan atau belum. 

Dan, bener aja, gue merasakkan ujung dari si menstrual cup ketika gue ngeden, sayangnya, karena gue udah memotong semua tangkai menstrual cup, gue jadi tidak bisa menarik menstrual cup-nya keluar. 

Mau nggak mau gue harus 'merogoh' lebih dalam buat ngambil badan cup-nya. Ngilu dikit sist, tapi alhamdulillah berhasil teraih. Setelah gue cubit sedikit, menstrual cup keluar dengan lancar.

Gue buang darahnya dan cuci bersih cup-nya, tapi jujur, gak gue pakai lagi karena gue masih trauma, hahaha. Gue baru berani pakai menstrual cup lagi di cycle gue yang berikutnya, tapi karena sudah belajar dari pengalaman, di cycle kedua ini gue gak menghadapi kesulitan dalam pemakaian maupun saat gue mau mengambil lagi menstrual cup-nya.

Walaupun lumayan serem di awal pemakaian, tapi gue bersyukur udah ganti dari pembalut ke menstrual cup. Kayak yang udah gue bilang di awal, dengan memakai menstrual cup gue udah gak pernah lagi iritasi (yang sangat menjadi concern gue ketika masih memakai pembalut), bergerak juga jauh lebih nyaman dan tentunya gue bisa sekalian mengurangi limbah lingkungan.

Gue sangat merekomendasikan penggunaan menstrual cup! Yang kalian perluin cuma keyakinan dan latihan terus, sisters!

Halo! Wow, ternyata angan-angan ingin lebih produktif menulis di tahun 2018 hanyalah wacana belaka, hahaha, maafin, ya. Banyak hal yang terjadi di 2018 yang mau gue bahas di sini sebenernya, tapi ya next time aja kali ya sekalian hashtag tbt.

Selamat tahun baru 2019, by the way! Udah awal Febuari juga sih sebenernya (Ya Allah, beneran sangat tidak produktif blog ini!). Awal tahun ini gue berniat untuk mencoba salah satu dari beberapa cushion lokal yang lagi lumayan banyak diomongin sama orang-orang, yaitu Make It Glow Dewy Cushion dari Pixy Cosmetics!

Pixy Make It Glow Dewy Cushion in Natural Beige Shade

Alesan kenapa gue milih cushion Pixy dibanding brand-brand lainnya adalah karena gue tertarik sama kata 'dewy' di produk ini. As you all know, beberapa bulan belakangan kan kayaknya dewy make-up lagi hype banget, nih. Berhubung kondisi kulit gue bisa dibilang kering dan sedikit kusam, jadi gue mencari cushion yang bisa menghilangkan complexion tersebut, dan pas banget nih, ada si Pixy Dewy Cushion ini!

Oke, jadi gue beli cushion Pixy di official store-nya yang ada di Shopee. Harganya menurut gue cukup terjangkau, sih, cuma Rp 125.000 aja. Shade yang gue pilih adalah neutral beige, dan warna ini pas banget dengan warna kulit gue, nggak lebih gelap atau lebih terang.

Disclaimer— ini pertama kalinya gue akan membahas sebuah produk kecantikan, dan gue masih sedikit awam, hehehe. Mohon sorry nih kalo bahasan gue kurang memuaskan, I'll try to describe my opinion about this product as good as possible. Langsung aja, ya!

Mulai dari packaging-nya nih, si Pixy ini tempatnya terlihat cukup elegan, dengan warna cokelat tua yang shining gitu, bener-bener bikin produk ini kayak barang mewah. Ketika dibuka, ada puff yang, well, cukup nyaman untuk dipakai even though it barely fits my third finger. Mungkin karena jari gue bagong-bagong, jadi nggak muat untuk tiga jari, hahaha.

Sorry, Itu Kelingking, Bukan Jempol.

Alright, an update, just happened now. Gue kira si Pixy ini nggak punya cermin di dalemnya, karena tampilannya kayak gini:

See! Cuma Semacam Doff Gitu.

TERNYATA GUE BARU TAU KALAU ITU MESTI DIKELOPEK DULU, DONG. Dan baru ada cermin yang cukup besarnya itu. Malunya aku, padahal udah misuh-misuh ke temen kalau Pixy ini aneh nggak punya cermin. Maaf ya gue amatir banget.

Anyway, isi dari cushion ini ada di bagian dalemnya lagi. Dia agak mendelep gitu, jadi lumayan ganggu sih si sisi-sisi dari lingkarannya itu, kalau buat gue, soalnya puff-nya jadi suka nyangkut di sisi-sisinya terus jadi kotor. Eh, apa emang pasti selalu kotor, ya? Hahahaha. I'm such a virgin in cushion.

That Dirty Part Irks Me So Much!

Untuk hasil produknya sendiri, gue coba pakai di tangan gue dan impresi pertama yang gue dapet adalah it's really dewy. Gue coba foto tangan gue di bawah cahaya dan emang kelihatan aja sih, kulit gue jadi sedikit shiny gitu. Berarti emang Pixy beneran ngebuktiin klaimnya sebagai dewy cushion.

Atau Ini Hanya Ilusi Semata?

Setelah gue coba pakai di muka gue (sebelumnya gue pakai skin mist dan sun screen dulu), gue sangat, sangat suka sama hasilnya! Pertama, tekstur dari Pixy ini lumayan cair gitu jadi gampang banget dibaur (Ya Allah, baur, apa sih bahasa beauty talk-nya?!) dan ringan banget di muka. Kedua, dia bisa nutupin bekas jerawat gue sampai lumayan nggak kelihatan lagi.

Maafkan Mukaku Terlalu Lebar.

Di beberapa daerah emang sedikit patchy, tapi entah deh, kayaknya itu karena kondisi kulit gue yang terlalu kering? Hahaha.

I Got Big Pores

Untuk ke-dewy-annya sendiri, emang bener bikin glowing sih yang gue lihat. Di foto di atas, gue sama sekali nggak pakai highlighter, tapi lumayan terlihat ada beberapa daerah kayak di pipi, hidung, dan sekitar pelipis yang lumayan shining gitu, kan?

Setelah gue pakai seharian bekerja (indoor) selama kurang lebih 10 jam, tanpa touch up dan hanya gue blot, hasilnya kayak gini:

Lelah Setelah Jadi Babu Korporat.

 Ada beberapa spot yang udah hilang, kayak di deket dagu gue dan daerah alis karena emang gue paling sering nyentuh dua bagian itu. Daerah pipi juga sedikit hilang coverage-nya, tapi mungkin kalo elo orangnya nggak petakilan kayak gue (read: kebanyakkan nyentuh wajah) dia akan lebih long-lasting kali, ya.

Well overall, gue suka sih sama cushion ini. Untuk harga yang lumayan murah, Pixy ini emang membuktikan klaimnya dia. Next time gue akan repurchase refill-nya, harganya cuma Rp 90.000. Yeay!

22 was the glory year of my life—not that perfect, but I achieved some of my goals in that year of age. So the fact that I had to finally moving on from my favorite age was kind of a sad thing. It felt like when I finally turned 23, I had to leave all the good things behind. I wasn't mentally prepared myself from that. 

So I wasn't really feeling my 23 year old self on its first day. I woke up, I knew my family would give me the not-so-surprising surprise which they did. Then I just did my daily routine as the usual. I got some birthday messages from friends and family which were lesser and lesser as I'm getting older, but I knew life is all about gaining and losing, so it doesn't really matter. 

But things got more exciting when I received a call from an unknown number at work. I never really accepted a call from stranger, so I rejected it. Then it sent me a message, said that it was from Gojek and someone sent me something. When I went downstairs to see who was this person, it turned out to be Chika— a really good friend of mine who I thought I was having a fight with, cause it had been ages since the last time she actually talked to me. She bought me a cake, I blew the candles, then I went back to work. Short surprise, but left a big impression on me.



I also got a surprise from my co-workers. It was kind of 'formality' in our office to make a birthday surprise for the workers, but I still felt blessed to celebrate my birthday with new people. I knew they were the people I gained in life this year.





I pretty much spent my first day of being 23 years old with them. (I hope I'd be able to spend the rest of my life with them too.)

This birthday probably went a little bit special because it was a start of something. It's not the time yet to talk about it, but I will when everything goes as I plan.

Until then. 

We went on 23rd December. Despites all the rumors that said it would take ten hours to go to Bandung due to the construction project, it turned out we only need four hours until we arrived at Dimas’ grandparent’s house. We had some times to have a rest before we went to our first destination: Bukit Moko.

It was almost ten PM when we arrived at, turned out, to be Bukit Bintang. The route to Bukit Bintang was crazy, I’m telling you. It was mostly uphills, narrow streets, no street lights whatsoever and some ways didn’t have rails to keep us safe from the cliff. We believed in Luthfi who drove the car and also, fortunately, we used Arfi’s car—The All New Honda CRV with turbo, so going uphill was not a problem (wow, sounds like an advertisement).

Bukit Bintang was so cold, windy but also beautiful. The sea of lights from the houses of Bandung city was mesmerizing— they were blink, just like real stars. We did a couple of photos when suddenly Luthfi came up with this ‘game’ called Kebaikan, which basically we tell each other our positiveness and kindness. When it was my turn, they said I had such a wide knowledge, a good listener and they consider my point of views a lot. It’s so funny for me because when they thought them as something that are positive in me, in fact those are the things I feel insecure the most. Well, it’s true that every cloud has silver lining anyway. 

It was the most intimate moment I’ve ever had with them. I was glad I finally knew what they think about me and I finally could tell them how grateful I am to have them. After some strolling at The Bukit Bintang, we finally went down to have a cup of noodles and also hot tea. At 12-ish PM, we went home and went straight to the bed

Going on holiday with them means no itinerary needed— we only talked about it on the day we wanted to go. So as soon as we woke up, we were planning where we wanted to go while having a cup of tea and banana cake prepared by Dimas' grandparents. I honestly was interested to go to Selasar Sunaryo, so I recommended it to them and they agreed. So off to Selasar Sunaryo we went!

Too bad when we arrived, the art museum was still close, so we only strolling around the art space, took some photos and had a coffee talk at their cafe. 







We had a lunch at Karnivor, I spent almost 100 IDR for its Ribs Jumbo and didn't regret evert single thing of it— it was so big, tender but also juicy at the same time. I wished they would open a branch in Jakarta, though.

So after that, Arfi and Garina wanted to go shopping. We went to Happy Go Lucky. There was a raincoat by Ame that I've been wanting since a long time ago, but it was quite overpriced there, I ended up buy nothing lol. After we went to HGL, we were in dilemma whether we should went back to the house first and went out again at night or we should just continue to somewhere we didn't know yet. Eventually, we continued the trip to Braga Street and Alun-Alun Kota. There were so many people there! And for the first time I saw those "ghosts" on the street. I only saw them from TV before, but to saw them in real life is so fascinating and funny. We took a photo with "Nyi Roro Kidul"

So It Is True When They Said Nyi Roro Kidul Was An Pretty Entity!

Braga street at night was so beautiful, I felt like being in somewhere outside indonesia. After we strolled around at Braga, we had some coffees before we went back to the house. 

DAY 3

The third day means the last day trip in Bandung. We didn't have much plan except going on Arfi's grandparents' house, which we also visited the first time we had a trip to Bandung. FYI: Arfi, Luthfi, Iman and Dimas are Sundanese, so they have their families live in Bandung. Since I joined Luthfi's car, we stopped by Luthfi's uncle house and also Iman's grandparents' house. I think this was one of the reasons why I think of my Bintaro gang as a family, just because we visited each others' families pretty often. 

So yep! We went to Arfi's grandparents' house. It was not only her grandparents, but her whole big family who gathered there. Apparently, they were about to celebrate Christmas. We had lunch there and also harvested some rambutan from its tree. Around 3 pm, we continued the trip of going back to Jakarta, but we stopped by Kartika Sari first to buy some souvenirs. I arrived at Jakarta at 7 pm and went straight to my grandma's house cause I skipped Christmas party that day, hahaha. 

It was a fun trip! Bandung has become the city I held in my heart and to have memories with my friends makes me really happy. But anyway, wherever I go, when I go with these people, a city becomes a home eventually.

Can't wait for another trip with them!