Check out MARCH’s monthly special here! We had a blast making the video – I think we had about 3 minutes of battery life on my camera, and Jill and I were totally late for a dinner engagement, but all we can say is after this shoot, we had reeeaalllyyyy clean skin… 
Hope you enjoy! I really love the Rice Facial Scrub myself… Big time.
We love to drink tea at JUARA. Not a day goes by where the statement, “Who’s going to make tea today?” doesn’t find its way into office conversation. But tea wasn’t always our drink of choice. In the past, we survived off pots of coffee. But after several of us read “Skinny Bitch” (I’ll admit it), we had a cold turkey reckoning, and tea and water became our new best friend. (And Kombucha – but you’ve already been enlightened on our love of that healthy beverage.)
Although we had all grown up drinking different types of tea, few of us knew much about tea beyond the fact that it can have caffeine and has healthy antioxidants that help skin and body fight age-inducing free radicals. We’ve also all heard that tea can prevent cancer, calm the stomach, improve immune function, decrease cardiovascular risk, etc.
But did you know that tea comes from only 1 plant – the Camellia sinensis plant and that the different types of tea: White, Green, Black, Pu-erh, and Oolong differ based on the amount and type of processing each tea undergoes? All “teas” that come from other plants are “herbal teas” – but tasty nonetheless. Examples of the different types of teas:
Something new I learned recently, the caffeine in tea doesn’t create that “crash” that so often happens with other caffeinated beverages, it’s a smooth and energy lifting awareness. Something I’ve experienced, but never realized. Also, I’ve always heard that green tea has more caffeine than coffee, but I didn’t realize that a typical serving has far less caffeine because tea is brewed more “weakly” than coffee. Plus, color is NOT an indicator for caffeine content.
Other fun facts: you can brew tea with the same tea leaves multiple times, just add hot water. If you like it sweet, add agave or honey instead of sugar. Agave doesn’t spike your blood sugar levels (thus preventing the sugar high and crash) and honey is naturally immune-boosting. No milk? Try soy milk. And sometimes, when I’m tired of the millions of teas we have in our cupboard, I mix teas. Chai with herbal mint tea. Herbal antioxidant Rooibos with black tea. Choco-mint with Thai Chai. So let’s drink to your health!
Hi, here’s a little less about JUARA and more about JAMU, the Indonesian herbal tradition from where JUARA was inspired. This will be the start of a series of videos covering a smattering of JAMU related topics – hope you enjoy a little history lesson in yummy little tidbits. Watch out, there’ll be a quiz at the end! Just kidding… Of course, if you do want to dig in deeper, there are more formal books and research materials from which I learned the information, so I’ll be more than happy to refer those to you too, but in the meantime, here’s to episode 1!
2010: Year of the White Tiger - it's just the beginning...
So… if this weekend could have a logo, it would be the big white tiger dancing with a cupid around the White House. And how did one spend their holiday weekend with so many options to choose from? My close friends all met for a Chinese New Year party to celebrate well, the Chinese New Year, and the first appearance of Asami, JUARA Girl Yoshiko’s new daughter – born on a recent Jan. 27, 2010. I went to the Berkshires in Massachusettes for a Valentine weekend where I FROZE my feet off, (note I have cold feet all the time – if you read previous articles, you’d know…) but had a beautiful time at Mt. Greylock Inn Bed & Breakfast and the Mass MoCa museum where my beau and I were pretty impressed by the works of Sol Lewitt. We also hiked near the Clark Museum where Boldini’s impressionist art in particular took my breath away. (How do you DO that with a paintbrush?) While other friends had the day off today to celebrate President’s day, I was at the office catching up work as I’ve had my holiday already. (Oh, but the post office being closed is baadd…. been waiting for my delivery from DSW for nice, warm shoes!!!) Over the last 2 weeks, we’ve had 3 fashion week events and an in-store event at the awesome ABC Home in NYC where JUARA is also carried, and between the clients, press, follow-up, packing/unpacking – it’s been quite the intro to this upcoming year of the White Tiger. Being born in the year of the tiger myself – this triple-holiday weekend following an onslaught of Fashion week heyday (even fashion junkies need beautiful skin!) is supposed to prep me for this upcoming year.
According to my sign on the Chinese calendar, this year is supposed to be…eventful. (I’m also a Wood Tiger, with signs of Dog, Monkey, and Tiger in my luck sign is Fire, at least according to this website (ok, I just looked around.) This is going to be a year of luck, given hard work. Opportunity shall come – along with pitfalls, but supposedly avoidable. But I look at all of this with a grain of salt – all is fun to read, but there’s nothing to substitute, good ol’ honest work and passion about your work. I realize my luck and inspiration comes from the love of running my own business, appreciation of the products we create, and excitement from seeing how it affects people’s lives, complexion, and confidence.
Given that the last year was filled with woeful financial news, stories of stock market doom and gloom (and some doubt it’s really over now,) this year, (or starting this Chinese New Year,) is going to be different. Time to think positively, not just think of resolutions to follow through on, but that the forecast for this year is “Yes, It Will Happen.” I’m thinking positive thoughts and it is happening – new business, new perspective, new opportunities, I hope that the white tiger shall serve me well, but that’s not without challenges I smile to take on. Here’s to a new year of opportunity and success for all! I hope you all stay tuned.
CLO Lingerie - available at the Feb 11 event in NYC.
Oh, events – do I love thee. This week, I have had several phone calls with various online shopping sites, all offering interesting platforms for selling and promoting our JUARA wares, but I have to say, one thing that I still hold dear are events. I, myself, am an admitted online shopper – I don’t do well with lines at the cashier and I like to shop at the comfort of my laptop, taking little breaks at work to do some damage on my wallet. Although I do enjoy the solo shopping experience, I really do like events where people shop (not just our JUARA products, though that’s fun,) and mingle. I have a fantastic time just chatting with people who really were having a good time, hearing what people feel about JUARA (when we’re in the events,) or mingling at others’ tables, getting to know the other designers and the people who come to check out the event – such intimate (yet public) events really do put the human aspect back into what can be a guilt-ridden wallet watching evening. With no pressure, but just being yourself with friends, chatting, shopping, meeting new people – it just feels… special. Sometimes we’re so focused on our finances that we forget shopping events are truly enjoyable as a social event, with that benefit of going home with goodies! Enjoy a drink and relax! This month, we have several events, and I’m rather looking forward to them. Two coming up:
FEB: 5, 2010: New York City: Red Market NYC – Fashion Week Kick-off party - Look your best this Valentine’s Day by joining Ardistia New York, Cloak and Dagger, Karolina Zmarlak & Miguelina at the Red Market Salon’s Fashion week kick off party! Sip on champagne, shop designer clothing and enjoy complimentary blow-outs and irresistible samples by Juara and Becca Cosmetics .
Time & Place: 7-11pm @ 32 Gansevoort Street 4th Floor, Meatpacking District, NY NY
FEB 11, 2010: New York City: Pre-Valentine Champagne Sale & Soiree – Enjoy a night of JUARA, Sexy Sweet Lingerie by CLO, and Elegant Edgy Fashion by Ardistia New York, and fun & sophisticated jewelry by Poupette, while celebrating your awesome, hot goodness. If you missed the Feb 4 event I speak of tonight, come to this again! (I picked up a few lacy pieces myself…)
Time & Place: 5-10pm @ Archstone Bldg, 245 E. 40th st (entrance on 2nd ave), 35th Floor PenthouseEvents
RSVP to questions@juaraskincare.com. Mention this blog post and get a free gift too.
Hope to see you there!
People always ask us to recommend ‘packages’ for their skincare regimen or for gifting. So over time, we’ve come up with a bunch of ‘bundles of goodness,’ so to speak, and it makes for easy one-stop-shopping if you’re wanting skincare solutions or if you want to try something new – at a value price!
Check out our site for the JUARA Deal of the Month, aka JUARA Monthly Specials! They change every month, check back often and see what tgoodies the next month has to offer! (Btw – add the link as a favorite, since it’ll be the same URL month after month…)
You can always get products a la carte, that’s the beauty of JUARA; you can use our botanicals based products as a set (works wonders!) or mix and match with your fave products, but we thought we’d give you some options, and also a great deal. Enjoy!
The JUARA Girls,
Metta, Yoshiko, Jill & Tami
I received an invitation the second week of January for a healthy brunch amongst friends. Little did I know what I was getting myself into! Three weeks later, I’m semi-regularly updating my exercise habits on a shared Google spreadsheet seen by friends and acquaintances, while being offered weekly encouraging communications from my “encouragement partner”, Amy.
The first email was a little bit tricky, I saw the words “brunch” and ”get-together”, and without reading the fine print, jumped on the food-wagon…who says no to brunch?! Okay, in re-reading the email, it wasn’t tricky. I’m just no good at details.
THE DEAL: set 2 attainable weekly goals (eg. sleep by 11pm, exercise 30 minutes 3 times a week, eat green veggies 7 meals a week)
TIME FRAME: 2 months (that’s 8 whole weeks of discipline! longer than most gym attendance memberships…)
THE METHOD: check in regularly to log your “success”, support a partner with similar goals, meet up at parties/brunches/yoga/events 2 times a month
Wish me luck in my goal of 20 minutes of solid exercise 3 times a week and no sugary snacks 3 times a week. And I’ll see you in 5 more weeks. Hopefully by then, I’ll have formed new habits and can start anew on other personal projects!
The Scrub that Scrubs It All
Just last week I went for a Korean body scrub in Jakarta, patronized mainly by the Korean and Japanese expats of Jakarta. This bath house, (minus the Indonesian staff and architecture of the building,) was typical of those you find in Korea in their bath houses. Unlike your typical pamper-me body scrub treatment with delicate music piping through, this was more like a no-nonsense factory setup of the human skin smoothing machine. My friend said it was like scaling a fish, with you being the fish, of course, but that darn, it was worth it.
Step 1: Go into a sauna to soften your skin, or if available, sit in various hot pools in the bathhouse) This is the fun, relaxing, enjoyable and social part of the experience. An Indonesian twist – they offer you Ginger Tea before if you want, and unlimited coffee.
Step 2. Lie down on an assigned hospital gurney sized vinyl bed where a barely dressed no-nonsense woman in shorts and a tanktop (or only bra and undies in Korea,) basically splashes you down and scrubs every square inch of your buck naked (yep, showing them bits and all,) body with a special rough (yet strangely not skin-ripping) cloth, till all your dead skin and dirt gets sloughed off. You can even see the little clusters of grey, dead, wet skin and feel it as it comes off between the intermittent rinsing with comfortably warm water. Mind you, this scrub down is is not recommended for the modest. They get in all sorts of places, just shy of your hoo-ha, but these women are pros; I admire their tenacity and commitment to ridding you of all dead skin. Even the little areas behind your ears are not spared, as they ask to you lie on your back, side, front, and then the other side… nothing missed!
Step 3: Soften that skin… To soothe the newly rubbed down and rinsed skin, they then pour on and massage milk all over your body, which feels like a welcome contradictory feel to the previous scrub down. I am not sure if this is purely Korean or somewhat a local influence, but it is soft, creamy, yummy, and totally lovely. Then they pour honey all over your body, and also rub that onto the skin to soften and hydrate. Yes, I licked it off my arm to make sure it was the real deal, undiluted and all – and it was. An option to have a face mask of blended, fresh cucumbers to tone is available. This part is so awesome feeling you almost forget you’re on a vinyl gurney. Almost.
Afterwards, there’s a generally non-ceremonious end where you are handed a towel after a final rinse to dry off and change – and off you go. Did I like it? I thought it was interesting – I LOVED the way I felt after, but let’s just say it’s made way more awesome if you focus on the after vs. the during, and that never has milk and honey felt so good…
Each year, I embark on my new year resolutions with fresh motivation. My resolutions are never outlandish… the usual “eat healthier”, “exercise more” or “be a kinder person”… this year, it’s all about “can I really live up to my resolutions”. We shall see in 3 months how I do. My top 5 resolutions for 2010 are:
Keep healthy eating in perspective
We all know what’s bad, what’s good and what’s better. I feel fortunate that I rarely crave junk food or soda, but what about that last mile of “goodness” where you have to choose between healthy and enjoyable? For 2010, I will maintain good habits, but I draw the line where my pleasure in food is truly compromised. Example: Brown rice is better than white rice and brown rice tastes pretty good. But do Sushi rolls with brown rice kind of miss the point? I remember my mother’s horrified look when she saw brown rice sushi rolls at Wholefoods for the first time. Japanese people are one of the healthiest people on earth with the highest life expectancy. A lot of them still eat white rice instead of brown. I’d say, it’s ok to eat white rice as part of a healthy diet, and let’s face it, it often tastes a lot better than brown rice.
Don’t exercise if it feels like a chore
I’ve tried many tricks to get motivated to hit the gym: “Visualize a healthier, fitter self!” Or “Imagine how GOOD you will feel after the work out.” It may work a couple of times, but really, I think it’s torture to have to coax myself to exercise like that for a whole year, let alone the rest of my life. My resolution: I will only work out if I feel naturally excited or at least motivated to do so. And to trick my mind, I will incorporate as much “accidental” or “hobby” exercise into my daily life as possible. Take the stairs, walk to the subway, do the vacuum cleaning myself, run to make a light, go dancing. No more blank stares on the treadmill in 2010!
Get more sleep
Healthy eating and sufficient exercise has become almost a question of social status these days. People that live on junk food and are couch potatoes are considered… uncool! That consciousness has not reached the topic of sleep yet, even though it’s been shown that chronic lack of sleep affects our health just as much as if not more than what we eat and how much we move. Lack of sleep results in inflammation, messes with your blood sugar and your heart health. In 2010, I will make sure I get enough sleep on the reg, yes, at the expense of work or exercise!
Keep in touch more
Feeling connected to people is a major source of peace and happiness in life. It’s so easy to become consumed by work and your own life’s chores, so for 2010 I vow to keep in touch more with friends and family. Yes, at the expense of work or exercise!
Keep it simple
This is less concrete but probably my most important resolution. From the clothes I keep to the goals I set, I vow to keep my life simple and free of clutter, literally and metaphorically because simplicity is key to a serene mind, especially when you are about to embark on parenthood.
Let’s touch base in 3 months and see how I fared!
My Dragon Fruit Juice at ION mall in Singapore
Oh, my new favorite scary-looking, but oh so tasty fruit of Asia: The Dragon Fruit (aka Pitaya or Pitahaya fruit.) Unlike its bold namesake, it won’t spit out fire if you try to eat it (though wouldn’t that be a neat party trick?) But it will give you a chockful of Vitamin C, fiber and antioxidants instead. Not bad. This red skinned, fleshy fruit with fantastical green, almost tentacle-like ‘fingers’ has a mild sweet taste and edible seeds. Slice one open and you will see one kind is exciting red, (ok, more like vibrant, gawk-worthy Miami Vice fuscia,) and the other is a creamy, ivory white, both interspersed with black seeds that are barely noticeable when eaten. If dragon fruit is eaten dried, it has 10x the amount of Vitamin C per gram than when fresh.
Diabetes Bonus: Dragon Fruit is known to be good for people with type 2 diabetes, as it helps control and reduce blood glucose levels. It’s recommended that you enjoy some dragon fruit (fresh, or dry if that’s what’s available,) with your meal if you can to help control blood sugar increase. That’s pretty neat.
How do I eat it? In Indonesia and Singapore, I eat it fresh, either sliced – without the skin – or blendered with ice to make a juice. I used the red kind (see picture), and when juiced, it’s so bright and fun colored that it makes beet juice look tame.
But in the US, where can you easily get Dragon Fruit? In New York at least, (and probably other cities,) I find it in Chinatown. However, Trader Joe’s has it in dried form in their dried fruit sectionfor a pretty reasonable price, so if you’re curious, I say check it out, and happy dragon tasting!
