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I love moving around and the concept of exercising, but can’t get myself to walk into a gym. The utter dread of exercising in a room full of strangers for an hour is related more to boredom and time moving so slowly than anything else. When I walk around the city, I’m energized by the small traces of life I see all around me, whether it be street graffiti, people talking animatedly on the streets, or the rare brave squirrel that makes it past the gated clumps of grassy gardens we New Yorkers love. Don’t get me wrong, I love walking in the forest and the suburbs too, it’s the diversity of life and living around me that I love. But I’ve come up with something new since I can’t bring myself to walk into a gym and enjoy it for more than 1 week. I’ve discovered body weights. (http://www.bodytogs.com/) Weight training is super important for body health, especially as we age. It helps to build strong bones, which our bodies depend more on from weight training than drinking in calcium (ie. Milk) as we age. And you burn more calories when you're walking around with weights on. It's a win win. Plus wearable weights are perfect for the winter when I'm wearing warm clothes (at home or work) No one can tell I'm wearing them on my forearms or calves under my clothing. So just don't tell my work mates I'm working out while working with them. And someone please help me come up with a solution for the summer! -JILL SUNG
We just had an amazingly fun and successful event on February 4th with Three Custom Colors makeup line and Red Market Salon NYC, and all I have to say is I'm so excited that even in this cold and freezing New York weather, we had a line out the door before the event started! Having the weather forecast say it was going to be one of the coldest evenings of the year made us anxious that no one would want to trek out for a beauty party. But the anxiety of an empty room became a feeling of excitement when the stream of people arrived! For those who waited in the freezing cold to get in, congratulations and kudos, because 20 degrees is seriously no picnic. We offered free make-overs, skincare consultations, and free hair blow-outs, goodie bags and drinks. Everyone from clients to beauty editors came to revel in a night of primping and pampering. It was really fun. My take-away: Despite the recessional woe-is-the-world news, doom-and-gloom hunker down and save nervousness - let's face it, whenever we can have an opportunity to look and feel beautiful, we'll take it. Beauty and healthy skin inspired confidence - and how to do that now when everyone's watching their wallets? I spoke to a few women who were avid Creme de La Mer fans. They said as much as they loved using it, they didn't want to use so much that it would run out quickly, especially these days!So their question was how does one get beautiful, perfectly hydrated skin without skimping on their fave pricey and lovely moisturizer? By using our JUARA Tamarind Tea Hyrdating Toner before applying the moisturizer! The toner is the perfect addition to make a favorite moisturizer last longer, since it's a hydrating elixir that soothes and adds oil-free moisture to your skin, addressing the dehydration that we all face, enabling one to use less of their La Mer (or other favorite) moisturizer while acheiving the same results. Unlike the old-school toners which have alcohol and can strip and overdry skin, think of the JUARA Tamarind Tea Hydrating Toner more as the first step to moisturizing rather than the last step of cleansing. Alcohol-free, fragrance-free and filled with a chock of hyaluronic acid and tamarind seed extract to hydrate and increase suppleness of skin, this natural and silky liquid will absorb quickly into your skin. Then you can seal all that goodness with your favorite moisturizer; you won't need as much since the toner has already given your skin a head start with hyrdation. And at $27 a bottle, this no-cotton-ball-needed toner in a pump will go a long way. (Why waste the precious liquid on a cotton ball anyway, we ask?) No need to spend a million bucks to look like it. That's our recession tip! Does anyone else have any suggestions on how to make their favorite products last longer? And if you are in NY and would like to be invited to our next exciting party, please sign up on our mailing list here!-METTA MURDAYA
I absolutely love my 1-2-3 basics (see my previous posting): Rice Facial Cleanser, Tamarind Toner and Sweet Black Tea & Rice Moisturizer. It is so simple, quick, easy, and it was spot-on perfect for my normal-to-dry skin before the crazy arctic temperature change in New York a few weeks ago.
When the arctic wave hit, my skin needed more! The dry, cold wind through the wind tunnels of NYC were wreaking havoc on my skin. I still loved my Sweet Black Tea & Rice Moisturizer because it boost my radiance and smoothes my skin and wears superbly under foundation, but it just wasn’t rich enough for this type of extreme cold. My mother, also a health and skincare nut, had a great idea. “Why don’t you just mix a few drops of facial oil with the moisturizer to make it more emollient?” How simple is that! I tried it right away the same night and a single drop added to my hazelnut-sized amount of moisturizer made ALL the difference. So I started incorporating it daily: 1 drop of oil in the morning, 2 drops at night. Perfect!
My mother knows I am obsessed with travel-sizes and mini-sizes of product. The smaller and cuter, the better! After she suggested the added-oil treatment for my skin, she actually found the tiniest, most adorable oil-capsules at our natural drugstore back in Germany and mailed them to me. These capsules are about half the size of a finger nail and contain 2-3 drops of pure rose-hip oil (Alverde Wildrosenoel-Kapseln) and are perfect for travel. They are tiny and never leak! Going back to my obsession of fitting my entire beauty regimen into a quart-size zip lock bag when I travel: Now, with my cleanser, toner, moisturizer and oil-capsules, I can carry around a skincare program in a single zippy bag that is good for hot-humid weather all the way to arctic-dry winter climate. It is my completely customizable skincare program in a zippy bag! In hot-humid weather, I just use the oil-free hydrating toner alone. In normal weather, I apply the toner and moisturizer. And finally, in really extremely cold, dry climates, I use the toner followed by the moisturizer mixed with a drop of oil. I could travel the whole world with this one small zippy bag!
-YOSHIKO ROTH
Now here’s a hair/spa treatment we are missing out on in the US. Imagine having big yummy bowls of creamy, dreamy, custardy botanical hair mask slathered all through your newly shampooed hair in a gloriously revitalizing head massage as you sit and relax in a comfy chair. After 20 minutes of head heaven, your hair is then wrapped in a warm, moist steamy towel as this massage wonderfully moves to your shoulders and neck, releasing all tension. Then moves down to your arms, forearms, all the way to your fingertips. Delicious olive oil and lotions are combined to create a massage oil that will give you that mmmm-give-me-more-just-right-there-oh-yes! feel as your muscles are released. (No dirty thoughts now, this is a family show!) Imagine this goes on for another 45 minutes. Try not to drool from bliss. I call this heaven. The Indonesians call it a traditional cremebath. 
Short of being a full spa treatment, this head-to-arm treatment is a traditional beauty ritual that you can find in many spas and salons in Indonesia. Convenient because it takes less time and doesn’t require you to disrobe, it nonetheless gives you release and pampering in just the right areas. And since we all need air hair washed, it also has a purely functional aspect to it too, rendering your hair clean, healthy and beautiful, so this treatment is very popular with the women there, myself included. After the treatment, you are served tea or Jamu, an ancient herbal health tonic, you can sip while slowly reconnecting to the world out there… where you can begin to dream about getting the next cremebath…
One can choose from a variety of conditioning masks with different traditional benefits. Their claims for the masks with following ingredients are:
Ginseng – energizing, for thinning hair
Candlenut - increases shine and darkens hair (what I chose!)
Avocado – hydrating nourishment for dry hair
Aloe Vera – straightens hair
I went with a friend of mine in Jakarta, Indonesia. Sometimes they’re in fancier salons, but ours was in a local salon with a simple Javanese theme, with batik chairs and traditional rotan furniture. We wanted to be in the same room so we could chat through the treatment, but once the fingers touched our heads, we both, as if on cue, became radio silent for the next hour, lost somewhere in “this feels so good” and “Calgon, take me away!” land. But definitely bring me back, especially after I saw the price tag on this ritual: $6. (It can go up to $15 in fancier salons/spas.) If you’re in Indonesia, I highly suggest you look for one in a salon/spa near you. -METTA MURDAYA
My friend in Jakarta grew up eating roasted candlenuts with her family and affectionately calls them the “poor man’s macadamia nut,” but just one bite easily shows it’s anything but. The beloved candlenut, with its elegant and velvety oils infused in our JUARA products, is rooted deep in Indonesian epicurean culture. This nut, used in many of the dishes including almost all Indonesian curries you may come across, is normally ground up and mixed with other spices. However, a little known fact is that it also happens to be delicious roasted whole. It has a light, nutty texture and has an almost-floral nut smell, if you can imagine that. It’s not quite as buttery as a macadamia nut, but has the most delicate crunch and is full of nutrients – a healthy, tasty treat! Can you tell, I'm so enjoying this little morsel of nutty goodness.
The recipe is simple. Take approximately ½ cup of candlenuts, about 1 tbsp of olive oil, a pinch of salt (to taste) and pan fry/sautee it until it becomes a nice golden brown – about 3 shades darker than its raw counterpart. Make sure it’s cooked all the way through!
If you’re wondering where to get candlenuts in the US – if you are lucky enough to be in a city with Asian markets - go to one that specializes in South East Asian cuisine.They’re sold raw and are inexpensive, about $2.00 for an 8oz bag, at least that’s the price in NY. There’s a market in Manhattan which carries hard-to-find ingredients for the cuisine of Thailand, Philippines, and Indonesia on Mulberry St. south of Canal, right north of the park, on the West side. (There’s NY directions for you…) I never did figure out the name of the store; only the words “Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia” adorn the awning. And in East Elmhurst, Queens in NY, the big supermarket which specializes in all of the above, and then some (Vietnamese, Chinese) is called Topline Supermarket, on 81–37 Broadway, Elmhurst, NY 11373. Definitely worth a look-see and then some.
If anyone has other locations they know of that carries this delectable staple, please comment and share the good news with others!
Beware: Do not eat a candlenut raw unless you want an upset tummy… -METTA MURDAYA
Running a company takes a lot of time and energy - clocking in long hours at the office, travelling, speaking with suppliers, customers, etc. But though the day to day takes up 90% of my time, critical to our line and its spirit is my annual research trips to Indonesia. Born there myself, I have the benefit of speaking the local language, Bahasa, which enables me to do my investigations... Just as the heritage of JUARA goes back of hundreds of years, it's still a living herbal tradition (called Jamu) that also evolves in the present. It's a part of everyday culture, and despite its growing popularity with foreigners and tourists, it maintains its integrity.
I usually start my trip in Jakarta, my hometown, where I combine family visits and ingredient research. I speak with herbalists, comb through markets, old herbal books and modern libraries to educate and inspire myself to see what delectable ingredients JUARA can bring to the US. Will it be Candlenut? Tamarind? Turmeric? Yes, yes, and yes so far. What's next? It excites me that many of the ingredients are also in the local cuisine I grew up with, so I know firsthand what we can bring are ingredients that are not only good to you but also good for you! Some call it trendspotting, I call it a normal part of my research process.
And then my annual trip to Bali. I admit, I get no sympathies from friends who hear that I'm sooo busy working, rushing around visiting spas (ie: experiencing delectable hours-long treatments) in Bali that have original and creative treatments inspired by an age-long tradition. I go to be re-inspired of what luxury and self-pampering really feels like when not in the hustle and bustle of New York - and remember this is what EVERYONE needs to be able to experience! I pack how I look and feel during the treatment process and after: refreshed, relaxed, re-energized, and oh-so-stress free, and pack it carefully in a mental box which I carry back to my teammates, and with a passion we infuse it on all our products and treatments. If only you could join me in Bali - if not, well, let me bring it to you.
So, I'm going again this January of 2009 to do my research - I'm thinking of all of you as I go... any suggestions?
-METTA MURDAYA
I am a complete product junkie. I am always magically drawn to the beauty aisles, drugstores or duty free shops at airports. Even though my JUARA products constitute the core of my skincare program, my medicine cabinet at home is crammed with different products that I want to test or still use on occasion In other words, I am constantly trying something new and switching my program around, which is probably not such a good thing for my sensitive skin. I usually blame lack of sleep, temperature changes and air pollution, when my skin becomes blotchy or flaky.
Last month, I had to travel to Las Vegas and Los Angeles for business for almost 2 weeks. Since I didn't want to pay the free for check-in luggage, I decided to squeeze all my multi-tasking clothing and shoes into a carry-on case and reduce my toiletry bag to containing only the absolute necessities. For skincare, I only packed travel-sizes of my Rice Facial Cleanser, Tamarind Tea Hydrating Toner and Sweet Black Tea & Rice Facial Moisturizer. For sun protection, I packed Susan Posnick's mineral foundation with SPF 20, which does not count as a liquid. All my skincare, hair care and toothpaste fit into a small zip lock bag, amazingly enough! I used the cleanser, toner and moisturizer every day, AM and PM, and absolutely nothing else. I had no choice! I was worried that my skin was going to look horrible because of the stress of travel, the dry desert air in Las Vegas and the fire pollution in LA. On the contrary: At the end of the 2 weeks, I couldn't believe how good my skin looked: So calm, supple and serene.
This experience was really a wake-up call for me. Now, back in New York, I religiously stick to my 1-2-3 basics: Rice Facial Cleanser, Tamarind Toner and Sweet Black Tea & Rice Moisturizer. Real simple, quick, easy and effective. Plus, now I know I can squeeze my toiletry products into one small zip lock bag.
-YOSHIKO ROTH
I love moving around and the concept of exercising, but can’t get myself to walk into a gym. The utter dread of exercising in a room full of strangers for an hour is related more to boredom and time moving so slowly than anything else. When I walk around the city, I’m energized by the small traces of life I see all around me, whether it be street graffiti, people talking animatedly on the streets, or the rare brave squirrel that makes it past the gated clumps of grassy gardens we New Yorkers love. Don’t get me wrong, I love walking in the forest and the suburbs too, it’s the diversity of life and living around me that I love. But I’ve come up with something new since I can’t bring myself to walk into a gym and enjoy it for more than 1 week. I’ve discovered body weights. (http://www.bodytogs.com/) Weight training is super important for body health, especially as we age. It helps to build strong bones, which our bodies depend more on from weight training than drinking in calcium (ie. Milk) as we age. And you burn more calories when you're walking around with weights on. It's a win win. Plus wearable weights are perfect for the winter when I'm wearing warm clothes (at home or work) No one can tell I'm wearing them on my forearms or calves under my clothing. So just don't tell my work mates I'm working out while working with them. And someone please help me come up with a solution for the summer! 
