Tag Archives: review

Review: Innisfree Eco Ice Cotton Toner

June 5, 2017 Siree 6 Comments

The Verdict

Application
Skin Benefits and Effects
Packaging and Design
Value for Money

3.4

OVERALL SUMMARY

Cool, but not *that* cool

“It delivers an instant cooling effect for tired skin in hot summer to lower the temperature of your skin as well as our earth.”

Summer is well in effect here in Tokyo and to escape the heat, I thought I would road test one of the most interesting beauty products I’ve seen so far: the Innisfree Eco Ice Cotton Toner.

With a tagline that promises not only to cool you down in summer but also being environmentally friendly, I ask, what magic does putting on this toner aid in lowering the temperature of our earth exactly?

Innisfree, priding itself as a natural environmentally-friendly brand hopes the introduction of these products will help reduce the use of air conditioners during the simmering summer months. While I am a bit pessimistic at the bold claim to stay cool on a searing 40 degree, high humidity day without a need for a fan or air-con for sweet relief, I can relate to the satisfying feeling of getting rid of the day’s grime with a cooling toner. Let’s find out how effective this product really is…

Application

hen dispensing the product, I was surprised at what came out!

The product inside was a spongy, silly string like foam that was soaked in a bubbly water-based toner for easy direct use.

After shaking the can well, you spray a small amount into your hand to create a cotton ball shape and massage it into your skin. True to word, it was very cool to the

touch and really moist, I was seriously impressed!

The design of this silly string formula is also very smart as it replaces the need for cotton pads when using. The sponge-like foam can be stretched and pulled without breakage and a good squirt of this foam goes a long way as it holds quite a lot of toner product. As an added plus, it’s a hell lot of fun to play with when molding it with your fingertips!

Skin Benefits and Effects

he Innisfree Eco Ice Cotton Toner is said to hydrate, smooth, and tighten pores while improving the appearance of tired-looking skin caused by excessive heat with its formula’s cooling effect.

Much like the sensation from touching an ice cube, the coolness is mild and does last for a brief minute or so. Unfortunately, don’t expect a long-lasting cooling effect with this stuff! It disappears quite fast after applying.

After some research, I believe the logic behind this “chilling” element is the same as opening your pores using warm water and using cold water to close the pores quickly during cleansing to seal the skin from bacteria. As this product also has pore tightening properties, the cooling effect would work to increase its effectiveness and would be a great product for people with large pores problems.

Packaging and Design

mall and portable the Innisfree Eco Ice Cotton Toner fits nice and snug in your hand and is also the perfect size to put in your bag.

The spray can design is very effective and the nozzle dispensed the

product with no problem at all.

Overall, it was very easy to use and dispensing the product was not messy at all.

VALUE FOR MONEY

t roughly $15 the Innisfree Eco Ice Cotton Toner is a fun and practical product that is well worth the price.

Unfortunately, these cooling effect products are only available during the summertime so don’t expect to see these little guys being available all year

round.

If you happen to be in South Korea during the season or see them online I would definitely recommend trying these out.

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THESE “COOLING” SKINCARE PRODUCTS?

LET US KNOW BELOW!

Australia Food Guide, Greatly Terrific Food Outing

Greatly Terrific Food Outing: Bangbang Cafe, Surry Hills

May 9, 2016 Talyssa Leave a comment

Bangbang cafe is a chillax man-cave of a cafe located in the heart of Surry Hills. The staff are super casual, yet charming and pride themselves on their hearty meals, especially their gigantic burgers. In saying this girls, don’t completely rule this one out because of the man-cave vibe. They have some really unique dishes on their breakfast menu, more than I have seen in a lot of cafes recently, and their burgers are delish. Overall I was terribly impressed!

Setting and Atmosphere

★★★★.5

This place is hell chill. I really loved the vibes in this cafe. Although small, inside was super spacious and airy and I love how much sunlight streams through this cafe. Decor is filled with strong and bulky timber furnishings, black tiled counter tops and industrial lights, yet everything is super stylish that I found it super nice to dine at! Ladies, like a man that catches your eye down the street because he’s dressed amazingly, that’s the vibe this man-cave cafe will attract in you too.

Food

★★★★

Bangbang Cafe — French Toast with Chorizo – French toasted brioche with grilled chorizo, caramelised red onion jam, poached egg and a side of avo smash | $16.90

Overall, I really enjoyed the food at Bangbang cafe. I’ll start with the Turf & Turf & Turf burger because it was freaking amazing. First of all people, homemade sauces. And boy these sauces were damn good. The BBQ one in particular MADE this burger.

Somehow I managed to make my mouth big enough and get a little bit of everything in there at once. YUM. It was everything a burger should be in one mouthful. And it was seriously, man-sized. We’re talking gigantic, I don’t know how anyone could finish this whole burger and still be hungry. With its 3 different types of meat and double cheese, this burger is a serious feed that even the likes of Epic Meal Time would be satisfied with.

We also ordered the French Toast with Chorizo. This dish could have been great but it was unfortunately a little dry. I learnt from My Kitchen Rules that chorizo gets this way when it’s pan fried (a contestant on the show made the same mistake). I was also hoping for a little more of that onion jam. Over all a good dish, but something was missing.

Service

★★★★★

The staff here are super friendly and always down for a good chat. The thing I love most is that conversation doesn’t feel forced, strained or unnatural. You can also genuinely feel that they care about the food they put in front of you and want you to have an all-round a fab time.

Pricing and Value for Money

★★★

Okay, not gonna lie, Bangbang Cafe is expensive. Most dishes will set you back around $17 which to me is pretty pricey for brunch. In terms of burgers though, they are massive and indulgent, so you do get what you’re paying for.

The Details

Where: 113 Reservoir St, Surry Hills NSW 2010

Contact: (02) 9281 0018

Opening Hours:

Mon–Thurs: 7:30AM – 3:30PM
Fri: 7:30am-3:30pm & 5pm – 9pm
Sat – Sun: 8am – 2pm

Facebook | Instagram

Please note that this was an invited event courtesy of Ningjaeats

Australia Food Guide, Greatly Terrific Food Outing

Greatly Terrific Food Outing: Petal Met Sugar, Woolloomooloo

April 7, 2016 Talyssa Leave a comment

With all the Instagram hype I finally made my way to Petal Met Sugar! I’m sure everyone has seen images of their decadent desserts against floral tabletop backdrops. So, without further ado, welcome to Petal Met Sugar, a cosy and intimate cafe x florist x patisserie, tucked away in the streets of Wooloomooloo.

Setting and Atmosphere

★★★

What I liked about Petal Met Sugar was the inside space. It’s white, crisp and elegant. To one side, watch behind large glass windows a theatre-like performance of the patissiere’s at work, and to the other, browse the flowers freshly arranged by the florist.

Petal Met Sugar is a workspace first and then a cafe. They primarily take cake and floral orders, but if you’d like to have a sweet treat, there’s a seating area located outside (no tables are located inside). It’s a simple arrangement and not as flash as rising cafes nowadays, but it does the job. The cute floral posy’s add a nice touch on the tabletops.

But what disappointed me the most was the state of the tables. Ningjaeats and I arrived quite early in the morning, around 10AM, and the place was not busy at all! The two free tables were really dirty and the young guy at the counter seemed to be more interested in his conversation with his co-worker, than his potential customers…but more on this later.

Food

★★★★

IMG_1986-5 — Tasting Trio | $10 | From left to right: Peach Oolong – yoghurt mousse, Lupicia peach Oolong tea brulee, blood peach compote, coconut macaron, coconut glaze (Gluten-free) | Chocolate Candy Bar – chocolate flourless sponge, burnt butter ganache, praline feuilletine crunch, sprayed milk chocolate mousse | Eclair

Petal Met Sugar - Terranium — Terrarium passionfruit finger lime panacotta, cocoa nib soil, baby lemon balm, edible flower garden, Callebaut 29.5% white chocolate | $10.50

IMG_1971-1 — Smoked ham and gruyere croissant | $6.50

My goodness. The food here is beautiful! I really love the way that all the dishes look like an artwork. For our tastebuds we ordered the Tasting Trio which included the eclair, peach oolong cake and chocolate candy bar; the ever famous Terrarium and the smoked ham and gruyere croissant.

The peach oolong cake was by far my favourite on the plate. Yum. I would have ordered a whole slab if I knew how delicious it would be. Definitely the highlight of the Tasting Trio, it’s light in its flavours, fruity and not too overly sweet. Also it’s gluten free! I actually recommend you order this standalone as the other two treats on the plate didn’t excite my tastebuds nearly as much.

Secondly the Terrarium is not just a pretty face – it also tastes really good. A little on the sweet side, the trick to eating this is to destroy it – literally. If you try to eat it piece by piece, you won’t get the full combination of flavours as you would smashing the delicate white chocolate globe and grabbing a chunk of cocoa nib soil, passionfruit panacotta and white chocolate all in your mouth at once. All elements together balance perfectly to create a delightful array of flavour combinations on the palate.

The smoked ham and gruyere croissant is fairly standard and tasted like a regular ham and cheese croissant. It was a good accompaniment to reset the palate from the sweetness.

The menu here is limited and I would definitely not go here looking for breakfast or brunch. This place is strictly best for a sweet treat or a small snack, with the only savoury options being a selection of croissants. It’s the perfect place for morning or afternoon tea.

Service

★.5

I feel so terrible having to recount a truthful experience that is so negative, but above all, I promise my readers the truth. I’m sure every other day, Petal Met Sugar has a wonderful person on the service desk, but the young guy in service on this particular morning was terrible.

Okay. There are only 3 tables at Petal Met Sugar and when they’re not busy, I expect them to be clean or soon to be cleaned.

Upon arrival, the young guy at the front register pretty much ignored us. No warm friendly welcome or a “Hi, how are you?” “Where would you like to sit?” or even a “Can I help you?” He knew we were there, we stood literally in front of the register, but he was too busy having a conversation with his co-worker.

So after some time, I gave up on him and decided to take a seat at one of the horribly dirty tables. I grabbed ourselves some menus (after searching for them on the front counter myself – the guy was still in conversation) and took them back so we could order. Once we decided, I went back to order and he seemed almost annoyed that he had to serve me?!!? What?!?! Not only that, I had to clean my OWN table with a napkin.

I went back and asked him if he had a bin to put the napkins in (there were also napkins on the table left from the previous customers). He looked somewhat disgusted at having to touch the napkins with his bare hands, to which I assured him that they weren’t all mine and belonged to the people before me. He reluctantly took them away, making sure to pinch the very far corner of each one so as not taint himself with germs.

Pricing and Value for Money

★★★★

The prices here are really reasonable and the portion size is good.

The Details

Where: Ground Floor, 68 Sir John Young Cr, Woolloomooloo

Contact: hello@petalmetsugar.com.au or 9360 6226

Opening Hours:

Monday – Closed
Tuesday – Friday: 8.00am – 4.30pm
Saturday 9am – 5pm | Sunday 9am – 4pm

Website | Facebook | Instagram

Beauty Reviews

Review: First Impressions 3CE Nail Lacquer Haul

March 6, 2016 Siree Leave a comment

Yes, another 3CE haul. How can I not go to Seoul and pick up a little something from my favourite brand?

In truth, I love going to a salon and getting my nails done especially when the weather is not looking so crash hot outside. Killing a few hours waiting for the rain to stop? Go to a nail salon, especially if they offer a free message in the service – ahh heaven.

Unfortunately, I have yet to experience a nail art treatment since moving to Japan but I hope that will change someday very soon!

In the meantime, I thought I would road test 3CE’s Nail Lacquer polishes when I stopped over at their Garousgil store since I’ve been eyeing them for a while to see how well they stack up.

For colours, I picked up these two staple colours which will suit any occasion, Beige (BE05) and Pink (PK08).

The texture was great on just one application – not too water with good pigmentation. Apply two coats and you’re good to go!

The drying time is on the average side if left alone but I always use a quick drying top coat so I can get on with life without worrying about damaging all that hard work. Who can possibly stay focused to make sure these babies set for a good hour nowadays?!

The next ones I also wanted to try was the Grey (GY01) and Ivory White (IV02) since the formula was like a milky tone which was exactly the shade I wanted.

The grey was super cute! I underestimated how nice grey could look on tanned skin but I love it!

One of the bonus samples was some stick-on nail art stickers which thought I should test them as well!

According to the instructions, after sticking the seal sticker on to your nail you should use the file to file the excess sticker in a downwards motion to cut it to shape. The set also came with a small file which was really helpful!

Here’s the finished result! To be honest, after trying these on I’m not a big fan of the nail sticker types. The sticker does not completely laying flat on the nail which created bubbles and just look like you stuck some coloured washi tape rather than actually giving that “painted” nails look. The glue on the back was good though! Very adhesive and stuck well even being underwater when I washed my hands.

I guess from far away it’s not too bad but it’s definitely a one day only sort of wear. As you can tell from the side angle of my right hand, I didn’t file the sticker perfectly which caused some rough teared edges to appear. In the end I just took it off haha.

Final Thoughts: I love these nail polishes! They are really good quality and I love their shades!

I’m a bit sad about how nail stickers look in real life. The images on the internet make them look like a great substitute for inexpensive nail art but after seeing what the results were in the flesh, I definitely prefer a painted nail look.

Until Next Time!

Siree

Beauty Reviews, Makeup

Review: 3CE Blush – #My Muse

February 23, 2016 Talyssa Leave a comment

I’m a Peach Girl

When it comes to blushers I’m a one blush kind of girl. My blush has always been pink-based and always matte. I don’t know what it is about glittery blushers that turns me off, but I don’t really like looking sparkly. In any case, when my one blush runs out, then and only then, would I go and buy another blush. And so the process continued.

But…something was missing. One thing about being a one blush kind of girl is that sometimes your blush just doesn’t match every outfit, or every lipstick, or every eyeshadow. Sometimes you’re looking for a warmer tone, something to match your summer vibes and glow. 3CE’s #MyMuse might just be the perfect orange-based blush you’re looking for! Mmmhmm, I’m officially a two blush kind of girl!

Colour: ✩✩✩✩

I really love the colour of this blush, it’s a perfect matte peach colour with really warm summery tones. In terms of wear, the colour does not last the whole day, so you will need to reapply at least once during the day.

Texture: ✩✩✩✩

The product feels smooth and silky when applied onto the face. The blush comes on light, but you can build it up to your desired intensity or to even create an orange neon-like blush.

Packaging: ✩✩✩✩

I think the packaging is really classy and I love how big the the blush pot is – I can fit my entire brush inside it and coat it in one swipe.

Price: $24 ~

Buy It Here

Greatly Terrific Food Outing, Japan, Japan Food Guide

GTFO: Jiyugaoka Sweets Forest

January 2, 2016 Siree Leave a comment

DSCF5693

THE VERDICT

Setting & Atmosphere
Food
Service
Value for Money

OVERALL SUMMARY

Quality dessert to satisfy the sweetest of teeth

While exploring Jiyugaoka, a beautiful little neighbourhood in Tokyo known for its stylish shops and more importantly, sweets I found hidden to the south side of the station a place called Jiyugaoka Sweets Forest.

It’s a dessert-themed restaurant experience where Alice might have stumbled upon on her way to the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party – a dessert made forest wonderland!

Let’s explore the delights this rabbit hole leads to…

SETTING AND ATMOSPHERE

The interior is adorable with the pink cut out trees and cute picturesque shop fronts. As you can see, this forest is not just one restaurant but made of many individual patisserie shops offering their own signature dessert experience. Want something with strawberries? Look no further than the cute ‘Berry Berry’ shop. Maybe a fluffy soufflé? ‘Le Soufflé’ is where you can get your fix! There’s even have a Hong Kong style dessert house selling not only traditional Chinese desserts but also Yum Cha dumplings if you want some more savoury. Ah, I miss home~

While theme restaurant’s don’t always get the best rep as the food is more “style over substance,” each shop’s head patisserie chef is a professional in their field and the store’s creations are almost like their trademark so the desserts are not only pretty, but you feel like you are eating something that was well made and special! They even have seasonal rotations of their creations on display at the front of the store to admire their craftsmanship and hopefully get your hands on later.

In Japan, there is a term called 「旬/shun」which describes the moment of seasonal food at its peak. The term has a bit more meaning than simply saying “it’s in season” as it’s more like a celebration of the time the ingredient is at its most flavourful state during the harvest. Currently, strawberries are in season so I had to try Berry Berry’s creations which just so happens to be all strawberry based for December. Japan’s strawberries are the best!

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FOOD

Sweet and girly to the “G,” I went with Princess Tiara Roll and the Strawberry Mont Blanc with a basic black coffee for a set. Though the coffee wasn’t anything special to rave about the cakes were very nice indeed. Not too dry or overly sweet. The Mont Blanc had the special touch of a raspberry jam in the centre which was a nice touch to add some tartness.

Though I can’t comment on all the desserts available at Sweets Forest this time, I was pretty happy with the taste of these cakes at Berry Berry!

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SERVICE

At first, it was a bit disorienting to figure out the “system” if you will at Sweets Forest for a first timer.

It’s a theme restaurant but with no wait service except for Le Soufflé with “general” staff who are stationed at seating points to help bust tables (but in Japan, it is polite to also bust your own table as well) and also welcome you to space.

The seating areas are shared amongst the shops meaning that no matter who you order food from, you are still able to sit at any area with the exception of Le Soufflé.

The staff are friendly though and very prompt to help you if you need some guidance or to take the tray off you when in the bustling area. The experience is sort of a stylish cafeteria Starbucks vibe if you will.

VALUE FOR MONEY

Great value for money to sit down and enjoy a light snack. The desserts are really not too expensive and with no entry fee which is a norm for the themed restaurant sometimes.

THE DETAILS

Where: 2-25-7 Midorigaoka, Meguro, Tokyo 152-0034

Opening Hours: Mon – Sun: 10AM – 8PM

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