Hey everyone, 

This month’s review focuses on Winterwear and skincare with the odd food items or two.

Beauty & Fashion

Uniqlo merino sweater

Price: $49.90 AUD RRP, purchased for $19.90 AUD

I was in Uniqlo for a different purpose(for some HEATTECH thermals) when the sales sign above this sweater caught my eye. Love at first sight? but more like suspicious confusion when the tags were not actually physically marked down so I asked a sales assistant and she said that the price becomes automatically marked down when it gets scanned at the counter.

Initially disappointed that it was comparatively thin to my other outer, I discovered that this would be more suitable for layering – especially the layering of thermals.

Check out my beige on beige outfit video here

 

Verdict: Yay

 

Asos TALL Coat in Cocoon Fit

Price: $180 AUD RRP, purchased for $48 AUD

So I was browsing in the sales(budgets are real) section for coats and as I do, opened quite a few tabs before going through them and analysing the fibre content and composition of each coat.

The description states that the coat has a ‘fluffy feel’ finish which is attributed to the fact that the coat is felted then lightly combed with a steel brush (I assume) to give the coat that soft loft. However, this also means that this coat sheds a lot of loose fibres when brushed against any other pieces of clothing – a nightmare for dark clothing, black in particular.

As this coat is designed for taller people, hence the label ASOS TALL(I’m about 10cm shorter than the model), the coat ends mid calf as opposed to above the knee as seen on the model  but I’m not too fussed about that just as long as my coat doesn’t sweep the floor as I walk.

Verdict: Yay

 

Asos thigh high socks in Black

Price: $13AUD RRP for 1 pair

I’ve been searching around for ‘thigh high socks’ as ‘knee high socks’ only reach up to my knees and my legs are probably around average length for my height. However, after searching around(I saw some ‘thigh high socks’ on Ebay BUT there was no measurements and I wasn’t sure if they were going by asian measurements-which often tend to be tiny).

Honestly knee high socks need to be renamed “under knee socks” or “calf socks” cos they barely reach up over your knees half of the time.

So I washed this pair of thigh high socks (Always wash your clothes before you wear them if you have the option of doing so because there’s a lot of factory and unidentified chemicals in your clothes which can cause irritation or worse an infection if you have any cuts or vulnerable areas on your body.) and when I first pulled the first pair up my leg my though was: ‘Wow I think that this sock is going to split in two’

Overall, the fabric is relatively thin especially the ribbed cuff area but it’s not thin to the point of tearing apart from one wear. I bought thigh high socks for aesthetic purposes so if you’re looking for thigh high socks that are warm in the temperamental Sydney winter conditions, then this pair of socks is not the one for you unfortunately.

Verdict: Yay

 

The Face Shop Rice Ceramide Moisture Emulsion

Price: $11.90 AUD for one bottle

I love Korean skincare and makeup but I get lost in their expansive list of skincare products: essence, ampoule, emulsions?

Like its counterpart, the Rice Ceramide Moisture moisturiser, The Face Shop‘s Rice Ceramide Moisture Emulsion boasts a delicate rice fragrance(not that rice smells like much). My interpretation of an emulsion is a watered down yet more refreshing version of a moisturiser – Now i understand why an emulsion is used after a toner and before a moisturiser: it’s not thick enough to serve as a moisturiser alone but it does add an additional layer of moisture to the skin.

Verdict: Yay

 

Etude House Stay up foundation in Sand

Price: $15 AUD for 25g

Shelf life: 12M

Claims: to smooth and cover, has anti-wrinkle, whitening properties

The foundation dries on matte around 5-10 seconds after it has been applied to the skin. I still go over the foundation with a layer of translucent powder as I think I have oily/combination skin (to be honest, I never properly ‘self diagnosed’ myself with a type of skin – I just knew my face wasn’t dry)

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With a slight yellow undertone, this foundation doesn’t grey out the face and smoothes out one’s complexion on camera. The coverage of this foundation is somewhat halfway between a foundation and a bb cream so I’d say that this has medium coverage and is not ideal for those seeking to cover blemishes on the face.

Additionally, this photo was taken during the day so there’s no test on whether this foundation gives off a strong ‘flashback’ when the flash goes off.

Verdict: Yay

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Food

Cafe Verona on Darling’s  Grilled chicken salad

325 Darling Street, Balmain, Sydney

Price: $13.90 AUD

So my friend and I were wandering along Darling Street in search of a place to eat for lunch and the menu at Cafe Verona sounded alright(despite a few spelling errors in the menu in particular ‘avacado’) in comparison to a few nearby places. There were two customers inside when we went in around early 2pm.

My friend’s ‘lamb pasta’ which looked more of a stir fry than a pasta arrived first and naturally we waited.. and waited… and waited… waited after 2 customers entered the store asking for takeaway food (ordered, waited, and left) till the ‘grilled chicken salad‘ finally arrived.

The diced mango cubes had a gel-like softened finish which was understandable as mangoes were not in season. The ‘diced avocado’ on the other hand looked a bit terrifying (as pictured above) – it honestly looked like someone was mid eating and then was pulled away, leaving it with a torn finish.

I had this niggling feeling that these ingredients were definitely not as fresh as they tried to make it be – the ends of the leaves, in particular the lettuce, were brown.

When I was almost ‘finished’ with the salad  (to be honest, when I order salads, I don’t even know why I order salads because I eat everything else but the leaves…), I was on my last cherry tomato and noticed that it had a strongly discoloured patch of black-darkish green on both the outside of the skin to the inside where the seeds were.

I didn’t bring it up to the manager’s/worker’s attention because I was pretty much finished with eating and I saw more of a con(-) than a pro(+) if I were to make a complaint about it – what do you think?

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Overall, I don’t think I’ve eaten such disappointing food as this in a while – though some people may say “You get what you pay for” but I’ve been to places selling food of better quality at this price point. I guess, the only thing I can attribute to the quality of the raw ingredients used is that there doesn’t seem to be much traffic in this cafe, which would mean less turnover of fresh ingredients. Regardless, I will not be returning any time soon.

Verdict: Nay

 

Yuki & love Japanese style mochi

Sourced: Tongli

So my friend and I did a haul of different mochi brands because we were craving mochi. Click here for the video (though in the video the reaction for this brand wasn’t included because the dough was so hard and dense, it took surprisingly long to chew). With one bite, I felt like I had just sunk my teeth into a playdoh attempt of a doughnut: expecting it to be soft and light but you are just met with heavy disappointment. The filling to dough ratio was also unbalanced to the point of the mochi rendering almost tasteless.

Verdict: Nay

Disclaimer: I am not professionally affiliated with any brands mentioned in this blogpost. 

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Thanks for reading- any advice/feedback is greatly appreciated! 

Emily