Review: Muk Spa Range Styling Tool 230-IR

The one where I got photo bombed by Spider-Man

You know why I blog about myself and not a specific subject? I can't style food to save my life... I have to ask the other girls to take over and put my caramel slice (probably the one and only thing I keep making for them) on a platter for me. I try to take a decent picture with a decent camera for a beauty post. And I get photo bombed by a Spider-Man that was hiding from the boys on the right. And then I also had to Photoshop the heck out of this picture as I had LIPSTICK ON TEETH. There goes my beauty blogging cred as well. On that note, I ask you to continue reading what I gotta say about what I am using on my hair LOL. This is also a girl that at 16 believed that people were using their clothes iron to "iron" their hair. True story... I might or might not have tried it on myself.

I have been using these Muk Spa products for many months since receiving them at the launch event. Yes it took me this long to write about it as I had pictures issues - see lipstick on teeth problem above. At the event, they demonstrated the Muk Styling Tool 230-IR and Mark who is one of the directors at Muk said we will all be receiving one of these styling tools to take home. Can I just tell you how exciting it is? Mark says that he believes this is an necessary item even if it was just to style the ends. I sound like a broken record. I know that I have straight hair but now I understand what Mark was saying. My ends at now a bit past the shoulder and because they are layered, it flips in different directions. I used the styling tool to get my ends tidied and what I love about it is that there is a fancy LED display with temperature setting. I set mine to 220 but you can customise to suit. I found that this temperature worked the best for me. I also get a kick out of looking at the digital numbers rising (sad!). 

Muk Spa Shampoo & Conditioner

When Mark showed us the shampoo which was passed around, we could see how thick the formula was. It is so thick that you need to wait a little while to do a second pump as it. The argan oil shampoo and conditioner retails for $26.95. Personally I like the smell of this shampoo and the packaging looks expensive. The shampoo and conditioner are formulated to add shine and reduce protein loss from long hair. My stylist has decided that I am growing my hair longer, so I have to say that I am lucky to receive this at the right time.  Personally I would choose the shampoo as the one must have item in this range for myself.

Shine Spray and Treatment Oil

The Argan oil hair spray and treatment oil retails for $34.95. When asked which one single item in the entire range was the "must have". Mark said the treatment oil was the one item that he would recommend over everything else if you would only purchase one. I think it is because my hair length is not as long as most and it is a little on the oily side. But what I did like about the treatment oil is it did not feel greasy. It has a pipette tube and I use a few drops to my hair and rub it into my wet hair before towel drying. I can assure you that it is not a heavy and greasy finish. It feels softer after drying and I do feel a difference with not using it. The treatment oil is also very thick and you have to be careful when you put the "squeezie" tube back in the bottle as the oil will get on the sides of the top. I am a little anal about this due to my "strict Chinese Mum" upbringing. True story, but nobody wants sticky bottles .... :)

The Muk spa range also included a hair mask but I gave it to TheBrunetteOne as she had longer hair than me and would put it to better use!

Price: Retail price wise is ok, it is more than supermarket brands of course but less than the other salon brands. A little goes a long way with the shampoo as well. You also use very little of the treatment oil each time. The styling tool is RRP$199.95, it would be one of my buy it for myself as a treat item. But I managed to curl my own hair (my hair cut does not allow curling now due to layers or I would demo it too) and I have to admit that I secretly love it.

Purpose: Hey my hair is straightened and don't  you think I look totes hot? LOL but seriously my picks would be the shampoo and treatment oil.

Hit me up with comments of Spider-Man awesomeness and your lipstick on teeth at awkward moments stories. Or you can just tell me how hot my hair looks. :)

Stalk my Noms: BangPop Southwharf

This is one of the Stalk my Weekend spin offs from last weekend. Don't ya love spin offs?

I had an invite to the BangPop launch week just before our trip to Singapore. As we were pressed for time I declined but said I would keep in touch for when I came back. Since coming back from Singapore, I have teased by their specials menu and food pictures on Twitter. BangPop kindly offered a discount for our visit on this occasion. So let's Bang and Pop!

Everyone's getting Made in Japan. I need me some!

As per our usual routine if we are eating out at night. We usually run in at 6pm aka the Senior Citizens shift! Funny thing is, we are not the first! My waitress had told us that between 5 to 7pm is Thai Time with discounted cocktails,  mocktails and beer. Oh yeah.. happy hour(s)! Is that why we are not the earliest!

Raspberry Mule and Apple Mojito mocktails

First of all let me apologise for the darker than normal pictures. As you can see the venue is uber cool and dimly lit. The restaurant is also next to the water and the boys were really excited and wanted to look out the window. This would be amazing to visit in summer when you can sit outside along the water. Parking is also easy as there is ample parking at DFO and make sure you get a discount parking ticket before you leave.

BangPop Bicycles lining up outside

Sexy as Interior

I strongly suggest that you take their recommendations as the portion sizes were just right for us. If you do not eat spicy food, there is still something for you. The boys had Khao Mun Kai which is like a Hainan Chicken Rice. We ordered Pad Thai, Num Tok Moo (pork neck salad) and Gaeng Daeng Phed (Duck leg curry) and a small serve of rice. This was just enough for the two of us. The pork neck salad was recommended as I was looking at salads and was about to pick Larb Gai. I am glad that I went with pork instead as it had tolerable spice - yes I am bad at spicy food - and it was very edible! It had a nice balance of sour, spice and fresh coriander. The grilled pork was cooked just right and not over done.

Grilled Pork Neck Salad

I am really glad that we ordered the Duck curry, another recommendation win! The duck was very tender and just falling off the bone. Who doesn't love a good duck leg? Seriously? Nobody! I am super sad about this dish as I could not take a decent picture of it. I need to go back for lunch.

Duck Leg Red Curry

The Pad Thai came with little dishes of condiments. Chilli flakes, fish sauce, sugar to add to the Pad Thai if you want to rebalance the flavours. I personally didn't think it needed it but D loved smelling the little dishes and I made him smell the fish sauce. Heheh .. I know that's mean but I wanted to see his wrinkled nose. Out of all the mains, I think this was my least favourite dish. I don't know if it was because we left it to the last and we were distracted while eating but I felt the noodles were slightly too dry. We had water served in very thin glasses and Pickles has a habit of biting the cup when he drinks. I didn't use to think much about this but he managed to break the glass during the meal. Mick got him to spit everything in his mouth out and I recovered the glass pieces so thankfully nothing happened! So if you have young kids, I suggest a straw for the glass. I think we have given the staff on the day a huge fright. 

Pad Thai

The boys managed to stay civilised for dessert! YAY!! I ordered the Tapioca and Pandan Pudding but my order was mixed up and I received the Young Coconut Jelly instead. This was actually my second choice so I did not mind it. Desserts are small so do not get conned into sharing one, make sure you get one on your own and do not let it go. 

Young Coconut Jelly

Empties Collective 2: Lush, La Clinica, Aveeno

Lush Buche De Noel & La Clinica Body Butter

I am imagining Vita doing a rubbing her hands with glee as she opens this post. Well I hope you opened this post! HAHAH.. I had these two things still sitting in my bathroom for ages. For those who haven't been invited to Casa de Lingy & Co. We have a small bathroom so I hate hoarding. And I also semi-hate it when my Mum does her big I will dump a ton of Unilever products that I purchase at staff prices to Casa de Lingy because she cannot get 1litre bottles of things there. Meanwhile these two things have been waiting for this blog post and I keep looking at them thinking I'll write when there are more. Well... there's never anymore is there!

Here are my thoughts ...

Lush Buche De Noel - I know what Lush is about and what it stands for. But seriously when I opened this box I thought... what on earth and how do I use this? It was a whole cake and I thought .. how do I use this? I had to turn to Twitter for help. I felt like I was rubbing seaweed and mud on my face to clean it. The truth is, this stuff is great! It left my face feeling clean and has gentle exfoliating grains. But there were little pieces of seaweed in there. Seaweed. I just can't go there!! Maybe I should look into the other more muddy sans seaweed concoctions from Lush next time. 

La Clinica Skin Relief Body Butter - I haven't had body butters in yearssss and I was sent this by La Clinica. The last time I used body butters was when Body Shop first came out with them. Do you remember the cocoa butter and Brazilian nut ones? My gripe with body butters are when you need them in winter, they are rock hard. In Summer you are scoop them out. I love the smell of this one which is a vanilla and rose hip scent. My personal preference is to use body lotion and not body butter. What about you? Anyone using butters?

Aveeno Baby Soothing Relief: This stuff works!

Aveeno Baby Soothing Relief Moisture Cream - I took this along to Singapore and I have to say that I am thankful we did. When we were at Singapore Zoo. Yeah we totes lived it up like tourists at the Singapore Zoo and did Breakfast with the Orang Utans. D calls it.. I went to lunch there and then saw these things (Orang Utans) points to them in the picture. I asked if he knew what those things were, he said no. Doh... Anyway at the Zoo, there is a kids water play area.. well adults can join in too and really you would want to! Mick got burnt like the foolish white gwailo tourist that he was but had slathered on some sunscreen on the boys. Because it was so hot yet deceiving not as harsh as Singapore, we got a bit complacent. The boys had turned red and looked like a red heat rash. Cue my Mum giving us the most evil eye and we used this on them and kept reapplying. The next day the redness was gone but we had almost finished the tube as we only had 1/2 left when we arrived. Which meant my Mum sent me to Google and pound the pavements to see if I could get this item in Singapore!

So expect another like 6 months before another empties post. Meanwhile the non-beauty readers heave a sigh of relief.

I love Aldi: Mushroom Tortellini

Alright you cannot say that I do not love my readers and do everything for you guys. You know there's a group of you out there loving these freezer meal reviews. This is what happens when I shop for groceries while in starvation mode. Oh... this one looks kinda ok. Alright I will grab one of this. It has mushrooms.. I blame my lack of mushrooms for buying this. The boys don't like mushrooms and think it is gross. So woe is me.. I have to resort to freezer mushroom meals from Aldi for some mushroom loving. You might remember how traumatised I was after the last "Faux-Talian" Vegetable Cannelloni so I'm not sure why I picked up another pasta meal. Anyway here it goes.. let's get into it.

What Aldi says it looks like

Ok so it looks pretty safe. I tore open the cardboard box and was praying to the freezer meal gods. Please god, it's Ling, I'm only a workaholic who is lazy to cook. Don't punish me this time ok? Kthxbai.

What it really looks like

Right.. so not that bad. Did you notice I had drowned it in white pepper? This is what seasoned freezer meal chowers do. Peel open film, try not to burn yourself from the steam that has been generated from nuking your food to absolute death for 6 minutes, dump a heap of pepper on it. Ok I am not sure if my expectations were very low.. as in just eat something and get back to work or this is not that bad. Mushrooms were good, the sauce was a little weird starchy. Stab the mushrooms and tortellini with a fork, drain as much of that stuff off and you'll be fine. The tortellini was not too hard, ya know that raw weird tortellini texture? So this one was edible. Phew... relief all round.

What else can I tell you about it. It had mushrooms. I think I was just overwhelmed with my love for mushrooms that I overlooked the bad sauce. 

I am waiting for the onslaught of omg girl get yourself some frozen tortellini, 2 button mushrooms and some packaged sauce. Ok noted! Damn convenience and trying to fit everything into my lunch hour.

Price: Tick $3.99  
Appearance: Half tick.. tortellini half peeking out of sauce and littered by mushrooms.. MUSHROOMS
Taste: Go to town with the pepper!
Will buy again Factor: I don't mind this too much. It's a buyable item. 

Review: Neutrogena Naturals Cleanser range

I was sent the Neutrogena Naturals cleanser range to review a few months ago before I left for Singapore. The first thing that hit me when I opened the pack was how good it smelt. When I was a teenager Neutrogena was the IT brand. The brown soap bar was the IT thing to use. I used to collect and read any American fashion magazine that I could get my hands on as a teenager in Singapore. Their ads were always clean, fresh and so chic. I remember this conversation with another girl about Neutrogena bar soaps even today! So I can say it was nostalgic to see that there is a Natural range face & body bar soap in the pack! Pictured above left to right purifying scrub, face & body bar, fresh cleansing makeup remover and purifying cleanser.

Makeup Remover Ingredients

Purifying Facial Cleanser Ingredients

Purifying Scrub Ingredients

Face & Body Bar ingredients

I have taken pictures of the ingredients listing as well as someone on the Facebook page had asked for ingredients list. What I like about this is there is an explanation of what the ingredient is derived from. Sometimes I am looking the ingredient lists of a skincare bottle and I feel like I need a science degree to understand it. This includes organic skincare ingredients, other than water they always sound very inorganic to me.

I have not used the soap bar as I do not have a container for it - lame excuse I know I really don't have one! I have been using the makeup remover to take even BB cream off. It does not soap and foam up, it is not a creamy texture either. I would say it's more liquid than a cream cleanser. I have been using a cream style cleanser for about a year now. And I must admit that I still miss the old foaming style cleanser. I have been using the purifying cleanser in the evenings as sometimes I just like that super clean feeling that foaming cleansers. I have been avoiding them as last winter I had really dry skin and switched away from foaming cleansers. The Neutrogena purifying cleanser leaves me a clean feeling and doesn't feel tight. Personally due to super dry skin in winter, I might leave this for Summer where I would love a good splash down cleanser. The cleansers fragrance reminds me of green apples and personally I do like it.

One thing that surprised me was the facial scrub. I squeezed this out of the tube and thought it was really grainy. I thought that it would feel rough on my face but it did not. I recommended this to Lianne from Food Made with Love as she had the winter dry peeling and she is still talking to me so I guess it went well for her. LOL! The moisturiser items are not available yet until June but there is also a lip balm in this range that is available now.

Price: RRP is $14.99 for all cleanser items including the scrub and $4.99 for the bar soap. The bar soap is 99% made from naturally derived ingredients and the others range from 84% (makeup remover) to 94% (scrub). Moisturiser items that are available from June 2013 in Australia will also be $14.99. Price wise and bang for buck, I think this is really good. Some lunch menus in the CBD cost $15 these days.

Purpose: The makeup remover was a gentle non-foaming cleanser and I did think my skin felt nice and not dry after. I was also surprised by the foaming purifying cleanser that did not leave a tight feeling but I would keep this one for Summer. The scrub grains were gentle and there were plenty of grains in there. I know there are some people who prefer a grainy scrub but personally I think I prefer one that is less and I can use it more often in a week. I would think the bar soap would be a better alternative to liquid in terms of costs and purpose too. Has anyone else tried the bar soap? Let me know what you think!

The Body Shop Moisture White Shiso BB Cream

The Body Shop Moisture White BB Serum 

I have to confess that this is the first and only BB cream that I have tried. So I pretty much have no basis of comparison. I know BB creams have been the rage for ages - where have I been? BB, CC, DD ... the only double alphabet I am very well acquainted with is AA. My bra cup size. True story. So when I was sent the Body Shop BB Cream in the post as a care package, I jumped for joy. Woohoo!!

I have been using this a lot since I received this. You can even see this in the first picture as the cap has marks on it, serves me right for not taking pictures prior to using. The comments from my friends include, you put on makeup today, it just makes you look like you have good skin, colour suits you quite well. So people have been noticing that I have used something different. Happy dance! The thing about BB cream is that it is so easy to use, I layer it on top of the serum and blend very easily and quickly. I usually pat on some face powder at mid day but overall I did not find it too oily as this is one complaint that I have heard from other BB cream users. 

Coverage of this BB cream is light to medium, I do see that it evens out my skin tone and hides any redness. But remember my weird forehead scar? You could still see a faint scar but it did not bother me. My skin felt brighter and it is light and was easy to blend by just using fingers. I had used it as if I was applying moisturiser and did not need much each time. The pump works really well and I was able to control very well the amount that I pumped each time.

The downside to this is there is only one shade. I am lucky that it works for me but if you were darker toned than me, I would swatch this in a store first. I also think that in terms of other BB cream in the market it is comparatively expensive at AUD $48.95 for 30ml. I do believe in paying more for a good product than buying a lot of cheap things that do not work. But if you are heading to Asia I can tell you that this is much cheaper in Singapore. It retails for SGD $38 so stock up while you are over there. 

Price: $48.95 for 30ml I do consider this on the pricey side - but then everyone knows I am a spendthrift on skincare and makeup but tell me what you think.

Purpose: I found it worked very well for me in terms of the colour shade and coverage. It is just easy to use and blended with just my fingers. It took no time at all and people did notice that I was wearing something. They also commented that it looks like I was wearing makeup or I had good skin. WOOHOO! I hope you can see the picture on the right after I had blended in the BB cream, the blue-ish veins were evened out and made it look smoother.

Review: Aveeno Skin Relief Moisturising Lotion

I was kindly sent this Aveeno Skin Relief Moisturing Lotion to review recently. What I liked about the product brief was what they called the Triple Oat Complex - Oat Oil, Oat Essence and Oatmeal Flour. Personally I love oat porridge, slathered in condensed milk..mmmm Oats. Ok back to body lotion.

I have been using this over the crazy hot days we had in Melbourne. Where is the cool change? Where is the mandantory 20-something degree day in the week where everyone complains that they hate Melbourne Summer? I also had a gross heat rash that I needed to see a doctor for! So I have been using this actively the last 2 weeks. 

Mandatory Swatch Shot

Mandatory Smear Shot LOL

I am a body lotion fiend. I used body lotion everyday even when I was pole dancing. Girlfriend here had grip of steel as I never used to "cheat" with gripping lotions or anything. I cannot skip body lotion! But the one thing that I require is that my body lotion does not have that white goopy mess that takes a long time to rub in. This is a light yet it feels like I have worn something if you  know what I mean. It is also fragrance free and would not interfere with your normal perfume. It does deliver on protecting against dryness from the heat and air conditioning. 

My thoughts on Aveeno Skin Relief Moisturising Lotion:

Price: $12.99 for 354ml. I do think this is on the pricier side for supermarket brands. Chemist Warehouse is selling them for $10.95, compared to say Johnson's 24hr Body Rich Lotion $6.99 for 400ml at Priceline. It is slightly more than the usual brands. This is probably going to influence my Buy again factor. 

Purpose: Delivers as a moisturising lotion. It is a light easy to apply lotion and has no fragrances if you hate strong smelling body lotions. I did like the feel of it and I found that it was 'heavier' than the usual body lotions like Nivea in terms of staying power. My itchiness issue was a heat rash and I had to take steroid medication for it! I joke with Mick that I will start talking in a deep voice and be all manly soon. 

I have to make special mention for the smart design of the bottle. I am not sure if I am just a noob or something but I liked that you can twist the top and close the pump top. So this means no mess if you are travelling with the bottle.

Let me know what you think of Aveeno. This is the first Aveeno product that I have tried and the boys are also using the baby range which I hope to talk about soon! 

Review: Sukin Body Wash and Lotion

I was kindly sent these 2 Sukin items for review on the blog. As you would know, I have been interested in organic skincare for awhile. I had also looked at ingredients in my old face washes and thrown out the ones with parabens. The reason for my sudden if you would call it paranoia was my cheek developed a weird red and itchy patch. It was so bad that I was pretty sure I needed a paperbag to go into work.

Sukin's philosophy is "Skincare that doesn't cost the earth". They believe in being

• Vegan and cruelty free
• Grey water safe & biodegradable 
• Use only recyclable packaging and
• Are certified neutral carbon

I told Nat from That Blonde Moment that I am reviewing Sukin. She said how much she loved their products, that they smell amazing and she was really excited. Which got me kind excited to open the box when it arrived. I opened the bottles immediately as I had finished the body wash that I was pitching from the boys and had no other organic alternative yet. 

I know smells and fragrances is a personal preference. But I like citrus smells and this one delivers a light citrusy scent in the body wash and lotion. The body wash is clear transparent and it is low suds which suits me perfectly. Honestly citrus smells are my favourite in body wash and lotions. So this one is a big winner for me. Ingredients listed just to name a few include Aloe Vera, Tangerine oil, Mandarin Oil, Vanilla, Lavendar oil and extract. That explains the yummy citrus smell that I love.

Body lotion "swatch" lol

The body lotion is a light formula which is what I prefer. I do not like lotions that leave a streak. You know those ones where there is a white patch? And you have to keep rubbing it in continuously or the streak still remains? The smell is the same as the body wash. Again a light citrus lime fragrance. It doesn't overwhelm you and it will not leave you smell like a lime the entire day. It did not interfere with my perfume either. I also wore it on hot days and did not feel sticky. It might need another application again later in the day as it was one of those hot and dry days in Melbourne as I felt a little dry in the afternoons from spending all day in an airconditioned room.

My thoughts on the Sukin body range:

Price: I think it is cheap for an organic and "earthly choice" product. Priceline Online has priced $11.99 for a 500ml of Body wash and $19.95 for the 500ml of Body Lotion. Correct me if I am wrong but My Chemist/Chemist Warehouse usually have promotions and discounts on this. It is not as cheap as other supermarket brands like Nivea but I believe it is good value in terms of organic skincare. Care to debate this with me?

Purpose: I think it does deliver to my preferences. Low suds, easy to apply body lotion, light fragrance which I love (personal choice) and feels like a special and luxurious product.

Buy again factor: These were sent to me by review from Sukin (thanks!!) but after these are finished, I will buy it again. Once I cleared out all that lotions I have!

Watch out for these if I do another empties post. They have been used daily!

Giveaway: Sunraysia Organic Juice Pack

Juice Galore! 

I was invited to the Sunraysia Organic Juice brunch event at The Greengrocer recently to find out more about Sunraysia’s latest organic product. Boy was I glad I attended! It was a very hot day, one of the first 30-something degrees day that we had. And I cracked into one of these yummies straight away. The juice is individually packed and comes in 4 flavours: Tropical, Apple, Orange and Apple & Blackcurrant. Organic food products is not a new thing but what is new is these come in individual 200ml sized BPA-free packaging with its own straw.

BPA-free products were common when D was a little baby. BPA-Free bottles, drink cups and food containers were advertised widely and I started to look for the BPA-Free labels when I was purchasing new bottles for him. The scary part is that plastic is everywhere and we are not sure what it can do to our body. Yes, I am no saint either and do not check everything strictly. I purchased Thomas water bottles for them because of the licensed design and it was not BPA-free. But while at the brunch, I started thinking what exactly is getting into the boy’s diet through packaging, chemicals, GM foods and how it would affect them.  

Tropical flavour Juice pack slushie in action

The idea that organic was good for the boys and that was where it ended. It did not enter my head that toxic chemicals were everywhere in their food packaging. I put a few of them in the freezer as ice blocks for our 1 and a half hour trip to a picnic during Christmas. You can see D and Pickles look tired here. LOL! If you need an ice block in summer for you or your kids’ lunches, this is ace! The good thing about size of the product is that you can still purchase these packs if you live alone and do not want to purchase a 2litre bottle for yourself.

Sunraysia is 100% Australian owned if you are supporting Australian companies. During the product development of the juices, I was told that they spent many trips worldwide to search for a packaging company that could manufacture BPA-free. They also visited many fruit farms to ensure that the farmers were indeed strictly organic and could produce the quantities required for this. RRP for the juice packs are 5 for $5 or $1.49 each, and they are available from supermarkets nationally.

Sunraysia has kindly offered a prize pack worth $70 including 40 samples of the juices and an eco-shopper bag. Actually I now want another one of these packs! What you need to do to enter is email me porkchopsnest (at) gmail dot com the flavour of the Sunraysia juice that you most want to try and why. 

Oh hellloooo goodie pack!

The fine print 

Deadline: Friday 25^th January 2013 midnight (Melbourne time)
Winner will be announced on this post and will be redrawn if they do not contact me within 5 days with their mailing address. Decision (mine) will be final and based on skill not luck. Care is taken for shipping the products to the winner but I am not responsible for damages that occur during shipping.

Winner Announced: Hannah C is the winner of this giveaway and I am waiting for her to provide her mailing address. 

So many flavours
Utterly delicious
Now which do I want to try?!
Really like the look of Tropical
All the fruits that I love in one handy pack
Yes, I think Tropical!
Samples galore, could I be so lucky?!!
I hope so!
Am excitedly awaiting the answer...

I love Aldi: Vegetable Cannelloni

What Aldi say it looks like

After this one, I was ready to change the title to I don't love Aldi. I thought that frozen cannelloni is one of the safest things ever. I was wrong. If there is one post of my freezer meal reviews that will make you cringe, it is this one. I am cringing now as I relive this experience. You take the meal out of the pack, no need to pierce the film. 7 to 8 minutes later, the microwave dings at you. This is where it starts to go downhill.

Where's the cannelloni at?

My first thought was.. where the cannelloni at? It was a steaming and swimming bed of sauce. Ok fine... and what hits you first of all was the smell of sour-ish tomato sauce. Ok fine... Just cover it with white pepper and get back on the computer. Then it starts sliding even more downhill. You dig around to find 2 rolls of cannelloni. You cut one open and it's like ... what is this? And I lead you onto the next picture. As you usually know, I usually only take 2 pictures in my Aldi meal reviews. But you just have to see this.

Strange faux ricotta

What is that goop? Do they claim it is ricotta? Don't go there. Don't even start asking why I kept eating this. The pasta was tasteless, it was overwhelmed with tomato sauce. I don't know about you, but don't like overwhelmed tomato sauce in my pasta. No no no. There's also micro mini diced vegetables in the sauce. Yay bonus score! Now I want $4 back.

Price: No tick, this is not even worth $3.99. 
Appearance: Hells to the no.. I don't want sauce with a bit of pasta in it.
Taste: No, no no no no..  
Will buy again Factor: Don't go there sista.

P.S: This is not a paid post. I had shelled out $4 for my own meal... and now I want my money back.

Review: SeneGence Roseberry LipSense Start Kit

LipSense Roseberry Kit

If you are after a long lasting lip gloss, read on. I was asked by lovely @wtmontana  on Twitter who is a self confessed "Beauty Junkie" to review and swatch this for her. She is now a SeneGence distributor and you can contact her directly about any of the SeneGence products and her details are at the bottom of the post. I put my hands up for lip gloss and pink. You know I love pink :)

When I received this. I had no idea why there were 3 tubes in the pack. Then I went Ohhh... ok.. One is the lip gloss layer, one is the colour (roseberry pink tube) and the other is the Oops Remover. I did not understand why I needed a remover. That was until I tried it on.

LipSense Roseberry Swatch

The texture is quite liquid and sheer when you put it on. You will probably need a couple of layers. It is  liquidy out of the tube. Then dries and does not budge. I repeat. It does not budge. You need the oops remover if you had a mistake. When it dries it is matte, pop your gloss layer on and voila it is glossy.
LipSense is promoted to last 18 hours. I can guarantee that it does go the yards. See that swatch up there? I left it on as a test to see how long it will go. It lasted overnight and yes, I do wash my hands.

To make it work best on your lips.

• I had applied it very slowly. 
• Wait till the first layer was dry and set. Then do a second layer. 
• Use the eraser to clean up the small mistakes
• Top with the gloss layer.. Yay done!!

This pack retails for $72. Contact Dustyn at dustynrumble(at)gmail.com or visit her at http://www.wtmontana.com

I love Aldi: Chicken Parma Review

What Aldi says it looks like

I bet you miss this series don't ya? Oh I am sure that you do. I haven't been able to face eating freezer meals for a while. I had this sitting in my freezer for ages! It was 3pm and I had not had lunch yet. I also had an event coming up in the evening and I thought this would do to tide me over until I get food again at 8.30pm.

What it really looks like

This could actually taste much worse. I remember a horrendous one in the past with chicken and I do not want to go back there. Now listen here.. only get this one if you can 'hack' a very unique and spongey yet chewy hard to describe type of chicken texture. I appreciate that it is not real chicken. So if you can deal with faux-ken this is not a bad one. Mmm Potatoes.. Mmmm spuds. This is slightly bigger than the normal range and I think in terms of size, it is a bit more filling.

Price: Tick $4.99 A WHOLE DORRAH MORE THAN THE NORMAL!! Outrageous. LOL
Appearance: Tick could look a lot worse, you get the normal weird bubble cheesey top from the microwave.
Taste: Not bad! The chicken is a little weird which is kind of expected of freezer "schnitz" meals. I mean it ain't a $11 Schnitz wrap. The sauce on the parma was a little sour but overall it was ok. The potatoes were quite yummy. 
Will buy again Factor: Yes this one is buyable

P.S: This is not a paid post. I had shelled out $5 for my own meal.

Stalk my Noms: Jus Burgers South Yarra

Jus Burger: Roo Burger & Cheeseburger

We were recently kindly invited to Jus Burgers in South Yarra to review their yummy burgers. I pretty much won best wife award for 2012 with this review from Mick as he loves burgers so much. Jus Burgers philosophy is simply to source from local producers and do not freeze any of their meat. Sounds pretty good to me! So we made our way down to Chapel Street in South Yarra. Can I just say that I have not been to South Yarra in ages and it was totally funny as I had to sit the boys outside of Condom Kingdom to google the address as I had transposed the digits incorrectly in my memory bank.

Waiting for our burgers!

Mmmm Burgers... The boys shared a Cheeseburger, I had ordered the Roo Burger with Green Chilli Jam and Mick had the Organic Beef. For sides, we had onion rings and a Spanish slaw. Corey suggested we try the organic Cola and not the normal Coca Cola. Mick is now converted and said he can no longer drink normal Coke. The organic Cola is not as acidic and had a stronger Cola flavour. The boys of asked for juice but I told them to have water. :) Are you proud of us Dr Tung? While waiting for our burgers, the boys played with the dinosaur with our order number on it by passing it between them. D asked if he could take it home, thankfully he did not notice when it was taken back by the lovely service staff.

Organic Beef Burger + chips, slaw and green tomato pickle

Onion Rings Spanish Slaw

The onion rings came with aioli that was to die for. The burgers were a meal deal with chips, green tomato pickle and a yummy slaw. I strongly suggest trying the onion rings but the chips -> look at those chips! They are amazing with the aioli dip and pickle! That's D eating his onion ring in the background. 

Pickles did not want his burger which was his loss and clung onto the chips. I really mean it, he held onto two chips and would not give it up even when we got into the car. 

Action at the Front area

The above was the front bar area where the action is, they also have seats outside on the street - it is after all Chapel Street! And a quieter area behind where this picture was taken. Parents with kids would appreciate the back area and there is a wall where kids' drawings are displayed.

D's drawing

Jus Burgers is a child friendly place, don't forget to ask for an activity sheet when you order and crayons. D insisted that his drawing is left on the wall. Pickles did not colour one as he was busy eating his chips and dancing on the bench. 

Jus Burgers

364 Chapel Street, South Yarra (near Cnr of Commercial Road)

www.jusburgers.com.au

(03) 9827 1318

Review: Milk Toothy Pegs Organic Kids Toothpaste

I was asked if I wanted to review this organic kids' toothpaste recently. Truth be told, we also were running out of toothpaste for the boys. But really, are you not curious? What is an organic toothpaste?

Look at my teethhhhh

When this arrived in the mail, D hijacked it and asked if it was for him. He gets very excited as he thinks everything we get in the mail are presents for him.

The tube comes in a flip top but I had been removing the cap to use it. This is because I found it easier to get the amount right on the tooth brush as the consistency is quite runny. It smells wonderful to be honest and I had no problems getting both boys to use this. It reminds me of my own organic skincare like a spa or something! :)

This is what D says about it. Me: "Do you know what it taste like?" D: "Mmmmm yummy, like Apples! Yay Apples!" The flavour is actually orange but close enough!

Milk Toothy Pegs retails for $5.99 and can be found at Woolworth's and specialty baby stores. Or visit http://www.milkskincare.com

Price: Half Tick - I honestly do not know the price of other toothpastes on the market off the top of my head. Just tell yourself it's organic!
Kids happiness factor: Tick
Adult happiness factor: Tick
Will buy again factor: Tick


Disclaimer: This is not a paid post. The product was received for free for review.

I love Aldi: Beef Stroganoff Review

What Aldi says it looks like

I'm sorry for the lousy picture above.. I was hungry and while waiting for the lovely PING from the microwave I quickly took a snap. I had this before but did not start my reviews then. I remember this being really quite nice so I wanted to get it again for a post.

What it actually looks like

Mushroomy...beefy.. and very peppery. Warning if you hate pepper, avoid this one. As usual the pasta is softer than how I would like it. But sauce it up girl... at least it was not dry!

Price: Tick - $4 c'mon not that bad!
Appearance: Tick it's not as bad as the Satay beef.
Taste: I do like pepper a lot so I did not mind it. I also loveee mushrooms and beef! I'm the only one who likes mushrooms in this house so I am stuck with getting my mushroom fix through these meals. LOL 

Will buy again Factor: Yeap! 2nd time that I have bought this.

P.S: This is not a paid post. I had shelled out $4 for my own meal.