Zuuchini

Shu Uemura Tsuya skin review and journey to healthy and glowy skin

January 14, 2013/ by zuuchini/ in beauty, makeup skincare review/ Comments Off on Shu Uemura Tsuya skin review and journey to healthy and glowy skin

I have used Shu Uemura Tsuya skin Youthful radiance generator for a good 2 months and a half now and am loving it.

It’s a serum that claims to have many benefits. Let’s forget what it promises. Instead, let’s focus what it did to my skin.
For those who didn’t know, I’d been struggling with really bad skin back at the end of 2010. And I would like to officially say that it had all been cleared out at the end of 2012!
I would try so many products. But they were all a failure; what’s worse, some would actually aggravate my acne problems. They were acne that would not really surface, that just stays within your skin, that would never really mature. My forehead was getting oilier and oiler too! 
I was desperate and frustrated.
Well I decided to go back to my basics, what I have always known my skin to be. Dry.
So I stopped all exfoliating and cleansing agent (read way too many reviews that say how it helped clearer and healthier skin – well i think, those things are really not for me. and i was too greedy wanting more glowy skin. when in the first place, I had it already.). I only used Shu Uemura cleansing oil to remove my makeup. I avoid any kind of product that will strip the moisture away from my face.
Little by little, I see improvements – but not enough.
So I was determined that my skin is thirsty, it’s suffering of dryness. To fight the dryness, it produces too much sebum. And the sebum gets trapped inside my dry skin, so that’s why it’s never able to get out! Resulting, lots of bumps on my skin!
So after hearing the new Shu Uemura new launch skin care product: Tsuya skin, I had high hopes that this serum can balance out my skin again.
Well…It did!
The first 2 weeks, my skin calmed down. I noticed my skin was getting less and less oily. After 2 weeks, I barely see any bumps at all. But of course, this is with the help of a good moisturiser as well.
But i really think Tsuya skin really helped initiating the balance. It somehow was able to retain enough moisturiser on my face throughout the day. 
It’s been almost 3 months now, and I am still using it almost every day. The days when I don’t use it, I feel like my skin is having troubles again. Without it, I feel my skin would absorb the moisturiser but at the same time, half of the moisturiser is evaporated into the air. 
I highly recommend this serum for those like me, have dry skin, and is looking for a serum that actually does help the moisturiser longevity and balance the skin condition.

It also claims that it evens out discoloration. I don’t think it does that…did not see any improvements on past acne spots.

Although it’s a bit pricey, but so far, it’s the serum that has been the most effective! Why spend on something that doesn’t work at all?

I still think i can use this product for another month or 2. And I would definitely go back to Holt Renfrew to purchase another bottle! 🙂

Zuuchini

Paulo & Suzanne: Most successful irregular poutine!

January 12, 2013/ by zuuchini/ in food, Montreal, restaurant review/ 1 Comment

I think Paulo & Suzanne has already established quite a name locally. It’s known for opening 24hrs. Perfect for those that need a late night meal. Surprisingly, it’s not like the other 24hrs restaurant where they offer you crappy food, Paulo & Suzanne actually delivers good quality fast food.

Once entered, we see served from the counter / eat at the counter style! The staff there are super friendly. I even scrutinised every corner to see the cleanness of the kitchen. Quite impressive, i tell you.
So how does the food go?
Obviously, I ordered a poutine. BUT, not the regular poutine. Surprised eh?! (as those who don’t know, I usually like my poutine the traditional way…). I actually ordered their special HUGE poutine!
Philly Bomb Poutine
Look at the picture! Look at all the steam! Look at the fancy bowl it is served in! (it looks like those asian fancy noodles bowl) This poutine has philly steak, green and red pepper, onions Italien sausage. All goodness! I was so pleased with this poutine. The fries were not soggy at all. I was expecting it to be since i saw all that sauce on top of my fries. But nope! Crispiness of the fries are well maintained. 
This is officially my first irregular poutine that I actually am satisfied with!
Mr.Butter ordered…
You can’t really see with all those fries covered right? Let’s try again!
Ultime Burger
According to Mr.Butter’s expert taste buds for burgers, he said that the burger is placing 2nd to 3rd on his list! That’s a big claim there! Although the burger was nothing fancy, he said the simplicity of the burger makes him remind of the good old days of burger or even home made burger. So go figure, this burger evaluation is highly biased with memories. lol.
Verdict? Paulo & Suzanne, I love your poutine! But sorry, Benny’s is still top of my league in poutine!
Paulo & Suzanne Open 24h on Urbanspoon
Zuuchini

Paris Pho – Why Paris?

January 7, 2013/ by zuuchini/ in food, Montreal, restaurant review/ Comments Off on Paris Pho – Why Paris?

Don’t even get me started with the name of the restaurant. I have no idea why would they name it Paris Pho… But hey, a name’s a name. It’s not an indicator of the food quality!

Inside the restaurant

I have this feeling that it is chinese owned. The menu sort of hints me that (menu does not only offer pho, but like always cantonese noodles dishes or similar dishes like that).

I got the Beef specialty soup. It has beef blood hmmmm! The broth was very tasty, but not spicy enough. Good thing they have lots of chili pepper sauce on the side that I slightly abused to make my soup spicier! The only thing I have to complain is that they did not use the usual thin rice noodles. This one has thick round noodles, which are good…but I prefer the thin ones for my pho!!

This one I am not sure of the name. But the broth is made with coconut. A few shrimps in the soup too! Although this one tastes good as well, I prefer my soup over this one.

This place is not bad at all. Good place to go if you are craving for pho and you are just around the corner.

Paris Pho on Urbanspoon

Zuuchini 

Happening Gourmand 2013

January 6, 2013/ by zuuchini/ in food/ Comments Off on Happening Gourmand 2013

Just a reminder! Happening Gourmand has started! Check the menu and book your date!

http://www.happeninggourmand.com/

It’s easy to reserve, done online. And the site allows you to check all the menu offered for this event!  🙂 remember to reserve early. Places run out rather quickly!

I’ve set a date for Tavern Gaspar 🙂

Zuuchini

Le Fumoir Rubs Smokehouse – Amazing drinks

January 6, 2013/ by zuuchini/ in food, Montreal, restaurant review/ 2 Comments

Le Fumoir Rubs Smokehouse is known for their ribs, but I think they should be better known for their drinks! Their drinks really impressed me.

The night we visited Le Fumoir Rubs Smokehouse, we arrived at an early hour, a bit later than 5:30 PM to be on time for a concert showing. The staff reassured us that the place is not this quiet usually – we were the first clients of the evening. Little by little, the place was receiving more and more customers. The staff is very attentive and explained in great details. Super friendly too – do not know if we were the only clients in the beginning had any impact. But, I did notice that the owner does go table to table to make small talk.

Ok back to the FOOOOD.

That night, we ordered 2 drinks. God, do I want more!

The first drink: Mexican bulldog.

Other than the visual effects of the drink (that surely captures anyone’s attention, a corona served upside-down WHAT!), the margarita drink is very “citrusy”. I could barely taste the beer. I really like this drink.

The other drink: Mr.Beam.

It’s a dark beer, bourgonne. Very sweet! I like it just as much. I really cannot decide which drink I like more.

There are other special drinks too – they sound just as good as these ones, i really want to go back and try them when I get the chance!

As for the food… it did not hit me as hard as the drinks.

Before our main dishes, we were served some bacon bits! THEY ARE DELICIOUS! and smell incredible too.

It is just spicy enough and crunchy enough from the outside! I think it’s the perfect bite-size food while watching a game.

and here comes our dishes

Baby back ribs. Side dish: Man n cheese with gouda cheese and sweet potato fries.

The ribs sauce are veeery delicious. Very smokey. I would even call it excellent sauce for ribs! But, the sauce does get a bit heavy after 3 ribs. And do not expect the ribs that fall off the bones because they don’t. I know many people like their ribs that way. But personally, I like my ribs meat stick the bone and using my teeth to bite them off.

The mac n cheese with gouda cheese was interesting, but really…not that fascinating. The sweet potato fries are just sweet potato fries…

Smoked burger. Side dish: coleslaw and apple slaw.

I took like 2 bites of the burger (because I do not like burger much in general). But I do have to tell you, I’m actually surprised that the burger does taste good to me! Mr.Butter said it was actually a very good burger – he’s a much burger knowledgeable than me; he’s actually doing his own hunt for the best burger. So, to have his approval of this burger does say much!

The coleslaw again…was just coleslaw…

All in all, my visit at Le Fumoir Rubs Smokehouse was a very pleasant one. My return would certainly be because of their drinks! I love them very much!

Le Fumoir Rubs Smokehouse on Urbanspoon


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