First Julep Maven "Modern Beauty" Box

This is just a quick post about the "Modern Beauty" box I got! This took a lot longer then I expected to receive, they did send me a promo code for a free nail polish to apologize for the delay because I guess they realized it got sent out late. I was not sent this box, purchased it with my own money.

Each box has $40 worth of product, it costs you $25 dollars. I always passed on these boxes since I have no interest in nail polish. But I recently saw that they do offer make up products, so i decided to try it out. The "Modern Beauty" box comes with two full sized products each month.

The first "Modern Beauty" box comes with one pencil gel eyeliner and a small neutral eyeshadow palette. I thought the palette looked larger online, but its pretty small in person. Nice neutral tones, surprisingly pigmented. The pencil gel eyeliner was really smooth, I've never used gel liners in pencil form before but so far am impressed. Ill have a more detailed review on both these products later.

On the way to check out, they of course entice you to other items for a good deal. And I am a sucker for those promos, so I picked up the "Konjac Cleansing Sponge" for $6.99 where as the reg price is $12.00. First thoughts: I've used a cleansing sponge before, only from Saje. I loved it and was hoping this would be the same deal. Except this came already wet/soaked in a cleanser? Where as the one at Saje is a dry sponge that poofs up when under water. I also picked up the "Blank Canvas Mattifying Make Up Primer" for $13.99, where reg price is $28.00. Also have more detailed reviews on these products in the upcoming future.

At the moment, I don't see this box being worth $25 dollars a month or $20 /month for a 3 month plan. I only went for one month just to see the products performance by this company. I ordered this on October 2nd and I got it October 31, they did notify me and apologize that my package would be 2-5 business days behind schedule, they also offer tracking for each package, which comes in handy.

I'll keep you updated on product performance and my thoughts!

Size comparison in my hand.. 

Light swatches of eyeshadows

 

Nagoya Japanese Restaurant - Saskatoon, SK

Sorry for the lack of photos... was hangry!

I was craving sushi for a while and nothing beats all you can eat. There are actually quite a few choices for all you can eat sushi in this city and I no doubt, before I move, will try them all. At Nagoya Japanese Restaurant, they provide a chinese buffet part of the included price, which I found interesting and loved the concept. Foodwise on the buffet wasn't the freshest, you can tell its been sitting there all day.. most of the food tasted very dry - don't blame them though since I went at around 8pm and they close at 9 or 9.30 (Bad memory).

Buffet was around $26 and it included sashimi. In the past when i've been to all you can eat (Calgary + Red Deer), the usually don't include sashimi so I was happy they did here... but wasn't happy with the quality of it.

Its known for restaurants to freeze salmon etc to keep it from going bad/getting parasites but here you could tell it was definitely not fresh, it tasted still frozen... it just tasted like eating a cold half frozen piece of rubber. I was very disappointed.

The all you can eat menu was an adequate amount, they had desserts (Deep fried bananas + ice cream), appetizers, rolls, udon, etc. Their special rolls were pretty taste, dragon roll... I only tried a few. No regrets there.
Service was below average, we went too close to closing so they were pretty obvious in letting us know we should leave.

Overall, I think you can tell if a sushi restaurant is good dependent on their sashimi served. Sashimi is so simple yet so delicate. They lacked in that department and since there are a abundance of japanese restaurants in the city, I highly doubt I'd come back to this place.

Aroma Mediterranean Resto Bar - Saskatoon, SK

Aroma! During my move to Saskatoon, I stayed twice at the Radisson and dined at their Aroma Restaurant conveniently located downstairs. I normally don't dine in the hotel and prefer to dine at local restaurants in the city but the first time I dined here, it was purely for the convenience and I am very happy I did. The second time I stayed at the Radisson, dining at Aroma was one thing I was looking very forward too! The food here is fantastic!

Since I've moved here, i have dined at a few restaurants in the city and spoken to a few people about local eats, I believe this is a highly underrated restaurant in this city. The service and food is exceptional.

 I had the same male server for both times I've been here (Can't remember his name :( ) but he was pleasant and observant, random side note: not a big fan of their uniforms, the long apron throws me off. I've had a couple of dishes here,

The first time, I had this unbelieveable pasta dish... looking at their current menu online, I don't believe its on there now :(. I'm usually avoid ordering pasta dishes from restaurants that don't specialize in it because I find myself with a very watery bland dish. This dish was amazing, all i remember is that it had truffle oil in it and I could not get enough of it in case you couldn't tell by my ravings. In the elevator, I was speaking to a gentleman and they were a little tipsy but was telling me how he just had fantastic pizza at Aroma... so of course when I was here, we ordered two as well. One being off the vegan/gluten free menu and the other being the Pig & Fig. The Pig & Fig had a great balance of sweetness from the onions and figs with the heaviness of the meat. They make the pizzas fresh by hand in the back of the restaurant.. pretty neat to watch. Most "wood stone fired" pizza's I find are easily burnt but these two pizzas were perfectly cooked. Both were pretty good, wasn't as great as the elevator guy made it to be... but then again he was a little under the influence and we all know how great food is at that stage.

One thing I was impressed with, is that one member of our party is vegan and they offered a separate menu for her which made it super easy to pinpoint the delicious dishes available for her. The second time I went, I ended up with a dish that was a chuck part of the meat (Also not in the current menu it seems), it was pretty good, very tender.
We also had a few appys as well which were of course, very appetizing.

Everyone that I ate with here, enjoyed their experience as much as I did.

I love the fact they offer little Hors D'oeuvrs before the entree. One is a antipesto (we got this both times), the second time we were offered an extra one but I couldn't remember what it was, what I do remember was that it was equally amazing.

I apologize, but I didn't seem to take photos of my first experience... must have been too hungry.

Overall, I have quite enjoyed both my experiences at Aroma and it is currently my favorite restaurant in Saskatoon. One thing this city does not lack is restaurants, shopping on the other hand... well thats another story. I love trying new restaurants but when I want a good experience and know I will be served delicious food, I will of course make my way to Aroma Mediterranean Resto Bar in the Radisson.