Berry Barn - Saskatoon, SK

When I first moved to Saskatoon, I asked around for any good recommendations for restaurants.The Berry Barn was thrown out several times. I've always been curious, it seems like a great place to go for brunch with the family.

Wasn't sure what I was expecting but it was interesting that they had a little gift store before entering the restaurant. They really marketed the crap out of this place (berry barn bbq sauce etc). Behind the restaurant, there's a little farm/pond you can walk around, which added a nice touch.

But of course, the most important part is the food. Everything is homemade on the menu,

Honestly, its just a Saskatoon tourist hot spot, regards to the menu/taste wise - its nothing special. Pretty bland perogies, I would not have noticed a difference if it they were just frozen ones from the supermarket and passed as hand made.
Spring rolls were soggy and greasy. They only had vermicelli noodles in them and some strands of lettuce - no veg. They essentially exploded in the deep fryer but was still served.

Cheesecake wasn't as bad. You could tell it was homemade; but wasn't the best, not much flavor.

Service wasn't great. He seemed like he didn't want to be there / didn't know how to be a friendly server.

Overall, food wasn't worth the drive nor money. Atmosphere was ... alright; it wasn't really special. Nothing stood out for me or makes me want to go back.

Keo's Kitchen - Saskatoon, SK

Went here not too long ago, thought it was time to share my experience. I love thai food, the spice, the flavors, the culture... ahh.

Tried Keo's Kitchen after alot of people recommended it to me, all saying this place knows how to spice things up. And yes, yes they do. I was almost sweating eating the green curry and I loved every moment of it. Speaking of the green curry, it's my go to dish. Keo's does a well done job, i had medium spice and it had a nice balance in the curry. I do wish it had a little more coconut flavor but I guess the spice level may change that as well; hard to control.

I'm a sucker for iced coffee and Keo's did not disappoint with theirs. I didn't find it as sweet as vietnamese coffee, but Ive heard various differences between the two. Some say they're the same except different coffee beans, some tell me one doesn't use condensed milk (The horror!!) but i personally have no idea and didn't think to ask the server.

Back to the food, it all was pretty tasty. I would pass on the spring rolls next time, just growing up on them and especially having home made ones... its hard for me to like restaurant ones and their recipe for the meat. Nothing beats the food your parents make. And I also think spring rolls are ridiculously expensive.

Great plating, very modern and relaxing ambiance. Good service, she took the time to answer any questions 

The only thing i wish was that the veg in the curry was cut a little smaller. Mainly the cauliflower.... but that is of course, just my preference for my small mouth. The dessert was light and refreshing, probably won't get it again just because I find the others more appealing. It's essentially just a biscuit and vanilla ice cream, thats my go to at costco so sorry Keo's I'll try your custard or sticky rice next time ;)

Overall, I have no complaints and will be back to try the other menu items. Living up to all the recommendations I've been getting.

 

Shu Uemura - Painting Liner

I love cream/gel liners. On the hunt for a new one since Estee Lauder's Double Wear one wasn't the best for me. Ordered this on Shu Uemura's website for $25/cad. I love the packaging on this. Very compact and sleek.

So far I am pretty impressed with this eyeliner, its very creamy and glides on smoothly. I find it to be very pigmented, a little product goes a long way. I have used this almost every day for over 8 months and i'm almost hitting the bottom.

Only thing is that its so creamy, it can smudge easily right after application, if I laugh right after I put it on (i have small eyes) it will smudge a bit.
It lasts over 12+ hrs, still pigmented til the end. Only thing is that it does smudge a bit if you don't let it dry. Easy to wash off, doesn't leave a residue at all like some eye liners do. I'd like to note that I've left the cap off a couple times for 24 hours and was super happy that the product didn't dry up!

So far I'm content with this product, I would repurchase it unless I find something that performs better.

Make Up Forever : Smoky Extravagant Mascara Review

I usually stick to drug store mascaras because I usually don't wear mascara on a day to day basis. This Make Up Forever : Smoky Extravagant Mascara retails for $28/CAD at a local sephora. I got this as a sample when I was shopping there.

This is an alright mascara, hasn't changed my opinions about switching to higher end mascaras.  It does add length and somewhat volume I found. But it doesn't hold curl. I've realized over my years of life, that the only mascaras that claim they hold curl, actually only hold curl if theyre waterproof. This is not a waterproof mascara, so I wasn't expected it to hold a curl... and it didn't. It's clump free.

One thing I did really like about this mascara is the shape of the comb. With the cone shape, the thinner end grabs the inner eyelashes perfectly.

It didnt flake at all on me, worked fine with my contacts in. It's more of a natural look, in my opinion. Washes off super easily. Didn't smudge and it dries fairly fast.

Overall, i found it to be a more natural looking mascara. It provided adequate length and volume, didn't clump nor flaked/smudge. I wouldn't purchase this again because its not worth the price.

Seoul Korean Restaurant - Saskatoon, SK

Beef Ribs and Japchae

Alright, let me be honest first... back in the day I was never a big fan or Korean Cuisine. Don't get me wrong, I LOVED Korean BBQ - who doesn't?! But I could not like Kimchi or spice ... and I was also ignorant back then as well. I traveled to Korea a year ago and along with discovering how much they loved spice, I got to experience alot of interesting dishes. The spice made sense considering it was so cold outside when I went, there was no snow like Canada but that wind just bites! 

Now, I'm a changed woman. I enjoy kimchi and love a kick in my food. I've been to this Seoul Korean Restaurant twice since I've moved here. Each time, I have walked out more then satisfied.

Having experienced these dishes first in Korea, Seoul Korean Restaurant is authentic and delicious. No offense to Saskatoon, but I'm surprised this Seoul Korean Restaurant has survived since 2011 (earliest evidence I can find about it).  Usually smaller cities don't appreciate authentic cuisine and crave more of a fusion... so when I thought about the size and the demographics I was... happy(? not sure if that's the right word) that Seoul Korean Restaurant looked like it was being recognized for it's authentic dishes.

I've had a couple of dishes here:

Bulgogi Jeongol - It had lots of veg but still a good amount of beef included. Good flavor. It's a great comfort food to warm up with in the winter!


Pork& Beef Ribs - Please show me a korean restaurant that does not serve good Korean BBQ? They also offer to cook it for you in the kitchen if it suits your needs. Delicious!

Japchae

Japchae - One of my all time favorite dishes in life. And they do a pretty good job here, can't go wrong with sesame oil.They actually give you a fairly large portion as well.

Bulgogi Jeongol

Patbingsu - The dessert. Honestly, I'd pass. Nothing special - just ice cream and shaved ice with fruit + fruit loops. I think they did add sort of a red bean paste with it but it didn't really add any flavor, hence why I'm unsure if it was red bean.... But yes, this dessert isn't really as good or special as the photos make it look. Better off just going to menchies or marble slab.

They do offer a believe... three side dishes? A Sweet mash, bean sprouts and ... KIMCHI!

Prices are fairly reasonable, service is alright - pretty average. The restaurant itself is pretty spacey and only have a limited amount of tables. The second time I went during the supper rush on a weekday, people that came after us did have a short wait.

Good to see they embraced ipad menus, very up to date. I was surprised they didn't take our orders with iphones.

I would definitely be back when I'm craving some delicious korean food and will be recommending it to whomever.

The Face Shop - Pore Minimizer Controlling Emulsion

I've bought a couple items from The Face Shop since it's made it debut in Alberta. I have pretty big pores and it of course, does not help that I pick at them on a routine basis.

I picked up this emulsion since I've actually always been eyeing emulsions to try out. I didn't get one last time I was in asia and was happy to see that I could buy one here! From what I gathered, an emulsion is a very light weight moisturizer that is just to provide more moisture and protection to the skin. For any skin care routine, you of course apply all products lightest to heaviest. So this goes on after your serum but before your main face cream.

I love the scent of this product, its very fresh and clean smelling yet not overbearing. Has it minimized my pores? Not that I've noticed. Nor has it actually improved the moisture of my skin, it's very light weight and I feel like maybe I'd notice more of its performance during the spring/summer... but as of now it's not holding up/aiding in my main face cream with these Canadian winters.

I also adore the packaging of this, it comes with 130 ml and let me tell you, i've barely made a dent in the past 3 months I've had it. It's such a light cream that you actually don't need much of it to evenly spread across your whole face.

Overall, I would recommend this to people that are just looking to add a bit of extra moisture to their routine but don't have overly dry skin. Its not too expensive and you do get a good amount of product.

I would give the other products in this line a try, purely because of how much I love the scent. Hopefully the other product in this line provide a better performance for my skin.

Too Faced - Better than Sex Mascara

 I love mascara samples, they [usually] last a couple weeks and you don't have to fork out heaps of money to give it a try.

For christmas, my gift to myself (along with many) was the Too Faced "Everything Nice" Holiday Palette, a small sample of Too Faced "Better Than Sex Mascara" came with it.

Bare lashes

I adore these scandalous names that companies give their products - its creative and humorous. I was of course, very curious to see if this mascara was, well... better than sex. ;)

With Better Than Sex

If you've read any of my previous mascara reviews, I mainly use waterproof mascaras since they are the only ones that have enough wax to hold the curl of my very straight lashes. And I usually don't spend money on high end brand name mascaras purely due to the product life of a mascara - its a costly product to keep repurchasing every 3 months. I'm already drowning in debt with student loans, I don't think its the best idea to add to that debt with beauty products... handbags on the other hand, well, thats another story.

This is an alright mascara, nothing amazing or a must try. It provides great volume, pretty decent length - you'll have fairly thick and "fluffy" lashes. I did notice a bit of flaking by the end of the day, it didn't bother my contacts or anything but it was still there and I feel like for some other people it have more of a negative affect.

One thing that I did notice while applying this mascara is that, i'm not sure whether its the shape of the wand or it's size but it can be at times very difficult to apply. Meaning it took me a little longer to apply this mascara than compared to others. I think its a mixture of its shape and its size... hm. Also, depending on your application, your lashes can clump together.

Overall, its a decent mascara. I wouldn't recommend to go buy a full size of this product to try, if it comes in part of a set that you've been eyeing - I'd say go for it. It gives you thick, fluffy lashes but be careful of your application because it can cause some clumping or it may take more time to apply this mascara.