[Review] Etude House Aloe Moistfull Soothing Skin Toner

You may have seen me mention this product in previous posts and since this is my 3rd bottle I will do a review about it. When I was in Seoul 2013 I decided to try a new toner and the one I picked up was 'Etude House Aloe Moistfull Soothing Skin Toner'. The reasons I picked this series was because it claimed to both moisturize and soothe the skin which sounds perfect for combination skin-types. I wanted to believe the soothing qualities as I usually use an aloe vera plant for burns so this product should not irritate my skin. 

The bottle itself is made out of plastic and the packaging is pretty simple. It has the ingredients listed both in Korean and in English. The toner consistency is slightly gooey, like aloe vera itself and it comes out clear. It also smells lovely, not too overpowering. I use this product twice a day and apply with a cotton wool, on application it sinks into my skin quickly and does not feel sticky at all. My skin feels moisturised and prepped for my cream.

I have been using this product for just over a year now and have not looked back. It does everything I want from a toner, it moisturizes, cleans off excess make-up and soothes the skin. I have not had a break-out in a long while and will not be switching my toner any time soon. The only thing is Etude House products are not available in the UK so you can only order it online (Ebay, Yesstyle, Sasa), which also means it can be quite pricey compared to if you bought it in Korea. I usually get mine from Yesstyle UK as they regularly have discount codes and deals on.

Rating out of 5:     

Afternoon Tea at BB Bakery Covent Garden

I have had my eye on this place for awhile now and for 3 reasons, the fact that their website is plastered with pink, the number of good reviews left by past visitors and last but not least the amount of sweets that you actually get with the price! It was £26 per person which is very decent for both quantity and quality. A friend of mine has not been afternoon tea before so I thought this would be a perfect place to take her, as she too is very girlie. Altogether there were 4 of us ready to go. When booking there is an option to write down special requirements but silly me forgot to ask for a vegetarian option for R.K and for a low-fat alternative to clotted cream, however upon emailing BB Bakery and on 2 different occasions I got prompt replies from the Head Pastry Chefs themselves , Mathieu and Thibault, who were more than happy to accommodate us. BB Bakery is just 5 minutes walk away from Charing Cross station and we all made it for our 2pm booking.

Exterior

"Oh! So thats what BB stands for".

  

We were seated and given a menu to choose our teas. I love my tea strong and was very happy that it was loose leaves and not in a bag. 3 of us got the '4 Red Fruit' (4RF) tea and W.H got the 'Red Tea'. The 4RF tea had a slight sweetness to it and tasted lovely, even R.K who does not normally drink tea and is the type to add milk to herbal/fruit teas, liked it! W.H was also happy with hers. After we ordered we were given a glass of fresh orange juice which was a nice touch. There was an incident later which included an annoying fly who somehow ended up swimming and dieing in my orange juice, which I was savouring slowly. Have you ever felt the absolute sadness and disbelief of when a fly decides to die in your food and/or drink? Thankfully W.H told the waitress what happened and she went and got me a new glass.

Dainty cutlery although the pink plate was a bit dirty.

W.H lone teapot with  Red Tea

Our massive teapot with 4 Red Fruit Tea.

We were so busy taking photos of the interior of the cafe and the cutlery that is was not long before the food came out. First me and W.C were given the pink cake stand and R.K and W.H had the grey cake stand with her vegetarian sandwiches and savouries. We were then told that our scones will come later. 

The savouries tier at the bottom included a quiche, ham & cheese sandwich, cucumber sandwich and a smoked salmon pancake bite. The quiche was actually really nice, I normally do not like quiche but this one was very light. The only thing I did not like from the savouries was the smoked salmon bite as it was very fishy. The middle tier included a raspberry tart, brownie, lemon meringue tart and pistachio macaron whilst the top one had a strawberry macaron and a vanilla cupcake. The brownie was massive and one of them was evidently much bigger than the other, W.C ended up leaving me the massive one.. Although I absolutely devoured it. The dessert that I did not like at all was the lemon meringue tart but to be fair I was never a fan of lemons. Sour and desserts to me, just does not mix. By now we were stuffed but we knew we still had the scones. The scones took awhile to arrive but it was fine as we needed a break anyway. When they did arrive they were very nice, hard on the outside and soft inside.

The only issue I had with BB Bakery was the heat, there was no air con so intead they had to leave the door open (which assumedly welcomed that fly in my OJ) but that did not make much difference. I would advise going on a more colder day. However all in all it was a very good experience, and I will definitely be recommending BB Bakery to others. The atmosphere was good, the interior was filled with lots of girly and cute ornaments and images, the staff were friendly and helpful. Service was prompt and the food and tea was lovely.

Afternoon Tea at Doubletree by Hilton Hotel Victoria

When my colleague/friend heard that in the end I never got to go afternoon tea for my birthday, she immediately offered to take me out instead. We used the website www.afternoontea.co.uk to try find one with a good deal and decent reviews. Out of 3 places short-listed we settled upon the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel in Victoria which had 40% off their afternoon tea! We had to book a table but there was no deposit needed so a few weeks later we were on our way. The hotel is literally 3 minutes walk away from Victoria Station and it does not have the most appealing exterior for a hotel but at least you can not miss it.

We walked in and asked the first person we saw (a bellboy I think) where we was suppose to go and he directed us to the restaurant, just on the right where his colleague all smiles was waiting to greet us. W.H gave her name and we were given a choice on where we wanted to sit down. We chose a big table on the side and shortly after we were given the menu. Doubletree Victoria have 2 afternoon tea options, the 'Traditional Afternoon Tea' for £20.50 and the 'Gourment Afternoon Tea', which in addition you get a glass of champagne, crumpets and strawberry cupcakes for £34.00. The pig in me, guess which I picked..

The choice of teas was not great most of them were the usual fare such as breakfast, camomile and peppermint tea. The only unusual ones were raspberry and chilli; lemongrass, ginger and citrus fruit; and wild sweet orange. W.H wanted the lemongrass but unfortunately it was sold out so she settled for the peppermint and I got the wild sweet orange. The food arrived in what looked like a mini shelf which was certainly different however the overall colours was very dull, there was just too much brown going on.

We started with the crumpets which were already buttered but it was unbelievably dry, W.H suggested that they should have put more butter on it. Next were the 4 sandwiches; salmon, egg mayonnaise, prawn and ham, which were okay. The scones did not look appetizing at all, they reminded me of the ones my mum buys at the supermarket which can be super dry but these were surprisingly moist and still warm. I actually can not remember what the little cakes were but the passionfruit drizzle on top was amazing. I do not know if my readers remember my last afternoon tea but the dreaded coffee slice dessert made its way back into my life again. I knew at first glance that it was the same one but for the sake of it I ate some anyway, at least W.H got to enjoy my disgusted expression. At this point as you can imagine, we were both quite full already but we had one last dessert left and that was the strawberry cupcakes with the cute heart sprinkles. The icing thankfully was not too sweet and the sponge was nice and soft.

Coconut macaron, coffee slice and toffee macaron.

The bill came up to £40.80 which is very decent for afternoon tea and for the amount that we had as well, however both me and W.H agreed that we would not be coming back here. The service was good but the actual afternoon tea was not the best that we have had, to say the very least. Although we had fun and it was nice to catch up again outside of work so thank you W.H!