review: Lotree Rosa Davurica Oil Skin Care Pact & Triple Cake SPF32PA++

My secret to a long lasting make up throughout a busy day:
Primer + good BB Cream + Powder Pact

Powder pact's purpose is to set your foundation/ BB cream and give extra coverage for that matt finish. This is extremely important for my skin type, where my face gets shiny pretty easily.
I have tried a few Korean powder pacts out there: BRTC Sun Pact, Sulwhasoo's I-forget-what-its-name, Hera, to name a few.

Then, I came across Lotree and their Rosa Davurica line, a very pretty looking cosmetic line with rose scented powder pacts.
My first dab on Lotree was a purchase of Rosa Davurica Two Way Cake; which gives adequate coverage and shine control, but then I sorta upgraded to their Triple Cake. And I never looked back.... .... ... until of course, my curiosity got the better of me and I ended up buying their Triple Balance Oil Skin Care Pact. GMarket Shop HERE.

Lotree Rosa Davurica Triple Balance Oil Skin Care Pact

The box looks pretty as usual, there is no difference in outer packaging and the pact case. It is pretty, it is purple :D. The shop always gives some freebies that changes every once in a while. On this occasion, I received an eyebrow pencil, mascara, and some face lotion.
However, to a bit of my disappointment, I canNOT use this Oil Pact as a substitute to the Triple Cake Pact.

Lotree Rosa Davurica Triple Cake. Received freebies: face lotion & primer, and pink eyeshadow.

Lotree Rosa Davurica Triple Cake with SPF32PA++. GMarket Shop HERE

The Oil Pact does not set into the skin like the Triple Cake Pact does. It provides decent coverage (as good as Triple Cake Pact), but in a few hours, it kind of melt off your face. Not a pretty look where your face looks blotchy.
What I found out though, it provides REALLY good shine control if used after the Triple Cake Pact. It easily add a few hours of shine control compared to using the Triple Cake alone.

However, I don't really use the sponge applicator that comes with the Oil Pact. Instead, I just use my big kabuki brush to lightly cover my face with the powder. Works a charm, and looks very natural.

On a side note, if you just want adequate coverage, go for the Triple Cake. It has SPF32 and it holds pretty well on its own.

The Triple Cake Pact though, apart from its usual purple applicator, also comes with a white sponge applicator that is of the usual kind you use to apply liquid foundations. I tried using the Triple Cake Pact wet, but I still much prefer it as a setting powder.

Boxes' comparison. Bottom shows Triple Cake box with the white sponge applicator

NomNom: Dan's House, Sydney CBD

*Update March 2014

We went to Dan's again last weekend, and noticed that this place is now under different owner/management? The menu is now under 'New Shanghai something or rather (couldn't recall the full name)'. We went there especially for the duck, however there is no duck on the new glossy menu. We asked the waitress, and she simply said the duck chef is not in.

What!

We did end up ordering some new dishes from the menu, but all of them are forgettable, bland, and definitely not worth the price.

Not going to go back again.

*update over

Went to a relatively new tacky trendy Chinese restaurant in Sydney, Dan's House over the weekend to try their acclaimed Peking Duck. After all, it has been more than 6 months since we gorged ourselves to Peking Duck and Goose feast (during our holiday in Hong Kong last December), and it was time to put more duck in us.

Dan's House is located in George Street, Sydney CBD, hardly a block away from World Square. You have to board the lift to reach the dining area (the upper floor is for VIP/private function, and the bottom floor is for regular dining).
Enetring the premise, I could see that Dan's House tries so hard to present themselves as funky and trendy restaurant, but woe is me, I am not a fan of the much blingness and all the gold details.

Interior of Dan's House dining area

But nevertheless, it's all about the food right?

Deep Fried Tofu with Thousand Year Eggs

Deep Fried Tofu with Thousand Year Eggs: This tofu dish is a bit similar - appearance and texture wise - to the one served at Chef's Gallery's (egg tofu). No complain with the taste, but the thousand year eggs - contained in bits and pieces in the tofu mix - does not really add weight or taste to the dish. It is quite light and enjoyable for an entree though.

Green Tea Noodle with Duck Meat

Green Tea Noodle with Duck Meat: Again, texture and consistency of the noodle itself is nice. (Well, for the price, I expect it to be nice!), however the taste overall is quite bland.

Duck Soup

Peking Duck - half

We ordered their house specialty - Peking Duck. Since there were only the two of us, we ordered half of the duck, which costed around A$39. Luckily, the portion is generous, as the way they present it is similar to Hong Kong/ China - where the cuts actually include the skin and the meat (in some chinese restaurants, they only serve the skin to be eaten with the pancake roll, where the meat was taken away to be made into sang choy bow or noodle dish).
This dish came with duck soup, which was hearty and thick, and nice to have in winter. The duck is juicy and the skin is crispy with only a thin layer of fats underneath. With this set, they also provide the standard pancake rolls (nothing to shout about), thinly sliced cucumbers & spring onions, and their peking duck sauce.

It is a very nice dish, if you are not thinking about the bill that would come afterwards.

Dan's House

710 George Street, Haymarket, NSW 2000

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