Renault Captur – Fleurage Create Your Own Perfume

Renault – Captur

Thank you everyone for the warm welcome back 🙂 I can’t describe how much it means to me! I’m trying to do one blog post a week and eventually get back to posting 2-3 times a week, but please be patient with me! Got some bad news that my new manager is leaving and moving on soon…which is really sad because I only just started in the team. However, I am so happy for him to be spending more time with his young children and the next stage of his career.

If you follow me on Instagram you will know, I have been very spoilt by Renault Australia and Soda Communications this year. Every time they have an event we will always be picked up by a Chauffeur in a Renault car, it started from the launch party this year for the new Renault Captur (SUV – Sports Utility Vehicle). The next event was high tea at Fancy Nance with Adriano Zumbo and recently I was also then given the car for 2 weeks to test drive (separate blog post to come about this 🙂

Fleurage – Create your own signature scent

However, the event that I enjoyed the most would be the ‘Create Your Own Perfume’ held at the hidden but gorgeous Mon Bijiou on Flinders Lane. The day started at around 9:20am when our lovely driver picked us up in a Ivory White and Diamond Black Captur, I’ve been in this car many times and it always surprises me how spacious it is both in the front and back. We then arrived at the venue at around 10am and all settled in with a glass of champagne in hand and took time to enjoy the great scenery Melbourne has to offer.

Once all the guests had arrived, we sat down in our seats and was introduced to Emma the owner and perfumer of Fleurage based in Williamstown. She explained to use how we were going to create our own personal scent and that perfumes consist of a base, heart and top notes. Which made sense because when I spray perfume, I can smell the different layers of scents. It was very interesting the first thing we were asked to do was to fill out a short questionnaire and Emma would then give us indication of what colour of scents we should focus on smelling. For instance, one of the question was which season do you like the most and I chose Spring because I’ve always like floral sweet scents and rest assure I was asked to smell and focus on the scents in the ‘pink’ section. While Mr Bao (yes I dragged him along with me :P) much prefers Autumn and one of his favourite food is sushi…he was asked to focus not the ‘green’ and ‘black’ which had scents like seaweed!!!

The next step was to choose 4 base notes, 7 heart notes and 2 top notes. You start from the bottom of the tray and move your way to the top. I thought it was going to be a lot harder to choose from 80 scents but I think I know myself very well, because it only took me a couple of minutes to choose everything. I chose scents like Gardenia, Jasmine, Honey Suckle, Fig and Vanilla all those sweet girly scents. While Mr Bao had a lot of trouble choosing between the woody or fresh grassy scents, he ended up with Fernwood, Sandalwood, Lime and Citrus huge contrast from mine.

So glad they had coffee beans for us to refresh our noses because honestly after a while my nose was getting desensitised and I couldn’t distinguish the different scents. That’s why I have so much respect for Emma, she didn’t have any trouble with the scents and was able to quickly formulate each and everyone of our perfumes! That’s about 20 in only 10 minutes or so.

Once we got our ‘formula’ from Emma, it’s actually quite easy to ‘make our own perfume’ we grabbed our bottles from the bag which had I believe distilled water and we started added drops of scents. You would add more droplets of those that you want to have a stronger presence in the perfume, like mine I had more drops of rose and jasmine.

Thanks Mr Bao for capturing this photo! It’s my favourite from the day!

He didn’t do so badly himself, but he was much more particular than me. He was counting every drop again and again and was worried he would add too many or little. It must be the scientist in him haha

Never Too Sweet Own Scent!

Ta da!!! Here it is! My very own Never Too Sweet perfume! Staying true to my brand it’s a very sweet florally perfume with strong musk, jasmine and apple notes haha. While Mr Bao’s was very citrusy and refreshing with grass, sandalwood, lime, mint and orange.

Mr Bao was very skeptical at first when I told him we were going to a perfume making class, but he thoroughly enjoyed himself and has been using his own cologne since then. I’ve been joking once he’s used up his bottle he wont have his own signature scent anymore but not to worry because Emma offers a refilling service for $2.5 a ml which works out to be around $125 for 50mls. For more information about Creating Your Own Perfume please visit the Fleaurage website 😀 I think its a great idea for a birthday party or a bridal shower, I highly recommend it and would love to do it again.

Now let’s move onto the FOOD because at the end of the day I am a food blogger and eating takes precedent over every if not most things 😀 And don’t forget camera eats first hehe I’m glad the waitress was so patient and would come to me first with the food, because she knew I wanted to take a photo. The catering was done by Om Nom from the Adelphi Hotel which means we were in for a treat because food is always great. I still remember when we stayed at the hotel last year for my birthday and I really enjoyed the room service.

Grilled halloumi with pesto and eggplant

Pork meatball with ice berg lettuce

Poached chicken with shiitake mushroom

All the savoury canapés were presented so nicely with a heart shape skewer and all tasted delicious! I was impressed with how much flavour such small items had. They were also a great size not too big or small and no mess when eating them.

Soft shell crab with aioli

My favourite was definitely the soft shell crab with aioli, deep fried but not greasy. Wish I grabbed another one! I really love how soft shell crab is such a trendy food item now it appears on most menus, I remember when it use to be limited to Japanese restaurants.

Mini Churros with chocolate sauce

Rapsberry sorbet with fresh berries and meringue

As for sweets they had mini Churros with chocolate sauce and also Rapsberry sorbet with fresh berries and meringue pieces. Another smart way of serving sorbet no spoons required, as they are made into little discs very refreshing.

Huge thank you to Renault Australia and Soda Communications for hosting another fantastic event and for inviting us. What more could I ask for delicious food, great fun and even better company!

And for those who are interested in learning more about the Captur now is a great time, because Renault Australia and French skincare brand Nuxe have teamed up and the first 50 people who book in a test drive by the 31st December 2015 will receive a limited-edition pack worth more than $100 😀

 

I’ve also entered in a competition and the more people who book a test drive and mentioned from Never Too Sweet the higher chance for me to win and the prize is to drive the Captur for 3 months at our own leisure.

If you would like to help me, please following simple steps:

1. Book in for a test drive
2. Take a selfie in the Captur and email this to renault@sodacommunications.com.au
   Include the following information:
   – First name
   – Surname
   – Phone Number
   – How they heard about this promotion – Never Too Sweet 😉
3. You will then receive your Nuxe gift pack

Please let me know if you have any questions. Have a wonderful week ahead!

Daisy@Nevertoosweet and Mr Bao was invited as a guest of Renault Australia and Soda Communications all opinions are based from our own experience. 

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Thoughtful Gifts – LVLY.com

Hello My Dearest Reader’s apologies for the short hiatus! I’ve got so much to update you, I have recently started a new job, so that has kept my very busy! But I will provide you a full update in my next post 🙂 Today I have a super fun post to share with you! I was recently introduced to Lvly.com an online service which delivers ‘small, thoughtful gifts delivered same day Melbourne’.

The concept is super easy, you jump online choose the gift you would like to send to a loved one, customise the gift by adding additional items, order before 1pm and same day delivery is guaranteed. Perfect as a last minute gift if you have accidentally forgotten someone’s birthday or just want to surprise a special person at work ~

Lvly Hug-a-mug set from $38

The LVLY team were very nice and sent me their new LVLY Hug-amug set which includes a 250g Mork Junior Dark (50% cacao) with a twin pack of fluffy marshmallows from Sweetness The Patisserie. I can’t think of a better gift right now especially since it’s been so cold! Yesterday was the coldest morning Melbourne has experienced for over 18 years! So nothing beats a hot chocolate 😀

Imagine receiving this at 2pm on a Wednesday afternoon on hump day, when you just want the day to be over. You can make yourself a piping hot chocolate at your desk and pop a marshmallow inside and watch it melt slightly.

Let me show you! The marshmallows are so squishy, soft and fluffy! When I order a Lvly hug-a-mug set for someone I will definitely order more marshmallows because 2 is simply not enough.

How good does this hot chocolate look? Sorry guys I’m not sharing haha I wouldn’t even let Mr Bao have a sip so please make your own hehe just kidding!

I’ve really enjoyed my gift from Lvly and already have my eyes set on their LVLY Posy subscription where you receive one bunch of posy a week for four weeks. And yes they are for myself haha who said you can’t order gifts for yourself! Ok ok I might get Mr Bao a LVLY Little sucker a little concrete pot plant and I might add a chocolate fix to it just because I’m so nice.

Thanks again LVLY.com for the gift and for more information please check out their website.

This is a sponsored by LVLY.com all opinions are honest and true. 

Share a Churros Week support Beyond Blue – San Churros

Today’s post is a little different, of course it’s all about churros those delectable fried Spanish Donuts that San Churros specialising in making but more importantly it’s about their campaign to support beyondblue – an independent non-profit organisation working to address issues associated with depression, anxiety disorders and related mental illnesses.

San Churros has launched ‘Share A Churros Week’ and from the 15th-21st of June (this week) every churros sold $1 will be donated to beyondblue. When I was asked if I would like to help promote this campaign I couldn’t have said any quicker. Unfortunately, a few people very close to me suffer from depression and anxiety, I have seen first hand how it affects them. Therefore, if there’s anything I can do to support and help the charity I will definitely do it.

I wanted to share with some facts about depression and anxiety:
– 45 per cent of people will experience a mental health condition in their lifetime
– On average, 1 in 6 people will experience depression at some stage of their lives
– Anxiety is the most common mental condition in Australia
– On average, 1 in 4 people will experience anxiety
– At least six Australians take their own lives every day

For more information please visit the beyondblue website 🙂

I know it’s very important for people who suffer depression and anxiety to have the support from family and friends. Therefore, it’s a great concept of ‘Share A Churros’ because I honestly believe food can bring people together and because there’s endorphins in chocolate hehe that’s why I asked a dear friend of mine Catherine from Sweet Empire to go to San Churros and have a churros feast with me.

The are quite a few San Churros outlets in Melbourne, we found the one in Westfield Knox in Wantirna to be the closest to us both. We met at the newly renovated store it is much bigger and spacious compared to the kiosk they use to have inside the shopping centre.

With plenty of seating inside and sunlight shining through it is a great place for business meeting, afternoon tea and dessert after dinner. They also have comfy black leather sofas which is where to settled down and ordered our drinks.

Azteca Chilli Spanish Hot Chocolate $5.95

I can never leave without ordering the Azteca Spanish Hot chocolate which is chilli flavoured. If you haven’t had a Spanish hot chocolate before, I am warning you now it is VERY VERY thick haha and not everyone will like it! I personally love it! It is so thick it’s more like a pudding especially when it’s a little colder and thickens up. The subtle chilli taste gives it some more heat and perfect for a cold winter night. They have other flavours for the hot chocolate which I like too such as the peanut butter!

Churros For Two $14.95

We then ordered a Churros For Two because it’s the perfect amount churros for us. Instead of milk and dark chocolate we decided to try something different and order the white chocolate which tasted a little like condense milk and dulce de leche (which is cooked condense milk to make a caramel).

Thanks Catherine for being the hand model 🙂 Just look at that creamy dulce de leche! I’ve had the churros so many times haha my old office use to be walking distance to San Churros so yes I was a regular. They are made to order and freshly baked, never too oily and always crispy on the outside and soft inside with cinnamon sugar sprinkled over.

Fondue for Two $24.95

I would’ve loved to invite more people, but they were all working and hey who said two can’t be a party 😛 We didn’t have breakfast so this made up for it, we ordered the Fondue For Two which had a great range of condiments. Firstly a big pot of melted dark chocolate that is a must for a fondue. Then for dipping you had churros (of course!), fresh strawberries, bananas, marshmallows, brownies, macarons (pistachio & NY Cheesecake), pretzels and chocolate truffles! WOW!

 

Just looking at this platter makes me smile and want to share it with all my friends. I swear I have collected at least 3 fondue sets over the years, but I’ve never gotten around to using them. When I really should because it is such a great idea for dinner parties and so fun to eat using these little skewers.

Catherine as the hand model again ~ why is it always so hard to pick up the strawberries hurry up I want to eat you 😛

There we go the money shot! Fresh strawberries dipped in melted chocolate my favourite! What’s your favourite? We had such a great time chatting and fully indulging ourselves in churros and chocolate.

San Churros will be donating an extra $1 if you share your photos on Instagram and tag #shareachurros

So please do me a favour and visit San Churros if you can this week, order some churros, share with your friends and help raise money for beyondblue!

San Churros Knox
Number 3110a
Knox City Shopping Centre
425 Burward Hwy
Please visit the San Churros website for the closest outlet near you.

Daisy@Nevertoosweet and Catherine dined at San Churros as their guest and Haystac all opinions are true and honest. 

 

12 Beers on Tap – Beer Deluxe Hawthorn

My Dearest Readers, are you a beer drinker? I wouldn’t say it’s my drink of choice, but I do enjoy the occasional Corona and I’m starting to enjoy some Lagers. I was recently invited to visit Beer Deluxe in Hawthorn as the name suggests they specialise in beers and have 12 or even more on tap! It was very interesting to learn about how the beer is made underneath in restaurant.

Heres a list of their beer that night we visited 🙂 The tasting paddle seems like a great idea for those who want to try different kinds of beers without having to get too drunk too quickly hehe. I decided to bring Garfield with me, as Mr Bao has been very busy at work and I knew he would appreciate it more as he is definitely a beer drinker.

Beer Deluxe was very kind and reserved a table for me ~ they have a great space with high tables and comfy chair, I can see my colleagues enjoying a beer here on a Friday night.

Brooklyn Lager $9.5

Garfield started with a Brooklyn Lager from from the US, his comment it was quite light in flavour and resembled more like an ale instead. We liked how it came with a glass with the logo printed on it.

Lick Pier Ginger Beer $9.5

I know this may sound a little ignorant, however, I always like ginger beer was only the name and it had alcohol. But I guess I’m wrong because they had two ginger beer options on the menu and both with 4% alcohol. The Lick Pier ginger beer wasn’t as hot as I thought it would be, but it still had some heat to it.

Spicy Chicken wings, hot sauce, celery sticks and ranch $15

As you would expect for a restaurant which specialises in beer, they offered a great range of bar snacks. We ordered a couple to share, this is the spicy chicken wings with Sriracha hot sauce, celery sticks and ranch. It’s such a large serving, Garfield and I struggled to finish them after having 4 wings each in one go!

I think chicken wings are a great beer snack because their fun to eat with your fingers and the Sriracha sauce actually complimented the beer very well. Probably because it was so spicy and the beer helped to mellow it.

Tempura battered Calamari with Aioli $13

For those who remember Garfield from previous posts, he is the one who only likes 3 things – burgers, pad see ew and calamari! So there was no question that we would order the tempura battered calamari with aioli. We were both impressed at how light the batter was and the calamari stayed so tender and soft inside.

Cheeseburger $13

Another mush try dish was a burger, they have a decent size burger menu. We decided to choose a traditional and simple cheese burger with a beef pattie, melted cheese, lettuce, mayo and deluxe sauce. I found the pattie to be a little bland in flavour, but that was compensated by the melted cheese and the soft warm brioche bun.

Lager battered flathead tails and tartare sauce $22

Another dish that I normally order when I am at a pub is fish and chips, this was made using Lager batter and served with homemade tartare sauce. I nearly forgot how much food we ordered! Garfield made a comment that he never leaves after having dinner with me hungry haha 😛 I really enjoyed this fish and chips, the fish was still moist and the tartare sauce was delicious.

Housemade chocolate and salted caramel tart $12

I was pleased to see that they had two dessert options as this is not often seen at a pub ~ They had this house made chocolate and salted caramel tart. I wasn’t sure what the green candies was on top of the tart and it turns out to be mint flavoured candy which made this more like a chocolate and mint tart. Rather refreshing and rich at the same time 🙂

Garfield and I had a great time and he’s already planning to bring his colleagues here for lunch or dinner sometime as he really likes the ambience and vibe. The staff was very attentive and shared with me how they make beer in a room underneath the restaurant and how the beer becomes ‘on top’ Very interesting and I would love the chance to visit their beer making room next time I visit!

Beer Deluxe – Hawthorn 
329 Burwood Road
Hawthorn
Melbourne
PH: 9818 3944
W: http://www.beerdeluxe.com.au/hawthorn

Daisy@Nevertoosweet and Garfield dined at Beer Deluxe Hawthorn as their guests and ID Collective. 

Soupy Dumplings – New Shanghai

I love shopping so it’s very exciting when the Emporium opened up in Melbourne last year. It is a new shopping centre which has taken over the old Myer building connected to Melbourne Central. They have a great variety of stores but more importantly they have a very impressive food court with – Jimmy Grants, I Love Pho Express, Rice Work Shop and many more. But more importantly they have New Shanghai a new restaurant serving traditional Shanghainese dishes.

My dad’s family is from Shanghai so I have grown up eating these dishes. I have visited New Shanghai a couple of times and they were very kind to invite me back again for a meal 🙂 So Mr Bao and I had a little date where we visited the Dog Lovers Show first to get some goodies for Cupcake before heading over to New Shanghai.

Xiao Long Bao – Crab & Pork $11

We arrived at a slightly odd time 4pm a little too late for lunch and too early for dinner, but that doesn’t matter because it meant the restaurant wasn’t as busy and we could take our time enjoying our meal. Don’t be too alarmed at the speed the food comes out here at New Shanghai, it feels like you have only just ordered and within a minute the food appears in front of you. I actually find it quite impressive as the dumplings are always piping hot when it arrives. We started with these Xiao Long Bao (AKA Soupy Dumplings) with a crab and pork meat filling.

I actually had a lot of fun shooting these little dumplings, they’re very cute! They also taste fantastic with a very soupy filling so I suggest eating with a soup so you don’t lose all that liquid goodness. Everyone has different preference, but I like my Xiao Long Bao with a very thin skin and more soup inside. And dipped in a little bit of vinegar and ginger perfect way to eat them!

Ok I promise this is the last XLB picture 😛 I’ve tried both the plain pork XLB before and I think I prefer them more than the one with crab meat. As I found the flavour of the crab a little overpowering and there is slightly less soup. While Mr Bao preferred the ones with crab meat so I guess each to their own ~

Pork wonton with peanut butter, red chilli oil & spice $11.5

So the XLB were good, but the pork wontons blew me away! These wontons had the silkiest and soften skin (wrappers) served with peanut butter sauce, red chilli oil and some spice. It had so much flavour and just enough chilli to give it a little kick, however, not overpower the rest of the ingredients. Two thumbs up from us and highly recommend it!

Sweet and sour pork in dark vinegar sauce $5.8

Apart from dumplings we also shared some dishes, this is the sweet and sour pork in dark vinegar sauce. So think sweet, sticky and tender pork but it’s not the Hong Kong style roast pork, it is more braised in a thick sauce. Great snack to have on its own or with some rice.

Pork belly braised overnight in sweet soy sauce $17.5

There’s a lot of pork in Shanghainese dishes ~ We also ordered the highly recommended pork belly braised overnight in sweet soy sauce. It was similar to the previous sweet and sour pork, while this was more salty and the meat was very tender. Mr Bao also liked the fatty bits on the pork belly as it wasn’t too oily. Another great dish to share amongst a couple of friends.

Deep fried crispy skin chicken with noodles $13.8

Thought it was a good idea to order something with carbs to keep Mr Bao stomach full and even happier. We chose the deep fried crispy skin chicken with noodles and special garlic and chilli sauce. The chicken was close to being boneless which is a bonus for us because we are so lazy haha the chicken skin was so thin and crispy. The sauce also complimented the chicken and noodles very well.

Steamed pumpkin and stick rice cake with red bean paste $9.5

I could feel my jeans tightening up but I simply couldn’t leave before I got some dessert. As a matter of fact, it’s very nice to see so many dessert options at a Chinese restaurant and some more unique dishes and not just mango jelly. This is the steamed pumpkin stick rice cake with a red bean paste filling, because the dumpling is made from rice dumpling and steamed, it had a very sticky and glutinous texture. I think it’s one you either like or not 😛 I love this texture, but I think it would’ve been even better if it was a taro paste filling as I like that more than red bean paste.

Baked pastry with red bean paste $9.5

Last but not least was this baked pastry with a red bean paste filing, the pastry was very flakey. Again I’m not the largest fan of red bean paste so even though it was nice and sweet, I would’ve preferred maybe a custard or pumping filling instead.

We are being regulars at New Shanghai, as we love going shopping and then stopping by for a quick bite. Service is always quick but not rushed. Most importantly the soupy dumplings (XLB) and pork wontons are made so well! It is also very reasonably priced, Mr Bao and I properly spend on average $20 to $25 each and we are stuffed 🙂 So if you haven’t visited New Shanghai, I recommend you going after doing some retail therapy!

New Shanghai
Level Three (Food Court)
Emporium Melbourne
287 Lonsdale Street
Melbourne 3000
PH: 9994 9386
W: http://www.newshanghai.com.au

 

Daisy@Nevertoosweet and Mr Bao visited as guests of New Shanghai and ID Collective