• About / Contact
  • Work With Me
  • Food & Drink
    • asian —>
      • chinese
      • indian
      • japanese
      • korean
      • malaysian
      • taiwanese
      • thai
      • vietnamese
    • brunch
    • coffee and tea
    • dessert
    • fusion
    • happy hour
    • italian
    • greek
    • mexican
    • pub
    • seafood
    • steakhouse
    • vegetarian/vegan
    • western
  • Travel
    • Canada ->
      • Kelowna
      • Sunshine Coast
      • Victoria
    • Japan ->
      • Himeji
      • Kamakura
      • Kobe
      • Kyoto
      • Osaka
      • Tokyo
    • Mexico ->
      • Cancun
      • Isla Mujeres
      • Playa Del Carmen
    • USA ->
      • Las Vegas
      • Los Angeles
      • New York City
      • Seattle
    • Europe ->
      • London
  • Beauty
    • beauty events
    • body
    • eyes
    • face
    • costumes
    • hair
    • lips
    • nails
    • skincare

Curiously Carmen

ACI Fall 2016 Preview

September 2, 2016

I feel as if I haven’t blogged for awhile, although it’s only been a week! As some of you may know already, the past two months were absolutely crazy for me. I finally have the tail end of summer to relax, and I’ve been really trying to savour the sunny days before fall rolls in.

Another year has gone by, and it is time to share with you all the upcoming products from ACI Beauty. ACI is a Canadian beauty distributor, or in super simple terms, they bring products to the shelves of our favourite beauty stores.
Paul & Joe Looney TunesPaul & Joe never fails to impress me with their product designs. Like seriously, who designs their packaging because it is seriously amazing. This season, Paul & Joe have partnered up with Looney Tunes to launch a limited collection set of themed products!

Last fall, the boyfriend and I watched Bugs Bunny at the Symphony, presented by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. I am really loving how companies are coming out with modern ways to invoke nostalgia. (Side note, I really recommend going to the Bugs Bunny at the Symphony if the VSO brings it back! Not sponsored btw)
Paul & Joe blushThese were too cute not to include. Apart from the lipsticks, they also have blush and shadow compacts with the limited edition Looney Tunes sets. Which one is your favourite design?
Paul & Joe catRemember the cat lipsticks I talked about last year? Well, Paul & Joe has launched a new cat blush this season. The cats here are also blush beads. But with a product so cute, I would be really reluctant to use it up.
Cargo CosmeticsCargo is a brand that I’ve seen here and there, but I was able to learn more about it at the event. I am a big fan of palettes, so I am pretty excited to try and test their palettes out!
Korres CreamI raved about my Korres wild rose oil back in May, and have really started to take a liking to this Greek brand. This Fall, they are releasing a few skincare products and a soap bar.

I’ve been using the wild rose day cream & night mask for the past week, the two on the left and right pictured above. So far, it’s been working really well with my skin and leaves it hydrated and plump. I’m going to use it a bit longer before I write the review, but I’ve been really loving it!
Stila HighlighterThis star light, star bright highlighting trio is part of Stila’s holiday collection. Just like their putty foundation that I reviewed last year, the highlighters also have a nice bounce to it.
Stila Liquid LipstickSome liquid lipsticks from Stila! These come in sets of three, but I just put them all together so you can see what colours they offer.
Ceramic GlazeNail polishes from Seche & Ceramic Glaze. Both are companies that I can vouch for. Once I discovered the Seche Vite top coat, there was no going back. Seriously, it’s a phenomenal top coat and I recommend that you try it for yourself if you haven’t already.
Fusion BeautyFusion is a smaller brand that I haven’t tried that much of yet, but so far, I’ve been really liking the browfusion. It is a double ended brow pencil and gel. I love how angled the pencil is, and how easy it is to get a nice shape!

Apart from the browfusion, they seem to specialize in mascaras. Pictured above are their new mascara launches, which I need to try!
St TropezLast but not least, new products from St. Tropez. Self tanning seems pretty intimidating to me, I’ve heard many horror stories of people trying this at home and coming out looking like an orange. Perhaps one day I’ll give it a shot!

However, we were told that the gradual tan mousse (pictured on the right, the white can) is perfect for beginners because the tan builds up slowly!

Press event. Opinions are own.


Filed Under: Beauty, body, events, eyes, face, lips, makeup Tagged: beauty, beauty blog, beauty blogger, beauty community, beauty event, beauty preview, beauty review, canada, vancouver

Urban Decay All Nighter Long-Lasting Setting Spray

August 20, 2016

About two months ago, I posted a picture on Instagram asking what other glasses wearers do when wearing foundation. I normally wear glasses, and I find it so annoying to wear foundation with glasses because the foundation goes on the glasses, which is so gross to me!

Fortunately, I don’t wear foundation everyday so it’s not a struggle I have to deal with daily. Why do I mention this? Well, I recently tried the Urban Decay All Nighter Long-Lasting Setting Spray. Does it help prevent foundation smudge on glasses?
Urban Decay Setting SprayI received this sample size from my friend. Naturally, I was very excited to try it because I am a huge fan of Urban Decay products!

After putting on my foundation, I spray this arms length from my face, with my eyes closed (which protects your eyes from stinging and sets your eye makeup too). Initially, there is a slight alcohol smell that disappears pretty quick. It feels as if I’m spraying water on my face, and I always think that my makeup is coming off before the spray dries.
Urban Decay Setting Spray 2I really like how weightless this feels. Once it dries and the alcohol smell disappears, I always forget I’m wearing it because it’s so comfortable on my skin. It doesn’t feel dry or heavy at all!

I spent a day out shopping and then took a nap. Usually, my makeup is a bit smudged after I wake up (Yes, I know it’s bad to sleep with makeup on but I rarely do it, I just forgot this time!), but I was really surprised that all my makeup remained intact. That was when I remembered I had used this setting spray! Needless to say, I was already quite impressed for my first use.

After a few more uses, I have really come to love this setting spray and it is definitely going to become a staple for special occasions, or when I will be out longer than usual and have no time to touch up my makeup.

The BEST part?! It doesn’t leave ANY foundation smudges on my glasses! I just spray this on, and don’t have to worry about ANY part of my makeup smudging, caking, or fading away.

It is a bit pricey at $38 CAD, which is why I would save this for special occasions only. But I highly recommend trying this!

Received as a present from friend. Opinions are own. 


Filed Under: Beauty, face

Kat Von D Shade + Light Eye Contour Quad

August 17, 2016

After a stressful and busy summer, I am so relieved that everything has finally died down. With two weeks to go, I am determined to make the most out of it by relaxing and catching up on blogging. I’ve nearly exhausted all of my backup drafts!

It’s been very hot in Vancouver this weekend. Well, hot for Vancouver that is… and seeing how my house is not equipped with air conditioning, the boyfriend and I were uncomfortably melting away despite the fan working overtime. It was not a pleasant at all.

So, we decided to go to the mall and enjoy some of that sweet A/C! I spent a bit of time in Sephora and spontaneously decided to treat myself after what I’ve been through this summer, and because I haven’t purchased any high end makeup for awhile.
Kat Von D Eye QuadI’ve been looking for a matte shadow palette for awhile, and this one just spoke to me. I was in love at first swatch. The colours were incredibly pigmented, and felt velvety soft on my skin. I am a HUGE fan of the Kat Von D tattoo liner and I also love the everlasting liquid lipstick line, so naturally, it is time to progress into the KVD eye territory!

There are four different quads available. I bought the one in rust, which features brownish red matte shades – exactly what I was looking for! I’ve been really into matte shades lately, but most of my palettes are more on the shimmery side so I am glad I bought this!
Kat Von D Eye Quad 2The top, light pink is the base. The brown is to define, while the orange one is to contour. Lastly, the white one has the slightest shimmer and is used for highlighting. I’ve never contoured my eyes before, so this should be interesting!

I am in love with the reddish/orange shade. I LOVE how pigmented and smooth it goes on!

While the shades go on extremely pigmented, are easy to work with, and have no fallout, my one complaint would be staying power. Now, keep in mind that I have really oily eyelids and I always have to use primer if I want my shadows to stay the whole day. Without primer, the shadow lasted a mere two hours, which was disappointing! But I can’t entirely blame the shadow because my eyelids can get pretty oily.
s1671353-main-Lhero
Even though I love the colours in the quad, I am considering purchasing the shade & light eye palette instead. There are similar colours in here, and a lot more matte shades I can choose from. I can create a lot more eye looks with this palette as well, I feel like the quads are limited because there are only three shades you can work with. We shall see if I end up replacing it with this!

Picture taken from Sephora.com

As I mentioned earlier, I love the quad. As usual, Kat Von D has WOWed me with their products. I have not tried a KVD product that I haven’t liked yet! The pigmentation and feel of the shadows are incredible, but definitely do require a shadow primer if you have oily lids like I do.

yay-nay-or-meh

Meh…

Disclaimer: Product purchased by me. Opinions are own.


Filed Under: Beauty, eyes, makeup

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18

Hello!

Hi and welcome to Curiously Carmen! I am Carmen, the girl behind the blog. You can read more about me here!

Recent Posts

  • H&P Noodle House Burnaby
  • Travel: Harry Potter Studio Tour (Watford, UK)
  • Travel: The Resident Soho Hotel, London UK
  • North Noodle House
  • Grand Crystal Seafood Restaurant

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Partnerships

View my food journey on Zomato!

Archives

Theme Design By Studio Mommy · Copyright © 2025

Copyright © 2025 · Young Blush Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in