Curiously Carmen

Sushi Garden

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I can’t believe I haven’t written about Sushi Garden in my almost 5 years of blogging. Sushi Garden is one of the cheap, staple, go-to sushi restaurants in North Burnaby and is usually busy. Six or seven years ago, I used to come here with Avocado and Jerky a lot… we’re talking probably weekly until the point we got bored of it!

Anyways, it’s been a couple years since I’ve last visited. After an afternoon of checking out a wedding show with Sangria and her bridal party, we were hungry and decided to have lunch here. Since we came around 2pm, the lunch rush had just finished so we didn’t have to wait for a table.

Tuna & salmon combo: There’s not much food I can eat at the moment without getting sick, but my body is able to handle good ol’ sushi thankfully. No complaints about this, it was your usual cheap and filling sushi.
Sangria’s assorted sashimi combo
J’s sashimi salad. It looked pretty delicious and also came with some vermicelli.
K’s tonkatsu with a side of green salad. It looked very delicious and crunchy.

Sushi Garden is a good choice for some filling and cheap sushi. It’s been around for awhile now and I can certainly see why. Service is not that friendly, but they are very quick and efficient.

Yay!

Sushi Garden Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Jowaé Youth Concentrate Complexion Correcting Cream

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Last month, I introduced a new brand named Jowae on my blog. Jowaé just launched last month and can be now found exclusively at Shoppers Drug Mart!

Since writing that post, I have been using some Jowaé products daily, including the one I will be reviewing today! It is such a mouthful so I will just be calling it the correcting cream.

What it says (taken from press release):

Twice as concentrated in antioxidant Lumiphenols, brewed from protective, repairing, anti-dark spots white tea, this serum also contains vitamins B3 and E and was inspired by the radiant complexion of Korean women. It is all skin types’ best friend. The youth concentrate complexion correcting is a true youth activator and skin perfector and defying all the negative effects of daily aggressions.

Application: The cream easily dispenses with the pump, and the packaging is nice and sturdy. It has a light, thin consistency but don’t let that fool you! It is actually very moisturizing and rich, and absorbs very quickly into your skin.

Because it is very rich (despite the light texture), this would be suitable for those with dry skin. I have oily/combination skin depending on the season, and I found that when applying this in the morning, it made my face more oily throughout the day. So now, I only use it at night as a rich repair cream while I sleep.

The Jowae correcting cream also has a nice, light scent too. It is not as feminine smelling like their sakura cream.

Overall, my skin has been loving this cream! I like to use this right after my shower and before I sleep. In the morning, my face is soft and well moisturized!
Yay!

Availability: Shoppers Drug Mart stores and online
Price: $52.00 CAD

Press product featured. Opinions are own.

Korres Pure Greek Olive 3-in-1 Nourishing Oil

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For the past year or so, I have mostly been repurchasing my trusted Mizon Snail Repair Cream, which doesn’t really leave opportunities for as many skincare reviews. But as usual, my skin gets used to the product and doesn’t work as well as it used to – which is common for a lot of people.

To give my skin a bit of a moisture boost, I was introduced to the new Korres 3 in 1 Nourishing Oil. It is part of their new Pure Olive Oil line that launched this season for the first time outside of Greece.

What it says (taken from press release):

Velvety, luxurious oil without silicones for intensive nourishment of face, body and hair. Rich in organic extra virgin Olive oil and reinforced with a mixture of Vitamins C, E, F and omega-6 fatty acids, to improve the natural skin barrier, ensuring smooth skin with increased elasticity. The unique properties of Olive oil offer shiny, smooth hair, preventing breakage and frizz. Easily absorbed, non-greasy and with a fine scent, the PURE GREEK Olive 3-in-1 Nourishing Oil is ideal for all ages and all skin types.

Application: It is called a 3 in 1 oil because the oil is versatile and could be used in 3 places: face, body, and hair. I have been using this mainly on my face day and night, after applying my regular cream above. I usually put around 3 drops on my palm, rub it between my hands, and then pat it over my face.

The oil absorbs pretty fast and is very light weight, and lacks the heavy oil feeling. There is also a pleasant, neutral scent (not too feminine or masculine) that lingers around for a few hours too.

If you have dry hair or split ends, this would be a great product to nourish your hair with and to give it a healthy shine!

Overall, I like this oil and can’t really think of any negatives about it. If I was being picky, I could say that you have to be careful when dispensing the product because a lot could come out at once! Don’t completely put it upside down to dispense or your hands will get oily!

Yay!

Availability: Select Shoppers Drug Mart locations and online at shoppersdrugmart.ca/beauty.
Price: $60 CAD

Press sample featured. Opinions are own.

The Incredibles DIY Costume – Cheap, Easy, No sewing needed

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Woohoo! It’s that time of the year again – Halloween! I actually almost forgot to write a DIY post on my costume this year, but I still have a few days before Halloween to get this in!

This year, we decided on doing….. The Incredibles! In particular, Mr and Mrs Incredible because we don’t have kids.  Incredibles 2 just came out this summer, so I thought it would be quite fitting. As well, this costume was easy peasy! My soap costume last year took a long time so I’m glad this one was finished in less than a hour total.

As usual, no sewing is needed! I’m no sewing expert, so I want to show that you don’t necessarily need sewing experience to make a cheap and easy costume.

Materials:

-Orange, black, yellow, white felt (multiple of each incase of cutting malfunction)
-Red shirt X2
-Hot glue gun
-Scissors
-Black gloves X2
-Elastic fabric (or a headband that you cut into one strip)
-Black pants

Instructions (for t-shirt):

1- Cut the coloured felt into The Incredibles logo.
2- Use hot glue gun to put the pieces of felt together.
3- Glue it onto the red t-shirt.

Instructions (for eye mask):

1- Cut the black felt into the eye mask shape.
2- Cut two holes for your eyes.
3- Glue the elastic headband.

Sooooo easy right! And cheap! Each piece of felt was around 60 cents at my local Michaels. Each shirt was around $7 maybe?

I also found the perfect leggings for Elastigirl on Amazon. I would recommend ordering these because they look cooler than just black pants! They were $21.00 CAD which isn’t that expensive and came quickly with Amazon prime.

Here is a photo of all the cheap, easy, no sewing DIY costumes over the years (minus the firefighter one because we did a group Pokemon costume that year which I wrote on instead)! Boyfriend is blurred out for privacy 🙂

Mickey and Minnie DIY
Pikachu DIY costume
Monsters Inc Sully and Mike DIY
Sushi costume DIY
Soap & loofah costume DIY

Happy Halloween and happy costuming!

Edit: Here is a photo of our finished outfit!

 

 

Jowaé- New Beauty Brand Introduction

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I am happy to share a new brand on my blog today, by the name of Jowaé (pronounced cho-wha-e). They are part of the French based beauty company, Alès Groupe, and influenced by the science behind Korean beauty products hence the Korean sounding name.

I have been trying their products for a couple weeks now, and will be slowly rolling out individual product reviews! This post will be a quick introduction to all of the products currently available in Canada.

From left to right-

Purifying cleanser gel: Suitable for those with combination to oily skin. It has notes of jasmine, mandarin orange, and mint. It also contains purifying and smoothing sacred lotus extract, and lipoaminoacid which neutralises bacteria to minimize breakouts and infections.

Soothing cleansing milk: This contains the lovely benefits of peony, vegetable glycerin, sunflower oil, and jojoba oil to help clean and moisturize your face. It is a gentle and creamy cleanser.

Wrinkle smoothing light cream: The highlight of this cream is the red ginseng. Growing up Chinese, I was always told to have ginseng chicken broth soup for the tremendous amount of health benefits, and now it is being used in skincare too. Ginseng helps collagen production and protects cells from UV damage.

Hand & nail cream: Currently the only hand cream that Jowae carries in Canada. The packaging reminds me of chamomile, but it is actually made with camellia oil.

Youth concentrate complexion correction: If you have dark spots, this is the product for you! It contains twice as concentrated lumiphenols, which is an antioxidate, as well as white tea.

Wrinkle smoothing rich cream: This product is from the same family as the wrinkle smoothing light cream. The only difference is that this one has a thicker consistency. I would recommend this as a night time moisturizer, and then the light cream as a morning moisturizer.

Wrinkle smoothing eye serum: This product is from the same family as the wrinkle smoothing light cream, and also contains red ginseng.

Hydrating water mist: The favourite product of the night! The water mist contains refreshing Sakura blossom that is immediately absorbed by the skin. It is suitable for use after makeup application too.

Moisturizing light cream: Admittedly, I have been using this product the most because of how much I love the fragrance! It contains Sakura blossom just like the hydrating water mist. There is also a hint of jasmine. The two combined help wake me up in the morning and keep my skin moisturized and soft throughout the day!

Revitalizing moisturizing lotion: Last but not the least, their body cream! It contains bamboo water as the featured ingredient. The body cream absorbs quickly and says that it will not leave a sticky residue after.

Now, you’re probably wondering where you can find JOWAE products! They are currently exclusively available at Shoppers Drug Mart. Everything is reasonably mid priced, averaging around $25-$30 a product.

Stay tuned for some individual product reviews!