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Curiously Carmen

Habibi’s Mediterranean Foods

July 21, 2016

Many people are surprised when they found out that many sauces and dips include dairy. I was also surprised to find out how limited my options were with sauce and dips! Now, I usually just order food without sauce because they most likely have dairy, unless it’s some sort of vinaigrette or Asian style sauce.
Habibi1So, I was quite happy when Habibi’s Mediterranean Foods contacted me and told me they had dairy free options! In fact, most of their dips and spreads are dairy free with the exception of Tsaziki and Labneh. I knew I had to try them!

I tried three of their hummus flavours: sriracha, Lebanese, and basil & garlic. In addition to the hummus, I tried the lebanese garlic spread as well.

Habibi’s spreads are super versatile, and you can eat this with anything you want! I used my hummus and spreads for veggie dips, crackers, sandwiches, and tortilla chips. The ingredients are all natural, and are all easily recognized which is always a plus!
HabibiSrircha jalapeno hummus: I was expecting this to be pretty spicy, but that wasn’t the case at all. It was very mild with only the slightest hint of spice. I didn’t taste any srircha in here.
Ingredients: chickpeas, tahini, fresh jalapeno, olive oil, Sriracha, fresh garlic, sea salt, vinegar, citric acid.

Lebanese style hummus: The Lebanese style was the most simple one, suitable for those who just want good ol’ hummus. I liked using this in my sandwiches along with slices of deli meat and veggies. It added some protein and more flavour to my sandwich.
Ingredients: chickpeas, tahini, olive oil, fresh garlic, sea salt, vinegar, citric acid

Basil garlic hummus: This was a personal favourite for the boyfriend and his brother. I really enjoyed this flavour too! We all love anything garlicky so we enjoyed this. Using this dip was pretty much the only reason why I willingly ate raw veggies, LOL.
Ingredients: chickpeas, fresh garlic, fresh basil, tahini (sesame paste), olive oil, vinegar, pure citric acid , sea salt

Garlic sauce: Moving away from the hummus now, the garlic sauce was really good too. There was a VERY strong and concentrated garlic taste which made it spicy. I absolutely LOVED this and couldn’t stop snacking on this with crackers. The only thing I should warn you about is that your mouth will smell strongly of garlic afterwards, so have gum or a toothbrush and toothpaste handy!

Overall, I really enjoyed Habibi’s and will be picking up more at the grocery store! Since the ingredients are all natural, they spoil relatively fast. After a month of having it in the fridge, I noticed that mold had started to grow in the hummus and spread – that’s when you know they have no preservatives!

Retailers include Whole Foods Market, Choices Market, IGA, Donald’s Market, Fresh Street Market, Fairway Market, Loblaws, Nature’s Fare, SPUD, and other independent grocers. The retail prices range between $3.75-4.99.

yay-nay-or-meh

Yay!

Press products featured. Opinions are own. 


Filed Under: food & drink, grocery Tagged: chickpeas, healthy, healthy snack, hummus, mediterranean, snacking, snacks

L’Oreal Nail Polish – White

July 18, 2016

A few months ago, I was really wanting white nails so I quickly picked a L’Oreal one up at London Drugs! There was only one white polish on the entire shelf, which is why I picked this one.

If I’m at a drugstore, I normally just buy Sally Hansen or essie, but I figured it’s time to try L’Oreal! I forgot how much I paid for this- maybe about $6?
L'Oreal Nail Colour White PackagingThe packaging is pretty simple, not much to note here. The shade is called hit the slopes – 712. Perhaps inspired by the beautiful, snow capped mountains in the wintertime.

Unfortunately, I found this nail colour to be a bit difficult to work with. It was very runny and the colour was very light. I used four coats for the colour above, and I was getting annoyed with how runny it was! It took a lot of patience and time, so don’t be using this when you are in a rush.
L'Oreal White Polish on NailsI finished with the almighty and my Holy Grail Seche Vite top coat. The top coat drastically improved the nail colour and made it look a lot better. It would have looked very weak and bland without the top coat. I wore this for the entire week I was in New York City, and it did not chip at all! Seriously, Seche Vite’s top coat is the BOMB.

This was my first time trying L’Oreal’s nail products, and this polish left me a bit disappointed with the formula. I’ve tried other brands before where it was just that one shade that didn’t work out, but the others were great, so maybe I should try another L’Oreal polish.
yay-nay-or-meh

Nay!

*Products purchased by myself


Filed Under: nails Tagged: beauty, beauty blog, beauty blogger, l'oreal, manicure, nail polish, nails

Bliss Achilles Heel Smoother

July 14, 2016

I first heard of the Bliss Achilles Heel Smoother at the ACI Summer 2016 preview, and was very excited to bring it home with me to try! With summer here, we all want pretty and soft feet to slip our flip flops into. Here is what I thought of the Bliss Achilles Heel Smoother!
Bliss Heel Smoother KitThe Bliss Achilles Heel Smoother is a battery powered, exfoliating device that will leave your feet smooth, soft, and callus free.

Apart from the device, it comes with one exfoliating disc, two buffing pads, a small brush to clean the exfoliating disc, and an aloe peppermint foot softening cream.

The exfoliating disc and buffing pads are interchangeable. You simply lift off the plastic blue lid, and gently pull off the disc.
Bliss Heel Smoother DesignThe device is about the size of a small apple and fits comfortably in my palm (although I can’t wrap my fingers completely around the device).

The machine uses four batteries, which comes included with the device. It is pretty sturdy, but bulky. The majority of the device is reserved for the battery area.
Bliss Heel ExfoliatorThere are two speeds in which the device operates on. In the picture above, the device is turned off. Unfortunately, I accidentally broke the first speed during my first initial trial of the device. I pressed the device against my foot too hard and somehow broke it.

Totally my fault, as the instruction box warns you not to press the device too hard! So, I can only use the higher setting but I think I would have used the higher setting anyways, because I found the lower setting not as effective (hence why I pushed it a bit harder on my foot). *insert embarrassed emoji here*
Bliss Exfoliating Heel DiscMy first impression of the exfoliating disc was that it looked very rough and harsh! It felt and looked as if it could cut my finger if the device was turned on, so I was a bit nervous that it would hurt. >_<

Surprisingly, the disc was actually really gentle on my skin, to the point where I didn’t feel like it was exfoliating at all. I found it really easy to use on my feet, and was able to use just one hand.

My feet aren’t extremely callused and horrible, but they do get dry and a bit callused when I wear flip flops. After going over my heel area, which was the driest and callused area, for about 5 minutes each, I noticed a significant improvement in how soft my feet were!

Since the disc felt so gentle, I didn’t think it was doing much but my feet were a lot smoother and gentle afterwards. I couldn’t stop touching them =P
Bliss Foot Patrol CreamI finished up with the aloe peppermint lotion, which was AMAZING. It was very hydrating, rich, and had a nice strong peppermint scent to it. Applying this lotion to my feet is probably my favourite part. Just be sure to not walk around 5-10 minutes after using it, to let it fully soak and also it’s a bit slippery.

For the ultimate test of efficiency, I put these bad boys to the test on the boyfriend’s feet. They are a lot more callused and dry than mine, and wears steel toe boots at work if that makes any difference. The end product was amazing, and his feet were very smooth as well, although the calluses were still there (those are probably never going away because they are pretty hard calluses).

Overall, I am pretty impressed with the Bliss Achilles Heel Smoother and would recommend purchasing it. I will be using it regularly, especially after wearing flip flops. I used the device three days ago, and my feet are still nice and soft despite wearing flip flops and sandals. I can see myself using the device 1-2 a week to keep my feet nice and soft!
yay-nay-or-meh

Yay!


Filed Under: body Tagged: beauty blogger, bliss, body care, exfoliate, feet, foot, foot scrub, pedicure, skin care, skincare

Sushi UOmo – Revisit

July 11, 2016

Update 11/2018: Since writing this post, it seems that Uomo has changed ownership and things have gone downhill. The prices increase each time, while the quality and quantity decreased. We have stopped going here now. 


I thought it was finally time to do a revisit post on Sushi UOmo! The last time I wrote about this place was December 2014, when we first tried it out.

Since then, UOmo has easily become our top place to go for cheap, consistently delicious sushi.

We come here probably at least once every two weeks, sometimes even more. My last review didn’t really do UOmo justice, so I finally took some pictures (after our 50th visit or more probably LOL) and will be talking about the go-to items we order here!
Uomo1Tuna tataki, $7.95: Mmmm, where to even start with how delicious this is? The tuna tataki is cut thicker here than other places I’ve been to. The ponzu sauce is full of great, tangy flavour.

Coupled with the fresh onions and slightly grilled taste of the tuna meat, we order this every time we come now.
Uomo2Sashimi salad, $8.95: If you’ve been keeping up with my food posts (and thank you if you do, I appreciate it!), you’ll know that I’ve been on a sashimi salad-loving streak lately. UOmo’s sashimi salad is what jump started my interest in sashimi salad, and has made me love it! Every time I order sashimi salad, I use UOmo as the standard to compare it with.

With that said, it’s usually pretty hard to top off, especially with the price. For $9, the plate comes with a VERY generous amount of assorted sashimi, that fills me up every time. Usually, I’m not full on salad but this hits the spot every time. It comes with an assortment of wild sockeye salmon, regular (farmed) salmon, tuna, shrimp, squid, octopus, tilapia sashimi.

I love the salad because of the generous assortment of sashimi. I used to just order salmon sashimi, but I like the salad because I get a variety of different sashimi that I normally wouldn’t order. The veggies are always fresh, and crunchy and comes with the same ponzu sauce as the tuna tataki, plus olive oil.
Uomo3Crunch roll, $4.25: The crunch roll comes with shrimp tempura and avocado on the inside, and topped with either yam or sweet potato on the outside. The tempura here is consistently fresh and crunchy, making this roll super delicious. The avocado is always nice and creamy too!
Uomo4Negitoro roll, $3.00: Yum! Our go-to maki roll, the negitoro. Negitoro is made from the tuna belly, so it contains more fat than a regular tuna sashimi. Then, it is mixed in with onions before being put into a roll. There is always a generous portion of sashimi to rice, and always tastes really fresh.
Uomo5B.C. Roll, $3.50: Funny story – I used to hate B.C. rolls. I always saw them as the ‘food scrap’ roll aka. “let’s throw the salmon skin and wilted lettuce into a roll and call it a BC roll”. Basically, as the leftover ingredients mushed into one roll.

With that said, the BC roll at UOmo is the ONLY BC roll I would voluntarily order. A traditional BC roll comes with just salmon skin, but they include a decent amount of actual salmon meat. The salmon skin is also fried and tastes really fresh, as with the lettuce.

This is the only place I’ve been to where I feel like they actually put quality in a BC roll, because other places seem to snub the BC roll. Whenever I take people here, I tell them that they must order the BC roll but I am met with the same response I had before I tried that place (‘Ew, BC roll is gross and it’s just salmon skin’.). However, their minds always change after trying a piece because it’s that good!
Uomo6Overall, UOmo is a fantastic joint and my go-to Japanese restaurant. It’s cheap, delicious, friendly service, and in the neighbourhood.

yay-nay-or-meh

Yay!

Thanks for reading!

-Carmen

Update 11/2018: Since writing this post, it seems that Uomo has changed ownership and things have gone downhill. The prices increase each time, while the quality and quantity decreased. We have stopped going here now. 

 

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


Filed Under: food & drink, japanese Tagged: delicious, food, food blogger, foodie, japanese, japanese food, sashimi, sushi

KORRES Wild Rose Brightening Oil

July 7, 2016

Once in awhile, I fall irrevocably in love with products that I just can’t get enough of. I have been using the KORRES Wild Rose Brightening Oil for about two months now, and I absolutely LOVE it. I’ve heard of KORRES before, but this was my first time trying their product.

KORRES was founded by a Greek pharmacist and chemical engineer, who wanted to capture the essence of Greek’s ancient herbs and culture into their products. The Wild Rose Brightening Oil is a special, limited edition release for KORRES’ 20th Anniversary. The packaging on this bottle is different from their typical packaging, to commemorate their twenty years.
Korres Wild Rose Oil PackagingThis product is jam packed with amazing ingredients to brighten your complexion. It contains Super C, which is a stabilized superwoman version of vitamin C. Super C increases your skin’s absorption of vitamin C by 1000% percent! No, that is not a typo with an extra 0 – it really is 1000%! In addition, the oil also contains wild rose oil which is packed with vitamin A, and essential fatty acids to repair fine lines and discolouration.

Korres Wild Rose Petals OilThe oil also contains real wild rose petals, as you can see in this closeup. There is a very strong rose fragrant, which makes me feel very elegant when I put this on.

Korres Wild Rose DropperThe oil is dispensed in a dropper. I use this product as my moisturizer in the morning and night, and I find that 4-5 drops is sufficient enough for my skin to feel plump and supple. Since using this product, I’ve noticed a tremendous difference in my skin. My skin feels more plump, and supple. It looks really radiant as well!

To step it up a notch, I’ve even been incorporating this into my liquid foundation and OH MY GOODNESS. I LOVE IT SO MUCH. I put my liquid foundation on the top of my hand, and drop two drops, mixing it into the foundation. It feels very oily and slippery, but it doesn’t add any heaviness to my foundation. The oil makes my skin look very dewy, smooth, and bright. Meanwhile, the lasting power of my foundation is not compromised! So great!

This oil has worked so well for my skin, that I can’t think of anything I didn’t like about it. It is definitely an investment at a suggested retail price of $75 CAD, but I am gladly willing to purchase this product once I run out because it works really well with my skin. I am trying not to use it so much now so that I can ‘save’ it – is that weird? LOL.

This product is available at Shopper’s Drug Mart!
yay-nay-or-meh

Yay!

Thanks for reading,
Carmen


Filed Under: face

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