• 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

Exploring the Big Apple: New York CityPASS Review

May 30, 2016

I’ve mentioned in my Empire State Building and Circle Line Sightseeing Cruise reviews that I went to both of these attractions using the New York CityPASS.

I’ve seen the CityPASS program while in Seattle a few times, but this was the first time that I used it for myself!

Today, I will be thoroughly reviewing the CityPASS and giving my opinion on it.

citypass-ticketlogo-nyFirst off, what is the CityPASS? The CityPASS offers customers access to the city’s top attractions, at a significantly discounted rate. Once you purchase the pass, you simply tear off the ticket at the attraction and you are good to go! In New York, here are the six attractions one can choose from:

  • Empire State Building- Includes two same day admission for day and night viewing
  • American Museum of Natural History
  • The Metropolitan Musem of Art
  • Top of the Rock OR Guggenheim Musem
  • Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island OR Circle Line Sightseeing Cruise
  • 9/11 Memorial Museum OR Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum

At the time of writing, one New York CityPASS is $159.69 CAD.

 To put this into perspective, buying the Empire State Building tickets for both day and night already costs $83.85 CAD (Accurate at time of writing due to the dollar exchange rate). Top of the Rock passes are $57.65 CAD. 9/11 Memorial Museum tickets are another $31.45 CAD. 

Met
Visiting The Met with the CityPASS!

If purchasing all of the attractions separately, you would be paying at least 40% more! If it is your first time in New York, purchasing the CityPASS makes it easier to explore the city. There is so much to do in NYC, which may be overwhelming for first time visitors.

But with the CityPASS, you don’t have to worry about which places to go and if they are worth it or not. I went to all six attractions with the CityPASS, and enjoyed each attraction a lot. It is no wonder why they have been selected to be featured in the pass.

Top of the rock
Top of the Rock with the New York CityPASS!

For 4 out of the 6 attractions in total, CityPASS ticket holders are offered express lines. Look for the CityPASS logo at the Empire State Building, American Museum of Natural History, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Circle Line, and 9/11 Memorial Museum.

CL8
Circle Line Sightseeing Cruise with New York CityPASS!

All of the staff working at the attractions are familiar with the CityPASS and will direct you on where to go, should you need assistance.

The pros outweigh the cons of not purchasing a CityPASS. If you are only spending 1-2 days in New York, then it probably wouldn’t be worth it because you won’t have time to visit all six attractions. The CityPASS also only comes in a small booklet. Don’t lose this because all your tickets are inside!
esb7All in all, having the CityPASS made our 6 day trip to New York a lot easier and better. Wait times were cut down, didn’t have to worry about purchasing tickets, and I already knew where I was going so didn’t have to waste time! My favourite was obviously the Empire State Building, and my second would have to be the Circle Line Sightseeing Cruise.

You can purchase the CityPASS online, or at any of the attractions once you get into the city.

There are also CityPASS booklets available in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Philadelphia, San Fran, Seattle, Southern California (DISNEYLAND!!!), Tampa Bay, and Toronto!

yay-nay-or-meh

Yay!

Thanks for reading,

Carmen

Media samples provided. Opinions are own. 


Filed Under: New York City, travel, USA

Stila Stay All Day Foundation (Re-Launch)

May 28, 2016

This summer, Stila has relaunched their Stay All Day foundation. The formula itself stayed the same, but they have repackaged the bottle into an easier center dispensing dish. The previous packaging featured a mini scoop, which Stila decided was a bit too messy.
Stila Stay All Day Foundation
Stila Stay All Day Foundation To use the foundation, you simply press lightly on the center plate. Product will come out afterwards in a neat circle, which makes it sanitary as well.

The foundation is a medium to full coverage. I was impressed at the coverage after one pump, but I decided to use another pump because I had this annoying zit on my face that did NOT want to be covered up! But it failed the battle, because this foundation was able to cover it up >=)
Stila Stay All Day Foundation Since the bottle is opaque and you’re unable to see the shade, there is a ‘window’ on the side of the bottle in which you can see the shade.
FoundationMy first impression of the foundation was that I really liked it. I loved the medium coverage and the slightly dewy and sheen finish as you can see in the photo above. Although, the description says it is a matte finish, it was on the dewy side for me. The foundation really smoothed out my skin tone and it still looks pretty natural.

However, after wearing it a few more times after, I’ve noticed that this foundation does not like to be used in conjunction with other facial products. When wearing this foundation with primer and setting powder as I always do, this foundation looked cakey, dry, and flakey, instead of the nice dewy finish I was used to.

When I wore this foundation again on its own again, I did not have a problem with it being flaky. So, I would only recommend using this product with moisturizer only and no other foundations. I’m glad that this foundation is long lasting even without primer. I really love this foundation and it will be using it as one of my regulars in the future!

I’m curious to see if others with combination skin like myself, or other skin types, found that this foundation didn’t mix well with primers and finishing powder foundations? Let me know!

yay-nay-or-meh

Yay!

Thanks for reading,
Carmen

Media samples featured. Opinions are own.


Filed Under: face, makeup Tagged: beauty, beauty blog, beauty blogger, beauty review, blogger, face, foundation, foundation review, makeup, makeup blog, makeup blogger, stila, vancouver

Five Senses Korean Restaurant, New York City

May 24, 2016

I don’t know why, but the name Five Senses reminds me of a scary movie kinda? Weird! Anyways, after a day of exploring NYC and going up the Empire State Building (read my tips on visiting the world famous landmark here!), my mom and I were super hungry. We normally look up restaurants in the area beforehand, but this time, we decided to just wander around the neighbourhood and find a restaurant that caught our eye.
FSWe walked by Five Senses, and it looked pretty busy so we gave the menu a quick look. After seeing the high ratings on Yelp, we decided to try it! I’m glad we came here before the dinner rush because there was a pretty long line up afterwards.

Oh yeah, turns out that we were actually wandering around Koreatown, which explained why there were so many Korean restaurants around us =P
FS1Banchan, free: The banchan was pretty much the same as what you would get in Vancouver. However, I’ve never seen the clear, cold noodles mixed with veggies on the far right before. That was probably my favourite dish out of all of these. The noodles were served a bit chilled, and had a really strong sesame oil taste to it! The kimchi packed a lot of heat as well.
FS2Sul lang tang, $12.99: I honestly don’t know why I keep ordering beef bone stock soup when it usually isn’t that tasty. I’ve come to accept the fact that Korean beef bone soup is usually pretty flavourless, and this was pretty much the same. On the right hand side of the photo, you can see the salt that it comes with, but I had to ask for another plate of it because it still wasn’t enough.

On the plus side, there was a generous amount of noodles and beef, even though the beef was overcooked in the broth. Each spoonful was met with many beef slices, and there was more meat than noodles which was great!
FS3Soondubu, $13.99: I had wanted to order this as well, but wasn’t really feeling like anything spicy. This is the seafood tofu soup. It came with a generous amount of tofu and seafood, and was super filling. We found it to have a good amount of spice to it as well. Overall, a really comforting and delicious dish!

Service was really fast and attentive, which is always a plus. However, since there was a line up, we did feel as though we were being rushed to leave and didn’t really feel like we truly enjoyed our food as much as we could have. But I understand, if I was waiting in line I would hope that the other customers eat quickly as a courtesy!

Thanks for reading,
Carmen

Five Senses Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato


Filed Under: korean, New York City, travel, USA Tagged: food, food blog, food blogger, food review, foodie, korea, korean, new york city, nyc

Stila ‘Perfect Me, Perfect Hue’ Eye & Cheek Palette

May 22, 2016

Stila has launched the Perfect Me, Perfect Hue Eye & Cheek Palette as part of their Summer 2016 collection. This palette just came out this month in addition to two other new products this summer: Stila Stay All Day Foundation (re-launch) and the Colour Correcting palette.

I will also be reviewing the foundation as well, so stay tuned for that!
Stila Perfect Me Perfect Hue Palette ReviewThe packaging is consistent with all of Stila’s other products. However, there is the addition of cheetah print! I found the packaging to be good quality, and sturdy enough to put in your purse or luggage without having to worry about it breaking or opening.
Stila Perfect Me Perfect Hue Palette ReviewTa-daaaa! Here are the shades. The bottom two are blushes, while the top shades are for your eyes. There are four versions of this palette, depending on your skin tone: fair/light, light/medium, medium/tan, and tan/dark.

The sample I received was actually for tan/deep skin, which meant it didn’t fit my skin tone completely. However, I will get into that in more detail further along in the review.
Stila Perfect Me Perfect Hue Palette ReviewSwatches of the palette. Instead of putting down the shade names, I listed the swatches based on where they are supposed to go on your face. Of course, you don’t have to follow these suggestions if you don’t want to!
Stila Perfect Me Perfect Hue Palette ReviewThe back of the palette also shows you which shades go where. For someone just starting out with makeup, this would be really helpful!

With the guide, I found it effortless to create a look that complimented each shade perfectly. A lot of the times before I use eyeshadow, I sit there for a good five minutes thinking of which shades to use, and where. I liked how I didn’t have to think about it and was able to create a look that I loved in under five minutes.

Stila Perfect Me Perfect Hue Palette ReviewHere is the finished eye makeup look with the palette following the photo provided on the back of the palette! I was really impressed at how pigmented and blendable the product was. I couldn’t believe that it took me under five minutes to finish this look and I love how warm the shade is.

These colours would be perfect for a glamourous summer night out!
Stila Perfect Me Perfect Hue Palette ReviewHere is a close up of the colours! Again, the shadows were really pigmented and super easy to blend.

You may be wondering about the blush? As mentioned in the beginning, the sample I received was tan/deep. The colours in the palette are chosen based on what shades would compliment your skin tone the most.

Because of this, I found the blush did not go well with my medium skin at all. The colour was too vibrant on my skin and made me look like a clown, LOL. Trust me, you don’t want to see how it looked on me. I’m sure that if I tried the blush in the light/medium palette, it would have turned out better.

However, I will say that the blushes are very pigmented as well. One quick dab produced an intense amount of colour!


In conclusion, I really enjoyed playing with this new palette and can see myself wearing the eyeshadow a lot. Even though I have the tan/deep palette, the eye shades still looked pretty good on my eyes. If I had the medium/light palette, I would definitely have used the blush too.

My favourite part of this palette was how quick and easy it was to blend and create the look! It’s nice to know that I can still have a great shadow look even if I am short on time.

You can find this palette at Shopper’s Drug Mart, Murale, and Sephora! This retails for $51 CAD.

yay-nay-or-meh

Yay!

Thanks for reading!

Carmen

Samples provided for review. Opinions are own.


Filed Under: eyes, face, makeup Tagged: beauty, beauty blogger, makeup, makeup review, motd, stila

Schwarzkopf Color Ultime Hair Dye

May 20, 2016

Would you believe that I’ve never dyed my hair at home before? Yup, I never have… until now! When Schwarzkopf approached me about their new spring Colour Ultime hair collection, I decided to give at home hair dying a go and also lighten my hair up a bit for the summer!

The shade I chose was 3.8- velvet brown.
Schwarzkopf Color Ultime Hair DyeThe box and package of the hair dye was pretty standard, just like any other boxed hair dye. It also shows you how the hair colour would look on you depending on how dark/light your hair is.

My package also came with an accompaniment of shampoo and conditioner for coloured hair. I used to dye my hair quite often back in high school/early university years. Whenever my hair was dyed, I made sure to always use shampoo for coloured hair.

This makes a great difference in how the hair colour turns out, and how long the colour lasts. So, I definitely recommend getting a  shampoo for coloured hair if you plan on dying your hair!

Schwarzkopf Color Ultime Hair DyeThe Schwarzkopf Colour Ultime hair dye came with a clear and detailed instruction sheet, applicator bottle with developer lotion already inside, the squeeze bottle of the hair dye, gloves, and after care hair elixir.

Set up is really easy, you just squeeze the hair dye into the applicator bottle. Then, shake the bottle vigourously until the developer lotion and hair dye are mixed well.

Since it was my first time trying at home hair dye, I enlisted the help of my trusted and experienced friend to make sure the process went as smooth as possible! I definitely recommend having someone to help, as it would be a bit more difficult to evenly distribute the dye throughout your hair yourself.
Schwarzkopf Color Ultime Hair DyeI also recommend dying your hair in an old tshirt, just in case you accidentally get hair dye on it. Or, you could wear a garbage bag/plastic poncho thingy to protect your clothes as well. Since I had my friend helping me, it was a very clean and fast process!

I won’t go super detailed into the application process, but it was very smooth. We were both really surprised at how good the Schwarzkopf dye smelled, as were preparing for the familiar chemical smell of hair dye. There was a small hint of it, but definitely not as strong as at the salon, or with other at home hair dyes my friend had used in the past.
Schwarzkopf Color Ultime Hair DyeAfter evenly distributing the hair dye, your hair should look something like this! I then left it in my hair for 30 minutes, which was the recommended time.

Thirty minutes later, I washed my hair out with warm water (they recommended warm water) and used the shampoo and conditioner as well! Again, the shampoo and conditioner smelled very pleasant with a hint of coconut. As previously mentioned, the box comes with the after care elixir, which is a deep conditioning treatment. There is enough in the tube for 3-4 uses, depending on how long/thick your hair is.
Schwarzkopf Color Ultime Hair Dye
Ta-daaaa! Here is the final result! My hair is naturally pretty dark, so I wasn’t sure if the hair dye would show up or not. But, I’m glad it did! In the sunlight, it is more noticeable though.

I love the new lighter colour and it is definitely fitting as we get into summer! If you’re planning on dying your hair at home, I recommend giving Schwarzkopf a try!

yay-nay-or-meh

Yay!

Thanks for reading,

Carmen

Media samples featured. Opinions are own. 


Filed Under: hair Tagged: beauty blog, beauty blogger, hair, hair dye, schwarzkopf

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 114
  • 115
  • 116
  • 117
  • 118
  • …
  • 171
  • Next Page »

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