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Curiously Carmen

O’Keeffes Working Hands Cream {Male friendly}

January 10, 2016

Since the boyfriend started his new job in trades, his hands have become really dry and cracked due to working outside in the cold and harsh weather. The cream that he usually used was not helping at all! I decided to look for an intensive, heavy duty hand cream that he could bring to work and quench his cracked fingers.

OKeeffes2My friend, who is a nurse, recommended O’Keeffes for a really intensive cream. She loves using O’Keeffe’s during shifts because it saves her hands. Adding in eczema, wearing latex gloves that trap your hands for hours, and constantly using heavy duty soap that dries out her skin, I trusted her opinion on O’Keeffes and bought one!

It was also on sale when I went to check it out at London Drugs. Normally, a tube or jar (both pictured above) are $10 each, but I got it on sale for $7. I ended buying the jar at a later date, as I’ll tell you about below!
OKeefesO’Keeffe’s does not play around. It comes with a money back guarantee and also says on the front that it has ‘guaranteed relief for dry hands that crack and split’.

Everything about O’Keeffe’s is pretty simple; none of that fancy marketing stuff. I’ve actually never heard of O’Keeffe’s or seen any advertisements for it before, have you?
OKeeffes4As shown on the back of the product, you only need a really small dab for intensive moisture. It also comes unscented. I’ve only seen the two O’Keeffes products in Vancouver, so I’m not too sure if they have scented products.

Another great thing about O’Keeffe’s is that it is not greasy.
OKeeffes3This is two weeks of using O’Keeffe’s daily before and after work.

We noticed a definite HUGE improvement in his dry and cracked skin. I wish that I had a picture of his thumb before using the product. Trust me when I say that it was really, rough, cracked and split above the finger nail.

Thanks to O’Keeffes, the boyfriend’s broken and split dry skin has improved tremendously. At $10 a tube, it is not super cheap so I would recommend that you get it only if you really need it! Both the tube and jar are $10 each, although the tube has less product. I guess because it is more sanitary than a jar?

Keep your eye out for sales on O’Keeffes! While at Home Hardware last week, I found the jar on sale for 50% off and bought it right away for the boyfriend again.

yay-nay-or-meh

Yay!

Thanks for reading!

Carmen


Filed Under: body, skincare

First Aid Beauty Face Cleanser

January 7, 2016

One of the gifts I received for my birthday this year (Well, technically last year since I have a late December birthday haha) was the First Aid Beauty face cleanser. I’ve heard so many great things about the FAB brand from the Youtube community, so I was really excited to try this out.
First Aid Beauty Face Cleanser ReviewI received the travel sized cleanser, which was perfect because it takes me such a long time to finish using products. I don’t know how beauty gurus can produce monthly empty videos/posts because I always struggle with finishing products within a month.

If you’ve read my posts this past month or so, you’ll know that this winter made my skin really, really, really dry. As a result, my skin had a dry, leathery texture- which has never happened before!  I had to moisturize a lot more than I usually do to compensate.

First Aid Beauty Face CleanserSince my skin has been so dry lately, I decided to try this cleanser rather than my normal one that I use to remove foundation. This foundation had a nice, creamy, and somewhat thick texture to it. It didn’t really have a smell, and I could definitely tell that it was more on the gentle side. It reminded me of my Olay witch hazel facial cleanser.

I was really surprised at how it dissolved and washed away all my foundation in one wash. In addition, my skin felt really fresh, soft, and moisturized. It did not try out my skin at all.

First Aid Beauty Face CleanserOverall, I think that the First Aid Beauty cleanser really lives up to the hype. It does a great job in refreshing your skin, as well as removing heavy duty makeup.  It is also very gentle and suitable for sensitive skin!

It also came with bonus facial wipes! Since I’m still using another brand of makeup wipes, I have yet to give these a try. I don’t like opening multiple makeup wipes at a time because I find that they dry out easily, even when they are properly sealed. Maybe I’ll do a quick review on those once I open the package.

yay-nay-or-meh

Yay!

Thanks for reading!

Carmen


Filed Under: face, makeup, skincare Tagged: beauty, beauty blogger, first aid beauty, sephora, vancouver

Veggemo: Plant Based, Non-Dairy Beverage

January 2, 2016

Since I have been confirmed with lactose intolerance (lab test) a few months ago, I’ve been really mindful of the food I eat and which restaurants I go to. Although it sucks, I’ve come to be a lot more conscious of what I can eat. Luckily, I didn’t have much of a sweet tooth to begin with so cutting out desserts and ice cream wasn’t so hard.

It’s the cheese that is hard to give up because I love my cheeseburgers, nachos, and other cheesy goodness. I am able to eat dairy in very small amounts without reacting (eg. a few spoonfuls of Greek yogurt because it has less lactose than regular yogurt, dark chocolate, cookies, etc) or I take Lactaid pills before eating. However, those pills don’t work half the time for me since I guess my case is slightly more ‘severe’ so I find it easier to just avoid dairy in general.
Veggemo Vegan Plant Based, Non-Dairy BeverageI’ve been trying non-dairy alternatives recently, which was why I was super excited to learn about Veggemo (Bonus points for being Canadian!). Veggemo is a veggie based, non-dairy beverage that was recently introduced on the shelves a couple of months ago.

Veggemo Vegan Plant Based, Non-Dairy Beverage

I’m always very interested in finding out how companies come up with innovative ways to combine different ingredients to resemble dairy products! Veggemo is composed of peas, tapioca, and potatoes.

The peas provide some protein and flavour, while the tapioca gives it a creamy texture. Potatoes make Veggemo smooth and easy to drink, and gives it a milky-white colour.

You can also look at the nutrition facts and ingredients in the photo above. The nutrition facts pictured are from the vanilla flavour, which slightly differs from the original and unsweetened flavours.
Veggemo Vegan Plant Based, Non-Dairy BeverageVeggemo is a great dairy substitute for those people that require specialized diets, whether it be for health or ethical reasons. At first sip, I noticed that the texture of the original and vanilla was very similar to 2% milk. The unsweetened one had the texture of skim milk.

I found it slightly creamy in texture and the taste of the original and unsweetened to be very mild. The vanilla had a slight hint of sweetness and could use a bit more vanilla taste to it!
Veggemo Vegan Plant Based, Non-Dairy BeverageI love making smoothies with my Veggemo! I simply blended a banana and the original flavour Veggemo, which tasted delicious. It has the exact texture and taste of a regular smoothie.
Veggemo Vegan Plant Based, Non-Dairy Beverage

In addition to making smoothies, I also use Veggemo for cereal. Since the unsweetened flavour is very plain and mild, my cereal gives it a lot more sweetness and I drink the Veggemo after I’m done eating!

Their super informative and interactive website also has some recipe ideas on how to incorporate Veggemo into your cooking, such as creamy tomato soup, holiday eggless nog, fluffy pancakes, and coffee cakes! I definitely will be trying their suggested recipes with these products!
Veggemo Vegan Plant Based, Non-Dairy BeverageTomato soup following the recipe on Veggemo’s website, but added some penne pasta & ham. We also didn’t puree the soup as we didn’t have the proper blender for it. This tasted delicious and was super filling with the pasta & ham!
Veggemo Vegan Plant Based, Non-Dairy BeverageBanana bread also following their recipe! My friend used original instead of vanilla, and substituted the oil with greek yogurt. She enjoyed the finished product and said it tasted great!

Veggemo is a great dairy substitute in cooking and baking. I would prefer to use Veggemo in a recipe as I found the taste to be very mild, although the texture and consistency was perfect. Veggemo was rated 1 of the 10 most innovative new products (out of 300 products) at the Grocery Innovation Canada show.

You can currently find Veggemo at major grocery stores such as Save On Foods, Pricesmart, London Drugs, Urban Fare, IGA Marketplace, Walmart Supercentres! The price ranges from $2.99-$3.79, depending on which retailer you go buy from.

Thanks for reading!

Carmen


Filed Under: food & drink, grocery, vegetarian/vegan

Deer Garden Signatures (Vancouver location)

December 28, 2015

I can’t believe I haven’t written about Deer Garden yet because I love this place so much! I would come here more if there wasn’t any lines, and if I lived closer. The boyfriend and I both hate waiting in lines for food, which is why we don’t come here as often as we like.
Deer Garden Signature Vancouver Richmond Does anyone here watch Big Brother Canada? Every time I come here, I am reminded of Marsha the Moose from their wall decor.
Deer GardenSoup base & noodles combo, $9.95: The reason why the boyfriend loves this place a lot more than Cattle Cafe is that Deer Garden still serves the spicy peanut soup. Ever since Cattle Cafe discontinued the spicy peanut soup, he jumps at the chance to go to Deer Garden as they are the only place around that still has it. Correct me if I’m wrong or if you know of any other restaurants with the spicy peanut soup base!

Choice of soup: Chili peanut
Choice of noodles: Egg Noodles
Choice of toppings: Chicken balls and Vietnamese style pork  (choice of 2, additional toppings @ 1.50 each)
Deer Garden Signature Vancouver Richmond The soup has a very strong peanut taste, so I would definitely recommend this broth if you are an avid peanut sauce lover like he is. For me, I am neutral towards peanut butter and thought that the Cattle Cafe soup too strong. I can have some of the peanut soup here without feeling that it is overwhelming peanut-y.

As usual, the bowl came with a very generous amount of noodles!
Deer Garden Signature Vancouver Richmond Soup base & noodles combo, $9.95: Fun fact about me, I have been known to place the wrong order with the soup noodle combo. This is the third time that I ordered incorrectly -_- I think it’s because whenever I look at the ordering paper, I see part of the name and I just check it off without bothering to read the rest. The worst time was when I ordered a tomato soup base instead 🙁

Choice of soup: Fish soup
Choice of noodles: Vermicelli
Choice of toppings: Sliced cuttlefish (ordered the wrong item by accident), beef ball, and basa fish fillet ($1.50 extra)

Deer Garden Signature Vancouver Richmond I normally get fish soup w/ century egg & parsely, but I’ve been getting off tasting century egg the past couple of times so I decided to just try the fish soup. It’s actually just the same soup but without the century egg, and comes with some beancurd.

Normally, I would have just eaten the cuttlefish since it was my mistake and Asian restaurants aren’t forgiving when it comes to this stuff and won’t replace it for you. But I was really looking forward to the fish fillet and ordered it as an extra, giving the cuttlefish to the boyfriend.

As usual, the bowl of noodles was warm, comforting, and extremely filling. We love coming here because the noodle combos are consistently delicious and satisfying. It’s too bad that there’s always a line up here, or we would be coming a lot more!

yay-nay-or-meh

Yay!

Thanks for reading!

Carmen

Deer Garden Signatures Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato


Filed Under: food & drink Tagged: deer garden, food blogger, richmond, vancouver

Vichy Aqualia Thermal Extra Sensitive Moisturizer

December 24, 2015

For some reason, this Winter season has been the harshest and roughest on my skin than it’s ever been before. I’ve never really had to deal with the problem of dry skin, but it came full force this month as the weather started getting colder and the heat got cranked up.

My usual oily skin became very dry, tight, and rough feeling. I found myself moisturizing three or more times a day just to keep it from becoming so tight and rough! During this time, I also stopped using most of my face washes (as the washes I use are designed to keep oily skin at bay), except a gentle, oil-based cleanser on days I wore foundation.

Vichy Aqualia Thermal Extra Sensitive MoisturizerVichy’s new Aqualia Thermal Extrasensitive moisturizer is a really intensive cream that will quench your skin’s thirst. It is composed of 10% thermal water. Thermal water comes from rain water that has been seeped deep underground, making the natural water extremely rich in minerals.

Vichy Aqualia Thermal Extra Sensitive MoisturizerI liked the pump bottle design, which gave me the perfect amount of product in one pump. The bottle is also airtight to prevent contamination and to ensure purity of the product.

I was super excited to try this product as my skin was in dire need of some moisture! The first thing I noticed was how nice and refreshing the moisturizer smelled. Putting this in the morning is a great added bonus and can also wake you up a bit.

The moisturizer was very intensive without being greasy! Normally, my oily skin does not require this sort of intensive moisturizer but it absolutely soaked it up instantly.
Vichy Aqualia Thermal Extra Sensitive MoisturizerI use this at night along with the Estee Lauder Nutritious Overnight Cream. In the morning, my skin feels well fed, plump and moisturized.

I also use a pump in the morning, which I feel gives my skin an extra boost in the dry weather. Then, I use it one more time after I get home in the early evening because my skin starts to feel tight and dry again. It instantly replenishes my skin and makes it brighter and healthy looking!

This product is great for those who are suffering from dry skin, whether it be from the weather or that is just your skin type. It does a tremendously well job in repairing and moisturizing your skin and I’ll be using it throughout the winter to prevent that tight and dry skin feeling.

This product retails for $39.50 CAD online at Vichy.ca or in-stores at London Drugs. At the time of writing, London Drugs is having a sale for $31.60 CAD.

yay-nay-or-meh

Yay!

Thanks for reading!

Carmen

Press sample featured. Opinions are own.


Filed Under: Uncategorized

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