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Curiously Carmen

Travel: Iberostar Cancun Resort

December 20, 2017

Hola! I am back in cold and foggy Vancouver after a beautiful, fun and relaxing vacation to Cancun! I was planning on doing some blogging over there, but unfortunately my laptop charger broke and was rendered useless. 🙁

Stay tuned for some travel posts on Cancun! The first review will be on our resort, Iberostar Cancun! It was both of our first time going to Mexico and doing an all-inclusive.

Can’t believe four years has passed since our last vacation, this trip was much needed!
While looking for a place to go, Cancun was surprisingly not our first choice, nor was Mexico. I actually did not want to go to Mexico at all originally, due to all the bad food poisoning stories I have heard. However, we found some really nice resorts, did lots of research on preventing food poisoning and before I knew it, we had booked our tickets to Mexico!

The boyfriend was the one who found Iberostar Cancun online. We were debating on going to Cancun or Puerto Vallarta but decided on Iberostar Cancun because it looked really nice. The trade off was that our trip was shortened 2 days because Iberostar Cancun was more expensive.

I am not even sure how to begin this review because I don’t think I will do it justice. Iberostar Cancun met and exceeded all our expectations. It’s hard to clearly articulate my thoughts on the resort because all I want to write is IT WAS AMAZING AND BEAUTIFUL YOU NEED TO GO BYE but that isn’t too informative now is it? LOL! So let’s break it down into five categories: resort grounds, service, beach/pool, entertainment, room, and food.

Resort Grounds

Situated right on the coast, the resort ground was stunning. Infinity pool, swim up bars, endless beach chairs, manicured lawns, palm trees… they did a fantastic job curating the perfect tropical getaway. The resort was clean and spotless, and they used hawks as a natural pest control.

Hotel lobby & bar, complete with a violinist/pianist each night

Service

Service was impeccable. The staff at Iberostar Cancun worked really hard to upkeep the beautiful resort grounds, especially the dining staff. We were always greeted by staff while walking around the resort. Over the week, we started to recognize the dining staff as well as the other way around. The only time we didn’t have good service was at their Japanese restaurant.

They had a large number of staff working each day to meet the needs of the guests. There was a server on the beach, many waiters/waitresses, groundskeepers, towel staff, bartenders, front desk, and maintenance.

Beach/pool

Beach views!

It was my first time on a tropical vacation, and I kept asking myself if I was dreaming or not. The beach was tastefully planned for the ultimate relaxation. I lost count of how many times I drifted off on the beach despite party music playing a few meters away.

The pool starts at the resort and lead to the infinity pool!

The pool seemed endless as well and planned with thought. There was a swim up bar so that you could chill in the pool while getting drinks. This bar was the most crowded and loud though, I preferred to get my drinks on the beach. The pool only went up to my shoulders and I am 5’3, I think they designed it like that so that guests can just chill with a drink in the pool.

Entertainment

For the first five nights, we didn’t take advantage of their nightly entertainment options. We went to the night shows for the last two nights, which start promptly at 9:45pm. The first one we went to was their magic show, which was really impressive and not disappointing at all. The second one was a live Disney musical, where they played clips of certain Disney movies and performers would come out in costume and do a dance routine.

Before the shows, they also had hilarious segments with the audience. It had us cracking up and almost in tears! I wish that we went to more of the shows!

Room 

Each room at Iberostar Cancun faces the ocean, so you are guaranteed an ocean view no matter which room type you select. They do not have rooms on the other face that face the street.

Despite having the most basic room, it was very comfortable and relaxing. The king sized bed came with what seemed like an endless supply of pillows, which I had no idea what to do with. The wifi in the room was very strong as there is a router in each room.

The bathroom is separated into two sections: one area with a large counter and sink, the other with a toliet and shower.

We took advantage of the room service numerous times! It was great after a long day of exploring and when we just wanted to chill. Although they always told us it would take 30 minutes, the food would arrive in under 20 minutes.

Food

Food!!! Iberostar Cancun had many food options… buffet, a fine dining French restaurant, steakhouse, Japanese restaurant, Mexican restaurant, burger bar by the pool, and room service. This does not include the numerous drink bars either!

The juice bar each morning!
Breakfast buffet

We mainly ate at the buffet and the food was delicious. Main highlights of the food buffet were the fresh guava juice, freshly baked croissants, and guacamole.

The Japanese restaurant was also good, it was teppanyaki so we were able to see the chef cook our meal. It was entertaining and fun.

Hotel room view!

If you’re thinking of doing an all-inclusive in Cancun, I would not hesitate one bit to recommend Iberostar Cancun. It was such a great experience here and exactly what we wanted on a tropical getaway. Even though our vacation has ended, I constantly find myself daydreaming about relaxing on the beach under their straw huts with a pina colada in my hand.

Disclaimer:Resort stay purchased by myself. Opinions are own. 


Filed Under: Cancun, Mexico, travel

Beauty: Mizon Snail Repair Cream

December 17, 2017

Snail cream may sound weird to you, but it shouldn’t! In recent years, many beauty companies have switched to natural ingredients in their products. So why should we stick our noses up at the thought of snail cream when consumers are increasingly wanting to purchase natural, non-chemical products?!

I get that it may sound gross because of the term ‘mucous’ is associated with nasty stuff, but Koreans have been using snail cream for many years with good results. I mean, honey is also bee spit, or bee vomit yet no one bats an eye at it!
Anyways, I decided to purchase my first snail cream product from Amazon last month after hearing great things about it from Maki. I chose the Mizon one because it had really good reviews.

What it says (taken from Amazon):

  • With 92 percent snail mucus extract, it provides outstanding skin regeneration and recovery, solves multiple skin concerns and trouble all-in-one
  • Anti-aging, fine wrinkle, blemish, acne scar, and pore care that creates elastic, bouncy, bright, and healthy skin
  • Contains snail mucus filtrate, adenosine, peptides, and vitamin 5 certified for anti-aging effect
  • Free from fragrance, artificial color, and parabens, ideal for sensitive skin types-step 1 in the snail repair line

Application: The snail repair cream has a gel consistency. It has a nice cooling effect. The product absorbed instantly into my skin and left it feeling very plump and hydrated. During the winter, my skin gets dry and has a tight feeling, but I was able to prevent that with this cream and other products in my night time skin routine.

Results: Since I used this in conjunction with other products, it’s hard to say whether or not this solely improved my skin. However, I noticed that my pores have gotten smaller and my skin isn’t dry as it normally is in the winter time.

I brought this along to Mexico, where it was hot and a bit humid. Since my skin type is normally oily, the snail repair cream was a bit too much in that sort of weather. The boyfriend got a sunburn because he didn’t listen to me, so I put this on his skin which gave it a cooling sensation like aloe would. Snail cream is known to provide really fast skin regeneration so it helped speed up the healing process.

Overall, I really like the Mizon snail cream! It is richly moisturizing yet light weight. I’m glad that I tried it and would love to try other snail products.

-Richly moisturizing
-Light weight
-Quick absorbing

-Can’t really think of any…!!!
Yay!

 


Filed Under: Beauty, face

Beauty: Tried & Tested Beauty Gift Ideas Under $20

December 14, 2017

I did a post similar to this two years ago, and I thought I would bring it back! With the holiday season approaching, you are all probably looking for gifts. I compiled a list of beauty products that I have tested here to make your gift search a bit easier! To make it easy on your wallet, they are all under $20 CAD 🙂
Being by Sanctuary Shower Spray: Being by Sanctuary is a new brand that launched a month ago in Canada! I tried out a few of their products, and the shower spray is fun to use and cleans well too. The spray foams up once it’s on your body and it leaves a nice scent (I had the salted caramel macadamia nut one).

Availability: Shoppers Drug Mart
Cost: $15 CAD
Crabtree & Evenlyn hand cream: I feel like this is a common gift, and for good reason. The C&E are great quality and always leave my hands feeling really soft. They have so many scents to pick from too.

Availability: Crabtree & Evelyn stores
Cost: Starts at $9 CAD, prices go up depending on size
Maybelline Lash Sensation: I don’t wear mascara often but when I do, I turn to my Maybelline Lash Sensation. The price is amazing and it is one of the few mascaras that get along with my lashes.

Full review: Click hyperlink above
Availability: Drugstores
Cost: $9 ish
Pixi Endlessly Silky Eye Pen: I stumbled upon the Pixi eye pen, and wasn’t expecting too much from it… but OMG it is so good. Vibrant colour, stays put the whole day/night, no smudging, all that good stuff!

Availability: Shoppers Drug Mart
Cost: $15 CAD ish
LUSH Sleepy Lotion: This product seems to be quite popular, touted as being a cure for insomnia. And while it didn’t quite cure my sleeping problems, it has a really nice scent and is quite moisturizing. The cream is also a pretty pale lavender shade.

Availability: LUSH stores
Cost: $20 CAD

I hope this helps! Happy shopping everyone 🙂

 


Filed Under: Beauty, makeup

Food: Rhinofish

December 11, 2017

I first heard about Rhinofish in a news article, highlighting their truffle oil Taiwanese chicken nuggets. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never tried Taiwanese nuggets with truffle oil so I was quite intrigued. I finally had the chance to try Rhinofish with Cola a few months after they opened!
Growing up, I was in Chinatown with family often so I remembered this place as a Chinese tea speciality store – Ten Ren Tea to be exact. I was a bit sad to see it go, but change is really evident in Chinatown these past years. Rhinofish also kept the original green tile from the tea shop so that’s good.
We went on a chilly November weekday evening, and it was pretty quiet. The place had new and modern decor, but it had that old building smell and the floors seemed like the original. I quite liked the vibe in here.
Open kitchen and the rest of the restaurant.
Taiwanese chicken nugget w/ truffle oil and parmesan, $8.50: When this arrived, it smelled heavenly. I love the smell of truffle oil and when the scent wafted to my nose, I couldn’t wait to try it! It also came sprinkled with a generous amount of parmesan cheese, which melted a bit from the heat of chicken nuggets.

I was a bit disappointed because I couldn’t really taste the truffle oil at all. After the initial scent of truffle oil when it arrived, the smell dissipated. It tasted like ordinary Taiwanese chicken nuggets, which were still delicious. They were juicy and fresh, just no truffle oil taste.
Taiwanese beef noodles, $14.50: The classic Taiwanese beef noodle soup. This was delicious and just perfect! The broth had a nice depth and richness to it. Meanwhile, the short ribs were richly marinated, incredibly tender and melt in your mouth.

It was the perfect bowl of Taiwanese beef noodles for me, although I read that some people found it too salty. However, I am a savoury food lover (savoury>sweet any day) so take it with a grain of salt, literally ;).
Huadiao rice wine chicken noodle soup, $14: Cola decided to try a different type of noodle soup that night. I tried a bit of the soup, and I found it to be sweeter but flatter than the beef noodle soup. The veggies were clean and fresh, just like my bowl of noodles.

Despite the fact that I came here mainly to try the truffle oil chicken nuggets, I really liked the Taiwanese beef noodle soup. This place is pretty hipster as you can tell with this cute plant IN the table LOL, (along with all the new restaurants popping up in Chinatown), but they do capture traditional Taiwanese beef noodle soup really well.

I can add this place to my list of Taiwanese restaurants for when I am craving beef noodle soup… and with winter coming, you know that I’ll be getting my noodle fix more often!

Yay!

Rhinofish Noodle Bar Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato


Filed Under: food & drink, taiwanese

Beauty: Night Skincare Routine

December 7, 2017

Recently, I have been playing around and testing out products for my night skincare routine. Since starting this routine, my skin has noticeably gotten a lot softer and smoother so I thought I would share it! My pores seem to have shrunk too.

I have been doing this routine for the past three weeks now. These are the five products that I have been using!Step 1) Pixi Glow Tonic: I received this toner earlier this year, but it stung and dried out my skin so I stopped using it. It was disappointing since so many people have raved about this product. I’m not sure what happened since then, but my skin is able to tolerate it now and I love it now! I use a cotton pad and apply this all over my face.

Step 2) Eminence Neroli Age Corrective Hydrating Mist: I use two spritz on my face each night and gently pat it into my skin. My skin drinks this up and instantly my skin feels more plump and hydrated.

Step 3) Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair: I use this for extra moisture and hydration, especially during the winter because my skin gets really dry.

Step 4) Mizon All In One Snail Repair Cream: My new favourite skincare product!!! This is my favourite part of my routine because this cream is seriously amazing. After my skin has been hydrated with the Eminence mist, I pat this in for the ultimate hydration and to seal in the moisture overnight.

Step 5) Estee Lauder Revitalizing Supreme eye cream: My last step is gently patting this eye cream over and under my eyes to prevent eye wrinkles.

Step 6) Lush sleepy cream: I bought this after reading so many great reviews at how this cream instantly put people to sleep. As someone who suffers from sleep problems, I was very intrigued but it did not work on me personally. But, it smells great and hydrates well so I just use this on my hands before I sleep so that my room smells nice before I try to catch some zzz’s.

My skin dries up like crazy during the winter months, but this year, my skin has been seemingly unaffected by the cold and heaters.

I will probably change up my routine when the weather changes (as you should) but for now, this has been working very well for me!

I am thinking of posting my morning routine too, which is quite similar to my night time one!


Filed Under: Beauty, skincare

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

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