Curiously Carmen

Steveston Pizza Co

I’m not sure why I haven’t really had of this place before, but my dad suggested that we try Steveston Pizza Co during a trip out to Steveston in the summer. It was quite surprising because he normally doesn’t suggest non -Asian food so I took this as a good sign!

Prior to going, I read reviews that suggested to call ahead to avoid waiting in line. It was a really good idea because when we got there, it was pretty packed!

The restaurant is incredibly small and unassuming, with only a small window stool sitting area. It was also stuffy in there so pretty much everyone in the cramped space was just waiting for take out. There is a grass picnic area that most people enjoyed their pizza at, including ourselves!

For the four of us, we ordered two pizzas. It was a bit too much but one pizza wouldn’t have been enough so we just brought the leftovers home!

Princess, $38: $38 for a single pizza was the most I’ve paid! However I trusted the reviews of the food community and my dad really wanted to try it.

The princess was a seafood pizza that came with smoked salmon and jumbo prawn tower, and shrimp scattered thoughout.

I’m glad we tried it because it was delicious! The jumbo prawns were very fresh and snappy. There was a generous amount of jumbo prawns and smoked salmon which justified the price.

Hawaiian, $25: Again, this was more than I normally pay for pizza but whatever! My parents love Hawaiian so this was our second pick.

It came with SO MUCH pineapple!!! Yes, I am one of those people who think pineapple tastes good on pizza. This one was a lot thicker because of the amount of pineapple, ham and cheese.

I would definitely recommend trying Steveston Pizza Co! Maybe not regularly because it’s pricier than most pizza places, but it’s great to enjoy on a sunny day in Steveston.

As well, even though it’s more expensive, the quality is definitely there. None of us felt gross or were thirsty afterwards which is always a good sign!

Yay!

Steveston Pizza Co. Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Hard Candy Metal Eyes Chrome Eyeshadow Kit

It seems as if metal and chrome looks are trending right now, with the amount of chrome products on the shelves. I am definitely on board with this trend and love me some chrome! Perhaps I should try out chrome nails soon?

Anyways, Hard Candy has released its Metal Eyes Chrome Eyeshadow Kit, which I will be reviewing today!
What it says (Taken from website):
The Hard Candy Metal Eyes Chrome Eyeshadow Kit is an innovative shadow kit that allows you to achieve the hot runway trend of metallic eyes.

This kit includes 4 highly pigmented metallic pearl eyeshadows, mixing liquid, a mixing well, a professional dual-ended eyeshadow brush, and a mini black eyeliner.

Choose your own intensity by mixing the eyeshadow and mixing liquid together for your desired look. These shadows can also be used dry for a less intense metallic effect.
The kit comes with four shades: gold, silver, brown, and champagne. It also comes with a small eyeliner, mixing liquid, and a small lid to mix.

Application: The application is a bit different if you are wanting to use the mixing liquid. After some trial and error, I found that the best method for the most intense metallic effect is if you dab your brush into the mixing liquid and then press into the eyeshadow. Then, gently dab/press the shadow onto your eyelid rather than one sweeping motion.

Wear: I was really impressed with the colour for the first three hours. The mixing liquid gave it a very metallic and pigmented look. In fact, I would argue that it was even more pigmented than the Naked palettes. The colour was very bright and vivid and I was in love!

However, around the four hour mark, it started to crease and fade. By the six hour mark, most of the eyeshadow was gone. It decided to leave the party early after shining for so long, and go home for some Netflix. After seven hours, the only thing remaining was oily eyelids and eyeliner that had smudged to my lower lash line. Not cute!
Although you can use this without the mixing liquid, I would recommend using it because there is a huge difference. Without the mixing liquid, it is not as pigmented.

With that said, I have mixed feelings about this. In the first three hours, the color payoff is AMAZING and so beautiful. These pictures don’t do it justice at all. I’m just disappointed that it only lasts half a day!

I really love the pigment and for under $10, you just can’t beat it. Perhaps using a primer and setting spray would allow these colours to last longer. This product has a lot of potential!

  • Amazing, beautiful, intense metallic pigment
  • Very affordable at $9.35 – even comes with a brush!

  • Eyeshadow only lasts for 4 hours before it starts to crease, fade and disappear

Yay!

Press product featured. Opinions are own.

Loofah & Soap DIY Halloween Costume

Woohoo! It’s costume season again, one of my favourite times of the year. If it were up to me, I would love to dress up in silly costumes more than once a year.

This year for Halloween, I will be going as a loofah and the boyfriend will be going as a bar of soap!

Out of all the DIY costumes we have made over the years, the loofah was certainly the most challenging. I used a combination of videos/posts, and it was a lot of trial and error.

Although I love DIY costumes, I am absolutely abysmal at making them and can’t sew. Which is why I like to share these on my blog – if I can make these, anyone can. Trust me. Let’s get started!

LOOFAH COSTUME MATERIALS/INSTRUCTIONS:

  • 25 yards/74 feet of tulle fabric (You can easily purchase this at Michael’s or at a fabric store)
  • Twelve safety pins
  • Scissors
  • String
  • Shirt (preferably same colour as the tulle)
  • Measuring tape
Step #1
  1. Cut out 12 even strips of tulle using a measuring tape for accuracy, approximately 6 feet each. This part was frustrating for me because one layer of lavender tulle is practically clear, so I couldn’t really see where I was cutting… multiply this by 12 and you can understand why I was getting frustrated!
  2. With each strip, fold it in half length-wise
  3. Then, fold it in half width-wise again (should be approximately 3 feet by this step)
  4.  In the middle, wrap a piece of string tightly
  5. Repeat #2-#4 for the other strips

    Step #4
  6. Take a safety pin and hook it in the middle of the strip, where the string is.
  7. Pin the first piece of tulle by your collar bone

    Step #8
  8. Repeat #6-7 for the other strips until they are evenly pinned on the shirt. I have attached a photo of where I pinned each tulle section on the tshirt. Repeat for the back as well. It may seem a bit high but once you fluff it out, you can’t tell!
  9. Now comes to fun part – fluffing it out! Go crazy and (gently) pull the tulle out to give it the desired puffy effect
  10. Repeat #10 until you are satisfied with the level of puff!

BAR OF SOAP MATERIALS/INSTRUCTIONS:

For this costume, we were originally planning on just painting a cardboard box. However, we didn’t find one large enough and also, my friend brought up a good point where the boyfriend wouldn’t be able to sit down LOL. So, I did some brainstorming and came up with this super cheap and easy alternative!

  • Two sheets of white poster board
  • Blue, gold, black acrylic paint (other colours are okay but we decided to go with the Dove bars haha)
  • Paint brush
  • Sharpie
  • Pencil
  • String
  • Tape
  1. Using a pencil, outline the design you’d like. We looked up an image of Dove’s bar soaps and replicated that, but you can do whichever brand you’d wish, or simply just write “SOAP”.
  2. Outline what you are planning on painting with a sharpie
  3. Write down the ingredients, or any other text you’d like included to make it look more realistic
  4. Paint!
  5. Cut two pieces of string and use tape to connect the two poster boards


I will be updating this post after Halloween with our final costume result! Just wanted to get this post up before Halloween to give you some ideas.

As a bonus, get some rubber duckies at the dollar store (I found this pack for $1.25) and hot glue gun it onto a headband! 🙂 You could also blow up some white balloons to act as bubbles, heh.

Happy costuming!

If I had a million dollars….. (Fall 2017 Beauty Wishlist)

I started this mini series three years ago, and I would like to bring it back! This is a bit different than my usual beauty reviews, but it’s fun to mix things up sometimes!

If I’m being completely honest, I haven’t been as motivated the past month due to personal issues, and some unhappiness while I figure things out in my life. In fact, I don’t remember the last time I browsed makeup products for fun on a website (I usually keep myself updated with a quick scroll through Instagram), which is why I decided to start this series up again.

But of course, I shouldn’t let my personal issues/unhappiness hinder me from doing my hobby (writing). So let this be a reminder that it’s okay to let the sadness in because that is what makes you stronger, better person. Sadness teaches you how to improve your life. But you also can’t let it rule your life. Give yourself time to learn from it, but not so much time that you forget to do the things that make you happy.

Anyways, I hope that you readers can appreciate the personal tidbits. Often people who put themselves out there publicly are seen to have less problems, but it’s not the truth at all. We choose to only share the positives, but trust me, every single person has their own battles no matter how happy their IG profile or blog is.

Don’t get me wrong, I will always push through for my blog and prioritize time for it. I still have been publishing consistently, sticking to my schedule of 2-3 posts a week. I ain’t leavin’ the blogging world anytime soon 😉 I also am in NO way complaining because I know I have lots to be grateful for. 

Before this turns into a personal post (because I could go on and on LOL)… let’s start this beauty wishlist!!! 😀 To make this list more concise, I have decided to narrow it down to products only found at Sephora.

Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance palette: I know that this palette has been around for at least a year now so I am late to the game. I didn’t care much for it when it was released because I have a few palettes already.

However, A) it looked good on my friend and B) also, I noticed that my palettes so far are all brown/gold/champagne shades. My favourite in this is the Vietnam Red shade, which I currently do not have a similar shade in my collection.

Tarte Rainforest of the Sea: This is also not a new release, but I’ve seen this foundation mentioned everywhere on Instagram and beauty blogs! Also, the packaging for the Rainforst of the Sea line is so pretty and enticing…

I probably won’t be getting this anytime soon as it takes me awhile to finish a bottle of foundation and I have a few in my collection to use up still. Or maybe I will say screw it and buy it for the sake of this blog 😉

Stila Written in the Stars Glitter & Glow Liquid Eyeshadow Set: The moment I saw these at a media preview event, I was IN LOVE. Oh my goodness, when the PR rep swatched these for us, my heart swooned. They are incredibly pigmented and super glittery. They also did not rub off easily when I tested it out during the event.

It’s also out of stock on Sephora.ca right now, so I’m probably not the only one lusting over this set.

Fenty Beauty Foundation: If you have not seen or heard of Fenty Beauty over the past month, you have been living under a rock. Jk, or maybe you just don’t follow beauty accounts. Fenty Beauty is the new line that Rihanna released and the reviews for the products are really good, especially the liquid foundation.

People are really loving the foundation because of its wide range of shades. In fact, Make Up Fore Ever was recently under fire for trying to throw shade at Fenty Beauty. The loyal following that has already started and Rihanna herself were not having it, so there was a bit of beauty drama over that. You can read about it here if that’s your type of thing.

Anyways, I would love to try out the foundation myself and see if I love it as much as others do!

Tria Hair Removal Laser: This post is titled “If I had a million dollars” so naturally, I had to end with a big product! At $500, the TRIA laser is the only laser approved for home use. To put things in perspective, laser hair removal treatments can go up to thousands of dollars depending on the salon and amount of areas you are doing.  Six sessions for legs only could easily be $2000+ so TRIA would be worth it in scenarios like that.

I’ve had really great results with my laser hair removal session. If I was to laser other areas of my body, I would consider getting this one and doing it safely in the comfort of my own home.

That was a really fun way to take my mind off things! 

I hope you enjoyed reading this post! Let me know if you’ve tried any of these products and/or what you are wanting to try out! 

Free Halloween Nail Stickers! (First 10 readers)

This is going to be a short and sweet post! I have partnered up with Nail Polish Canada and What’s Up Nails to give away 10 free Halloween nail stickers/vinyls to my readers!

Get your nails Halloween ready with these spooky vinyls!

To claim your set, go to this link from Nail Polish Canada and enter in my unique code: I9Z6P92CHIH. 

For all your nail polish needs, I would recommend checking out Nail Polish Canada. I have purchased my favourite Seche Vite top coat from NPC.

Nail Polish Canada (NPC) also has free Canadian shipping for orders over $19, which is really good. All my fellow Canadians know how annoying it is that we get left out from good shipping deals sometimes or if offers are valid for US only. Which is why Curiously Carmen will only ever feature companies that are willing to give Canadians a good deal too! I gotchu 🙂

*Notes:

  • Available only to Canada and US readers
  • Includes free shipping
  • If the code does not work, it means all ten sets have been claimed
  • Images property of Nail Polish Canada/What’s Up Nails, I do not own the images

Disclaimer: I receive no commission or money from doing this, it is just a nice little gift for my readers!