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Curiously Carmen

Estee Lauder Fall Preview 2017

October 4, 2017

A few weeks ago, I attended the Estee Lauder Fall 2017 preview event. There were some new products, and formula changes for some of their classic products. Read on to find out more!


The Estee Lauder Double Wear foundation is one of my favourite foundations (previous review here). This Fall, they have changed the formula slightly. It now contains 50% more water, which gives it a lighter feel yet is supposed to have the same medium/full coverage.

I tested this out over the weekend and I can’t wait to write my full thoughts on this!

Starting off, Estee Lauder is launching an impressive array of lipstick colours. They range from pinks to reds, but also some daring colours such as green and blue.

The tip of the lipsticks were also re-designed, making it easier to get a more precise line!

AERIN products were designed by Estee Lauder’s granddaughter, Aerin. I’ve always been a fan of AERIN fragrances and this was no different.

New this season are two fragrances – one for day wear and one for night wear. The day wear has a light fragrance which reminded me of summer, while the night wear had a heavier and slightly muskier fragrance.

Some new skincare launches!

New Re-Nutriv Ultimate Diamond Transformative Thermal Ritual: The creme wraps skin in a cocoon of concentrated Black Diamond Truffle Extract and advanced deep-hydrating, plumping and contouring ingredients for a firmer look and feel.

Nutritious micro algae: This cream features three different types of algae which help to purify and balance skin. One of the types of algae included is spirulina, which has tremendous benefits to your body.

This is pretty cool – coloured mascara! It seems that Estee Lauder is really branching out into more unique colours, with the launch of their new lipstick colours as well!

The classic Advanced Night Repair, one of Estee Lauder’s best sellers! The formula was modified, and it now contains 50% more hyaluronic acid for even more intense hydration and wrinkle prevention.

The new formula also includes the patent pending, 360° Matrix Technology. It wraps the eye area in a breathable, flexible visco-elastic network that allows natural eye movement while providing cushioning support. Sounds very protective against the earth’s elements.

—–

Now it’s time to write my reviews on some of these products, stay tuned for that!


Filed Under: Beauty, events, eyes, face, lips

Minoas Greek Taverna

October 2, 2017

Earlier this year, I found a Groupon for Minoas Greek Taverna! It had decent reviews and looked enticing, so I bought it and forgot about it. In true Groupon fashion, we finally went to try this place a couple of weeks before it expired.

The deal was $30 towards dinner, which I purchased for around $12 because there was an additional 20% sale. For the sake of this post, I will include the regular price as there doesn’t seem to be a deal anymore.
Minoas Greek Tavern has been around for a long time now, since the 80s or early 90s I believe! It is slightly hidden behind some trees and the Skytrain covers it a bit. It is located just off Boundary Road, across from Central Park.

There was parking behind the restaurant which was nice! The restaurant used to be a house in the 60s/70s, as we saw old pictures in the restaurant to commemorate their past.
I love the decor of Greek restaurants! Minoas was no different. I really enjoyed looking around at the paintings, plants, and ornaments scattered throughout the restaurant.
Some more beautiful paintings in the restaurant! One thing to note, the restaurant is on the second floor of the old house. The first floor is used for events and also is where the kitchen is. I’m not too sure if there is an elevator, I don’t believe I saw one that day but I could be mistaken.
Pita bread, free: The complimentary pita bread was soft, thick and filling. It was lightly brushed in oil, I am assuming it was olive oil.

However, it could have used a bit more flavour with some herbs and olive oil/vinagrette for dipping.
Greek salad, free: Both of our entrees came with Greek salad. This was the boyfriend’s salad as I asked for a dairy-free version (so basically without the feta cheese). I enjoyed the salad as it all the vegetables were fresh and crunchy but there were some small things that could have been improved.

Just like the pita bread, we didn’t find it to have much flavour. It could have benefited more with a sprinkle of herbs, salt or pepper. As well, the peppers didn’t taste ripe enough.
Chicken souvlaki: My go-to for Greek food! The chicken souvlaki was cooked perfectly, very juicy and had a nice grilled flavour to it. For the seasoning, it was a bit bland so I added some salt which was a lot better.

Nothing to complain about with the carrots, rice, or potato. With the Greek salad and pita bread, this was a VERY filling dinner and I ended up having to pack some of it home!
Yemista, $15.95: The yemista was peppers stuffed with beef, tomato, and rice. The boyfriend really enjoyed his dish. There was a good amount of beef inside and all the flavours went together perfectly.

Despite some of the dishes being a bit bland (pita bread, salad, and chicken), we really enjoyed our visit to Minoas. The portions were excellent, ingredients were fresh and service was good. I would definitely consider coming back even without a Groupon. The full price meals are worth it!

Yay!

 

Minoas Greek Taverna Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato


Filed Under: food & drink, greek

Pixi Endlessly Silky Eye Pen

September 27, 2017

Once in awhile, I discover products that take me by surprise in a very, very, very good way! The Pixi By Petra Endlessly Silky Eye Pen (phew, that’s a mouthful – or typeful? Heh) was one of these products.

Being a beauty blogger, my “to-try and write about” list is never ending. I could have all the time in the world and not get to each post that I would like. Any other bloggers out there agree with me?

That is why it took me so long to try out, but I am so happy to have discovered this sooner or later!

What it says (Taken from Pixi Beauty):
Waterproof, super-long-wear, no-smudge, no-budge eye liners. They glide on like seamless silk, and in a single sweep motion create a flawless, solid jewel-toned line. No retouching required all day – or night!

Application: The two shades I received were BlackNoir and SageGold. I was impressed with how easy the pencils glided on my eyes, and as well as how incredibly pigmented they both were. The BlackNoir was a jet black, while the SageGold was similar to an olive with a hint of sparkle.

I’ve never worn olive coloured liners but I think it looked pretty decent on my lower lash line!

Wear: It is not unusual for eyeliners to smudge on me. I blame this on my oily skin type, as well as oily eye lids. I tested this on a hot weekend, while I was out doing some shopping and grabbing food. Nothing out of the ordinary, most eyeliners would last that long right?

The shocker came when I took a nap and woke up expecting my makeup to be smudged and having undereye circles, as it usually does. However, the eyeliner did not budge or smudge one bit! I had to do a double take and put my glasses back on to make sure… nope, no smearing at all!

Wearing the black eyeliner on my upper lash line, and the olive green on my bottom lash line!

I was definitely very impressed with these eyeliners, and they do live up to its description. For $12 CAD, it is a really good price considering how bulletproof they are. In fact, I might stock up on more colours as I have a hard time finding pencil liners that do not smudge on me!

-Glides very easily
-Very pigmented
-Doesn’t smudge (even after a nap!!)
-Waterproof

-None that I can think of!

Yay!


Filed Under: Beauty, eyes, makeup

Tivoli’s Restaurant

September 23, 2017

This post is long overdue but I will still write about it! Earlier in the summer, I bought a Groupon at Tivoli’s Restaurant. It is the restaurant inside the Executive Inn Hotel in Burnaby, just by Gilmore Station and the Steve Nash gym.

The Groupon was a 3 course dinner for four people, which was $25 each.

The entrance to the restaurant is inside the hotel. As well, there is free parking for customers – just make sure you park in stalls that say reserved for Tivoli’s customers.

We all decided to share the food as we wanted to try some of everything. There are a lot of pictures coming so I will try to keep the text as short as possible! The Groupon came with 4 appies, 4 entrees, and 2 desserts.

Mixed salad: The mixed salad was very fresh! I appreciated the decent amount of berries in the salad.

Caesar salad: Again, the salad leaves were fresh and crunchy. Not much to complain about either.

Sweet & spicy beef bites: We really enjoyed these! It tasted like Chinese sweet and sour sauce. The fried Alberta AAA beef cubes were also seasoned with Mediterranean spices. Talk about mix of cultures!

Sauteed garlic prawns: The prawns were fresh and had that nice snap to it. They were also slathered in butter which made it even tastier.

NY Steak: For $5, we could upgrade our Groupon to a NY steak. One of my dad’s favourite things at Western establishments is steak, so naturally we had to get this. It came a perfect medium rare and was nice and juicy.

The sides were a creamy mushroom risotto and grilled veggies.

Veal shank: The veal shank was also cooked excellently. It was tender and full of flavour. It came with a saffron-mushroom risotto, which was creamy and delicious.

Chicken parmigiana: Considering how tasty everything else was, this was everyone’s least favourite. The breaded chicken reminded me of those microwave dinners. It was also quite bland. I guess they’re better at their beef.

Smoked salmon linguine: There was a very generous portion of smoked salmon in this plate! With every forkful, we were met with smoked salmon in our mouth. It was a bit bland but easily fixed with a dash of salt. The boyfriend packed this for lunch the next day, and apparently it was even better since the flavours had soaked in more!

Cheesecake trio: I don’t remember the exact flavours of the cheesecake, but everyone quite enjoyed it. Unfortunately, everyone was too full from the appies and entrees so we couldn’t finish this.

Ice cream parfait: Whoa!! Take a look at this monster! It came with layers of ice cream and fruit. It would have been easier to eat as a sundae since we were all sharing (well, I couldn’t have it so excluding me haha). Normally, this costs $10 without the Groupon so I think the Groupon was pretty worth it.

I can see why they only included 2 desserts instead of 4 because you are guaranteed to be stuffed after the appies and entree!

Overalll, we all left really stuffed and satisfied. The Groupon is definitely a good deal and I’m glad I bought it, otherwise we would have missed out on a delicious meal. I would consider getting the Groupon again for the next special occasion.

Yay!

Tivoli's - Executive Suites Hotel & Conference Centre Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato


Filed Under: food & drink, steakhouse

Hard Candy Sheer Envy Prismatic Highlighter

September 20, 2017

Hard Candy came out with a bunch of new products this summer, which I have been reviewing over the past few months. Today, I will be talking about their Sheer Envy Prismatic Highlighter!

At first glance, the packaging is very simple and sturdy. When met with sunlight, the silver foils reflect very beautifully! That is probably my favourite part of this product, as the rest was disappointing…

What it says (Taken from press release):
The Sheer Envy Prismatic Highlighter is a pearl illuminator that leaves skin with a wearable but trendy iridescent shimmer. This powder includes light-reflective pearls that diffuse light and accentuate the high points of your face and your cheek bones with a luminescent glow. The universal shade is flattering on all skin tones, and smoothly and applies to your skin with easy soft, sweeping motions.

Application: The application process was a bit messy due to fallout, but overall, it was alright.
Wear: This is where it gets disappointing. Instead of getting a luminescent glow, I got ….nothing. I put the same amount on as I usually would with other highlighters, but there was absolutely no slow or shimmer showing. I angled my face in different positions, tried different lighting, went into the sun… but nope. Nothing.

After trying a few Hard Candy products, I find that they are hit or miss. Either I really love them or they’re a total fluke. This one definitely did not live up to my expectations.

-Packaging looks cool in sunlight
-Retails for only$7.98 CAD

-No glow/shimmer at all

Nay.


Filed Under: Beauty, face, makeup

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Hello!

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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