Curiously Carmen

Product Empties – Summer 2017(Part 2/2)

After 3.5 years of blogging and not having a single product empty post, I am now back with two in a row! How funny is that =P I would love to write more empty posts, if only I could finish products fast enough. But I will try to motivate myself and write another one in the fall.
 I’ll also link the original review if possible, in case you’re interested in reading more about the product!
Dove Visibly Smooth Deodorant: I mentioned in the past empties post that products lose its effect on me after prolonged use, which is why it’s hard for me to write empties often! Anyways, I found this deodorant to be okay… Well, it was good at first but then I got tired of the scent. I only buy deodorant on sale so if this is line is on sale and there aren’t other scents I like more, I’ll get it.

Would I repurchase? Meh… if on sale I would.

Amie Deep Cleansing Mask: This is not a well known product at all, and I don’t even think they sell it in Canada despite saying so, but I LOVE it. It’s great for breakouts! I received it twice as a PR sample, so I actually went through two bottles. Since they don’t sell it in Canada and I loved it that much, I decided to order it online which is rare for me. Anyways, it took over a month but it’s finally here.

Would I repurchase? Yup, already did!

Kat Von D Tattoo Liner: Hah! This goes without saying… my go-to liner that will never disappoint me. My absolute makeup staple.

Would I purchase? I lost track of how many times I repurchased this! Actually I repurchased this for the 23423th time last month, except they were out of this one so I tried the new felt tip. No problems at all with the felt tip!
Crabtree & Evelyn Handcream: I really enjoyed this handcream, and will probably keep an eye out for when it goes on sale again!

Would I repurchase? Yup!

Weleda Evening Primrose Body Wash: Surprisingly, I finished this body wash pretty fast! Well maybe not surprisingly, body wash is the easiest to use up because I shower every day…. and I hope you do too! Anyways, I never ended up writing a separate review for this body wash which I kind of regret, because it’s amazing. I wrote a review on their day and night cream which works really well too.

Would I repurchase? Yup!

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Stay tuned for the next empties post… coming to you in another 3.5 years! LOL jk, I am going to make a huge effort to write another one for fall!

Product Empties – Summer 2017 (Part 1/2)

I am so excited and happy to finally be doing an empties post! The first ever on my blog! Well obviously I have finished products before this but there weren’t ever enough at once to write a post about it.

Why am I so excited? Because excluding my daily products of brow pencil and eyeliner, it takes me a super long time to finish products! I’m talking like… a year… or more because I only use my brow pencil & liner everyday, and I like to switch up my face products, foundations, etc.

I find that if I use the same moisturizers, face wash, deodorant, etc.. it slowly minimizes their effect because my skin has gotten used to it. And I know I’m not the only one because I’ve heard about it from Youtubers!

Anyways, enough rambling… Even more great news, I managed to have enough empties to do TWO blog posts! So I will be doing a part 2, because I hate super long blog posts!

Estee Lauder DayWear Matte cream: I have been using this on and off due to trying and testing new moisturizers. But when I don’t have any new ones to try, I can always rely on this to moisturize my skin! This cream is more of a gel and feels very light weight.

Would I repurchase? Yes!

Weleda Almond Soothing Facial Lotion: I talked about this product three months ago. It is a bit odd that I can finish a moisturizer in three months, but this thing is super tiny! It is a very gentle moisturizer, with a hint of almond scent. Here is my original review on it.

Would I repurchase? Yes!

Sephora Waterproof Eyeliner: This product has been tossed around from makeup area to various makeup bags, traveling, etc… that the print is completely gone and the smudge tip is long gone. It wasn’t one of my favourite eyeliners because it smudged easily. By the end of the work day, I would have a bit of a raccoon eye. Honestly don’t know why I kept using it, but at least it’s finally done.

Would I repurchase? Nope!

First Aid Beauty Face Cleanser: I received this as a present 2 Christmases ago, and I finally finished it! I LOVED this cleanser. It’s very gentle, but also removed my full makeup looks effortlessly. As well, it never dried out my skin. I liked to “save” this for occasions when I wear a full face of makeup because it’s $15 for a travel size. Although now that I think about it, that’s cheap compared to other face products at Sephora. Here is my original review on it.

Would I repurchase? Yup,  in fact I bought another one two weeks ago!

St. Ives Apricot Scrub: Okay, this is like a washroom staple… I say this because I’ve seen many homes carry this product (Yes, I notice what products people use when I go to their washrooms LOL). Plus, it’s a very affordable price and works really well! I started off using this scrub on my face, but over the years, my skin became slightly more sensitive and this was too harsh.

So, I ended up using this as an exfoliator for my body to prevent ingrowns, pimples, etc.

Would I repurchase? Yup, I ended up buying it in a jar format because it’s easier to use in the shower. As well, in high school, I bought this many times so you could say it’s definitely a staple for me!

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Stay tuned for part 2 of my empties! On a side note, I didn’t know that talking about empties was considered a weird thing to people who aren’t interested in beauty. In one of the Facebook groups I’m in, one blogger joked how we like to take pictures of our garbage and share it with others who love to see our garbage. LOL!!!

Laser Hair Removal: My Experience

Last summer, I decided to finally invest in laser hair removal for my legs. Laser hair removal has always been something that has been at the back of my mind, but I never did it… mostly because I never thought of it enough to commit fully, thought it was expensive, and painful.

After completing all 6 sessions of my laser hair removal, it is finally time that I write about my experiences here on the blog!

DISCLAIMER: Before we get started, it is very important to do research for yourself. You came across this post somehow, which is great – you’re doing your research! Laser hair removal is not for everyone. Please do extensive research into the facility you choose, after care, etc etc. 

What is laser hair removal?

Laser hair removal is a form of permanent hair reduction on your body. To keep this as concise as possible, the colour black absorbs light easily, hence why when we wear black clothing, we feel warmer. Laser works the same way. The intense laser beam shoots light at the dark hair follicles, which kills them.

Where did I go?

I went to Beauty Light Laser in downtown Vancouver. There was a Groupon so I was able to save lots! I decided to go with a Groupon because I trusted my friend who went here before me, and the reviews online were great. The picture below is the treatment room and laser machine that Natalya uses.

Photo credit: Natalya, Beauty Light Laser

How many sessions did I do?

Usually, packages start at 6 sessions. You can purchase sessions by itself, but to see the full benefits of laser, it is better to purchase the full package. I did 6 sessions over the course of 10 months. Once my sessions ended, Natalya said that I could purchase more individual sessions in the future, if I felt like I needed or wanted to.

Photo credit: Lutronic (http://www.usa.lutronic.com/hair_removal_patient)

How long does a session take?

For my lower legs, each session was really quick. The zapping session for both lower legs was done in under 5 minutes. It really is just a quick touch up and down your legs! I imagine that other areas such as your underarms, bikini line, face, and arms would take even faster since there’s less surface area.

Does it hurt?

Beauty is pain… but it doesn’t always have to be! I was a bit nervous about the pain, but I was really glad that it wasn’t extremely painful! Like on a scale of 1-10… it was probably a 2 at most for my legs. The front of my legs were probably like a 1, and the back were a 2.

I wouldn’t even consider doing my legs painful… it was more of a slightly uncomfortable feeling.

If you’ve ever done waxing before, laser is wayyy less painful than waxing! Compared to waxing my legs, I rather laser ANY DAY. If you can bear waxing, laser will be a breeze for you. With waxing, the area stings for a couple seconds or more after the wax strip is pulled off, which is the most painful part to me. However with laser, there is no lasting stinging. It is a quick, annoying little prick or rubber band snap.

Some areas are more sensitive than others though… such as the bikini area. That is definitely more painful!

Is it effective?

I was told I wouldn’t see results until a 2-3 sessions later, which was correct! I started to REALLY see a difference after 3 sessions. After shaving for years, my leg hairs have become thicker and they also grew faster. But after laser, the hairs that grow now are thin and it grows slower.

I would say that 80% of my leg hair has stopped growing, which is soo much better.

Do I have any regrets?

Definitely not! In the past, one of the things I dreaded most about summer was that I constantly had to shave my legs. This is something some girls are okay with, but to me it was such a drag and so annoying. Then, my legs would become itchy growing back, stubbly, and I would get those annoying bumps and dots despite exfoliating. Idk, my legs just really hated razors and I could never wait long enough to wax.

The only regret I have was not doing it sooner! It has made my routine so much easier and I don’t have to be self conscious about my legs with dots anymore.

Important things to note?

-Don’t do anything except shave between sessions! This includes waxing, tweezing, depilatory creams, etc!!! Each session targets the hairs at different growth stages in order to kill it. So when you wax/pluck/etc you are interfering with the hair growth cycle.

-Make sure you do a consultation first. If you go to a place where they say consultations aren’t necessary, RUN. RUN!!!! And write a bad Yelp review haha. Like I mentioned earlier, laser hair removal is not for everyone. In particular, it is harder to laser light blonde hairs or dark skin tones… so your technician needs to look at your particular hair and see if it works for you. I’ve seen horror pictures of laser hair removal burns and that just sounds horrible!

-Be patient and not lazy. For LHR to work, you need to be patient with the results because it’ll be worth it! For myself, I didn’t see results until 3-4 months afterwards. Since appointments are made 1-2 months in advance, make sure you keep it in your calendar. Beauty Light Laser was not a convenient location for me to get to but I liked it there.

-Don’t expect your hair to be 100% gone! I still have some leg hair, but the hair grows back slower and thinner.

Yay!

Disclaimer: Laser hair removal package bought on Groupon by myself. Opinions are own.

Weleda Travel Size Products

I was recently sent some Weleda products to review! One of them was the Weleda travel size pouch, which came with five of their products. I went away for a weekend, and brought these along with me to try out.

They come in a cloth zip bag, which fit the five mini sized product comfortably, with room to spare!

Now, I will briefly review each product and what I thought of them.

Salt toothpaste: When you squeeze the toothpaste out, it is a brown colour… which I’ve never seen with toothpaste before. Anyways, I was very curious as to how well it cleans. The taste was something I had to get used to… it tasted like brushing your teeth with salt and a tiny hint of peppermint. However, my teeth did feel clean and fresh afterwards so it the product is effective. After two days, I couldn’t get used to the salt taste as a toothpaste, so I ended up using the boyfriend’s Crest toothpaste.

Almond soothing facial lotion: Compared to the Weleda Evening Primose lotion I reviewed earlier this month, the almond lotion was lighter and did not have much of a scent. It did a good job in hydrating my skin still though.

Skin food: I wasn’t too sure what “skin food” meant, but it is actually just a lotion. I was glad I had this because after I shaved my legs, they were very dry and itchy. The skin food lotion was thick and moisturized my dry legs immediately. Even though it had a thick texture during application, it didn’t feel heavy on my legs afterwards. A good thing, because that day was hot and we went for a hike!

Arnica massage oil: I don’t use massage oils often… actually, can’t even remember the last time I used one! But I didn’t really find this to be a massage oil. I would have liked it to be more slick and slippery, but my skin absorbed this instantly.

Sea buckthorn creamy body wash: Last but not least, I got to try another one of Weleda’s body washes! The sea buckthorn wash cleaned well, and I felt nice and refreshed afterwards.

Overall, I enjoyed some products more than others. My favourite in this travel pouch would be the skin food because of how well it moisturized, and lightweight it felt after. My least favourite was the massage oil because it did nothing to my skin or enhance my massage.

The pouch also comes with a coupon for one full sized product of your choice!

Yay!

ACI Beauty Preview Spring 2017 (Part 2/2)

Hi! If you have just stumbled upon this post and not sure what is going on, here is part 1 of the Spring 2017 ACI Beauty Preview event that I attended last week. Half of the post was me gushing about cute cat themed products from Paul & Joe. I would absolutely lose it if they came out with bunny products in the future (hint hint??? hehe).

In part 1, I talked about Stila, Paul & Joe, CLEAN, and St. Tropez. This post, I will feature Ardell, Bliss, and Korres.

False lashes are all the rage right now, and I wish I didn’t have to wear glasses so I could wear them more. Ardell is a staple in the falsies game, and it is no surprise that the releases this season look great! I love how they are so affordable too.

The two falsies on the right feature multiple layers to give your lashes more of a voluminous appearance. Gone are the days where you have to glue together two pairs of falsies!

There was only one Bliss product featured that day, which was their rubber mask, the mask-a-peel. I was first introduced to this at the previous ACI Beauty event, and was very intrigued. It comes in a powder form, and when mixed with water, it dries on your face into a rubber texture.

At $15 for one use (once mixed with water, the mask will dry and turn into rubber even if not applied on your skin), it doesn’t come cheap so I’m curious to see if this is worth the price.

The last brand we were shown was Korres! Korres has easily fallen into one of my favourite skincare brands. Their products work very well with my skin!

That day, we focused on their Greek yogurt line. After having to cut out ALL traces of dairy due to stomach problems, I’m glad that I have a use for Greek yogurt again, if that makes any sense? Haha! I used to love eating greek yogurt and miss it. =(

Anyways, we were told that in Greece, a popular way to soothe sunburns was to slather your body with greek yogurt. I could definitely see why, as it would probably feel very cooling and yogurt is rich with many benefits. So, Korres decided to incorporate Greek yogurt into their products and created a face wash, and primer/moisturizer.

I was given a sample of the Korres Greek yogurt primer/moisturizer. We were told in the morning to use it as a primer and at night, to put use it as a cream. I just use it as a moisturizer since I don’t wear face products on a daily basis, and I have been really loving it so far. But I could see it being a good primer since it makes your skin very soft and supple.

Keep an eye out for reviews of some of the products mentioned in these two posts!