• About / Contact
  • Work With Me
  • Food & Drink
    • asian —>
      • chinese
      • indian
      • japanese
      • korean
      • malaysian
      • taiwanese
      • thai
      • vietnamese
    • brunch
    • coffee and tea
    • dessert
    • fusion
    • happy hour
    • italian
    • greek
    • mexican
    • pub
    • seafood
    • steakhouse
    • vegetarian/vegan
    • western
  • Travel
    • Canada ->
      • Kelowna
      • Sunshine Coast
      • Victoria
    • Japan ->
      • Himeji
      • Kamakura
      • Kobe
      • Kyoto
      • Osaka
      • Tokyo
    • Mexico ->
      • Cancun
      • Isla Mujeres
      • Playa Del Carmen
    • USA ->
      • Las Vegas
      • Los Angeles
      • New York City
      • Seattle
    • Europe ->
      • London
  • Beauty
    • beauty events
    • body
    • eyes
    • face
    • costumes
    • hair
    • lips
    • nails
    • skincare

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

ACI Beauty Preview Fall/Holiday 2017 (Part 1/2)

September 8, 2017

A couple of weeks ago, I attended the ACI Beauty Preview event for Fall/Holiday 2017. Even though it was the epitome of a hot summer’s day, we were treated to the sneak peek of some holiday/Christmas launches!

As usual, this event will be divided into two posts because I hate having long, endlessly scrolly (yes I just made that word up) posts!

Starting off, I was given some Ardell lashes to try on! I was a bit hesitant due to my glasses, but we found a pair that went very nicely with my glasses. The best part of all? It didn’t touch my lens.

This re-sparked the love affair I have with falsies and encouraged me to wear them more often, now that I know there are lashes out there that won’t interfere with glasses!
The Stila Stay All Day foundation has undergone a few changes in the past year! Last year, the packaging of the bottle was changed. This year, they have added many new shades to the line! As well, the cap contains a hidden concealer now too!

You can read my previous review about this foundation here! I quite enjoyed this foundation.
Holiday/Christmas lip sets from Stila!

Pictured are:

-Big Shots Eyeliner & Mascara duo (back, far left)
-Star Studded Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick Set of 8 (back, middle)
-Written in the Stars Glitter & Glow Liquid Eye Set (back, left)
-Eye for Elegance Liquid Eyeshadow Set of 6 (front, right)
-Play It Cool Stay All Day Lipstick (front, left – there are 3 packs in various shades shown)

The new Stila one step primer! The crystal clear base in the new primer has 50% water. This gives the product a lighter, more refreshing feel than most silicone-based primers.
Moving on to Korres – two new products pictured above! The first one on the left with the smoothie is the Greek Yogurt Undereye Priming Moisturizer. The coolest part to me was how cold the applicator tip is, which helps to minimize puffy and swollen eyes in the morning.

The second product underneath the roses is the new Wild Rose Moisturizer/Primer. I got so excited about this launch that I wrote a review pretty quickly about it! You can read that review here.
Holiday/Christmas gift sets from Korres!

The gift set on the far left is the Greek Wonders Skin Kit, which contains travel sized skincare products. I always recommend getting travel sized products if you want to discover a variety of different products! This is a pretty good deal for $49 CAD considering that one full size product costs more than that.

The gift set in the back is the Total Body Indulgence, which is a 6-piece set of shower gels/body butters – there is a guava scent in this gift set which I REALLY want to smell!

Lastly, the gift set in the front is the Body Butter Delights which includes the following scents: yogurt, guava, basil-lemon, bergamont-pear, and white blossom!

—————-

Stay tuned for part 2, which features CLEAN, Sekkisei, and Paul & Joe!

 


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

ACI Beauty Preview Spring 2017 (Part 2/2)

April 8, 2017

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!

 


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

ACI Beauty Preview Spring 2017 (Part 1/2)

April 5, 2017

Last week, I had the opportunity to attend the Spring 2017 ACI Beauty Preview. I always look forward to going to this event and learning about the new launches, and then sharing it here! Since I hate having long & wordy posts and try to avoid it as much as possible, I decided to split this event into two parts.
We started off with Stila. Take a guess what the product above is. It looks like lip gloss or some sort of lip product, right? That’s what I thought at least. But, it is actually part of their new mermaid inspired line, Magnificent Metals, and they are actually eyeshadows!

I wish I took a picture of the swatch, but sadly I only put it on my Instastory and it’s gone by now. =( The shades were AMAZING. It had some intergalactic, out of this world vibes but with a hint of sparkle and girliness. This is definitely something for the bold and brave, as you will definitely be getting some (good) attention when wearing this!
The next brand we were brought to was Paul & Joe. Paul & Joe are always super creative and detailed in their packaging, so I’m always excited to see what they come up with next. Just when I thought their cat lipsticks from previous seasons were cool, they did it again with their cat shaped lipsticks!

The pinkish-red lipstick in the middle goes on pretty sheer, while the grey ones go on to match your lip colour. I find that Japanese products (Paul & Joe is made in Japan), they are all about the sheer and subtle which Paul & Joe does perfectly, with a huge dosage of cute!
Another picture of the cat lipstick because it is just too cute.
Continuing along the cat trend, the brushes in the back are actually cat paws! How cute! They were so incredible soft as well. I believe the box contains a blush, but I was too distracted by the soft and fluffy cat paw to be 100% sure.
Paul & Joe usually house their products in paper boxes, that have very cute and detailed designs. These are the new blush and bronzer releases.
Perhaps one of the only Paul and Joe products that weren’t cat themed? I was given a sample of one of their nail polishes here and will be writing a review for that this week as well!

You’re probably tired of me gushing over how cute and girly Paul & Joe’s products are, so we will move on to CLEAN. CLEAN is a perfume brand that I haven’t seen around much apart from in the blogosphere, but they do deserve more attention and love.

As their name suggests, CLEAN products smell very fresh and well, clean. One of my favourites from them is a perfume that smells like fresh laundry.

This season, they focused on two summer fragrances, Ultimate Beach Day and Lovegrass. At first, I was a bit reluctant of how the Ultimate Beach Day could smell like a day on the beach, but damn, it really did smell like a day on the beach. It smelled exactly like summer and sunshine, which I am not sure how they perfected it but they did.

The second one was Lovegrass that I didn’t like as much as the Ultimate Beach Day. To me, it had more of a heavier scent and I prefer lighter scents on myself. I think it would be suitable for both females and males.
I’ve never been one to try self tanners or even go to the tanning salon, and have never done both. Does that make me a bad beauty blogger? =P

The main reason why I’ve never tried self tanners is because they look so intimidating and daunting! I always hear horror stories of people not doing it correctly and ending up looking like an orange or waaayyy too dark.

But, I think I do want to try using a self tanner one of these days. I would probably start with the St. Tropez gradual tan, on the left. That way, I can slowly adjust to it instead of somehow messing it up.

The blue bottle in the middle is the same day tan that you spray all over your body. What’s new about it is that it has a 360 degree nozzle so it’s easier to reach your back! The squeeze tube beside it is essentially a body highlighter, you rub this over the parts of your body that you want to have a nice tan sparkle.

This post is getting quite long so I think I will end it here! Part two will be shorter and feature Ardell, Korres, and Bliss.


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

Lancome L’Absolu Rouge Definition

March 4, 2017

For Christmas, one of the presents I received from the boyfriend was the Lancome L’Absolu Rouge Definition lipstick. Geez, what an unnecessarily long name. I was surprised when I opened this because I normally don’t wear Lancome lipsticks, and it was quite random for the boyfriend to just pick this one out! But, he said he liked it which is why he chose it out 😀

From a beauty blogging standpoint, this lipstick was so hard to photograph. The case of this is a bit curved and fans out at the top, so it was hard to flat lay with the logos showing. Then, I also wanted to capture Lancome’s flower logo but that was not possible.

What it says (Taken from Sephora):
A creamy-matte lip color with a custom-precision, pointed bullet tip that allows for perfectly-sculpted lips with every application.

L’ABSOLU ROUGE DÉFINITION masters the art of highly-saturated lip color for perfectly-defined lips. Formulated with essential oils, including jojoba oil with a light-diffusing gel, it provides lips with four hours of comfort and hydration. This lipstick offers bold color and smooth, precise application that leaves a creamy-matte finish without drying out the lips.

Application: True to word, I found the lipstick to be pretty pigmented and showed with one swatch on my lips. Creamy matte is the perfect way to describe, perhaps more on the matte side.

Wear: It says that it lasts four hours, which is quite refreshing to see as it doesn’t make bold claims like so many other lipsticks do these days. After eating a dinner of soupy noodles, I found that most of it did come off but there was still a bit of colour.

I didn’t find it drying on the evening that I wore it, but I woke up the next day with drier lips. As well, since it is a matte lip, I found that it really enhanced the lines on my lip, which I didn’t like.

Matte lipsticks have their pros and cons, but I think I’m ready for the trend to be over. Since this winter has really dried out my skin, wearing full matte lipsticks is an absolute no because of how dry my lips already are. Perhaps I will wear them again when the weather gets better, but I am quite happy with my creamy lipsticks although they don’t last as long!

  • Good for those who don’t want a full matte lip
  • Comfortable to wear
  • Beautiful colour

  • Enhanced lip lines
  • Dried out my lips a tiny bit the next day
  • Pricey ($40 CAD)

Meh.


Filed Under: Beauty, lips

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • …
  • 8
  • Next Page »

Hello!

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

Recent Posts

  • H&P Noodle House Burnaby
  • Travel: Harry Potter Studio Tour (Watford, UK)
  • Travel: The Resident Soho Hotel, London UK
  • North Noodle House
  • Grand Crystal Seafood Restaurant

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Partnerships

View my food journey on Zomato!

Archives

Theme Design By Studio Mommy · Copyright © 2025

Copyright © 2025 · Young Blush Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in