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Curiously Carmen

Kylie Matte Liquid Lip Kit

October 22, 2016

By now, I’m sure you have ALL heard of Kylie Jenner, or at the very least, the Kardashians. I’m not going to go into detail with them because I do not ‘Keep Up with the Kardashians’ (pun intended) and have never watched their ‘reality’ TV show nor do I ever plan to.

I never took an interest in Kylie’s lip products, until Maki told me she was planning on buying her products. The initial reaction of ‘Whaaatt whyyyyy’ shifted to curiosity, which is seemingly fitting for my blog’s name, Curiously Carmen :)!

Maki really enjoyed the formula of her lip kits , much to both of our surprise. Unfortunately, she did not like how one of the shades looked with her skintone, so she gave it to me. Fast forward to today, I am here to review the product!

The product I will be reviewing today is the Kylie matte liquid lipstick in the shade 22. 22 is a beautiful, attention grabbing bright orange-y red.
kylie-matte-lipstick-22Whenever I wear 22, I seem to always receive compliments on the colour. People are often surprised that it is by Kylie Jenner, because they didn’t know that her products were actually pretty decent (myself included in the past).
kylie-matte-lipstick-22-swatchThe swatch above is just from one swipe! You can see how pigmented it is. The top corner looks a bit weird because that was the first spot I swatched, and  it was still drying.

As the name suggests, it is a true matte finish. Once it dries, it does NOT budge, so it is important to apply it slowly and carefully. This is not one of those lipsticks where you can quickly grab it from your purse, and blindly swipe it on your lips without a mirror.

The few seconds that it takes to dry may feel strange if you’re not used to a matte lip product. It dries out my lip at first and I feel the need to put lip balm on. After a couple of minutes, the feeling goes away and it wears pretty comfortably.

kylie-22What I love most about this product is how LONG it lasts. As I said above, this lipstick seriously does not budge. I tested it and wore it for over 9 hours, with meals/drinks/snacks in between and only the middle part faded a little. It is really impressive and so far, the longest lasting lip product I’ve tried.

It is also incredibly pigmented and very true to colour. One swipe is all you will need. Although it is extremely long lasting and highly pigmented, there is no chemical scent or taste to the lipstick and it has never smudged on my lip.
kylie-lipkit-22Here is a picture taken TEN  hours after wear, using bright flash so you can see it better. I applied this at around 1pm, and took it off at 11pm. You can see the middle part start to fade.

During these ten hours, I drank some water, iced tea, and ate a filling sushi & udon dinner. I was positive that the slippery udon would get rid of the lipstick, but nope! Amazing!

Overall, I am really impressed with Kylie’s lip products. I never thought I would try her products, or let alone LOVE it, but I’m really glad I gave it a chance. I’m already thinking of the next shades that I want to try. Unfortunately, they are a bit pricey with the USD conversion and shipping rate seeing how I’m a jobless student right now. But I’m hoping to get some more during Christmas!

Edit: After writing this post, the Kylie Gods were on my side and they offered free international shipping! I wanted to buy them ALLLL, but I behaved and only bought one! It arrived about a week later, and is the Leo shade.
yay-nay-or-meh

Yay!


Filed Under: lips, makeup Tagged: beauty, beauty blog, beauty blogger, beauty community, home, kardashians, kylie, kylie jenner, lip kit, lipstick, matte lipstick, vancouver

Stila All Day Matte’ificent Lipstick

September 29, 2016

As I am writing this, there is a slight twinge of guilt because I feel like I should be focusing on finishing up an assignment due later this week. To make myself feel less guilty and to continue writing this post, I will justify it by assuring myself that it is a small assignment and I still have a few days to finish! 😀

Fun fact – I hate procrastinating and doing papers/assignments last minute. Throughout my five years in university so far, I have never had to pull an all nighter. But with that said, I am definitely not a straight A honours student either!

Anyways, I hope you like these sort of off-topic and random intros! I like throwing these types of intros in here because this blog also acts as a journal. I love going through old posts and reading what I was up to at the time of writing!
stila-stay-all-day-matteficient-mon-amiNow, onto the actual makeup review! Today, I will be reviewing the Stila Stay All Day Matte’ificent lipstick. I am a big fan of Stila’s Stay All Day foundation and eyeliner. This is my first time trying their lipsticks for the Stay All Day line.

This lipstick is also not completely matte, it is described as a creamy matte. So if you’re someone who is looking for a completely matte product, this isn’t for you.
stila-stay-all-day-matteficient-mon-ami-2I received the shade mon ami. It is described on Sephora’s website as a “rose nude”. I personally think this shade is more of a muted pink! I normally don’t wear this colour, but I thought I would give it a try.

Honestly, this shade in particular clashed with my skin tone. I’ve always avoided pinks like this in the past because I find it makes me look sick! However, I decided to keep it on the whole day for the sake of this review and to test out the formula!

Apart from this shade, I really enjoyed the formula. As it is described, I found the lipstick to be very lightweight, but very pigmented with a creamy matte finish. Throughout the day, I didn’t find my lips to be sucked dry from the formula, which I was very grateful for. It is infused with castor oil, argon oil, and vitamin E for moisture.

stila-stay-all-day-matteficient-mon-ami-4The lipstick lasted around six hours, with snacking and a meal in between. After about seven hours, half the pigment was gone, particularly in the middle of my lips. I mean, you could definitely still wear it past six hours because it was still there, but it looked pretty dull and not vibrant anymore.

For $29, I found this lipstick to be just alright. It didn’t blow my mind away, but it is a decent quality product. My favourite part of the product was how pigmented and creamy it was. My least favourite part was that it looked very dull towards the end, and you could see the drying lines.
stila-stay-all-day-matteficient-mon-ami-3On a side note, here is a beauty blogger fail that I’d like to share with you. The struggle of a broken lipstick, SIGH. Yes, there are hacks that you can use to fix this, but the lipstick is inconveniently stuck in the lid and I can’t scoop it out without ruining it and getting it all messy =(

If you are a clumsy person like me, I warn you to be careful with this lipstick as it is very creamy. It is also skinnier than most lipsticks, which increases the chance of it breaking =(
yay-nay-or-meh

Meh…

Press product featured. Opinions are own.

 

 


Filed Under: Beauty, lips, makeup Tagged: beauty, beauty blog, beauty blogger, beauty blogging, lipstick, matte lipstick, stila, vancouver

Estee Lauder Fall Preview 2016

September 17, 2016

Ah, how I love thee, Estee Lauder. I am back again with a preview of the upcoming Estee Lauder products, this time for the Fall 2016 season!
Estee Lauder Foundation I’ll start off with the Estee Lauder foundation bar, which features five of their different foundations. How pretty is this table? I seriously LOVE it, and the flowers make me so happy.

Four of the foundations pictured here have already been released, but I’ll be talking about the one launching this season below.
Estee Lauder Pressed PowderJust a close up of one of their foundations, because I found this so aesthetically pleasing!
estee-lauder-beauty-blenderOkay, now back to actual information hahaha! This is the Double Wear Nude Cushion Stick. What’s cool about this product is that there is a sponge applicator at the top, as you can see.

Having the sponge applicator, which feels the same as a Beauty Blender, makes it very travel friendly and easy to use. You don’t have to worry about finding a brush or sponge to blend your foundation!

The foundation itself gives a nice warm and radiant glow, while moisturizing your skin. I would say this is a light-medium finish. It also has a nice and clean scent!
estee-lauder-re-nutrivThis is the luxury line for Estee Lauder, Re-Nutriv. We all oooh-ed and ahhh-ed over the scent, texture, and ingredients of these luxury products.

In particular, I really liked the Re-Nutriv Ultimate Lift Regenerating Youth Serum. It looks really cool and when we tested it on our skin, I liked how there was a little shimmery glow on my hand!
estee-lauder-lipstickHere are the new shades for the Pure Color Envy line! Inside these lipsticks are a new Optical Pearl Blend, which transforms lip shape with a unique prismatic optic blend for amplified lips.

In addition, the lipsticks include an Exclusive Time Release Encapsulated Moisture Complex with Hyaluronic Acid! This basically means that lips are kept moisturized and smooth due to the timed release of the hyaluronic acid.

I really love Estee Lauder lipsticks for their creaminess, pigmentation, and magnetic caps. The lipstick cap snaps nicely together with the magnet and I love playing with it sometimes, hehe. You can really see and feel the quality of their lipsticks, which is why I love them so much!
estee-lauder-modern-muse-rougeThis season comes the Modern Muse Le Rouge Gloss! This is a sexy, fierce, and bold take on the previous Modern Muse perfumes. It really does smell sexy, if that makes any sense? LOL.

The scent is best described as fruity, spicy, and woody with woody being the most noticeable. I noticed a fruity scent as first, and then it turns into a more spicy and woody scent.

The notes are: BLACK CHERRY, CARROT SEED, MANDARIN, ROSE CENTIFOLIA, PINK PEPPER, JASMINE ABSOLUTE, VINYL ACCORD, STYRAX, SAFFRON, LABDANUM, VANILLA, and PATCHOULI. (Notes taken from Estee Lauder website).
estee-lauder-aerin-perfumeThe second perfume launching this fall is by AERIN. AERIN is a line created by Estee Lauder’s granddaughter. This is the AERIN Tangier Vanille. As the name suggests, there is a strong vanilla scent, which I found very warm and comforting. Is it strange that I want to describe it as a delicious scent due to the vanilla and chocolate scents that I detected? Haha!

It is named Tangier Vanille because this perfume is created from Morrocan vanilla,one of the finest vanillas in the world, and Tangier is a city in Morroco. It also just sounds very lovely!

Other notes of this floral, amber, sandalwood, and soft musk. As you can tell, it is a wonderful scent for the colder seasons, where we could use some warmth.
estee-lauder-pink-ribbonLast but definitely not least, is the Pink Ribbon collection. The Pink Ribbon Collection is a breast cancer research foundation founded by Estee Lauder. Each of the products in this collection have a pink ribbon to signify that part of the proceeds go towards breast cancer research.

Well, there you have it 🙂 What product did you like most in this preview? Keep an eye out for these products on shelves in the upcoming months!

 


Filed Under: Beauty, events, eyes, face, lips, makeup Tagged: beauty, beauty blog, beauty blogger, beauty blogging, estee lauder

ACI Fall 2016 Preview

September 2, 2016

I feel as if I haven’t blogged for awhile, although it’s only been a week! As some of you may know already, the past two months were absolutely crazy for me. I finally have the tail end of summer to relax, and I’ve been really trying to savour the sunny days before fall rolls in.

Another year has gone by, and it is time to share with you all the upcoming products from ACI Beauty. ACI is a Canadian beauty distributor, or in super simple terms, they bring products to the shelves of our favourite beauty stores.
Paul & Joe Looney TunesPaul & Joe never fails to impress me with their product designs. Like seriously, who designs their packaging because it is seriously amazing. This season, Paul & Joe have partnered up with Looney Tunes to launch a limited collection set of themed products!

Last fall, the boyfriend and I watched Bugs Bunny at the Symphony, presented by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. I am really loving how companies are coming out with modern ways to invoke nostalgia. (Side note, I really recommend going to the Bugs Bunny at the Symphony if the VSO brings it back! Not sponsored btw)
Paul & Joe blushThese were too cute not to include. Apart from the lipsticks, they also have blush and shadow compacts with the limited edition Looney Tunes sets. Which one is your favourite design?
Paul & Joe catRemember the cat lipsticks I talked about last year? Well, Paul & Joe has launched a new cat blush this season. The cats here are also blush beads. But with a product so cute, I would be really reluctant to use it up.
Cargo CosmeticsCargo is a brand that I’ve seen here and there, but I was able to learn more about it at the event. I am a big fan of palettes, so I am pretty excited to try and test their palettes out!
Korres CreamI raved about my Korres wild rose oil back in May, and have really started to take a liking to this Greek brand. This Fall, they are releasing a few skincare products and a soap bar.

I’ve been using the wild rose day cream & night mask for the past week, the two on the left and right pictured above. So far, it’s been working really well with my skin and leaves it hydrated and plump. I’m going to use it a bit longer before I write the review, but I’ve been really loving it!
Stila HighlighterThis star light, star bright highlighting trio is part of Stila’s holiday collection. Just like their putty foundation that I reviewed last year, the highlighters also have a nice bounce to it.
Stila Liquid LipstickSome liquid lipsticks from Stila! These come in sets of three, but I just put them all together so you can see what colours they offer.
Ceramic GlazeNail polishes from Seche & Ceramic Glaze. Both are companies that I can vouch for. Once I discovered the Seche Vite top coat, there was no going back. Seriously, it’s a phenomenal top coat and I recommend that you try it for yourself if you haven’t already.
Fusion BeautyFusion is a smaller brand that I haven’t tried that much of yet, but so far, I’ve been really liking the browfusion. It is a double ended brow pencil and gel. I love how angled the pencil is, and how easy it is to get a nice shape!

Apart from the browfusion, they seem to specialize in mascaras. Pictured above are their new mascara launches, which I need to try!
St TropezLast but not least, new products from St. Tropez. Self tanning seems pretty intimidating to me, I’ve heard many horror stories of people trying this at home and coming out looking like an orange. Perhaps one day I’ll give it a shot!

However, we were told that the gradual tan mousse (pictured on the right, the white can) is perfect for beginners because the tan builds up slowly!

Press event. Opinions are own.


Filed Under: Beauty, body, events, eyes, face, lips, makeup Tagged: beauty, beauty blog, beauty blogger, beauty community, beauty event, beauty preview, beauty review, canada, vancouver

TAG: Boyfriend describes my makeup products

August 8, 2016

I am very happy that I have a boyfriend who willingly goes to, and suggests, that we go to Sephora together! When we first started dating a few years ago, he had absolutely NO clue what type of makeup products there were. In fact, I remember him asking me, ‘What is a Sephora?’ – how far he has gotten!

Even though he now knows what ‘a Sephora’ is now and has a decent amount of makeup knowledge, I thought this would be a fun tag to do! I got this idea from Celina over at The Celution, you can see her post here.
tagFor this tag, I chose ten products that he is supposed to describe what the purpose is! Let’s get this post started!
tag1Josie Maran coconut watercolour cheek gelee: “Cheek geleeeeeeh…..? Gelleeeeeeeh? I’m going to say blush for your cheeks.”

Estee Lauder BB creme: “BB… I don’t remember what BB stands for… it’s like a… smooths out lines or something.”
tag2Urban Decay makeup setting spray: “Setting spray… is this like primer? It helps the makeup settle and not come off.”

Estee Lauder cheek/lip ball: “Some kind of lip colouring? Lip liner? I dunno.”
tag3Dolly Wink liquid eyeliner: “Eyeliner. It’s used to line your eyes to make your eyes look bigger.”

Beauty blender: “It’s used to blend your foundation. I don’t know how you use it. Just rub it. Rub it all over your face.”
tag4Stila stay all day 10-1 illuminating beauty balm: “Uhh… bronzer? It gives you that dewy effect. Dewy means shiny looking.”

Estee Edit pore vanishing stick: “Pore vanishing stick? It’s the uh.. pore minimizer. It fills in your pores so that your foundation will not look like it’s full of holes.”
tag5Maybelline mineral powder: “Isn’t this foundation? This is the dry powder, I don’t know. What’s the difference between wet and dry again… uh… the dry foundation sits on the surface more and is for oily skin.”

essence lip liner: “Lip liner. It’s used to define your lips.”

That’s it! Some of his responses really had me cracking up, like the Beauty Blender and Stila illuminating balm! Special thanks to the boyfriend for being a good sport and making this post possible! Perhaps I should do a part two because it was a lot of fun, and I do have a lot more makeup that he could attempt to describe =P

I encourage others to try this post out as well! Be sure to link me if you end up doing it 🙂


Filed Under: eyes, face, lips, makeup

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