Curiously Carmen

Beauty: Night Skincare Routine

Recently, I have been playing around and testing out products for my night skincare routine. Since starting this routine, my skin has noticeably gotten a lot softer and smoother so I thought I would share it! My pores seem to have shrunk too.

I have been doing this routine for the past three weeks now. These are the five products that I have been using!Step 1) Pixi Glow Tonic: I received this toner earlier this year, but it stung and dried out my skin so I stopped using it. It was disappointing since so many people have raved about this product. I’m not sure what happened since then, but my skin is able to tolerate it now and I love it now! I use a cotton pad and apply this all over my face.

Step 2) Eminence Neroli Age Corrective Hydrating Mist: I use two spritz on my face each night and gently pat it into my skin. My skin drinks this up and instantly my skin feels more plump and hydrated.

Step 3) Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair: I use this for extra moisture and hydration, especially during the winter because my skin gets really dry.

Step 4) Mizon All In One Snail Repair Cream: My new favourite skincare product!!! This is my favourite part of my routine because this cream is seriously amazing. After my skin has been hydrated with the Eminence mist, I pat this in for the ultimate hydration and to seal in the moisture overnight.

Step 5) Estee Lauder Revitalizing Supreme eye cream: My last step is gently patting this eye cream over and under my eyes to prevent eye wrinkles.

Step 6) Lush sleepy cream: I bought this after reading so many great reviews at how this cream instantly put people to sleep. As someone who suffers from sleep problems, I was very intrigued but it did not work on me personally. But, it smells great and hydrates well so I just use this on my hands before I sleep so that my room smells nice before I try to catch some zzz’s.

My skin dries up like crazy during the winter months, but this year, my skin has been seemingly unaffected by the cold and heaters.

I will probably change up my routine when the weather changes (as you should) but for now, this has been working very well for me!

I am thinking of posting my morning routine too, which is quite similar to my night time one!

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

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!

 

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!

Weleda Evening Primose Face Cream Line (Day & Night)

Weleda is a company that I haven’t talked about, but have been seeing it gain traction in the past few months. I thought it was a small company, but was pleasantly surprised when it was the first thing I saw at Whole Foods as their featured product in front of the body care section! Their body care shelves were stocked with a variety of Weleda products.

I’ve been using the Weleda Evening Primose face day & night creams daily for about two weeks now, and here are my thoughts on it!

Before the green/sustainable beauty industry suddenly exploded in the past few years, Weleda was one of the first in the green beauty industry being founded in 1921. Weleda started by creating one of the world’s first biodynamic gardens, which after some Googling I found out that it means that these farmers/gardeners strive to regenerate crops as much as possible from within the farm itself. There are also some spiritual beliefs intertwined with biodynamic gardening, in that the earth is sacred and must be treated with respect… etc etc. You can read more about it here if you wish.

What it says (Taken from Weleda’s website):

The formula is rich in evening primrose oil, high in essential fatty acids, which helps protect the skin’s moisture barrier. Gotu-kola extract, known to increase collagen production, provides support to the skin’s structure. It’s also enhanced with inca nut oil, noted for its high vitamin E content that helps to promote skin renewal.

Packed with additional skin-nourishing and restoring ingredients, this elegant day cream will leave skin radiant, firm and smooth. For best results, use with the Age Revitalizing Eye & Lip Cream and Age Revitalizing Night Cream.

Application: The day and night creams come in a standard, no-mess tube. As with most creams, the day time cream was lighter in texture. The night time cream was thicker. It’s better to have a thicker night time cream because your skin does most of its absorption while at rest. But in the day time, a thicker cream might not feel as comfortable, particularly on a hot and humid day! They both feel cooling on the skin on contact.

Wear: I have no complaints about the wear! Both were very comfortable. My skin type differs throughout the seasons. It has changed from oily to dry in the past few months, and I’m happy to say that it is finally calming down although still a bit sensitive. Due to slightly sensitive skin, I was a bit hesitant to try this product out because I wasn’t sure how it would react. But my skin feels adequately moisturized. It isn’t too oily at the end of the day, and I don’t wake up with dry leather skin!

Scent: My favourite thing about the Weleda Evening Primose line is the smell. It smells very luxurious and pleasant. I always look forward to putting this on my skin at night and in the morning because I love how it smells. Due to the primrose, it has a beautiful floral scent… and I am weak for flowers & flower scents!!!

  • Does a great job in moisturizing skin
  • Skin feels soft and supple after 2 weeks of continued use
  • Lovely scent
  • Very gentle

Cons:

  • The tube (30ml) is small for what you pay for (Couldn’t find a CAD$ price online, but it retails for $40 USD on their website)

Yay!

Press product featured. Opinions are own.

 

 

KORRES Greek Yogurt Primer / Moisturizer

Greek yogurt has always been something I enjoyed eating. Compared to ice cream, it was a guilt free snack and I used to love drizzling honey and dark chocolate chips on it. But now that I can’t have dairy, I am quite sad to have parted ways with Greek yogurt.

At the Spring 2017 ACI Beauty event, we were introduced to the new Korres Greek yogurt primer/moisturizer. We were told that in Greece, a popular treatment for sunburns was Greek yogurt due to the proteins and cooling effect it has. I’m not surprised that Korres has taken this knowledge and created a primer/moisturizer with it!

I was quite excited to try this as I have really loved the two other Korres skincare products – the wild rose oil and Arcadia line!

What it says (taken from press release):
Greek Yoghurt Smoothie Priming Moisturizer is a weightless, multi-action priming moisturizer packed with probiotics, proteins, and minerals to deeply nourish and smooth skin, while also prepping it for flawless makeup application and all-day wear. Formulated with three types of hydrating hyaluronic acid and powerful skin-saving antioxidants and extracts, the smoothie gives skin inner strength for healthy look on the surface.

The product feels very sturdy but not heavy. It would be great to bring for travelling as it’s 30 ml and could take a bit of wear and tear tumbling about your makeup/luggage bag. As well, it doubles up as both a primer and moisturizer so you can pack lighter!

Application: The product is more on the light side and has a milky texture. It is very easy to spread onto your face and does not leave a sticky residue. There is also a slight scent but I can’t pinpoint what it smells like exactly!

Wear: Since this is also a primer and contains hyaluronic acid, this left my face feeling very smooth and soft! The scent also lingers and the boyfriend asked if I had put on perfume one night. My skin has been really sensitive this month and I normally don’t wear foundation, so I’ve just been using this as a moisturizer.

But, I could tell that this would work very well as a primer too. It gives your skin a hydrated and smooth base to work with. It also absorbs really quickly.

Korres products have worked tremendously well with my skin, and the Greek yogurt primer/moisturizer is no different!

  • Leaves skin feeling soft, smooth and hydrated
  • Has a bit of a cooling effect, I love applying this after my shower

  • Pricey at $55 CAD

Yay!