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Curiously Carmen

Gift Ideas for Friends Under $20

December 19, 2016

Well, it’s that time of the year again… PRESENTS! But I love posts like this and coming up with gift ideas. I decided that this post will be gift ideas under $20 for friends.

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1. Lush bath bombs, $5-$9: Lush bath bombs are quite popular presents to give and receive, and for a good reason too. They smell nice, they look pretty, and make you feel good! They also make good stocking stuffers. Bath bombs start at $5 and go up to $9 for the really fancy ones. I don’t think I would ever purchase a $9 for myself, but I wouldn’t mind buying that for someone.

On another note, you could check out other companies that make bath bombs as well. I picked up some on my recent weekend trip to Victoria, from a local company based in Saltspring Island named Saltpring Soapworks. Compared to Lush, the prices were cheaper there! Some other stores that sell bath bombs are the Rocky Mountain Soap Company, The Body Shop, and Amazon.

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2. Macarons, $1-$20: Macarons are sweet, colourful, and so cute! They also act as great decor because they brighten up a room. How can you not love macarons? Depending on your budget, you could buy a couple, or a box of them. Some delicious places for macarons in Vancouver are Bon Macaron (read my review here), Theirry, Faubourg, Lauduree, and Soirette.

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3. Tsum tsums, $5-$15: OMG, I am in love with tsum tsums. They are so adorable and I want them all! I normally HATE plushies because they just take up room and collect dust, but I am willing to make an exception for tsum tsums. There are so many different Disney tsum tsum characters to choose from. You’ll be sure to find one for someone!

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4. Funko figurines, $10-$20: Funkos are another cool gift idea for that friend who loves fictional characters. Funko has so many different kinds of characters from so many different TV shows, games, and movies! If i had the space and money, I would definitely buy a collectors shelf and just collect them all!

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5. Board games, $5-$20: If your friend is a fan of board games, consider buying them a new board game! Many of my board games are under $20 and are really fun. Take a look at your local board game store and check out the clearance section or the area near the cashier, that is usually where the cheaper games are. I recently bought a card game named Poo for $10 and it’s hilarious!

Check out my holiday gift idea posts from previous years as well!

Intangible Holiday Gift Ideas

Holiday Gift Ideas for the Boyfriend (Post 2)

Holiday Gift Ideas for Parents

Holiday Gift Ideas for the Boyfriend (Post 1)

Tried & Tested Gift Ideas Under $20 (For girls) 

Christmas Gift Ideas for Friends, Under $15


Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged: blog, blogger, Christmas, gift ideas, gifts, lifestyle blog

Valentine’s day Shellac nails with CND’s new summer line!

February 11, 2016

I’m sure most of you have heard of the famous Shellac polish before. If you haven’t, Shellac is a type of special, patent pending, polish exclusively from CND. Shellac is a hybrid, meaning half nail polish, half gel. It is cured through UV lighting, just like gel nails!

Many nail salons swear by Shellac and use it exclusively. Shellac nails also last up to two weeks, just like gel nails!

CND4The CND summer preview event was held at Oynx Aesthetics Studio, in Vancouver’s Gastown neighbourhood. Oynx just opened up three months ago, the studio is a great addition to the neighbourhood. We got to preview the upcoming shades for their Shellac and Vinylux line!

Pictured above are some shades in the new summer line. I decided to go with a girly nail design, just in time for Valentine’s Day!
CND1Ta-daaa! Here are my finished Shellac nails, created by Linda!

For the base colours, Linda used the new CND Shellac shades ‘be demure’ and ‘sparks fly’. She then used a magenta heart and feather tip pen to create the design, and finished with gold tips.
CND3After the Shellac manicure, Linda finished off with a hand massage using CND Spa’s new lotion. I had the gardenia woods one, which smelled wonderful and floral! It was super moisturizing as well.
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I am in love with my new nails, and love how girly they are!

Next time you’re getting a Shellac manicure, check out the new shades, which will be available in March 2016.

Thanks for reading!

Carmen

Media product featured, opinions are own.


Filed Under: Uncategorized

Vichy Aqualia Thermal Extra Sensitive Moisturizer

December 24, 2015

For some reason, this Winter season has been the harshest and roughest on my skin than it’s ever been before. I’ve never really had to deal with the problem of dry skin, but it came full force this month as the weather started getting colder and the heat got cranked up.

My usual oily skin became very dry, tight, and rough feeling. I found myself moisturizing three or more times a day just to keep it from becoming so tight and rough! During this time, I also stopped using most of my face washes (as the washes I use are designed to keep oily skin at bay), except a gentle, oil-based cleanser on days I wore foundation.

Vichy Aqualia Thermal Extra Sensitive MoisturizerVichy’s new Aqualia Thermal Extrasensitive moisturizer is a really intensive cream that will quench your skin’s thirst. It is composed of 10% thermal water. Thermal water comes from rain water that has been seeped deep underground, making the natural water extremely rich in minerals.

Vichy Aqualia Thermal Extra Sensitive MoisturizerI liked the pump bottle design, which gave me the perfect amount of product in one pump. The bottle is also airtight to prevent contamination and to ensure purity of the product.

I was super excited to try this product as my skin was in dire need of some moisture! The first thing I noticed was how nice and refreshing the moisturizer smelled. Putting this in the morning is a great added bonus and can also wake you up a bit.

The moisturizer was very intensive without being greasy! Normally, my oily skin does not require this sort of intensive moisturizer but it absolutely soaked it up instantly.
Vichy Aqualia Thermal Extra Sensitive MoisturizerI use this at night along with the Estee Lauder Nutritious Overnight Cream. In the morning, my skin feels well fed, plump and moisturized.

I also use a pump in the morning, which I feel gives my skin an extra boost in the dry weather. Then, I use it one more time after I get home in the early evening because my skin starts to feel tight and dry again. It instantly replenishes my skin and makes it brighter and healthy looking!

This product is great for those who are suffering from dry skin, whether it be from the weather or that is just your skin type. It does a tremendously well job in repairing and moisturizing your skin and I’ll be using it throughout the winter to prevent that tight and dry skin feeling.

This product retails for $39.50 CAD online at Vichy.ca or in-stores at London Drugs. At the time of writing, London Drugs is having a sale for $31.60 CAD.

yay-nay-or-meh

Yay!

Thanks for reading!

Carmen

Press sample featured. Opinions are own.


Filed Under: Uncategorized

Stila fall 2015 Media Preview Event

August 13, 2015

Last week, I had the pleasure of attending the Stila Fall/Winter 2015 media preview event at the beautiful Rosewood Hotel Georgia in downtown Vancouver.  I also got to meet Sarah Lucero, Stila’s Global Executive Director of Creative Artistry, as she led us through the beautiful array of products.

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Sarah, pictured above, went through all of Stila’s new releases in great detail. We were left in awe and excited with all the new products to come.

Also, can we please take a moment to appreciate how gorgeous the lettering is on the fireplace mantle?! I have a separate picture that I posted on my Instagram, I loved the lettering so much!
IMG_5124.JPGStarting off with the ‘perfectly poreless’ collection, Stila’s new putty protector is a bouncy, gel-based foundation and available in 5 shades. It combines a pressed powder and cream foundation into one product that you are able to bring on the go. I like how lightweight this foundation feels upon putting it on your skin.

In the middle, is the new Stila brush that is also compact and easy to carry around. Sarah told us that this brush is best used for buffing or blending, and I definitely see why as the brush felt very sturdy and concentrated (I hope that makes sense?!) but still very soft!

The product on the left is the Stila bronzer, from their Stay All Day line (I have a review on their Stay All Day felt liner here). It is a perfect bronzer to use to achieve that tan, healthy glow! I also adore the details and printing on the bronzer itself.

IMG_5129-1The next line we were introduced to was the ‘Got Inked’, and quite possibly my favourite new product from them! This is a calligraphy ink cushion eyeliner – I’ve never seen a cushion eyeliner before!

You can see on the bottom picture that it is a sponge-y material. Dipping your liner brush into this pot will reveal strikingly rich, deep, and long-lasting colour. I played with this product for a bit and really liked the concept!

The Got Inked cushion eyeliner comes in four beautiful metallic shades, and two matte shades.
IMG_5128.JPGNext, Sarah talked to us about Stila’s new Extreme Lash line. It includes a light brown primer, which Sarah explained that it makes it easy to apply than your normal white primer.

I’ve used white lash primer before, only to have to put on many extra coats of regular mascara to hide the white. You do not need to use as much regular mascara by having a darker colour primer!
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Last but not least, Sarah guided us throughout the new holiday gift set collection! There are four different gift sets available from Stila this holiday season, all pictured above.

I had a lovely time learning about all of Stila’s different products, and am very excited to try the products out for myself! Keep your eyes posted for reviews in the upcoming months =)

Which product are you most excited for?

Thanks for reading!

-Carmen

Press samples featured, opinions are my own.


Filed Under: events, Uncategorized

Kyo Korean BBQ & Sushi House – AYCE Dinner

May 26, 2015

Greetings everyone!

For Jerky’s birthday dinner a few months ago, a bunch of us went to celebrate at Kyo, which is mostly popular for their AYCE (All You Can Eat) Korean BBQ & Sushi dinner. I’ve been here a handful of times already in the past few years, but this was my first time coming here in more than two years.

IMG_1546.JPGI took this picture back in 2013 and posted it on Facebook because I thought it was funny how the timing of the bus worked perfectly! Never would I have guessed that I would be using this picture again in a blog post two years later.
IMG_1532.JPGWe had a group of around 15 people and were split up between 3 tables. All of us were ordering AYCE, they used to allow tables to have both AYCE and non AYCE, but I don’t think they allow that anymore. They also have an all you can drink section as well, but I believe the entire table has to have it in order for it to qualify? Or maybe I am thinking of another restaurant.

IMG_1534.JPGI didn’t take pictures of every single dish that came since we were all hungry and impatient, my apologies!

For starters, some of us ordered the spinach gomae and miso soup. I enjoyed the spinach gomae quite a bit and was surprised at how good it tasted. The spinach did not taste old and the peanut butter sauce was a tad sweet. The miso soup was your standard instant package miso soup, and was salty.
IMG_1533.JPGOne of my favourites that night was the chicken teriyaki, pictured in the back! The chicken was fried nice and crispy, while the inside was warm and juicy. It was lightly covered in teriyaki sauce and sprinkled with sesame. I could easily eat 3 plates of this myself, it was that good!

Unfortunately, the beef teriyaki was not as good. We found it to be a bit watered down, as there was a puddle of water at the bottom of the plate. It was also very bland and overcooked.
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Barbeque! And a few tiny pieces of vegetables, hehe… Since I didn’t take a picture of all the meat, I’ll just briefly talk about them here. We ordered the beef, short rib, chicken, pork, and lamb meat. All were pretty delicious and juicy. Some of the meat was a bit too salty as it was already marinated beforehand.  Not bad for all you can eat!
IMG_1536.JPGI found the salmon sashimi to be very bland and flavourless. The tuna sashimi was slightly better, but not the best either.
IMG_1538.JPGI didn’t try the nigiri pieces seen in the back since I didn’t really enjoy the sashimi to begin with. The tuna tataki was a different story though – it was amazing! It had a slightly grilled taste due to the fish being seared. The tuna tataki was soft and melted in your mouth. Combined with the ponzu sauce and fresh green onions, this was a definite winner!

All in all, Kyo is a hit or miss with their food but it is one of my favourite restaurants to go to for all you can eat. Service was friendly, although they missed a majority of our dishes from the first order. I wished that I had taken more pictures of the food! All of us ended up being so disgustingly full but hey, what is the point of eating AYCE if you don’t feel like you can ever move again? =)

Do you enjoy all you can eat, or rather have quality over quantity?

-Carmen

Kyo Korean BBQ & Sushi House 月見 on Urbanspoon


Filed Under: Uncategorized

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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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