Curiously Carmen

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!

The 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!
Ta-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.
After 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.

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.

Valentines Day Makeup Look – Soft, Cute & Romantic

February 8, 2016

I have been trying to put my makeup to use more, which means that hopefully I’ll be able to create more looks to share (if I have enough time, that is). Since Valentine’s Day is coming up, I thought I would create a soft, romantic look to wear.

I don’t have any grand Valentine’s Day plans, but it’s always a great excuse to get dolled up!

Since I normally create all my eyeshadow looks with the Naked palette, I decided to out of my comfort zone and try my other eyeshadows!

I used mostly my Estee Lauder eyeshadow set on the top, to create the soft, romantic look. It has such great shades and I couldn’t think of a better occasion to use it!

I also used my new Arbonne smoothed over lipstick in Willow. I love the pigment and creaminess of the lipstick. Unfortunately, I broke it right after I used it the first time so I had to be really careful when applying it this time (it’s almost cracked in half, boo). Again, I don’t normally wear light/nude shades so this look was quite different from what I would usually wear!
1) Start by applying white eyeshadow to your eyelids. This will help the other eyeshadow colours pop out and look more vibrant. Since I was just playing around with this look and not going out, I didn’t wear primer but I would highly recommend a good primer that will make the eyeshadow more vivid.
Products used: Estee Lauder eyeshadow sets

2) Afterwards, use a light pink and ivory base to create that soft look on your eyelid. Then, use the lilac shade all over your eyelid and a bit over your crease. Be generous with the lilac shade as this is the shade you want to stand out!
Products used: Estee Lauder eyeshadow sets

3) To finish off the eyeshadow, use a smaller and more condensed brush (your pinky would be fine too) and dab it in a highly pigmented gold eyeshadow. Dab the gold shimmer on the inner corners of your eye to give this a more glamorous, yet romantic look.
Products used: The Face Shop gold eyeshadow
4) Use a black liquid liner and line your eyes. Since I wanted to keep this look soft, I didn’t wing out my liner as much as I normally would. However, you could wing out your liner if you’d like!
Products used: Kat Von D liquid liner

5) As for the face, I wanted a soft look so I brought out my rosy pink bush and applied it to my cheeks. Rosy blush has the ability to immediately soften your look and make it a lot more cuter.
Products used: ELF blush

6) Finish by applying a soft nude colour on your lip.
Products used: Arbonne smoothed over lipstick

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Thanks for reading!

Carmen

Commodity Juicery

February 5, 2016

I don’t know about you, but I loooveee green juice! That might be hard for you to believe as I’m not completely into the whole healthy living lifestyle. I love my burgers, fries, and root beer, but sometimes I like to trade that in for some feel-good green goodness.

Commodity Juicery is a new juicery that opened up on Fraser Street in Vancouver, right across from Earnest Ice Cream. Since this area isn’t that busy or commercial, it is pretty easy to find parking. It is also easily accessible by bus (#8 Fraser or #25 UBC).

I was invited to a taste-testing and sampled a few of their juices and food offered on their menu. Here is what I thought!
Upon walking in, Commodity Juicery is pretty small but seating is comfortable. They have a service counter that doubles up as a table, which seats four people comfortable. There are also two lounge chairs by the window.

I loved how white, clean, and new everything was! They also have an open kitchen, which you can completely see the staff juicing on their ginormous industrial juicer or make the food. Half way through our taste testing, we got to see and talk to one of the staff members, who was creating more nut mylk and juices!
Top left, going clockwise

All greens #2: We started off with the least sweetest juice. This was made with kale, cucumber, romaine, celery, parsley, lime, and ginger. It was very light, and tasted like cucumber water with a hint of lime and celery. I was a bit worried that I wouldn’t like this, but it wasn’t that bad! You would like this if you’re a fan of green juice like I am.

Mighty greens #3: Cucumber, green apple, mint, romaine, celery, kale, lime. This one tasted similar to all greens, except that it was sweeter due to the green apple.

Purple puppy #6: Beet, cucumber, cilantro, orange, apple. Compared to the previous two, this one was a LOT sweeter due to the orange and apple. My cousins both said there was a strong beet taste to this.

If you’re not a fan of the green juice taste but want the healthy benefits, I would recommend this one. It tasted like a regular, sweetened juice (even though there was no added sugar!).

Bright greens #4: Romaine, cucumber, kale, parsley, green apple, lemon. This one tasted pretty similar to the other two green juices. I enjoyed all three!

Top to bottom

Morning love #7: Carrot, yam, orange, lemon, cinnamon. This reminded me of the fall due to the cinnamon and carrot. It tasted like you were drinking a pie, if that makes any sense! It was very warming and smoothing.

Matcha mylk#12: Cashews, almonds, matcha, maple syrup, vanilla bean. Moving away from the green juices, we sampled one of their ‘mylks’ – all of their milk is dairy free and made with nuts.

This was really delicious! The cashews and almonds made it creamy, due to the higher fat content that nuts have. The vanilla bean taste at the end was the cherry on top of a delicious mylk.

Zucchini & kale chips: The zucchini chips were seasoned with sour kream (aka. cashew milk with seasoning), and tasted delicious! The kale chips were nice and thick, and flavoured with chili lime. Both chips were delicious and we couldn’t stop munching in between juice samples.

Vegan quinoa salad: I was surprised at how creamy the quinoa was, even without dairy! Again, it was made with cashew milk. There was a nice garlic flavour, with hints of fresh and sweet apple.
Vegan minestrone soup: This recipe was carried on from one of the owners grandma! How sweet. Even though it did not have any meat, I found this to be really delicious and something I could have daily. It was the perfect embodiment of a heart warming soup.

Vegan Caesar salad: Hands down, my favourite dish that day. I couldn’t stop thinking about this salad and telling my friends how amazing this was! This salad was so incredibly fresh, crunch, and creamy.

Did you know that the base of Caesar dressing is anchovies? I didn’t know that! In replacement of anchovies, they used dulce flakes which has a similar taste to anchovies.
Vegan coconut almond date bites: These cute little bites were delicious as well! They were very sweet due to the dates, while the coconut flakes gave it a nice crunch. These are perfect for a healthy dessert alternative and sure to satisfy those who have a sweet tooth.

In conclusion, Commodity Juicery opened my mind up about vegan eating, and how delicious and easy it can be. The juices were delicious as well and there is something for everyone, even if you’re not crazy about green juices.
Juices range from $10-12 a bottle, with food items ranging anywhere from $2-$10. If I could afford a $10 juice, I would come back here pretty often but until then, I’ll be continuously thinking of their delicious juices.

Thanks for reading!

Carmen

Complimentary tasting in exchange for a review. Opinions are own.

Covergirl Clean Foundation Review

February 2, 2016

I stumbled upon this foundation by a lucky accident! I was browsing around Shoppers with some girlfriends after brunch, and saw this foundation on sale for $5. What a steal! The normal price of this foundation was $10.

Since I’ve been wanting to try a new foundation anyways, I thought this would be the perfect chance without spending too much money!

It’s been awhile since I’ve purchased anything from Covergirl. It definitely brings me back to high school days… I loved those Covergirl wet slicks lip glosses!

Now that I think of it, I don’t think I own any other Covergirl foundations. I usually just bought their lip products or mascaras back in high school.
There are three types of foundation under Covergirl’s clean line. I don’t recall what the other two are, but this one is meant specifically for sensitive skin. Although I don’t have sensitive skin, I bought this one because it was the only one out of the three that was on sale.

The clean sensitive line comes with a bright green lid, while the other two clean foundations have brown and blue lids.
I got the shade ‘soft honey’, a lucky guess because it matched my face nicely!

The one thing I did not like about this foundation is how hard it is for the product to come out. Even when you try to shake the glass jar, the foundation is really stubborn and does not want to come out. I was smacking this bottle pretty hard on my hand for a good few minutes before my hand started getting red.

I eventually gave up and used a cotton swab to get the product out.
I found that the foundation was easy to blend, and came without a scent. It was also very buildable, which is something I always look for in foundation. Being buildable allows you to be flexible with the amount of coverage you want.

This is a picture I took right after I put it on, no photoshop – only whitened the background but nothing to my face. It lasted all evening and I had no problems with it.
Overall, I really liked this foundation, especially since I found it on sale for only $5! That is a steal and if I saw it on sale again for that price, I would buy it in a heart beat.

My one complaint would be the packaging, because it was so hard for the foundation to come out! I have it currently stored upside down, but I’ll probably be using cotton swabs to get the product out.

Yay!

Thanks for reading!

Carmen

Jord Wooden Watch Review

January 30, 2016

I am excited to share this company with you all today! Jord is a company specializing in luxury, all natural wooden watches.

I was given the chance to try out one of their beautiful wooden watches in the fall, and here is what I thought.
Out of the designs that I was allowed to chose from, I decided to go with the Cora series, with the beautiful purpleheart & mother of pearl watch.

Did you know that purpleheart is a type of wood that is all natural in colour? When freshly cut, purpleheart is a dull grayish/purplish brown. Upon exposure, the wood becomes a deeper eggplant purple. So pretty and cool!

The watch arrives in a sturdy wooden box. It also comes with a slip on wooden lid, with their logo engraved on the box. The box is really good quality and you could use the box to store small items.

This watch is splash-proof, but not entirely water-proof so don’t submerge yours in water! Since this watch is made from 100% wood, it is recommended to clean the watch with lemon or orange oil extract so that you don’t damage the material.

Jord also recommends to avoid storing the watch in extreme hot/cold or humid environments.
One thing that is really great about Jord watches is that most of them do not require the use of batteries. This watch is a self winding watch, meaning that the movement of the watch depends on the wearer’s wrist movement.

To start the watch, you use the winder on the side and set the time. It is important to wear the watch in order to keep the time moving. After enough movement and wearing, the watch will start to move automatically and won’t stop unless you take it off for long periods of time.

Check out that intricate craftmanship- it looks even more beautiful when you see it in action. It reminded me of those classic grandfather clocks!
Overall, I enjoyed the Jord watch, but it was my first time having an automatic watch. Since I would only wear it for a few hours at a time, it became tedious to have to reset the time each time I wanted to wear it. Clearly, I am not #fancy enough but at least I learned something new from this watch!

However, I’m aware that this is the case for ALL self winding watches, so it is something that I will have to get used to! Other than that, I have no complaints about the watch itself. The watch is of great quality and I love the unique all-wood design.

As previously mentioned, I would consider these watches to be a luxury item. The price ranges from $129-$395 USD, depending on the series and style. Automatic watches cost more than battery-powered watches, but you don’t have to worry about your watch running out of batteries.

Meh…

Thanks for reading!

Carmen

Sample provided for review. Opinions are own.