• 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

July 2015 Favourites

July 30, 2015

Hi everyone!

I can’t believe July has passed by with the blink of an eye (Hehe, I rhyme)! I haven’t compiled a list of some of my favourite products for awhile, so figured I would do that. I’ve been pretty busy this month and haven’t been posting as much as I would like, but am trying to get more content up for all of you wonderful readers to read!

1041167

I’m always raving about my favourite eyeliner, the Kat Von D tattoo liner ever since I’ve started this blog. Unfortunately, I misplaced my KVD liner a few weeks ago amidst bringing it in different purses, applying makeup in the car, etc.

I’m certain that it will reappear one of these days although I have checked the most common places I misplace my items! Instead of spending another $25 on it, I decided to try L’oreal’s lineur intense felt tip liquid eyeliner in the meantime as a cheaper alternative.

This is the first drugstore liquid liner I’ve used for a few years now, but I am quite impressed with it. I bought it in the shade carbon black, and I love how dark the shade is. I prefer felt tip instead of brush tip, and I find this felt tip really easy to work with!

Because of the felt tip and shade, it’s very versatile and you can wear it every occasion. You can tightline for a natural look, or you can choose to wing it out for a more noticeable look!
2047623

My mom had purchased Softsoap‘s body wash in sweet honeysuckle & orange peel,and I decided to give it a try one day!

I love this soap because it lathers very well, a little does go a long way! However, the reason why this product is on my favourites list is because I am absolutely in LOVE with the scent! I’ve never tried a honeysuckle and orange peel scent before, and let me tell you… it smells wonderful!

L1029487

While we are on the topic of soap, I was also introduced to Caprina’s goat milk soap. The boyfriend was suffering from really dry skin from the harsh winter climate. He said that goat’s milk soap improve their skin greatly, so I decided to give it a try too!

I noticed that compared to regular bar soap, this soap is a lot more milkier and creamier. It definitely feels a lot more moisturizing than regular bar soap! Since I don’t have dry skin, I can’t tell you if it made my skin less dry… but I do enjoy using this soap, it cleans well and smells wonderful too!
f71e1251af20a092beaea669db63d991

I also purchased a new pair of glasses since my old ones were getting a bit scratched up and Clearly Contacts has having a promotion. Out of the two pairs, I really liked the Derek Cardigan glasses in 7037 olive.

They are very lightweight, comfortable, and stylish! I really like the design of these and have been wearing them quite often since I got them!
MPK-2Veering off beauty products now, this is really random but I just have to share it with you as this is an absolute lifesaver! Mopiko ointment is normally used in Asian households for mosquito bites. I’ve been using this ever since I was a child! I am prone to getting nasty, swollen mosquito bites, I am probably allergic to something in those annoying mosquitoes.

Whenever my bites begin to itch, I apply Mopiko and the itch literally goes away in 5 seconds. A cooling, breezy, minty feeling takes over the itch and it feels really relieving. I’ve tried many bug ointments in my life, but I always end up going back to Mopiko because it works the best for me!
—-

That’s it to my July 2015 favourites!

What are some of your current favourites? Doesn’t have to be beauty related!

Thanks for reading!

Carmen


Filed Under: body, eyes, makeup Tagged: beauty, beauty blogger, beauty favourites, classes, contact lenses, eyeliner, goat's milk, l'oreal, liquid eyeliner, monthly favourites, mopiko, proclear, scent, soap, softsoap

GUEST POST: Sasa.com Makeup & Skincare Haul! 

April 16, 2015

Hi everyone!

Special blog post today- everyone, virtually meet one of my good friends, Pauline (She’s super awesome)! She has agreed to write a guest post for me and I’m excited to share it with you all today. See what type of Asian cosmetics Pauline bought from Sasa.com and how she wore them to the Japanese cherry blossom festival. 

Happy reading everyone!

Carmen 

~~~~~

Hello everybody! I am doing this for my friend, Carmen, as a guest post, and will be the very first time doing this! So, hopefully this goes well… haha!

I recently bought some makeup and face products from this super famous Hong Kong make up store: Sasa. I usually purchase my makeup and face products from here because it’s cheap and my skin seems like to like Asian brands of makeup/skin products. They also often do free shipping once in a while!

The first product I’m going to introduce is an eyeliner by Majorlica Majorca: the cream pencil liner.

Sasa.com Makeup & Skincare HaulI must say, this cream liner is super smooth to line your eyes with, and it’s super creamy. Usually with creamy eyeliner, it smudges easily, but this eyeliner didn’t smudge and actually stayed on my eyes for the whole day! Especially when I tight lined with this eyeliner, I was ready for this to smudge all over my eyes by the end of the day. I was so surprised at how it stayed on so well! 5/5 for this product! =)
Sasa.com Makeup & Skincare HaulThe second product is: Majorlica Majorca’s jeweling pencil. This product is basically a white eyeliner to put on your eye corners to brightening up your eye as well as giving an illusion of having bigger eyes!

Nothing really special about this eyeliner, as I think all white eyeliners can do the same as this one can. 😛

Sasa.com Makeup & Skincare HaulThird product: Majorlica Marjoca’s perfect automatic liner: This product was kind of weird to use at first. So, the first thing you do is twist the bottom of this eyeliner until the ink comes out from the tip. The con of this is that if you twist too much, the ink will splat out and comes into a big mess.

However, after you clean that up, you can just apply that on your eyes just like any other eyeliner would … If you do not want to clean up the mess, this might not be the best product for you, because you will have to twist the bottom every time you want to use this product.

This eyeliner also stayed on really well on my eyes, and was pretty easy to apply as well. So, other than the whole twisting thing, I would rate this 4.5/5 ☺Sasa.com Makeup & Skincare Haul
Hehe … I have combined the three eyeliners mentioned above today, for my makeup look of the day! I went to the cherry blossom Japanese festival with a couple of my friends today, so I thought “hey, why not try out these products if I am going to blog about them anyway!”

I used the cream eyeliner to tight line my upper line as well as my water line. Like I mentioned, it stayed on without smudging the entire day. I then used the perfect liner to line across my eye and winged it out just a tiny bit, facing downwards, to give an illusion of a cute round eye. (…or eyes…)

Finally, I used the white eyeliner to put on my eye corners to brighten up my eyes. ☺

Sasa.com Makeup & Skincare HaulAnd here’s me in a Yukata ☺ .. To protect my friends’ privacy, I have turned them into Rilakkuma and Korilakkuma.

Okay, on with the other products!
Sasa.com Makeup & Skincare HaulFourth product: Shu Uemura Skin purifier (in premium A/I) This product … is godly. Although this is a “cleansing oil”, this will not clog your pores nor will you have a disgusting oily feeling left on your skin after. Honestly, I can say it is like rubbing pearls on your face. There are 4 easy steps to using this purifier:

1.) Pump 4 pumps on your hand (hand and face dry)
2.) Rub the oil all over your face (and eyes if you have eye make up on)
3.) Add water to the oil until it turns into a milky foamy wash
4.) Rinse and wipe your face

Your makeup is literally all gone, and you do not have to go through a second cleanser to clean your face. The oil also leaves you with smooth skin and feeling hydrated.

The best part about this product is : THIS IS FOR SENSITIVE & DRY SKIN!!! Which is a big problem for me, because sadly, I have super sensitive skin … So now that I have found this, I rate it 10/5!
Sasa.com Makeup & Skincare HaulLast product I’m going to talk about is: Laniege Multiberry Yogurt Pack. I have mentioned above that my face is super sensitive … and this mask did not go well with my skin. I gave this mask a try because of all the good things I have heard about it.

It also says that it is for “all skin types” – and let me tell you … It’s not. If you have sensitive skin, do not go for this product. My face reacted one minute after I put this on … The burning sensation and my face was literally all red like a cherry.

I must say, though, this mask smells like as if you are in a strawberry land … So the pro I can only say about this is that it smells super yummy.

That’s it to my guest post! I hope all of you enjoyed reading about these Asian products and maybe try some out on your own as well!

-Pauline

~~~~~

Thanks for guest blogging, Pauline! You look so good in the yukata. I want to wear one too! 

What are some of your favourite Asian cosmetics?

-Carmen


Filed Under: costumes, eyes, face, makeup Tagged: asian, asian beauty, asian cosmetics, beauty, beauty blogger, beauty guru, clear skin, eyeliner, fotd, japanese, lotion, makeup, makeup blogger, makeup guru, moisturizer, motd, perfect skin, sasa, serum, shu uemura, yukata

NAILKALE – Nails Inc.

April 8, 2015

Hello everyone =)

On one of my many visits to Sephora, I saw a line of nail polishes by Nails Inc. I’ve never tried their products before, so decided to try out their gel effect line. I really loved the results, they lasted longer than usual and had a nice, thick glossy shine to them! A few visits later, I went back and decided to try their other polishes.
NAILKALE - Nails Inc.Why the name “NAILKALE” ? Because it rhymes and sounds cool off your tongue. Nah, it is because their NAILKALE line is actually infused with kale extract! The kale extract stimulates advanced keratin production, hydrates, and nourishes your nail. Personally, I love eating kale and including it in smoothies. Kale is a superfood and has a tremendous amount of nutrients, it isn’t long before beauty companies incorporate it in their products.
NAILKALE - Nails Inc.I bought the shade “Hampstead Grove” which is a dark coral colour. Coral is my go-to colour in the summer.

I used two coats to achieve this look, followed by a clear top coat. One thing I love about Nails Inc. is their fanned nail brush. The shape of their nail brush makes application so easy. One quick swipe covers my entire nail, leaving no streaks behind.

NAILKALE - Nails Inc.This is what the polish looks like with flash. Less orange-y tones, more pink.

NAILKALE - Nails Inc.The day of, I was pretty satisfied with the way it looked! However, I was a bit surprised that the next morning, I woke up only to find that it was already starting to chip. For a $20 polish, I expected it to stay longer, this didn’t even last for 24 hours!

I recommend trying Nails Inc gel effect line instead of NAILKALE, it lasted many more days without chipping.

Thanks for reading!

-Carmen


Filed Under: nails Tagged: beauty, beauty blogger, coral, makeup, makeup blogger, manicure, nail art, nail polish, nails, nails inc, notd, summer, summer colour, youtube, youtube guru

6 Eye Makeup Looks With One Liquid Eyeliner (Part 1/2)!

April 6, 2015

Hi everyone =)

What else is there to do on a rainy, wet, Vancouver day? I had already baked a batch of fresh, delicious hot chocolate cocoa cookies and made a big bowl of spicy chicken stew. The next logical step was to obviously experiment with different eye liner looks.

As you may all know, my makeup always consists of liquid eyeliner. I’ve been using it for many years now, and over the years, the style of my eyeliner has changed depending on the occasion or my mood.

I decided to come up with a few fun liquid eyeliner looks for you all today, and to show you all that eyeliner should not be a daunting task! Depending on your look and application style, it can drastically change your eye shape or dress you up/down.

IMG_2433.JPG

Instead of using my Kat Von D eyeliner for this post, I decided to bring out my Dolly Wink eyeliner! Dolly Wink products are tremendously popular in Asia, it is probably their equivalent to a Covergirl/Maybelline. I’ve heard such great things about this product from the Asian community, and when my friends went to Hong Kong last summer, I asked them to buy it for me.

The fine, thin tip (as you can see above) of this product makes it very versatile. It is probably the thinnest liquid eyeliner pen I own. I also love the super cute and girly packaging!

IMG_2272.JPGNo eyeliner: Here is what my eye looked like before starting. I’m showing this to give you an idea of how the following different looks will change my eye shape. I’m also not wearing any mascara in this post, but adding mascara will intensify the look of your eyeliner.
IMG_2275.JPGThe tightline: Tight-lining your eyes is a great way to naturally make your eyes seem larger and rounder. Tight lining refers to putting the eyeliner as close to your lash line as possible, so that it sort of blends in with your lashes. Doing this makes your eye lashes look thicker, which will make your eyes stand out.

To do: This look is best achieved with a thin liquid eyeliner. Simply put the tip of the eyeliner as close to your lash line as possible, and draw a line. To keep it natural, don’t wing it out and stop where your outer eyelashes end =)
IMG_2270.JPG

The slight flick: Sorry for lack of better titles to name these eyeliner looks! This past week, I have been really loving this look as I find that it makes my eyes look rounder due to the thickness of the liner. It’s also a bit more natural looking than my usual dramatic wing and casual. I would use this look on a daily basis, but not for special occasions.

To do: If tightlining looks too natural for you, add a few thicker strokes of the eyeliner and extend it slightly past the outer corner of your eye. I start by tightlining, then adding about 5 stokes until it reaches a visible thickness. The slight flick at the end opens up your eyes, but not enough to make it a dramatic look.
IMG_2276.JPG

The classic wing: I called this the classic wing because it has been my go-to eyeliner look for a couple of years now. I can easily do this with my eyes closed, that’s how familiar this look is to me! Compared to the look above, this one is more feminine and girly. This look is great for both casual days and special occasions.

To do: Start by tight lining your eye. When you reach the outer corner, extend the line upwards and imagine that it slightly curves to reach the tip of your eyebrow. After that initial wing, it is up to you on how thick or thin you want to retrace the line on your eyelid. After winging it out, I go back to the outer area of my eye, making the line there thicker and keeping the inner corner the same.

IMG_2432.JPGI decided to split this into two posts as I thought that one post would be waaay too long for one post! I hope that you all enjoyed these three looks, and/or that it inspires you to create your own! Maybe I’ll write a review on my Dolly Wink eyeliner soon as well =)

What is your go-to eyeliner look? These days, I have been alternating between the slight flick and the classic wing.

Happy Easter & hope you all enjoyed the long weekend! Thanks for reading!

-Carmen


Filed Under: eyes, makeup Tagged: asian cosmetics, beauty, beauty blogger, cosmetics, dollywink, eyeliner, liquid eyeliner, makeup, makeup blogger, tightlining, winged eyeliner

Estée Lauder Spring/Summer 2015 Preview Event  

March 27, 2015

Hi readers!

Back in August, I had the pleasure of attending my first Estée Lauder media preview event.  I was thrilled when they invited me back to their Spring/Summer 2015 preview event this month!

The format of the media preview event this season was a bit different, but I still enjoyed it. Here are some of the highlights, plus some products that I am looking forward to in the upcoming season!

IMG_2034.JPG

Bronze Goddess shimmer collection: Want to achieve that tanned, golden, bronze look with a hint of shimmer this season?  My favourite from this line would have to be the shimmery body spray, seen in the back left. An Estee Lauder spokesperson showed us how to apply this product by gently dabbing it onto your skin to achieve a glowing sheen.

I love this line because it reminds me of a tropical vacation… if I had these products, I would bring them on my next tropical excursion!
IMG_2029.JPG

Up next, a pretty array of lipstick and nail polish shades for this season! I am a huge fan of coral and pinks, so these products are wonderful to me! My favourite would have to be the coral nail polish in the front.
IMG_2032.JPGNext up, my FAVOURITE Estee Lauder products… their perfumes! I’ve never encountered an Estee Lauder perfume scent that I did not like, so I was quite excited to see how these smelled. Of course, they did not disappoint.

The AERIN line, launched last season from Estee Lauder’s granddaughter Aerin Lauder, has the most amazing scents so I’m glad they came out with a few more this time around.
IMG_2031.JPGThis was definitely an interesting product that captivated my eye. It is their new finishing mineral powder.

It looks like a regular, mineral, loose powder foundation but upon application, it feels like pure silk. It is unbelievably soft and has a nice, smooth finish to it.
IMG_2026.JPGWe also previewed the new Courreges x Estee Lauder line, which the attendees were really excited about. Andre Courreges is a French fashion designer, known for his modern and futuristic design.

This preview session definitely did not disappoint. I’m super excited to see the new AERIN perfumes and finishing powder foundation on the shelves!

What were your favourite products that I talked about? Let me know in the comments down below!

Thanks for reading!

-Carmen


Filed Under: body, events, eyes, face, makeup Tagged: beauty, beauty blogger, courreges, estee lauder, eyeshadow, foundation, lipstick, makeup, makeup blogger, makeup guru, media, media preview, perfume, PR, preview, sephora

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • …
  • 16
  • 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