Curiously Carmen

Summer 2014 Favourite Moisturizers

This idea came to me suddenly a hour ago, and I am in the mood to write tonight 🙂 I have had a busy week and wasn’t able to blog as much as I hoped, but I’m glad I have this long weekend to wind down and take some time to myself. Lately, my skin has been quite dry so I have been relying on my lotions a lot. I have developed a devotion to certain lotions and wanted to share them with you today! Some of these are second or third time purchases that I have been using for a long time, while others I have just started to love. Let’s get started!
photo 1 (2)These are the main moisturizers I use in my daily routine. Anyone have the same products and love them as much as I do? 😀 When my skin gets dry, it also gets really itchy at the same time, so all of these have been amazing at getting rid of the itch and quenching my skin (well, apart from the lip moisturizers haha).  Let’s divide these moisturizers into separate categories and go into further detail with each!

BODY
photo 2 (1)1) St. Ives Daily Hydration Body Lotion:  Out of all my current favourite moisturizers, I would not have expected to like it as much as I do. My mom bought this as opposed to our usual Vaseline body moisturizer, and I didn’t really think much about it. But I love how fast absorbing and non greasy it is. This lotion also has a very neutral but clean and crisp scent to it that I think would be suitable for males as well.
2) The Body Shop Body Whip in Mango: I’m not too sure why they changed their brand of body lotions to body whip, it kinda sounds strange to me. Anyways, I am in love with the smell of this lotion, as with most Body Shop scents. Again, this moisturizer is very absorbent and leaves my body smelling like mangoes. It’s also very lightweight, and a little goes a long way. I alternate between the two, and honestly, it just depends on which room I’m in when I feel like my skin is getting dry. The St. Ives lotion is stored in our washroom, while TBS one is in my room.

 Face
photo 3
The Body Shop Seaweed Mattifying Day Cream: You guys, I have fallen in love with this facial moisturizer. I recently just finished my first jar, and wasn’t planning on buying another one because I love trying new products. However, as I was in between facial creams, I realized how much I missed this one. Initially, there is a cooling sensation when you apply this, which is great first thing in the morning as it wakes you up. Secondly, it does a great job at combating oil and making sure your face does not dry out the whole day. This lotion is best suited for those people like me who have combination skin type.

Hands:
photo 5Crabtree & Evelyn Pomegranate Body Lotion: I also received this as a gift two years ago, but never actually used it because I had a lot of other lotions to use and I didn’t want to “waste” this product as I know that it is pricier than most lotions I buy. Anyways, I started to use it two weeks ago and I really like it.  It t has a mix of fruity and floral notes which I loooove. The scent lasts on your skin the whole day, even after washing your hands! This is actually a body lotion, but I treat it like a hand lotion because of the size.
Lips:
photo 41) Vaseline: If you don’t know how amazing Vaseline is, this classic video of supermodel/ex-talk show host Tyra Banks going absolutely crazy on her studio audience can explain its wonders. I remember watching this on TV as a pre-teen and not being able to find words to describe her crazy and hilarious sudden outburst on Vaseline. OH MY GOD I just re-watched this video and was almost dying of laughter.
Image2) EOS Lip balm: I used this a lot back in high school, but I stopped cause I didn’t like the sphere design and dust kept getting trapped inside. I still don’t like the sphere design because it’s not practical, but you have to admit that it does look pretty cool aesthetically speaking. I have the melon one, and I love the smell and taste of it.  The EOS balm keeps my lips hydrated longer than most lip balms I have used (apart from Vaseline of course).

Well, there you have it! I love all of these moisturizers for a variety of reasons, from their lightweight, non greasy formulas to their fantastic scent. Which moisturizers are YOUR favourite? Let me know in the comments down below 🙂

-Carmen

June 2014 Favourites!

Hello everyone! This is my first time doing a round-up with the Canadian Beauty Blogger network. I am very excited to join this community, everyone is so talented and passionate about beauty products and I hope to bring something to the table as well. I look forward to reading everyone’s posts! Leave me a comment and say hi, I won’t bite 🙂

june favBurt’s Bees lip gloss: I bought this lip gloss due to my search for a lip gloss with natural ingredients. I have been more conscious about what lip products I use, because we directly consume lip product ingredients into our bodies and I would like to minimize the amount of harmful products I consume. I picked this up at London Drugs, and it was around $8. I like how the shade looks on my skin tone, and how non-sticky it is. I haven’t really bought many Burt’s Bees products in the past, but after trying this, I will be looking into more! If you know any lip products that are made with natural ingredients, please let me know!

The Face Shop “Face it”  Oil Cut Pore Balm: I did a separate post on my mini haul from The Face Shop. I use this as a primer in my daily makeup routine, replacing my Benefit Porefessional. I won’t go into too much detail here since I raved about it in a previous post, but I do love this product very much and I’m glad that I found it!

Seahorse crop top: I have never worn crop tops until the past month. I was not comfortable with exposing my navel area, even though my friends have told me that I have a nice belly button which I should take advantage of (?? LOL weird I know). Anyways, on a recent shopping trip, I finally found the perfect summer maxi skirt. I am only 5″2 (5″3 would be pushing it haha), so I either have to cut my maxi skirt to avoid tripping everywhere, or pull it a bit higher. I chose the latter, which finally gave me the opportunity to buy crop tops without feeling super exposed! I absolutely love the seahorse pattern of this crop top, and how loose-fitting and comfortable it is. My maxi skirt and this top will definitely be a Summer staple this year!

London fogs: I am addicted to the Starbuck’s earl grey tea latte, which is the same as a London Fog. The thing that stands out for me with Tazo’s earl grey is the lavender taste. The lavender creates a more rounded and fragrant taste. Last month, I decided to try making my own lattes so that I didn’t have to spend money or waste time going to Starbucks every morning. I bought their vanilla syrup and a milk frother, and haven’t looked back since! The lattes I make at home taste identical to the earl grey tea lattes I buy at Starbucks 🙂 In fact, I am drinking one right now as I type this!

Lush herbalism cleanser: I got a sample of the herbalism cleanser from Lush back in May, and at first, I did not like it because it came in a clay form. You have to break off a bit and wet it with water before cleaning, which was a bit annoying to apply on my skin afterwards. But after two weeks of use (and patience), I noticed that my skin improved and I wasn’t breaking out as much anymore. My skin also became super soft and felt really smooth. I will probably do a separate post on this product because I love it now! I’m glad I gave it a few chances 🙂

Well, that’s it for my June favourites! I hope you enjoyed this post and would love to hear your opinion about these products!

Check out Canadian Beauty Bloggers here!

-Carmen

Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette

I love my Urban Decay products.  I was introduced to the UD Primer Potion in Grade 9, and have been loving their products ever since, from their 24 hour liquid liner, to the Naked Skin foundation (review here), and finally, their Naked palettes.

So far, UD has launched 3 Naked palettes which have all seen insane reception from the beauty community. Whenever they announce a release, Youtube blows up with beauty gurus reviewing the product. For good reasons too, this is one of my beloved eye palettes! I have Naked 2 and Naked 3, but like the Naked 2 more because of the shades!

photo 3 (3)Simple packaging of the product. The physical palette is pretty sturdy, you can throw this into your bag without damaging the product. I brought the Naked 3 for my trip to Disneyland back in January, and it lasted fine all throughout moving around from my luggage to the hotel room and what not. I’ve noticed that some cheaper eyeshadow will fall out if moved around or dropped, but not the “case” for this.
photo 4 (3)Ahhhh…the beautiful shades. You can tell which shades I love using more than others. When it comes to eye shadow, I only wear champagne or golden tones. I used to wear purple a lot, but bright colours haven’t really been in style anymore and I love how champagne colours make my eyes look brighter and whiter.
Application: The brush that the palette comes with is really good as well. It is called the Good Karma shadow brush and is double ended, with both a shadow and crease brush. The shadow brush is used for general application, while the crease brush is used to add dimension (to your outer or inner corners of your eye, for example).
Long lasting?: I always use my UD Primer Potion with my eye shadow. If I don’t, my eye shadow will crease within an hour and it will fade away. With the primer, my eyeshadow will last at least 6 hours with no touch up, which is good considering I have oily skin. I’ve worn this to work, and even if I sweat or run around cause it’s a busy shift, my eye shadow looks untouched or unsmudged with the primer. For the sake of the review, I did not wear the primer tonight. I noticed that after four hours, the eye shadow was pretty much gone. I would highly recommend using a primer, or have the kit with you to touch up.

Value: Naked 2 at Sephora is $62 Canadian. Naked and Naked 3 are the same price as well. It just depends on which shades you like. Considering the quality and colour of the palette, I would say that it’s a good investment as the palette is very versatile and durable!

Pros:

  • Beautiful range of shades!!! (ranging from neutral to dramatic looks)
  • Can experiment with many different colours to create a look that you love
  • Comes with a their Good Karma shadow and crease brush & mirror
  • Easy to carry on-the-go
  • Comes with 4 samples of their different primers
  • No fall out!! (major pet peeve of mine, urgh)

Cons:

  • It is $62, so it is definitely an investment
  • Lasts longer with primer potion (I suggest the UD Primer Potion, as you can sweat a lot but it’ll still hold up)
  • Would not recommend if you do not like sparkly eye shadows or shades (Naked and Naked 3 have different shades than the 2)

Up next: Maybe the Urban Decay Primer Potion or Naked 3? Which one would you like? Thanks for reading!

-Carmen