Curiously Carmen

Bliss Fabulous Makeup Melt- Gel to Oil Cleanser

Once in awhile, you come across certain beauty products that you just can’t stop thinking about.

Enter Bliss’s Fabulous Makeup Melt!

Bliss Fabulous Makeup Melt- Gel to Oil CleanserWe had a bit of a rocky start and I initially didn’t like it. However, after giving this product a second try and carefully reading the fine print on the packaging, I was blown away at the effectiveness of this cleanser.
Bliss Fabulous Makeup Melt- Gel to Oil CleanserAs the package states, the Bliss fabulous makeup melt is a gel to oil cleanser. Initially, the cleanser comes out of the tube in a clear, gel form. As you massage this into your pores, the gel slowly turns slightly thicker and into an oil.

From wearing a full face of makeup, this cleanser easily melted away even my toughest foundation & primer regime (Hello, Urban Decay!). The result was moisturized, fresh, and soft skin that lasted until the next day.

In fact, while studying for my final, I was subconsciously touching my face and wondering why it was so soft that afternoon. Could it be the study gods, rewarding me for studying? It wasn’t until a few hours later when it hit me. The only difference in my skin care that day was introducing this amazing cleanser!
Bliss Fabulous Makeup Melt- Gel to Oil CleanserInitially, I had applied this cleanser on wet skin as I usually do. What resulted was a cleanser that did not bind and pull off my makeup, but instead smeared my eyeliner in a slightly horrific manner.

I’m really glad that I gave this product a second chance and that I read the instructions properly. Apply this on dry skin, everyone!

Bliss Fabulous Makeup Melt- Gel to Oil CleanserA disappointing start with a happy ending. I can definitely see myself incorporating this cleanser into my routine, especially if I have a full makeup face on.

This product effortlessly lifts my makeup off, revealing skin so soft I didn’t even recognize it as my own!

Thanks for reading!

-Carmen

Press product featured, all opinions are my own.

July 2015 Favourites

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

Estée Lauder Nutritious Vitality8 Overnight Cream

Hi everyone!

Can’t believe it’s June now! Summer is finally here =)

Anyways, I have been using this Estee Lauder Nutritious overnight cream for the past two weeks now, and decided it was time to finally write a post on my thoughts about it.

Prior to this night cream, I used the same The Body Shop seaweed mattifying moisturizer in the day and evening. But my recent trip  to Kelowna really dried out my skin, as I don’t think it was used to the drier, interior BC climate. When I came back, I spent the first couple of days trying to repair by skin. It was flaking badly around my lip and nose area, something which has never happened!

I received this as a gift from the Estee Lauder media preview event in March, and had used it a couple of times here and there. Looking back, I should have brought this on my trip if I knew how dry my skin was going to get!
Estée Lauder Nutritious Vitality8 Overnight CreamHere is the description from The Bay’s website:

This rich overnight moisture creme restores skin’s balance and infuses deep hydration and nourishment. Helps re-activate skin’s natural moisture defenses.Can also be used as a nightly mask for intense nutrient infusion. Awaken to skin that looks rested, renewed, radiant. In just 8 days, 96% of women felt their skin look more nourished and supple.

Estée Lauder Nutritious Vitality8 Overnight CreamMy cousins tried the cream, and the first thing they noticed was how amazing this smells! Seriously, this cream smells absolutely wonderful – clean and fresh.

Normally, I dab this cream around different areas of my face – cheeks, around my lip (this was the flaky area after I came back from Kelowna), and forehead.
Estée Lauder Nutritious Vitality8 Overnight CreamI love this cream because my skin feels great after I put it on. My skin feels deeply hydrated, supple, and healthy. I feel that my complexion has improved and my skin feels a lot more radiant and bright when waking up in the morning.

This cream has quickly became one of my favourites and I have incorporated it into my daily routine. I honestly look forward to putting this on each night because it smells so great and my skin absolutely loves this stuff!

This cream is so nutrient rich and moisturizing for me that I don’t really need to apply moisturizer in the day. I used to wake up with dry skin, but I haven’t had a problem with that after using this everyday. I’m so glad that I discovered this product!

What’s your favourite night cream?

Thanks for reading!

-Carmen

Press product featured, all opinions are my own.

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

Hi everyone =)

I am continuing my 6 different eyeliner looks with one liquid liner today! You can read part 1 here. I decided to separate the looks into two posts, because I thought that it would be too long of a single post.

IMG_2433.JPGJust in case you didn’t read part 1, I decided to use my Dolly Wink liquid liner that my friends bought for me in Hong Kong. You can buy them in North America as well, but the prices are a bit higher due to importing, etc. Things are usually cheaper in Asia =)

Dolly Wink is a very popular brand among the Asian beauty industry, it is probably the equivalent to the Kat Von D tattoo liner craze, but Dolly Wink is cheaper. I like my Dolly Wink liner because the pigment is great, lasts long, and the fine tip of the brush makes it very easy to create different looks.

IMG_2272.JPGHere is my eye without any eyeliner! I took this picture to show the differences that eyeliner can do to your eye.

IMG_2273.JPG

The staight line/under eye:  Oops, I forgot to include the “under eye” in the picture as well! This is a combination of two looks.

For this look, I tight lined my eye (more information on how to do that here), and then instead of winging my liner upwards, I followed the downward slope of my eye to create a straight, parellel line that extends further.

One of my favourite beauty gurus talked about it in her videos once so I decided to try it out for myself. The straight line look is very popular in Asian beauty culture, as it gives the appearance of a rounded eye. The straight line also your eyes look rounder and bigger, while the classic winged liner makes your eyes look more sultry.

I also used the Dolly Wink liner as a bottom liner as well! I normally never line my lower lash line, but I decided to try it this time. Lining your bottom lash line is pretty self explanatory. I used lighter strokes so that the colour was not as dark as the top.

My friend, Pauline did a guest post for me and she is a big fan of doing the “straight line” liner look too! Read how she did hers here!

IMG_2274.JPGThe Egyptian cat eye/under eye: 

This is another take on the classic wing, but with more drama and intensity 😉 Start by tight lining your eye, and then extend the wing out. The further you extend, the better! Egyptian makeup was all about a long, beautiful, and thick winged liner. After you have extended, go back and apply your liner over, so that the wing gets thicker.

Tips:
-Go back and ensure that the line you created is even
-Since this look is requires such thick eyeliner, it would look a bit odd if the thick liner suddenly started in the middle of your eye. Line your whole upper eyelid, including the corner =)
-If you’re a beginner, this may take a while to perfect but I believe in you! Practice makes perfect =)

As I was creating this look, I extended my wing so much and it felt so weird! I wasn’t sure if I would like the end result or not, but I really do! I probably would save this look for special occasions, because it’s too intense for me to wear on a daily basis.

I ended this look by lining my lower lash line as well! This time, I lined my lower lash starting from the inner corner, and used a bit more at the outer corner so that it would connect with the top line.

rach5

Speaking of Egyptian cat eye, my other friend Rachel, also wrote a guest post on a Cleopatra inspired makeup look! I love how intense her wing is!

Which one of these would you rather try? Or maybe both?!

Thanks for reading!

-Carmen

GUEST POST: Sasa.com Makeup & Skincare Haul! 

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