eye makeup Archives - Curiously Carmen

Amie Eye Makeup Remover

December 15, 2014

I am baaaackkkk with another Amie product post! I have been using The Body Shop’s Chamomile eye make up remover for around one year now. I used to like it a lot but I found that over the past few months, it started to irritate and sting my eyes a bit. I’ve been trying to find a different one to use, so when Amie contacted me again to try their eye make Bright Eyes Eye Makeup Remover, it couldn’t have came at a better time.

I’ve probably mentioned this before, but one thing that I love about Amie products are that they are made with almost all natural ingredients. In particular, the makeup remover is 98.9% natural. Just like my Body Shop chamomile makeup remover, this also contains chamomile. It is also free from parabens, sulphates, mineral oils, petrochemicals, and animal extracts (making it suitable for vegetarians and vegans). The product itself is a blue liquid, and has a watery consistency – it is not thick or gel-like.

When I first opened the product, I noticed that it had a scent that I didn’t really like. It didn’t smell like chemicals, I’m not really sure how to describe the smell… just that I didn’t like it. As per normal, I dabbed a few drops of this on to a cotton pad and wiped it over my eyes. My eyeliner came off immediately, but there were still little mascara flakes around my eyes that I had to wipe again. It also stung a little, but not as much as my usual makeup remover. I wonder if my eyes are just sensitive… both of these products shouldn’t sting and are already really gentle.

On days where I wore eyeshadow primer and eyeshadow, I found that it was harder to remove. It took probably three or four wipes to completely take off my eye makeup when wearing eyeshadow and primer.

Because of this, I think that this makeup remover is suitable for someone who wears minimal amount or is just starting to wear eye makeup. It is okay to use on a daily basis but I wouldn’t use this to remove makeup if I was wearing a lot that night. I wouldn’t recommend using this product if you use a lot of eye makeup.

Fun and random fact, do you like the Christmas tree decoration in the picture? My grandma used to make a bunch of cute beaded ornaments like this, and I thought it would be nice to include it in a picture. Especially since I’ve been making my recent beauty posts more festive looking! Thanks grandma! (Even though she won’t be reading this post…haha)

Do you have any good makeup remover suggestions? Please let me know in the comments!

-Carmen

This product was sent free of charge in exchange for a product review. Opinions are my own and are not altered by the requests of Amie.

ELF Geometric Eyeshadow Book

December 11, 2014

I find that many ELF products are a hit and miss. At insanely cheap prices, I don’t blame them either. In high school, I bought their liquid liner and it reeked so bad of chemical smell that I threw it out. Sometimes, you’ll be able to find amazing, great quality products for under $5 (maybe even under $3!) but other times, you’ll find that the price you paid reflects the quality of the product. Last year, ELF was having a huge online sale and I went absolutely crazy. I can’t remember exactly what the sale was, but I think I only paid $20 for $45-65 worth of product. In fact, I bought so much that I didn’t even open some of the products until now. One of those products was the their 36 Piece Geometric Eyeshadow Book.

Bear with the snowflakes, I’m sorry if you think it’s tacky but I love them! Once the holiday season is over, they will be gone so don’t worry :). Anyways, the packaging of this eyeshadow packaging is a bit flimsy, I wouldn’t carry this around openly in my bag. It would definitely be a product I leave at home because the book doesn’t have a clapse to close it. There is a magnetic piece to close, but I don’t think it would be that helpful in a purse with other items inside. It is also made out of a thicker cardboard material.
Here are the colours of the palette. You can tell which ones are my favourite, and which ones I have yet to touch =P There are a total of 36 different shades, but some of the shades are a bit smaller in size. I love this palette because of how many champagne and shimmery gold shades there are! It also comes with a mirror which is a bit handy. It comes with the standard mini sponge brushes, which I haven’t used yet.

Because I love golden/champagne tones so much, here is a close up on them! There are enough colours in here to create many looks! The colours on the palette were not edited, I just added some border effects. I found the colours to be pretty pigmented, and they were also very glittery and sparkly. The only thing I didn’t like was that there was a lot of fallout. I noticed after that my cheeks had a lot of sparkle on them after I applied this.

Anddd here is the finished look! 🙂 This look was my first time trying out this palette, and I was in a bit of a rush. Otherwise, I would have created a deeper smokey eye look! For the price that I paid, the pigment was pretty rich and vivid! Personally, eyeshadow doesn’t last a long time on my eyelids so I have to use my Urban Decay primer potion beforehand. Because of this, I’m not sure how long it will last without primer.

I also used the Dollywink liquid liner (thinking of writing on this too!) Lancome Hynose Star marsacara, Urban Decay Naked Skin foundation, Bare Minerals matte powder foundation, and Makeup Forever lipstick. I wore this out for four hours at a holiday party and it did not smudge with my primer on. It came off easily with my makeup remover.

Last weekend, I decided to try it out again! I had a cold and wanted my eyes to seem brighter. This time, I used both the ELF palette and Naked 2 palette. Again, I was satisfied with the application and pigment, but there was a lot of fallout.

I would recommend ELF palettes to those who are just starting out with makeup, and are unsure if they would like to invest in an expensive eyeshadow palette. For under $10, it’s a decent palette with great shades, the eyeshadow looks are almost endless too with 36 different colours to choose from. The only annoying thing about it is the fall out.

Also, I mentioned above about the first ELF product I bought that reeked really badly of chemicals… it is the eyeliner here. The horror!

-Carmen

SpookyEyes.com Coloured Contacts Review

September 15, 2014

Disclaimer: These contacts are FDA and ISO approved, and sterile. FDA means that they are approved for use in the States, while ISO is the international health standard institution. The ISO was formed since countries have their different standards of “safe” for many products, so it’s a way to harmonize the requirements for safe contact lenses wear.

I definitely would not be reviewing this product if I did not think it was safe, if the site looked questionable, or had any further doubts about putting these into my eyes whatsoever. Rest assured, although these contacts were sent to me on behalf of the company, they are completely safe to wear compared to other contacts and I would never risk the health of my readers or misinform you guys. With that said, I do know that compared to regular contacts, coloured contacts have a higher chance of drying out your eyes. As with all products, be careful and read the ingredients properly,and use your judgement.

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Helloooo everyone! Today, I will be reviewing a product that I never wear – coloured contacts! My relationship with contacts, both regular prescription and coloured have not been great, to say the least. That is because my eyes tend to dry out really fast, making wearing contacts uncomfortable if I wear them for long hours.

I have tried many different contact lenses, different contact solutions, etc, which have helped on some days, but for the most part, they are not comfortable for me. Fast forward to the present, I only wear the daily disposable contacts probably 3-4 times a month as I find those are the most moisturizing, comfortable, and convenient.

Anyways, I was contacted by UK based sister companies DreamEyes.com / SpookyEyes.com to do a review of their coloured contacts. For simplicity’s sake, I will be referring to them as Spooky Eyes. I haven’t worn coloured contacts for over two years, so I figured I could give them a chance again and if it does work out, I can order a pair of Halloween contacts soon! Here’s how it turned out.
I was told to select three coloured contacts that I would like, and one of them would be mailed to me. I was quite excited to see which colour I would end up with! My contacts came roughly three weeks later from the UK. I received the colour green sparkle.

I was happy to learn that the contacts are manufactured in South Korea, where coloured contacts are extremely popular with the female population. That fact reassured me as I know from prior knowledge that South Korea makes great quality coloured lenses.
Here is a screenshot from the website, and what I received. Compared to the picture online, I feel that the green shade in real life appears a bit softer and lighter, which I actually prefer.

There are many different shades of green, brown, blue, and purple on their website. I’ve always wanted to try green contacts with my Asian skin and brown eyes, and I felt that these weren’t too dramatic or harsh.
I did not have any trouble putting these inside my eyes, they were like my standard contact lenses. When I first put these on, I was shocked at how my eyes looked. Although these contacts did not specify that they will enlarge the appearance of your eyes, they definitely will!

I was not used to seeing myself with enlarged pupils, let alone green eyes. This picture was taken in natural sunlight. Luckily, the colour matched my skin and eyes pretty well. If it was the green shade as seen on their website, I don’t think it would have looked as soft. I also liked how there is a bit of sparkle to it as well in the sun. How do they look in your opinion?

Since these contacts are only for cosmetic purposes, I still had to wear my glasses. These two pictures were taken outside as well, I try to use natural sunlight when possible. With my glasses on, I don’t think the green is as noticeable at first glance, but if you look longer, you can definitely tell.
Oops, I forgot to take a picture of my eyes before the contacts so here is a picture from a previous post, taken in the same spot where I took the picture above. Since I have naturally dark eyes, coloured contacts may not always turn out the way it appears, or it may not show up at all!

I’m glad that I didn’t have this problem with these contacts. I ended up wearing these for a bit over five hours, and had no problem at all with them! I actually forgot that I was wearing them until I got in the shower, and my eyes started to sting a bit when water got in.

They were super comfortable to wear, and remind me of a smooth, gel-like material as opposed to thinner, plasticky feeling contacts.
Pros:

Very comfortable to wear, smooth gel-like contacts
This specific shade was not too harsh which I preferred
Colour will show up even on dark coloured eyes
Lasts one year and retails for $28 US
Made in S. Korea, a country known for great quality and comfortable coloured lenses
Great for cosplay or costumes but the softer looking coloured lenses are good for daily wear too
Free shipping!

Cons:

Does not currently offer prescription lenses

In conclusion, I am really satisfied with these contacts, as they are really comfortable and I like the colour. They also have a vast assortment of coloured contacts, with all the possibilities imaginable. White out, UV, devil, cat eye, sparkle, anime… they have them all. Here are some I picked out on SpookyEyes:

Check them out at DreamEyes.com and SpookyEyes.com!

I’m curious, let me know what are your favourite contacts on their site and if you would you consider wearing coloured contacts for fun in the comments!

These contacts were sent to me free of charge from SpookyEyes, and I was not paid to write this post. Everything in this post is my personal opinion and was not altered by the request of the company.

-Carmen

Estee Lauder Fall/Winter 2014 Media Preview Event (Part 1/2!)

September 1, 2014

Hi readers!

Two weeks ago, I was invited to Estee Lauder’s Fall/Winter 2014 Media Preview Event. It was a lovely afternoon spent learning many new facts about the Estee Lauder brand and meeting other people with the same passion for beauty!

This two-part post is going to be more focused on the event itself rather than a review of all the products. I will try to write reviews of the complementary products that I received in the coming months!

There were staff from Estee Lauder, as well as the PR company that invited me to attend this event. Staff from both parties were really welcoming and made us feel comfortable. In particular, I had a great conversation with the makeup artist on-site, Fiona! Props to great and kind service from both ends, I was very impressed.
We were first greeted by breakfast platters, and a variety of different drinks!
Some of the products Estee Lauder has lined up for the upcoming season! Our host told us that each one of those eyeshadow palettes were inspired by the pictures behind them. I really enjoyed all the shades and palettes that were there, as well as the packaging of the eyeshadows.

The palettes had either a lipstick or nail polish shade that complimented the colours in the palette. Furthermore, the lipstick packaging is actually magnetic, so no need to worry about not putting on the cap all the way by accident and ruining the whole tube.

Moving on, the picture at the top left is a closeup of one of the new eyeshadow palettes. It was my favourite, since I loooove golden and champagne tones. At the top right, is a preview of a new line released by Estee Lauder called AERIN.

I believe it might be launched already by the time my post comes out, but the line is created by Estee Lauder’s granddaughter, Aerin Lauder. The AERIN line is more youthful, simple and neutral, as Aerin herself prefers simplistic makeup.

The bottom left picture shows the night repair lotion, day lotion, and BB cream. Last but not least, the one at the bottom right is their new cream, made with the natural antioxidant benefits of the lovely pomegrante fruit. Like the AERIN perfumes, it smelled absolutely lovely and was my guest’s favourite product that day.

Anyways, that’s it to the first part! The second part will include a revolutionary foundation brush, gold infused foundation, and a makeover! Keep posted and thanks for reading!

-Carmen