moisturizing Archives - Curiously Carmen

Jealous Coffee and Coconut Body Scrub

March 18, 2015

Helloooo everyone!

I’ve always wanted to try out coffee scrubs, as I found out during my barista days that scrubbing coffee grinds all over your body has great benefits, including improved skin texture, better blood circulation, get rid of cellulite, plus much more!

Jealous Body Scrub is a new company based out of my beautiful hometown of Vancouver, Canada. For now, they only have one type of body scrub which is the coconut and coffee, but are working on coming out with other products. Their products are also all online based, and currently do not have any in-person stores.

Upon opening this, I was greeted with a strong smell of fresh coffee. Coffee is supposed to smell lovely, but after spending long shifts at a coffee shop and coming home smelling like stale coffee, you will slowly start to be numb to the “invigorating” smell of coffee and can find it quite “meh”. Let me know in the comments if you’ve been a barista before and if you understand what I’m talking about.

However, in this case, the coffee smelled really fresh so I didn’t mind the smell =)

Among coconut oil and ground premium coffee, Jealous body scrub also has vitamin e, raw brown sugar, sea salt, and minerals. As all of the ingredients are natural, it is recommended that customers finish this within six months to preserve freshness and quality.

Coffee grounds: Reduces the appearance of cellulite, eczema, stretch marks, age spots, varicose veins, psoriasis, and acne
Brown sugar & sea salt: Exfoliates and gets rid of dead skin cells
Cold pressed organic coconut oil: Moisturizes skin
Vitamin e: Protects and repairs skin

The steps of using this scrub is very easy!

1. Step into the shower
2. Rinse your body using soap, etc
3. Scoop a handful of Jealous and scrub it in a circular motion. (For a full body scrub, use 2-3 scoops!)
4. Wait 5-10 minutes for the miraculous effects to take place
5. Rinse!

Since this is made as an exfoliant, I have to warn you that the scrub is quite abrasive and harsh so be gentle when you are scrubbing this onto your body. Do not use it over injured skin or it will probably really hurt! For myself, I enjoyed the abrasiveness as I knew that meant my skin would be perfectly exfoliated and fresh when stepping out of the shower.

I’m giving you a warning now that this scrub will get very messy! While in the shower, I got some of it on the wall and on my shower curtain. Make sure you give the tub and walls a good rinse or spray or the next person using the tub will think you’re a disgusting, filthy creature who got “dirt” everywhere!

Now, the result?

AH-MAZING. Seriously, this stuff works wonders. My skin was exfoliated and felt rejuvenated afterwards. Due to the vitamin e and coconut oil, my skin was also very moisturized. Your skin feels like a newborn baby’s, it is that amazing.

Your skin also smells faintly of coffee afterwards. For me, that was odd since I’m used to constantly trying to get rid of the coffee smell after my barista shift.

There has been so much well-deserved hype for Jealous body scrub, I can’t wait to see what other products they will be launching! For once, getting jealous is a good thing. Check out their website here!

Thanks for reading!

-Carmen

Press product featured, all opinions are my own.

Amie New Bloom Cleansing Wipes

February 6, 2015

Hi everyone,

It feels as though I haven’t written a beauty post in so long! Truth be told, I’ve been quite busy this past month so I’ve just been using simple products that I’ve already mentioned previously. My skin was breaking out due to stress last month and I’ve recently rediscovered and reloved by Lush herbalism cleanser and it has seriously helped clear my skin so much.

Giveaway update: I have already drawn the winner for my Cetaphil skincare set giveaway, congrats to Naomi for winning! Take a look at my Instagram to see how the winner was determined.

Okay, now on to the actual review!

Amie had sent me these facial wipes, which came at a perfect time because I was just looking at trying out different cleansing wipes.

These come in a standard packaging, like the ones used for baby wipes. I like the size of the packaging, as it is compact and travel sized, I don’t think I would have a problem bringing these with me if I go on vacation (someone take me to Hawaii right now please, Vancouver is in the middle of a wind and rain storm right now).

The sheets are damp, and not bad to work with (eg. it is not super thin so that it tears). I decided to test these out while wearing full coverage makeup, I would say it removed around 70% of my foundation. I rarely wear foundation so this isn’t a problem for me.

With that said, they are not deep cleansing wipes but probably something you could use after washing your face to give it a “final” clean before moisturizing.

As always, Amie’s products are free from parabens, mineral oils, and animal extracts. These wipes include pomegranate, cranberry, and green tea extracts, which explains why they smell so wonderful.

These would be really great and convenient to use after a gym work out or hiking. Or, if you’re a person who is constantly on-the-go, these would be great to stash in your purse or car in between appointments and errands.

What are some of your favourite facial wipes? This is the first facial wipe I’ve owned so I’m open to trying new ones

Thanks for reading!

-Carmen

Press product featured, all opinions are my own.

April Beauty Favourites

May 9, 2014

This is my first time doing one of these monthly favourites! I’ve seen them on YouTube a lot, plus some fashion/beauty/lifestyle blogs that I follow. Since I don’t have photoshop on my computer, nor am I good at it, I had to come up with a way to create a collage by other means.

After pondering the internet and trying out various photo apps, I have finally created my first one! I know it’s not perfect, so please bear with me here. It’s been awhile since I’ve done a beauty related post, yet alone a mini haul, so I’m quite excited to try this out! These are in no particular order!

1. Dove Go Fresh deodorant, pomegranate and lemon verbana scent. I am in love with the smell of this deodorant. I like how it has a strong scent, making you smell lovely the whole day. When I want to freshen up after I shower, I apply this deodorant and feel refreshed.

2. The Body Shop – Mango body whip. I love all the body lotion products from The Body Shop (not body butter). The mango one has a lovely, subtle mango scent. It moisturizes very well. I love how it’s very light weight so you don’t feel sticky or heavy after applying this lotion.

3. ELF eyebrow kit. I bought this online back in November, and have been using this everyday for the past few months, so of course it is going on my favourites list! I love the colour/shade of the eyebrow kit, which matches my hair and skintone perfectly. The colour is very soft and not harsh, which I like because I don’t want strong, harsh eyebrows (that’s just my own preference). It’s also long lasting, and the small angle brush that comes with the kit makes it very easy to apply this to your eyebrows- pretty foulproof! Occasionally, I will double this up as a eyeliner for my lower lashes since I don’t like pencil eyeliner.

4. LUSH Grease lightning spot treatment. I received a sample of this, and I am already hooked after 2 days of usage. It is made up of all natural ingredients which fight acne scars, kills dirty bacteria on your skin, and prevents/kills pimples. I had two ugly pimples pop up last week, and after applying this spot treatment, I have noticed that they have diminished dramatically. I love how all the ingredients in this are natural as well.

5. Chanel – Chance Eau Tendre. This perfume has a soft, flowery and romantic scent to it which I love. Whenever I spray it on myself, I instantly feel very calm since the scent is very light and relaxing. I also feel a lot prettier when wearing this, so it definitely gives me a boost of confidence when I feel like I look like crap. I’ve gotten many compliments whenever I wear this perfume, which is a plus!

6. Maybelline mineral powder foundation. I bought this back in high school years back, but didn’t really have a good experience with it and ended up throwing it out. My friend recently gave me hers since it wasn’t the right shade for her, and I decided to give it another try. After wearing this as my setting powder, I noticed that my skin looked a lot brighter, smoother, and more translucent with a hint of shimmer. I realized that the problem was the crappy brush that came with it. I used my own brush and the finish looked a lot better.

Well there you have it, some of my current beauty favourites! What are some of yours?

-Carmen