organic Archives - Curiously Carmen

Nice Vice 0% Dairy Creamery

July 3, 2016

This review is long overdue, especially since I went to Nice Vice in May! Nice Vice has been buzzing around town for being Vancouver’s first ever 0% dairy creamery shop. To me, this is like heaven and especially important because I can’t have dairy anymore.

I was really excited to try this place out and see if it would satisfy my ice cream cravings!
Nice Vice is located in Yaletown, a quick walk from the Canada Line station. It is pretty small, so it is easy to miss.

Inside, the store is pretty bare and basic, and there are also no washrooms for customers. It is an open space, with bar seats on one side of the wall but I found the seating to not be that comfortable. I would recommend grabbing your dessert to go and walking around Yaletown instead.
Vegan Buddy and I came on a Tuesday evening. It was cloudy, but not cold or rainy that day. Due to the weather and seeing how it was a weekday, the store was empty except for us! Luckily, this meant we could sample more flavours.
I wasn’t particularly in love with any of the flavours, but they weren’t bad either. In the end, I ordered strawberry fiends forever and mango. I ordered the one scoop for $5.00, but you can get two flavours for an additional price – I don’t remember exactly, but it was either 50 cents or $1.00 extra.

Both tasted like sorbet, and weren’t that creamy. They both had a very sweet fruity taste, which was good! The mango reminded me of exactly of the Asian mango pudding.
VB ordered one scoop of the matcha and vanilla strawberry swirl. The matcha had a medium matcha taste, not too strong or subtle. I didn’t really like the vanilla strawberry swirl because I found it a bit bland and just icy.
They also have a bunch of assorted salts that you can top off your dessert with! We tried a bunch of salt flavours. Some went well and brought the flavour out, while some did not pair well at all. I recommend you sprinkle a super, tiny bit of salt – I’m talking about like 4 or 5 grains tiny, because we found that even just a pinch was too much!

Overall, I don’t think Nice Vice compares to real dairy ice cream at all, it was just okay. I was a bit disappointed because I had heard such great things about this place. Or maybe, my expectations were too high.

Their desserts taste more like sorbets and aren’t super creamy. I prefer the vegan ice creams at Earnest and Rain or Shine because they are richer and creamier. But if you like sorbets, you would like this place!

Meh…

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.

Soft Peaks Ice Cream

March 4, 2015

Hi hi!

What type of food blogger would I be if I didn’t talk about the latest ice cream shop that has been taking Vancouver’s social media by storm? Can you guess which place I’m talking about? Yep, Soft Peaks Ice Cream! Soft Peaks is located in the cobblestone streets of Vancouver’s Gastown neighbourhood.
After hearing many stories of people waiting upwards of one hour for a cup of organic ice cream, I did not want to partake in that so we decided to not go on a weekend, which is probably when it’ll be the most busy. Finally, the boyfriend and I found time to go one weekday evening. There wasn’t much parking available and it’s probably easier to commute there, we paid for parking three blocks away.

Soft Peaks has very high walls, which gives it a spacious appearance. There is also a small alcove on the second floor where customers can enjoy their ice cream. Overall, I would say seating is pretty limited if the place was packed but it doesn’t feel cramped.
The girl at the counter was very friendly and had great service. We waited approximately 7-10 minutes for our soft serve, but it seemed a lot longer than that because I was really anticipating my order.

I was a bit surprised when I saw the size, I thought that for $7 it would be a bit bigger. But, quality over quantity?
The boyfriend ordered the rocky mountain with his choice of chocolate syrup. I was secretly hoping he would order the caramel syrup so that I could try it =P

Being the milk lover he is, he really, really, REALLY loved his soft serve. He emphasized how creamy and smooth it was, and how delicious the Avalon milk was. He would be back again in a heart beat. But what about those who don’t have a “soft” spot for dairy?
I ordered the mudslide, which came with crushed tim tam flakes. Unlike the boyfriend, I was not in love at first bite. I didn’t think it was amazing, but it wasn’t bad either as what seems to be the general consensus around this place.

Since the soft serve is made with organic Avalon milk instead of cream, the good thing meaning that it is lower in fat, but the negative thing might be that people aren’t used to this taste. When eating soft serve, people are accustomed to super sweet soft serve like at Dairy Queen or McDonalds.

Without the chocolate syrup and tim tam flakes, I would have found this very plain. I’m really glad that I had the chocolate and flakes which gave more excitement to an otherwise plain soft serve.

Another thing I noticed while reading reviews were that people were angry and felt ripped off because the soft serve had a giant hole in the middle! If I was paying $7 for a small sized soft serve, I would be angry too. I think they have since corrected the problem since my soft serve only had a slight hole and the boyfriend’s didn’t.

Soft Peaks had a great idea by re-inventing the soft serve with organic and high quality Avalon milk. The quality of the soft serve is definitely there, and it is very smooth but it is not the sweet soft serve that people are accustomed to.

-Carmen

PS. If you haven’t bought a bottle of Avalon milk before, you must try it on its own – the quality and smoothness of it is undeniable.

*Media sample provided by Soft Peaks. Opinions and thoughts are my own, and are not altered by the requests of the company.

Amie Morning Clear Facial Wash

November 26, 2014

After being introduced to a few Amie products in September, I have quite liked all the products in the line so far. If you haven’t read my previous post on Amie products, Amie is a UK-based skincare company that has recently launched products in Canada. For now, Amie products are exclusively available at Shoppers Drug Mart locations, but I haven’t been able to find any of the Shoppers locations that I go to. I think maybe because they have just recently launched, they are slowly bringing it to all the stores? Also, am I the only one that finds the Shoppers website hard to use? I tried to search up which locations sell Amie products but it was giving me a difficult time like always… I guess I’ll just try my luck by visiting the stores in person, hopefully each Shoppers will carry Amie products soon!

Amie’s morning clear purifying facial wash claims to be a “moisturising facial wash that removes all dirt, oil, and makeup leaving skin beautifully soft and refreshed. Mayblossom and elderflower help control oiliness and prevent blemishes while orange blossom and raspberry tone and refresh. Natural moisturisers ensure skin is not dried out.”

unnamed (4) — Looks the same as the facial wash, amirite?!

First impression: The packaging and design of the bottle was the same as the previous Amie products I tried, so nothing new there. The colours of this tube are also the exact same as their hydrating daily moisturizer which added to the confusion. It may not seem that confusing but trust me, when you are half awake at 7 am on a Monday morning, things can get tricky (that or I need more sleep).

Compared to Amie’s exfoliating daily wash, this facial wash had a very creamy texture. In fact, the first couple of times using this was a bit strange to me because the texture was exactly like moisturizer, and I felt like I should just be applying this on my face as a cream rather than washing it off with water.

My favourite part of this facial wash, and what made it stand out for me was the scent! My goodness, if Amie ever came out with a perfume that smelled like this facial wash, I would be their first customer. The facial wash had a very flowery and girly scent to it. After washing my face, the scent stayed on for awhile and was quite noticeable, the boyfriend could smell it as well.

This product was also purposely sent to me in the upcoming winter season, as it is supposed to protect your skin against the cold. After a few days of usage, I noticed that my skin was a bit softer. I’ve been suffering from very dry skin lately, which was very surprising because my skin tends to be the opposite- very oily!! I’m pretty sure this facial wash played a vital role in moisturizing my skin, it doesn’t feel as dry and look as flaky anymore. One of the main ingredients in this face wash is cacao seed butter (no, I don’t mean cocoa) which contains a very high amount of antioxidants and is really moisturizing as well. I probably wouldn’t use this when it starts to get warm again because it’ll just make my face extra oily. But in the current weather, it brings a good balance to my skin. Yay!

unnamed — My Amie haul from September- Click to read!

Another great thing about this product is that it is free from parabens, sulphates, mineral oils, petrochemicals, products that have been genetically modified, and animal extracts. Amie also does not test on animals. All products are suitable for vegetarians and vegans, and their formulas contain high-quality plant and botanical ingredients. No, they did not pay me to write that! 🙂 It is also 100% soap free but to be honest, I’m not sure what kind of pros are involved in that so I’ll have to contact Amie and get back to you LOL. If you know, please leave a comment and enlighten us all.

Well, another great and moisturizing product from Amie! Have you seen any Amie products in your local Shoppers Drug Mart? Please let me know in the comments down below!

Thanks for reading!
-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.

Update (12/2/2014): After asking Amie what the benefits of a soap-free product are, it means that the ingredients in soap (Sodium Laureth Sulphate and Sodium Lauryl Sulphate) have a high pH level since it is an alkaline/base (remember your high school chemistry? haha). Therefore, it can disrupt your skin’s natural acid balance due to it’s high alkalinity, which can leave skin feeling dry and taught (I personally hate that feeling). In case you didn’t know, acid and base are opposites. For example, Tums stomach pills are high in alkalinity because when you have a stomachache or heartburn, the acid in your stomach increases, so the Tums balances out the acidity. Hm, the things you learn beauty blogging!

Amie Natural Skincare Products Review

September 27, 2014

I was approached from UK based Amie skincare line to review some of their skin loving beauty products! I was quite excited as they have just released their products into the Canadian beauty market last month, selling them exclusively at Shoppers Drug Mart.

To give you a brief history behind this brand, Amie was founded by an ex-Estee Lauder executive, who created these products in hopes to help her daughter’s puberty-troubled skin. As a result, Amie products are made for consumers with sensitive skin, whether it is dry, oily, prone to breakouts, whatever. There are also no harsh or irritating ingredients in any of their products, and are made from an average of 95% natural ingredients. I also have “swatches” of each product at the end of this post so keep on reading!
My products arrived in this cute, plastic travel bag. Immediately, I fell in love with the cute and colourful packaging! I was also able to smell the lovely scents of the products after opening the bag. Judging from how good the products smelled when I didn’t even open them, I was quite excited to actually try them out.

I also ended up bringing the plastic bag on a weekend getaway, and kept the bag in the shower the whole time. I loved how it was waterproof and very durable. The smudge on the white part of the bag was from my foundation, which accidentally leaked on the roadtrip – not a packaging fault from the company!
I had recently finished my favourite matte seaweed moisturizer from The Body Shop, and was looking to either re-purchase it or try a new product. Perfect timing! This is Amie’s matte finish moisturizer ($12 Canadian), which claimed to control oiliness and shine, while softening and hydrating skin. Out of all the Amie products, I liked this one the most as it really did combat the oiliness in my face for over 10 hours and left my skin looking dewy! I didn’t have to dab the oil off my face at work. I suggest this product if you suffer from oily skin like moi.
This is Amie’s deep cleansing mask ($12 Canadian), which claimed to purify pores, and combat both oiliness and blemishes. I must warn you that this product burned my skin at initial contact, due to the strong peppermint in this. I was actually worried that I was having an allergic reaction to this product, but my face eventually calmed down after 5-7 minutes of applying this. Afterwards, my skin felt really cool and light (again, due to the peppermint probably), and really refreshed. I would recommend this if you want to brighten up your skin, if it looks a bit duller than usual.
Up next is the radiant dawn exfoliating daily wash ($10 Canadian), which claimed to deep clean pores and exfoliate skin, leaving a clear and radiant complexion behind. I really enjoyed the scent of this product, and it had a gel texture with tiny microbeads. It was very gentle on my skin, and for that reason I didn’t feel that it deep cleaned my pores. I loved the smell of this first thing in the morning, it felt really refreshing and really woke me up. Overall, a decent daily face wash but probably not suitable for deep cleaning pores.
The last product I received was the hydrating daily moisturizer ($12 Canadian). Since my skin is more oily, I preferred the matte finish moisturizer that I talked about above more, as this one did leave my skin feeling a bit more oily. I would recommend using this if you have a normal skin type, and just need a simple, everyday moisturizer.
As promised, here are some “swatches” of the product. I wanted to give you guys an idea of the texture and consistency of the products. The matte finish moisturizer had the thickest consistency. The deep cleansing mask had more of a paste-y texture to it, and was not as wet or easily spreadable. The exfoliating daily wash was very gel-like, with tiny, non abrasive micro beads in it. This one had an amazing smell 🙂 Lastly, the hydrating daily moisturizer was your standard moisturizing cream.

Pros:

Free from parabens, sulphates, mineral oils, animal extracts
Catered towards sensitive skin and works well with combating oily skin
Vegan and vegetarian friendly
Great, light smelling scent

Cons:

May be hard to find at Shoppers Drug Mart; I searched some of my local stores online and they did not carry it
Products are a lot cheaper in UK than Canada
Amie website is a bit confusing to use, some products are missing descriptions

All in all, I really enjoyed all the Amie products and don’t really have anything negative to say about them. They are all definitely affordable, and the packaging is so cute. For the amount of natural ingredients each product has in them, and how gentle it is on skin, Amie products are definitely worth a try!

Check them out at Amie skincare or Shoppers Drug Mart!

-Carmen

The products in this post were sent to me free of charge from Amie, 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.