It's Barbie Bitch!

Hi Blogg-istas! Thanks for stopping by. Thought I'd do a post on my Halloween costume. I went for Nicki Minaj, yes crazy I know lol, but super fun! Perfect for the crazy Las Vegas strip. Shoutout to nguerriero19 for her tutorial that originally inspired me although I end up going with the bedrock video look using MakeupByLeinaBaaaby's youtube tutorial. I mixed a couple different looks because I liked the hair & glitter liner from the 1st video.

In the look below (which doesn't photograph true to life, much most vibrant in person, sorry) but I used:

* Too Faced shadow insurance

* NYX shadow in 81 Chick

* NYX shadow in 116 Wild Fire

*NYX 3 set pallet in 06 Purple/Deep Purple/Prune

* LASplash liquid eyeliner in Golden Sea

* Loreal Carbon Black Liner Intense

* some falsies

(Pink Friday Ring & Barbie necklace from Hot Topic)

 

 (blue contacts & pink lips)

 (dress, tights & colorful bangles from Forever21)

Monthly LOVES: August

Hi Dolls! Thanks for stopping by - Here are my LOVES for the month of August. I don't have too many as I have trying to spend less lately, lol...but these are some good ones I have recently adopted. Please feel free to comment and ask anything you like! :) 
Loves

1. The POREfessional by Benefit: a face primer that smooths & reduces the appearance of large pores

2. Hawaiian Ruby Guava Body Butter and roller-ball perfume by Pacifica: I am loving this soft fruity scent for summer and both are super convenient to carry in your purse. 

3. Deep Down Detox Ultra Cleaning Mud Mask by Formula 10.0.6: Love this, I use it 1-2 times a week to really deep clean my pores, and it doesn't sting. 

4. Keratin & Green Tea Restructurizer by Aphogee: I actually haven't had this an entire month yet, but love the ingredients; I purchased this as an alternative to the Chi Keratin Mist and it was only a little over $6 at Sally's and the lady said I would be fine to use it on dry hair too; will have to update on actual results after longer term use.   

5. Neutrogena Naturals Purifying Pore Scrub: Love that this is a gentle scrub for my acne prone skin, I use about every other day to clear pores and gently resurface skin.

6. Boots Expert Sensitive Cleaning & Toning Wipes: I wanted some gentle makeup removing wipes for my acne prone skin and these were the least expensive of the hypoallergenic sensitive wipes, they work great.

7. Go Cocktails: I love these! they are little sugar free packets that add a favor to your cocktail with only 5 calories! The one I have is Appletini & it's super flavorful. You just add to a vodka water & it saves so many calories compared to those super suger-y cocktails.

8. Inglot Pallet: I believe this is a newer pallet from Inglot, I could not pass it up when I realized it has all the essentials in one! Includes a face powder, brush, and 2 eyeshadow spaces and you can select your own colors from many options. 

9. BrowPerfection by Presitige: This was a very inexpensive brow gel I found at Ulta. I never really used brow gels, but this is completely clear with no clumping/residue

10. Gelish Soak Off Polish (Tiger Blossom): I believe I have mentioned this product before, but I'm even more excited because now they sell a DIY kit at Sally's! I use to go to the salon to get them, but this was the 1st time I have done on my own, it was pretty easy too - the additional photos are of the kit & my nails. 

11. Olay Professional Pro-X Advanced Cleansing System: I love this! I never got the clarisonic because I thought it was over priced for something that doesn't even spin (although I'm sure its great - so many people love), but I got this Olay brush for $25 as an alternative and it really works great to clean deep down

12. MyFitness Pal app: I have had this for a while and getting back into using it, but I love this app for my phone! If you are trying to eat more healthy or have a weight lose goal, this helps so much and makes you realize how many calories & sugar is truly in some food and actually helps me to figure out healthier alternatives to get the most out of my calorie allotment!

How I clean my Makeup Brushes

Hello! One of my good friends asked me today to remind her how I clean my makeup brushes which reminded me that I had been meaning to post how I do so on my blog. So, here we are - this is just how I prefer to deep clean my makeup brushes. I clean them daily with a brush cleaning spray from Sephora, but about on a weekly basis I clean them in the following way. I have adapted how I clean them from some of my favorite youtube gurus like,  Michelle Phan,  Kandee Johnson & SunkissAlba. I have super oily, acne prone skin, therefore I avoided the olive oil and dish soap as used in some of their videos and opted for an antibacterial soap and jojoba oil instead, which is suppose to be ok for acne prone skin. Below are my steps. Enjoy! :)

Step 1: grab antibacterial hand soap, jojoba oil and a white plate (so u can see the makeup color as it fades) 

Step 2: squirt some soap & 1 drop or 2 of oil on the plate; wet only the hair section of the brush (avoiding the handle) and rub the brush in a circular motion against the plate, rinse.

*Repeat this step until no color is coming of the brush and it rinses clear.  

(note - using the raised edge if your plate to rub against get out the stubborn makeup, if you have an even more textured plate - even better, to create a washboard effect)

 

Step 3: wipe the brushes dry with a paper towel and hang with brush side down to dry. 

I choose to do this using self-adhesive velcro sticking a little piece on each brush and I keep the other halves in the inside of my medicine cabinet so they are hidden & I never have to remove. I usually do end up removing the velcro from the brushes after they are dry if they get in the way, but you get so much velcro in the package it's to big deal to stick a new piece every time.   

*Thanks 4 reading, please feel free to comment :)

OOTD: Dinner at Social House

We had an AMAZING night last night. Myself, my friends Janet and Jamy decided to do a dress up dinner, single ladies night... We started the night with dinner at the sushi restaurant, Social House located inside Crystals at City Center. What made it super special is that one of Janet's good friend is a chef there, so he actually had pre-designed  a custom menu/meal for us... some things that were not even on the menu, yep VIP style! ;) It was truly an taste bud explosion. There was so much great tasting food with beautiful presentation and it just kept coming! We even had great cocktails & 2 delicious desserts... Yum! Our personal chef for the night is so super sweet and I can't thank him enough, because of course he did not allow us to pay for any of it, but I'm sure our server appreciated that! But definitely, if anyone is considering sushi in Vegas I highly recommend Social House!!!

We later just hung out at the Chandelier bar inside The Cosmopolitan overall it was a great night!

The outfit I wore was a bit on the conservation/classy side (although very fitted, lol) so I threw in some edgier accessories to mix it up.

Black, ruffle neckline Top: H&M

Lace Skirt:  H&M

Shoes: BCBG

Bag: Michael Kors clutch

Necklace, Ring, bracelet, earrings: (old pieces) Forever 21, New York & Company & Charlotte Russe

 

Just a couple of our entrees ..

OOTD - Young Jeezy Concert

So, my Aunt won tickets from her job at the Palms for the Young Jeezy concert and offered them to me!... and who am I to turn down free tickets!? :) Even though it was different from our usual scene, myself & my friend Susie decided to go and make a night of it adn had a good time! Below is my outfit of the day (or night, actually). Who says you can't wear black & brown together!?! (sorry for the quality, I was rushing to get out the door attempting to take pics myself, lol) 

                                                        Top: "3B" from Nordstrom rack

Pants/Jeggings: "Chor" from TJ Maxx

Shoes: Guess

Bag: Michael Kors clutch

Bracelets: gold spiked bracelet from Forever21; tiger eye beaded bracelet I made

Watch: Tortoise shell Michael Kors

Earrings: Vera Wang from Kohls

Necklace: Forever 21

 

Ashley's Monthly LOVES...

Hi All! So, this will be my version of the 'Monthly Favs' that many of my beloved youtube beauty gurus have adopted. Below are some of the products I have been loving in the month July 2011. These are not necessarily 'all time' favs, but rather things I have recently, In the last month or so, discovered and really like. Hope you enjoy, please feel free to comment or ask any questions - Thanks for reading! :)

Loves...

Book: The Power by Rhoda Byrne (loving the positivity in this book; It actually played a part in my recent domain name change to Ashley's "Loves)

Scent: New Victoria Secret scent in 'Lost Fantasy' (Hand & Body cream, Body wash and perfume shown)

Lotion: St. Ives Cellulite Shield (great for summer if you are paranoid like myself, lol & affordable! about $5) 

Hair: Garnier Fructis Brilliantine Shine Glossing Spray (great for non-greasy shine, tame frizz & heat protection all in one, under $4) 

Face: Loving the "Derma e" brand of products I found at whole foods, great for my sensitive, acne prone skin: Papaya Enzyme and Soy Refreshing Skin Toner and Very Clear Problem Skin Moisturizer 

Face/Skin: Jojoba Oil (learned about this on acne.org & now I mix 1-2 drops with my face lotions, I also use a drop along with soap when cleaning my makeup brushes, 1 of the only oils ok for acne prone skin!)

Nail Polish: Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in 'Choco-latte' (prefect nude for my skin tone & LOVE on brush on this Sally Hansen line)

Nails: (not shown here because must get done at salon) but LOVE the gel nail colors I get done at my salon for $25 that truly last 2 full weeks!! There are a couple diffent brands, but one I know is: Jessica Cosmetics "GELeration" 

Lip Combo: Mac in 'Touch' with Loreal ' In the Buff' over and then a little of NYX Mega Shine Lip Gloss in 'Tanned' to top it off

Makeup Face Product: Bobby Brown's Corrector in Dark Peach (great for dark undereye circles!) 

Mascara: Loreal's Voluminous Million Lashes

Eyeliner Combo: ok, this may sounds crazy but I've been using Loreal's Lineur Intense felt tip liquid liner on my lower lashline with a bit of Mac's Fluidline in blacktrack over top (stays put! even on me - Ms. Blink-alot, lol)

Shadow: Loving my Mac frost shadow in Bronze this month as a secondary color or even all over the lid

Jewelry: My bracelets that I made! Bought the tiger-eye beads and added charms I bought - one is a cross and the other is a Hamsa hand with evil eye in the center ... I like to think they protect me ;)

New Vanity Setup on a Budget

Hi!... It's been a long time, but I just finally am getting around to posting on my new vanity set-up I created for myself about a month ago. I am loving it! Hopefully I'll be moving into my own place soon, so I wanted something I could keep and that could easily fit into a small space if needed. My makeup collection is not very large, my many of my youtuber standards, but its just right for me since I tend to stick to the same thing day-today anyway. I also just wanted somewhere I could sit and apply makeup (since I was previously just standing in my bathroom) and somewhere I could see all my makeup with easy access to it all. I got this table, which is actually a computer desk, ( Carson Anywhere Desk at Target ) for $99. Luckily the drawer which was made to hold a keyboard, actually locks up in place so it can also be used as a regular functioning drawer. For lighting I also found these spotlight looking lamps for $11.97 each (  Portfolio Bronze Accent Lamp at Lowes ). I added soft light flood light bulbs per the associates recommendation and they are pretty bright, but work well for me. They can also be mounted to the wall if I preferred. My mirror was only $14 at TJ-maxx and I may replace it with something a bit fancier when I move, but it works perfectly for now. The drawers sitting on top of the desk were $23.95 from Muji ( Muji 5 Drawer Acrylic Case )... They are hard to find in stock though (just keep checking the website if interested to catch them in), but I love them!... They are made of a really nice heavy acrylic rather than plastic. The ones I got only have 1 inch deep draws though, so some of the thick items, like foundations and such won't fit. I keep those other items in the actual desk drawer as shown below. I simply got 2 plastic drawer organizers, also from Target as well for about $6 each (located in the storage/container aisles - sorry no link, not showing on their website). My remaining go-to items on the table top are: a Kleenex tissue box, a glass candle holder with Yankee candle, and my face brushes stored using the bead technique (I'm sure you all know of.)..oh, also - instead of having an additional standup magnified mirror for close up makeup application I opted for a smaller silver compact-like mirror with Swarovski crystals on it I found at Ross, but it works well in the small working space & it still stands open and has a 10x magnification,  and I can take for travel too! ... oh, lastly - I got this cheap plastic placemat that I could pull out anytime & use to do my makeup on top of in case there are any spills it doesn't ruin my wood desktop, and it wipes off easily, but I store it in the drawer when I'm not applying makeup... I'd love the get a piece of glass cut for the top, but I don't know if the cost would be worth it since the desk was only $99! ... this was my alternative to the Ikea Malm dressing table, which I originally wanted in black. Well, I hope you enjoyed this post and it helps!... I am so glad I finally have a place for everything... let me know if you have any questions. Thanks for reading! :)

Shoes for Less

I just made a random purchase today and I justified it by saying, Hey if I went anywhere else these would be at least $60-70, plus they are denim so I can wear with a lot of things!?!... sounded good to me! ;) Anyway, I wouldn't called myself a "shoe girl" as I have I have girl friends who are and I'm definitely not even near that level.... I think because they are such an investment compared to clothing - its almost like uggh, now I have to find shoes to match with this fabulous outfit!. So lately I've begun to notice that a big handful of my shoes have been from target! - usually out of necessity for work, but these I just thought were really cute. They are a pretty high heel, but with a platform so really comfortable and they are denim, how unique! ... oh and only $29.99 :)