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 :)

Company Holiday Party

This year I finally got a piece of a nice company holiday party that I usually only hear about. Our holiday party was at Tao Las Vegas in the Venetian and included lots of drinks, food, dancing & prizes and desserts. It was a good time, especially since now-a-days a private party is probably one of only ways to get me to go to the normally crowded-ass Tao! :)  

 

Me & Co-workers (dress from Bebe)

Review of Inglot eye makeup & Experience

While browsing in one of my local malls, Town Square here in Las Vegas I stumbled across a new store filled with bright colors and crazy lashes, Inglot! I resisted the temptation to explore that day since I was in a bit of a rush, plus even though I was certain I had heard the name before I wanted to dive into reviews more 1^st. So I checked them out, reviews and their official website and felt privileged to see that we had one of only a handful of store in the US as most of their locations are overseas and where they are based, in Poland. One review I came across <Linked here>, seemed to be positive and recommended the shimmery finishes, I also noted that this video raised an issue with de-potting the shadows so I was sure to ask an Inglot Associate when I made my 1^st Inglot purchase. Myself and a friend browsed the store and were both most interested in shadows. We found what we both thought to be the best deal – 5 Inglot round shadows, including the palette for $25! I thought that was GREAT! We were given a little magnetic pad that we could easily select our eye shadows and pop them on to; it was really easy! At 1^st I thought, hey what if I take a shadow my friend also wants?, but I thought it was cool that they had duplicates right next to each other (2 rounds and one square) in case someone else has already picked up a shadow you may have been interested in, you can easily tell that it is missing (as compared to mac where I often wonder if I seeing all the possibly available colors or go back & forth across the store to view the duplicate shadow displays to ensure I am not missing anything).

Anyway, after swatching & comparing plenty of colors I choose 4 pearl finish colors and one AMC Shine finish color. Unlike most makeup brand Inglot’s shadows go my a number rather than a name description (which is a little weird/harder to remember for me, but some may like?) I ended up with the colors: Pearl 451, Pearl 419, Pearl 423, Pearl 409, & AMC Shine 31, as shown below from left to right. (I wasn’t really going for one solid look of colors to use all together, but more of accent colors to use with other things) It's really cool that the palette is also magnetic, and not just the shadow to palette, but also the palette cover is magnetic & just snaps into place… therefore additional palettes also snap on top of each other, with or without the individual palette covers between them (also a good marketing concept to entice consumers to buy & stack multiple palettes).  So,  during checkout I remembered by question and asked the Associate about the easiest way to de-pott the shadows. I liked her answer – she said to take one of the corners of the palette cover and gently glide it over the shadow you want to de-pot and the magnetic shadow should stick to the palette cover, picking it up. (hope that makes sense, let me know if you’d like demo).. but pretty easy!

I tried the shadows for about a week & a half. I really liked the shadows I selected, but there is a reason why I selected these… I felt like they were the most pigmented finish of the colors I wanted and yet not too bold for my taste (because they did have much brighter/vibrant colors but I tend to like more earth tones). Although I like shimmers, I stay away from shadows on the more glittery side where they have multi-colored glitter in them like a rainbow iridescent effect. So what I choose was perfect for me, I have mostly used the brown, nude color and green as well as the purple once. I really like their pigmentation and they do last my full day. Of course, I continue to use a shadow primer (Urban decay, Shadow Insurance) under the shadows, which I recommend to anyone to keep their shadow in place all day. I have already a couple people mention my eyeshow looked nice. So overall these are defiantly worth trying for yourself! They are a great product at a great price, with awesome packaging!

I realize I can be a bit long in my reviews, but this is literally everything that goes through my head when making my purchases, I guess I can be a bit over analytical when it comes to beauty/fashion products? (lol)… so for those who just want the straight up, quick review I think I will start also doing a rating chart, as below! :)

 

Short Overview Rating, 1 thru 5

Color Selection: 4

Quality/Color Pigmentation: 4.5 (for pearl finishes)

Lasting ability: 5

Experience: 5

Functionality: 5

 Pearl 451, Pearl 419, Pearl 423, Pearl 409, & AMC Shine 31