Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush Palette

I have been dying to introduce the  Ambient Lighting Blush Palette! I literally picked this palette up the day it was released and I am absolutely loving it! I had my eye on Mood Exposure since the Ambient Lighting Blushes came out, but I held off on buying it. I'm so glad I waited because this palette is gorgeous, and it's so much better getting three blushes! The blushes that are included in the palette are Luminous Flush, Incandescent Electra, and Mood Exposure. Luminous Flush is described as a champaign rose colour, Incandescent Electra is a limited edition colour described as a cool peach, and Mood Exposure is a soft plum. The unique thing about these blushes is that the blush colour is swirled with one of the Ambient Lighting Powders, which is supposed to give a soft focus effect. 

What do you think of the Ambient Lighting Blushes? Which blush is your favourite?

xo Ashley

SHOP THE POST

Shift a Shade | According To My iPhone

As I mentioned in my last post, I was flown to Toronto for the Clairol Shift A Shade event last weekend. If you follow me on Instagram then you may have already seen some of these photos. Brittany of Life, Set Sail and I got to fly out together. We kept our night in Toronto really chill and ended up just getting dinner at the hotel restaurant and then grabbing some candy at the hotel gift shop. Somehow Brittany and I both forgot to pack our toothbrushes. Luckily the hotel sold them at the gift shop, although it felt kind of awkward buying candy and toothbrushes at the same time.

The next morning I ordered room service and had breakfast in bed! After breakfast and checking out of the hotel Brittany and I headed to Hair on the Avenue, which is one of the most beautiful hair salons I've ever stepped in! One of my favourite parts of the event was meeting bloggers from across Canada. I have more photos to come so make sure you check back to see the before and after photos!

xo Ashley

Checker Dress and Leather

So this past weekend I was invited by Clairol for a whirlwind 24 hour trip to Toronto to get my hair done! The concept of the event was to "shift a shade" so there is nothing dramatically different going on with my hair, but I am loving the subtle results. I have quite a few photos plus I am waiting on some photos from the event, and I can't wait to share them with all of you!

In other news, I took these photos a couple weeks ago with my sister. I am loving this dress so much, but on this particular day it was having major static issues. It's also slightly see through, so to be on the safe side I wore some leggings with it. What I really need is to find a good slip to wear with my dresses. Any recommendations?

Outfit Details

Joe Fresh dress (similar)

Mackage Kenya leather jacket

Ash Jalouse boots

SHOP THE LOOK

Revlon | Jet Set into Fall, Passport to Paris

Recently I was given the opportunity to participate in the Jet Set with Revlon challenge. I loved the travel concept of the challenge, so I had to try it out! I received beauty products from Revlon to create my look, plus a cute passport in the package included makeup tips for how to achieve different looks based on cities around the world like Paris, New York, London, Stockholm, and Shanghai. The package that I received was Paris themed! The standout features in the Paris look were a double winged cat eye, and bold wine coloured lips.


I could not for the life of me manage to get a good photo of the double wing I created, but you can kind of see if in the photo above. For the eyes I applied the eyeshadow colour petal all over the lid, then blended the colour Greige into the crease. I then applied the Revlon Skinny liquid liner along the lash line. I followed the instructions in the passport to extend the line straight past the corner of the eye, then created a second line extending it upwards from the outer corner. I ended up thickening the first line that I created a bit so there was more contrast between the two lines. I also went back over the liner with the ShadowLink colour Greige to soften the look. To finish off the eyes I applied Greige along the bottom lash line and added a couple coats of the Revlon Bold Lacquer Mascara to my lashes.


I do not own a Revlon foundation or primer, so I used my NARS Sheer Glow foundation and Laura Mercier Radiance Primer to create a base. I wanted to try and stick to the Revlon theme as much as possible, so I pulled out my blush in Wine Not, and my highlighter in Rose Glow. I thought that the blush in Wine Not went perfectly with the Revlon Moisture Stain in Parisian Passion. To complete the whole look I painted my nails in the colour Blackjack (black with very fine blue shimmer) with an accent nail in the colour Sure Thing (white). I finished off my nails with the Diamond Top Coat. You can see my nails on my instagram here.


So that's the look!

You can also win the Jet Set to Paris package from Revlon including the Revlon ColorStay ShadowLinks in Petal and Greige, the ColorStay Skinny Liquid Liner in Blackout, Bold Lacquer Mascara in Blackest Black, Revlon Moisture Stain in Parisian Passion, and the Revlon Gel Envy nail polishes in Blackjack and Sure Think.

All you have to do is follow me on Instagram, and follow the instructions on the Instagram post where I share this look!

The giveaway is open to Canadian Residents 18 years of age and older and will end on Friday, October 17th. The winner will be randomly selected from followers who liked the photo.

Good Luck!

xo Ashley

Make Up For Ever | Artist Shadows and Meeting Kabuki

I couple weeks ago I had the opportunity to meet makeup artist Kabuki at the Sephora at Chinook Centre. Kabuki was there with Make Up For Ever for their 30th anniversary and the re-launch of their Artist Shadows. The collection includes 210 new eyeshadows in five different finishes! Kabuki was also one of the makeup artists involved in Artist 30/30, where 30 makeup artists shared what they love about Make Up For Ever for the 30 year anniversary. There is also a limited edition artist palette containing 30 shadows curated by the 30 makeup artists.

Kabuki hand picked three shadows for me, and I am in love with all three. The shadows that he picked for me were an iridescent colour in the shade I526 Pearl Beige, a Satin shadow in the colour S642 Sahara, and a matte shadow in the colour M600 Pink Brown.

Kabuki was such a kind and genuine person, and it was just such an honour to have him pick out the shadows for me. He really took care to make sure the colours went well together and that the colours complimented my eye colour. he picked out the colour Sahara because he said that I had a hint of gold my eyes. Of course I had to get him to sign my trio palette.

Have you tried any of the new Make Up For Ever Artist Shadows?

xo Ashley

SHOP THE POST

Monthly Favourites | September 2014

I have been getting so behind on blogging lately, but I guess posting my September favourites in the middle of October is better then never posting it! So much happened in September that when I think back on the month it seems like the beginning of September was ages ago. September was a pretty exciting and eventful month. My brother got married, I started my counselling internship, and it was my birthday!

For beauty products I loved wearing my Essie polishes in Cocktail Bling and After School Boy Blazer. My mom and I both wore Cocktail Bling on our nails for my brother's wedding.  I also loved using the Naked2 Basics Palette during September. My aunt bought it for my birthday and I was absolutely thrilled (you can read my review here)! I have had my Make Up For Ever cream blush in 410 for quite a while now, but it is one of those blushes that works with so many looks, so I ended up wearing it a lot in September (read my review here). The Softlips Cube in Vanilla Bean has been living in my purse since I received it, so I definitely had to feature it as a September favourite. Finally, I have had my eye on so many Bite Beauty lipsticks but decided to try this duo lipstick from the samples/mini section at Sephora. I'm so happy that I decided to get it because I am in love! The lipsticks are so smooth and I love the scent.

What were your favourite beauty products in September?

xo Ashley

SHOP THE POST

Amie Skincare

Recently I had the chance to review a couple new products from the brand Amie. Aime is a new skincare brand to Canada and is available at Shoppers Drugmart. The products I have been trying out are an exfoliating cleanser and a clay mask, and so far I am liking both. What I like about Amie is that the products are free of harsh chemicals and full of natural ingredients. 

Spring Clean Deep Cleansing Mask

I have used this mask a couple times and like it so far. I do recommend following the instructions on the package and to only apply a light layer of the mask over the face. The product includes peppermint, so you will notice a cooling and tingling sensation. If you keep to a thin layer the tingling sensation is not too intense. I love the lime and mint scent of this cleansing mask. 

Radiant Dawn Exfoliating Daily Wash

This exfoliant face wash is gentle enough to use daily, but just to be safe I have been using is about 1-2 times per week. I have found that it is not too harsh for my sensitive skin and I have enjoyed using it. The product is described as a "gentle foaming gel wash" and some of the ingredients included in it are green apple, lemon, blueberry seeds, and vitamin E beads. The blueberry seeds are used as a natural exfoliant and the lemon and apple are meant to refine and tone the skin. 

It is nice to see an affordable drugstore brand using natural plant based ingredients. If you are looking for natural products free of parabens, sulfates, and mineral oils I suggest checking out Amie. 

Have you tried any products from Amie? What are your favourite natural skincare lines? 

xo Ashley

CoverGirl Lip Gloss and Gel Nail Polish

I've been meaning to post these photos for ages! I received these CoverGirl lip glosses and nail polish at the Katy Perry concert and have been wanting to post about them because I am really liking all three products. As I mentioned in my Fall Nails post, I'm really gravitating toward dark nails lately, and this CoverGirl polish is such a beautiful shade of dark purple. The lip glosses glide on nicely and are not sticky or tacky. They also have a pleasant scent. The shades I have are Succulent Citrus and Whipped Berry. These glosses give a sheer wash of colour to the lip so they are really wearable and easy to apply without a mirror. They are also really pretty added on top of a similar shade of lipstick.

Have you tried the CoverGirl XL Gel nail polish or the Colorlicious glosses? What colours do you like?

xo Ashley

SHOP THE POST

Beauty Panel | Pastel Makeup for Fall

The Fashion Beauty Panel this time around was to use pastel colours for fall. I had a few different idea for this post, and thought of creating a look using my Revlon lipstick in Primprose, or wearing pastel nail polish, but in the end I decided to go with pastel eyeshadow. I based the look around this pastel orange-peach Joe Fresh eyeshadow in the colour Apricot. You can read my article here.

xo Ashley

SHOP THE LOOK