New Blogsite!

I've got some news! I've made a new site for my blog! It will have links to my Youtube channel and all my photos on it as well! Come check it out. :)

http://makeupfanaticme.wix.com/makeupfanaticme

I'll be working on this for awhile to see where it goes.

Hope to see you there!

Jessica Ashley

My Personal Stylist - Stitch Fix! My First Box!

     Oh my goodness! You won't believe how excited I was for it to come, and just how cool this is! It's great if you haven't heard of it before now is you moment of illumination.

     Stitch Fix is a website in which women may go and fill out a "style profile". Everything from your size, the colors you like best, and how you like your clothes to fit you on top and bottom. Of course, it asks you about your personal style, and it even has examples of outfits of clothing pairs for you to rate how much you "Love it" or "Don't Really Like It". There's no fear. It also has a place for you to leave a note to your future stylist about what you do and don't like, and how adventurous you like to be in your own style.

Check it out here! Stitch Fix.com

    Trust me it's awesome! When my box came, I tossed my backpack across the room and opened it first thing! One thing I asked my stylist for help was help incorporating color into my wardrobe. A problem with my wardrobe? LOTS of neutrals in my closet. So that creates a problem when I'm in the mood to add that "pop of color", but alas, it isn't there!

     I got some pretty cool things in my box, and yes there was color in there. My favorite out of all of them was the grey and black striped sweater. Not just the pattern, but the cool cut of the shirt. Next thing I would've picked would've been the light-washed jeans, but those were seventy-eight dollars!  A LITTLE too much for a simple pair of jeans. Beautiful, beautiful yes they were, BUT just too much for my wallet.
      The most interesting item in all in the box was a bright blue scalloped pencil-skirt. I LOVED the color of this one! The only thing I didn't love about it was the scalloped edging on the hem of the skirt. If it had been a straight hem I would've been totally sold.

     I'm sorry for the lack of photography. Out of my excitement I failed to remember to take pictures. Next time, I promise. Forgive me?

See you soon!

Jessica Ashley

Brightening Your Day With Shimmer: Depuffing Those Swollen Eyes

     Ok, so you just spent the past 12 hours of your life crying your eyes out. Your lips, nose and eyes are a lovely puffy, plump red. Perfect for walking out the door to greet the world a "good morning". Not. So, what do you do in this "anything but ideal" situation. You must liven up your face somehow, and certainly you don't want every, single person asking you what's wrong. Am I right?

     Even if you do your very best to avoid it on a daily basis, shimmer is now your best friend. Yup, that's what I said. Shimmer. Here is how you cover up and disguise those unfortunate, saddened terrifying eyes.

1. Green is the complementary color of red. So naturally, what happened when you put green on top of red? It disappears! Find a green corrector concealer and pat it on to the red areas of your eyes and face. This helps neutralize the red.

2. Grab your favorite concealer, apply it to the area under your eyes in the shape of a triangle. This is a better way to help brighten up the face. Not only do you get your eyes, but you also highlight the highest points of your cheeks/cheekbone area as well!

3. Set the concealer with a translucent face powder. Remember to pat the powder on the face, don't swipe it. Applying powder in a swiping motion will only smear and/or wipe away what you have already done.

4. Next, take a light toned neutral shimmer eyeshadow, and apply to the inner corners of your eyes, and to the lower lashline.

Ta-da!! The windows to your soul now look much cleaner and brighter.

See you soon!

Jessica Ashley

Changing the Picture: A Miniature Disaster on Halloween

     You know those years when you actually decide to dress up for Halloween? You know those times when you don't pinpoint exactly what you want to be until 10 days before the actual day? And then those times when you decided to purchase everything from your costume online to make you get it on time? And then of course, that phone call you make, the day before, to the vendor that, ever so gently, tells you the heart-crushing news that your items will not be arriving on time for the festive Halloween after all? Yeah, that was my turn this year.
     It was going to be great! I had the best gypsy costume planned out! Equipt with petticoat, corset and EVERYTHING!! Alas, this was not to be. So, I quickly changed my visualization towards the more-or-less "not-so-fancy", if you will, gypsy woman, and raced to D.I. (Aka, the Utah version of a thrift store or your local Savers).

     As I browsed around looking for something, ANYTHING that would tickle my fancy, everything that would fit the picture seemed to fit everything except one thing...me. It's wonderful when you find a jewel-toned skirt, but it's so much more disappointing when you look at the tag and discover that it's about three times as big as you are. Not going to work.
     I knew I had to find something. Browsing around in the larges I found a skirt that looked like it would work. The style was nice, it was the length I was looking for, funny thing is is it wasn't large at all. I glance at the tag and find that it is a child's large. Well yes, it so happens to be that being a small, short-figured woman, I am also so small that I can perfectly fit into a child's large. As you may have guessed by now, yes I bought the skirt. I also found a gold-link chain belt to accessorize my costume.

     I had to make sure everything would work, so I tried it on immediately. I pulled my black shawl from the closet, some sandels off the floor, and my peasant blouse from the drawer. After slipping on the gold jewelry from some ever so kind donors Ta-da! I had my costume!

     It wasn't what I was originally hoping for, but it was still fun to do. Kind of proud of myself from being able to pull something together like that last-minute. :)

     Of course, the funnest thing for me to do was, you guessed it, the makeup. I really liked how my hair turned out too. Actually, I forgot to take pictures of myself Halloween night (I know, who forgets to do that, right??) so I dressed up again the next day to have my pictures to put out on facebook.

     I discovered something new. I LOVE false lashes! I really would wear them everyday, just to make my lashes look fuller, but they are still more of a special occassion accessory.
    My favorite thing about my jewelry was actually the hair comb. Isn't it awesome?! I just swoop it back into my hair and *snap*, and it stays!! All night!! It was great!

     I loved the red lipstick, that's a no brainer, and my lovely roommate was so kind as to do my nails for me. I'm still not a professional at do my own nails. Sad, huh?

     No necklace tonight. Didn't have anything gold, and I thought I had enough bling already. Gold bracelets, a gold and diamond hair comb, and a ring are more than enough, right?

     So yesterday, my items finally arrived. It's okay though, the customer service rep gave me a refund, so I basically just got all my items for free. Yay! I decided that since I didn't just want these things sitting in my closet with no use, I should try it on at least once. I'm not gonna lie, it was actually kind of fun stringing myself up in the corset, and pretty much the whole thing looked awesome.

     No, I didn't do my hair all over again, but you get the jist of it, right? Well, what about next year. I thought Cruella DeVille. No? Do I hear a yes?

See you all soon.


Loves,
   Jessica Ashley

Short AND Petite: The Downfalls of the Short-figured Woman

     For those of you girlies out there that are not just short, but also petite, you know what I mean by downfalls of the short-figured... You'll be familiar with the woes of shopping, online and in-store, when you find the cutest item that you MUST have.
     You receive it in the mail, or you race back at full-speed to the ever so crowded fitting rooms, and to your devastating horror, you discover the sleeves or the pant legs are juuust that much too long!! Or maybe you tried on a dress, and because your hips appear sooner in your stature than the dress was made for, the torso of the dress falls sloppy, and slouches ugly, and improperly around you middle figure, and just doesn't hug you right AT ALL!!! Oh the despair!!! The sorrow!!
     So maybe you keep the item, or you buy it anyway, and swear you will take it to your wise mother, graciously gifted with the wisdom and tongue of the sewing machine, and plead that she tailor it to your portions that you may wear this precious gem that you have purchased, because you just can't live without it. But, was that really a wise decision? Isn't that just putting yourself through more aggravating, sweaty trouble than is really necessary?
   
     This may seem like a downer to some of you, but my advice? Simply shop in the petite section! Trust me, the only shrink found anywhere is length-wise. All the sizes are the same, they just hug us short girls better!! Your clothes may even start to feel like a wonderous mink fur, beware.
     I've found some super cute stuff, that I could wear, and the best part? I have no reason anywhere to have anything tailored! My woe-some trials are over! Your confidence may now rise knowing there is a comfortable way of life for you.
     Petite is easier found in online shopping than anywhere in-store. Stores sell petite items, but for some mysterious reason, unknown to the female mind (at least as far as I'm aware), not all shops like to tell us where those glorious drapes of golden fleece are. Thank goodness we don't have to worry about "petite" footwear. Ha, wonder what that would look like.

     Wait! No! I take it back! No, no, I never want to be able to fathom the infuriating mess my shoe spree would have morphed into!

     Happy shopping!

Loves,
   Jessica Ashley

Filling That Space In the Trophy Case: Finishing My Online Makeup Course

     You won't believe it! Or maybe you will, because if you know anything about me, you'll know that I finish everything I start, even if it comes down to "eventually...". But enough of that, guess what?!! I'm finally finished with my makeup course!! Yup, completed, made whole, finished, victouriously terminated, I've got more...So you know what that means? I'm officially certified!! Got to print it off, and order an official copy and everything. :)

     Guess what else this means? I get discounts on tons of totally cool, and awesome makeup products!! Booya! Could this get any better? Well, of course I can always improve, and whole bunch of other things: I could start up my website, create and print some really awesome business cards, get a couple more clients, you know...
     This is so exciting! I get to start doing such awesome, cool stuff now! Heck, I'm going to get that certificate framed and hang it up on my wall for everyone to see! Yay me!! Now for me to pick out my next project. Hmmm...so many choices! Sweet, extravagant fantasy makeup? Smokin' hot club makeup? Decisions, decisions...I'll figure it out. You'll see it up here soon!

Loves,
    Jessica Ashley

How Did Mars Get On My Face?!: Concealing and Hiding Unwanted Blemishes

     We all have those days where we wake up, look in the mirror, and then see a not-so-friendly spot on our face, that we know by the end of the day is going to be about three times bigger (or so we're going to feel), and will be about as red as Mars. Great. So now comes in our need to unleash our much needed superpowers and skills for concealing, and giving that blasted blemish a cage of invisibility.

     But how do you do that? Well first off, I'll tell you it is NOT by using the same shade of concealer that you place under your eyes. Noooo... the only thing that will do, is make it appear more noticable and obvious. Why, you may ask? Well, the reason you pat your undereye area with concealer is to cover up the blue and/or purplish hues that show beneath the thin, delicate layer of skin that makes you appear so darn tired (even if you really are).
     This being the case, your concealer is going to have orange or yellow hues mixed in, to cancel out the blue or purple. Orange is the opposite of blue, and yellow is the opposite of purple. Opposite colors will cancel each other out, and TADA!! Flawless. Naturally you will have gathered from this information and now figured out that yellow brightens things up. Trust me, the last thing you want to do to your blemish is to brighten it up and bring to it even more attention. No, not the idea here. So, as you see, using the same concealer for undereye brightening, for blemishes, is a BAD idea.

     What you want is to find a concealer that matches as close to the same hue of your foundation as possible. This way, when you apply it to that festering monster it actually is hidden, and you're not just globbing a bunch of makeup product on top of it. It has a purpose, and it shows (or rather hides, yay!).
     Yes, even in this case less is more. So please, don't cake on the concealer, it's not necessary. Take a fluffy, CLEAN eyeshadow brush or your ring finger (the finger with the lightest touch) and dab on a little bit of concealer, and remember to BLEND!! Then gently pat on a little translucent face powder, and you are done!!
     Now, remember, you cannot flatten out the texture of your blemish, but you can do something about the color. Even another reason why caking on your makeup won't do you any good. Once you have mastered this art, smoothing out your canvas to one color will be a sintch!

Happy Adventures!

Loves,
Jessica Ashley