Makeup How To: Rosy Cheeks

Thanks to Jessica at The Midwest Muse for the inspiration of this blog!  I am by no means a professional stylist, makeup artist, or hair stylist.  I just do the best that I can with the knowledge I have.  While I love having my makeup professionally done, I could no way afford such a luxury!  So with the tips from my friends and fellow bloggers, I have learned to achieve a pretty rosy cheek that literally takes a minute or less.

Here is what you will need:

Fairly large makeup brush- I like to use MAC brushes

Pressed blush- mine is NARS in Orgasm

If you haven't read my previous blog, you want to start with a perfectly even toned face.  I do my blush at the very end, so you want to have your foundation, luminizer, concealer, or whatever else to get that even look already applied.  

My face without blush.

I then take my brush and lightly sweep over the blush.  Make sure to tap the brush as well to take off any excess blush (less is more!).  Then you want to make a big smile, that's how you find the apples of your cheeks.  In a very small circular motion, rub the brush around the apple of your cheeks.  I like to keep my smile the entire time, that way I don't get blush in an unwanted place.

Done!  If you feel it's too strong, you can always use a small amount of loose powder to mute the color out or blend the blush with your fingertips.  Chances are, if you have the perfect color for your skin tone, neither will be necessary.

Finished product!

If you have any questions, feel free to comment here.  Hope this helps!

xoxo

Ashley

Makeup Review: Face Luminizer

Okay, so I've been lacking in the makeup posts lately.  Let me tell you, much has changed!  Before my new discovery I would put on a good amount of blush just to make my pale face look alive.  Little did I know the wonderful creation of face luminizer gel.  Have no idea what that is?  It's this lightweight gel that makes your face dewy and fresh with ease.  While it can be life changing (it certainly has for me), you have to be sure you put it on properly.  And that's where I come in :)

I have tried a few different brands (NARS, Smashbox) and I have determined that Make Up For Ever has the best kind of luminizer.  It has a great shine and lasts all day without fail.  It's a little pricey at 29 dollars, but the key is to use a little at a time.  I've had mine for a few months and it's barely halfway done.  

My normal routine is to take a pearl sized amount of tinted moisturizer (I use Laura Mercier) and add not even one full pump of luminizer and mix it together on the side of my hand.  I then use my fingertips to rub it in all over my face and neck.  This alone will give you a great glow.  To make your cheeks stand out, just take one pump of the luminizer and rub it into both cheeks.  Less is more, so I never use more than one pump for my cheeks as well.  Too much can make you look unnatural and sparkly!  You can then add a touch of blush if you need it.

So there you have it!  Luminizer gel has made my face look alive without adding minutes to my morning routine. 

What's the one makeup item you can't live without?

xoxo

Ashley

Weddding Bells

Dress- Handmade

Heels- Chinese Laundry

Necklace- Betsey Johnson

Hair- Matt Rezaiyan

Last night was such an amazing night!  My really good friend got married at the Beverly Hilton in the most extravagant of weddings.  I normally wouldn't wear something so fancy, but I fit right in considering it was a Persian Jewish wedding.  The ceremony was beautiful and we had all had a great time.  I could only hang until about 1 am, but the party went much longer!

I decided to have this dress made because I really couldn't find anything that I liked.  I went to about a hundred stores and nothing looked good or fit right.  Although the creating (and especially the shipping) of this dress was somewhat of a hassle, it was worth it!

The February craziness is almost over and I am so relieved.  I can't wait to start enjoying weekends again!

xoxo

Ashley

Yet Another Preview

Of the blog I will post tomorrow.  I have a wedding to go to!

xoxo

Ashley

Zipped

Top- H&M

Jeans- Urban Outfitters

Shoes- H&M

Bracelet- Tiffany New York

Ring- Sanrio

Earrings- Betsey Johnson

I think this is one of the very few times I have posted a blog without a dress or skirt on!  I'm pretty much obsessed with dresses and tights, so it can be hard for me to put on anything else.  This top kind of has a skirt "feel" and I really love how it zips in the back.  When I'm not dressing girly I pretty much live in my high waist jeans.  They're comfortable and they don't leave you with the embarrassing gap above your backside.  And of course, I added a colored ballet flat.  I live in those as well.  I love high heels but I can't live in them!

Saturday I have a very extravagant wedding to attend and I can't wait to get dressed up and show you!  Until next time!

xoxo

Ashley

Sparkles and Lace

 Dress- Modcloth

Shoes- Qupid

Rings- Forever 21

Being a very pale person, wearing a cream colored dress can totally wash me out.  I have a hard enough time not looking like a ghost!  But who can blame me when you find a dress like this?  It's no secret that I am a huge Modcloth fan.  While this dress is a few years old, I find that I fall in love with it every time I wear it!  I tried to add a little more detail to the outfit with some sequined platform heels and a few cocktail rings. What do you think?

This week has been so crazy with work, weddings, (and very special photo shoot tomorrow), I can't wait until I get some time to rest and be with my family.  You never truly know what you have until you're too busy to enjoy it!

xoxo

Ashley

P.S. Make sure to like my new Facebook page!

Party Time

I know I haven't been on here much this past week, I've been planning and celebrating my boyfriend's 28th birthday.  I can happily say everything went as planned and he had a great time at his party.  We decided to host it at a local German bar with lots of great imported beers and wolf decor.  Yes, wolf decor.  It exists.  I wanted to wear a black dress but I could not find anything that fit me properly.  I decided to try my luck at Urban Outfitters and found this amazing dress!

Dress- Urban Outfitters (on sale now!)

Tights- HUE

Shoes- Steve Madden

Watch- Guess

Ring- Forever 21

I love the busy print and the cut outs on the sides.  I normally don't wear anything with cut outs but this dress was definitely an exception to the rule!  It was comfortable and had a hint of sexiness to it (and if you know me, I don't feel so comfortable doing "sexy").  I will be wearing this dress again, considering you can dress it down pretty easily too.  What do you think?

xoxo

Ashley

Crazy Hat Day

I remember being a kid and having fun dress up days at school.  Sometimes it would be Hawaiian day, twin day, or my favorite: crazy hat day.  As an adult I have more hats than I necessarily need.  I see something cute and I just have to buy it.  The thing is, I rarely ever wear them.  Hats are a great accessory to pump up an otherwise plain outfit.  

There were two reasons why I wore this hat today.  One being the morning rain and the other being the fact that my hair was dirty.  In order to preserve my unnatural brown hue I like to wait a few days between washings.  So to avoid looking greasy, the hat was my prefect disguise :)

Hat- Modcloth

Top- Forever 21

If you're curious as to how I keep my hair lovely, feel free to click here.  Now I'm going to enjoy this unexpected cold weather by putting on pajamas and sipping on some hot chocolate!

xoxo

Ashley

Happy Valentine's Day!

xoxo

Ashley and Kevin

Be My Valentine

I considered waiting until February 14th to post these pictures but since I have a ton of down time today (and I am in no condition to be in front of the camera) I decided to let these go a day early.  Valentine's day is not really a big deal in my house.  Last year my boyfriend was traveling the world so we didn't even celebrate it.  This year I'm happy to say he is home, but money is tight because we are saving up to own our first house (yay!).  We agreed to just do a nice dinner which he has planned for tomorrow night.  He still won't tell me where but he said this outfit is appropriate.  

I got this dress online at ASOS on sale.  Dahlia makes some really pretty dresses that flatter my curvier frame.  I also can't stay away from a bargain so it was a must buy.  The actual dress is a little short for my taste, but paired with some black tights it is perfect.  I love the scalloped shoulders and the back of the dress is so interesting.  I'm not going to lie, it took me a few tries (and looking at the picture online) to get the dress on properly!

 

Dress- ASOS

Tights- H&M

Shoes- Steve Madden

Bracelet- Forever 21

I don't know if you guys have noticed but my chihuahua loves to "photobomb" my pictures!  He just makes them cuter.  What are you wearing for Valentine's day?

xoxo

Ashley