27 November 2010

Let's Talk Customer Service

Customer service is one of the most important things to me, not only as an avid shopper, but as someone who is studying Marketing. Word-of-mouth is possibly the most effective form of advertisement, with negative reviews garnering more attention than positive ones. With increased attention to bloggers and vloggers who share their honest opinions on products and their individual experiences with companies, there are some who really need to step-up their game. The customer is, amazingly, not always correct, but they do need to be kept happy to ensure repeat business. There are a few places that I don't actually shop with in-store (Sephora, I'm looking at you), some employees that I try to avoid altogether (streaky blue-haired useless boy at Ulta, you know who you are), and some stores that I will no longer shop with all together (CVS) due to varying forms of poor service.
Today's focus is on the level of customer service that e.l.f. provides. As ya'll know, I placed an order with them a few weeks ago and have been pretty happy with the products I received. Unfortunately, my tube of Posh arrived damaged, so I emailed their CS department to see if there was anyway I could return it for a replacement. The next morning, I woke up to an email from them that said:

We apologize for the item(s) damaged from your order.

We are sending the item(s) to you as quickly as possible and apologize for any inconvenience.


Sincerely,
the e.l.f. team
e.l.f. Cosmetics Affordable Luxury

Okay, so pretty general and to the point, but I guess not everyone can be verbose with an amazing command of the English language. Modesty. I gots it.
Anyway, ten days later, I had a lovely little parcel in my mail box that contained an unbroken tube of my beloved Posh, and I did a gleeful dance.
e.l.f. has proven themselves to be a great company to order from, not just because of their products, but because they seem to actually care whether their customers are happy, and want to fix issues before they turn into large problems.

XOXO,
Ashleigh

22 November 2010

I'm late, I'm late for a very important date!

Quick! You've overslept and only have fifteen minutes to become your fabulous self; what do you do?

First thing's first: If you use hot tools, plug them in immediately to let them heat up.
While you're waiting for that, wash your face, brush your teeth, then fill up your basin with warm soapy water for a duck's bath.
Use bobby pins (or a cute clip) to pull back the front of your hair. If you straighten or curl your hair, use your flat iron/curling iron to touch up any bits that went wonky while you slept.
Moisturize!
Quick swipe of liner, two-three coats of mascara to make your eyes look wide open, your favorite lipstick, and some powder.
Get dressed.
Get out the door.

Sad thing is, this is my routine about two days out of the week.


XOXO,
Ashleigh

17 November 2010

Rescue Me!

What do you do when a lipstick gets smashed or breaks? Do you just toss it or try to salvage it? Apply it with a lipbrush or with your finger? When it happens to me, I make it into a gloss.

You'll need:

Smashed or broken lipstick
Rosebud salve, Vaseline, or lipbalm
Small container

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I use approximately two parts lipstick to one part rosebud salve.

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Mix, microwave for about 45-95 seconds, then mix again to make sure it's a homogenous mixture. Using the rosebud salve (or vaseline... or lip balm...) gives the gloss moisturising properties and makes it a little sheer, so application is practically goof proof.

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Finally, something to do with my Bare Minerals containers ;)

XOXO,
Ashleigh

Feelin' Minty Fresh

I've had a strange desire for pastel blue or green nails for the past couple weeks. I considered ordering the Eyeko Vintage polish, but since I've never used Eyeko before and don't really want to pay s&h on one item, I've been trawling Target, wading at Walmart, unearthing at Ulta, desperate to find the perfect shade. I've seen a couple by Essie that I'm considering buying, but to tide me over, I bought Minted by Revlon. It's a gorgeous color, just like liquified spearmint gum, and so light and frothy looking. I don't even care that Fall is the wrong season to wear pastel on my nails, it just feels soooooo right.
 But of course, nothing can ever truly be perfect. While the color is amazing, application is horrible. It's streaky and prone to drag marks, takes forever to dry, and bubbles if you look at it wrong. I finally had to use four coats of color and two coats of topcoat to get it to look somewhat decent, but I think the work is worth it.

revlon, minted, pastel nails, green

Revlon polish is $3.99 at Target.

Quick lipstick tip

The holiday season is quickly descending upon us, bringing with it parties, merrymaking, frivolity, and the occasional drink. Now, you and I know that more often than not, if we're wearing lipstick, it leaves that tell-tale mark on the rim of your glass. On one hand, at least you know for sure which glass is yours. On the other... it's a little tacky looking. So what do you do? If you (discretely) lick the edge of your glass before drinking, it won't leave a lipstick mark. Honest. You may want to practice this at home before you try it in public, else you may be known as "the rim licker," which could bring up a whole slew of issues.
If, even after practice, you can't quite get it down, use a lip stain. Revlon's Just Bitten lip stain is great, long lasting, and comes with a super conditioning balm. L'Oreal has the Infallibile gloss, which dries down to a stain-like finish, but be warned, after eating and drinking, it does fade pretty quickly. If you need to change your stain quickly, or you want to get it all off before bed, try eye make up remover.

XOXO,
Ashleigh

15 November 2010

E.L.F Haul!

I'm so excited! I just got my order from E.L.F and there's all kinds of gorgeousness to see! Now, forewarning, this is going to be a very picture heavy post, so we're just gonna go ahead and put all of the fabulousness behind a cut.

12 November 2010

I've Done It!

If you follow my Tumblr, then you know that I've been wearing the OPI Burlesque collection and wearing a new color almost every day. The glitters from this collection apply so much better than the Alice glitters, but it was still a bit of a pain in the ass, something that I don't really understand. China Glaze has beautiful glitters that apply and wear well, so why can't OPI? Heck, even Hard Candy has some great glitter polishes that practically have to be sandblasted off.
And then, inspiration hit. I was playing with Sparkle-icious and thought "Maybe it doesn't stick well because my nail bed is too smooth from frequent buffing...?" so I got my buffing block, and really lightly buffed the surface of my nail to take of the sheen and give the polish something to cling to. I then did three thin coats of Sparkle-icious with a layer of CND topcoat between each coat.
Using that method, I only had one casualty at work, which is pretty amazing. I'm constantly opening boxes and moving around furniture, so it's amazing if regular polish gets through the day unscathed.



I really like Sparkle-icious. It kind of reminds me of Mad As A Hatter, but it isn't nearly as blinding, and it has gold, teal, and fuchsia glitter

I bought my OPI at Ulta for $8.50

11 November 2010

Take It All Off

It's pretty safe to say that a consistent theme of my blog are things that are quick and easy. I think beauty products should not only make our lives and our exteriors prettier, but I think they should make our lives a little easier as well, so that's why I get so excited when I find one that's not only easy, but effective. Enter Neutrogena Eye Make Up Remover Lotion. Gah, that's a bit of a mouthful, but it's okay, because it's an awesome product.



I wear quite a bit of mascara, and usually a slick of black, winged out liner on a regular basis, and I have absolutely no problem getting every trace of it off with a pea sized amount of the Neutrogena. I just squeeze a tiny dab on my fingertips, massage it in a circular motion into my eyelids and eye area, then use a cotton ball to clean it all up.

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 I was expecting this to maybe leave a little bit of a greasy feel to my skin, since it's a lotion base, but once I get everything wiped up, there's no funky residue.
I love that this so easily obliterates my make up while simultaneously being gentle on my skin, since the eye area is so delicate and the constant pulling and tugging we do while removing eye make up and washing our faces can cause premature wrinkles.

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As you can probably tell, I have absolutely no make up on in that picture, not even a trace of foundation left under my eye to cover that dark circle there!

You should be able to pick up a tube at most major retailers, like Walmart, Target, Walgreens, etc. for around $4.

XOXO,
Ashleigh

08 November 2010

One Big Tease-y

Tease-y Does It, part of OPI's new Burlesque Collection is a gorgeous, vampy shade.  The base color in it is a deep, plum-y shade and it has very fine, red sparkle that's evenly distributed throughout so when the light hits it the right way, it glows.



 This'll be a great shade for the dark Autumn evenings and will transition well into the Holiday season.




As usual, OPI runs about $8.50 a bottle depending on where you get it. I usually pick mine up at Ulta because they run specials fairly often.

Buxom Babe Seeking Buxom Lips

I'm normally not a very big fan of Bare Escentials. A few years ago, I got the Bare Minerals starter kit from my local Sephhora, followed the DVD instructions, and was kind of underwhelmed by the results unless I caked on about an inch of product. I don't know how I discovered the Buxom Lips Full Color lipgloss, but I'm pretty sure it had something to do with the packaging. As previously stated, I'm an bonafide sucker for cool packaging, and the slim cardstock tubes have pictures of burlesque inspired women, while the tubes themselves are very sleek. There's a lot to be said for clear tubes with silver writing.



Anywho, onto the product. I bought Buxom Lips Full Color lipgloss in Temptest, a gorgeous pinky neutral shade. It's very much so a "my lips, but better," color. It has a very subtle gold shimmer that adds dimension to your lips, which works very well with the slight plumping this product offers.



Wearability is pretty awesome with this and I can normally get at least an hour wear without any fading, smudging, or feathering.

Buxom Lips Full Color,Bare Escentials,Temptest

Like a lot of other lipglosses, it has a standard doe-foot applicator, but this has no sharp edges and ample cushioning.
You can pick up Bare Escentials products at Sephora and Ulta, and the lipgloss goes for about $20. It's not cheap, but it's worth the splurge.

XOXO,
Ashleigh