Mermaid Dreams

When I was a little girl, I loved mermaids. When I saw this nail polish, the first thing that popped into my mind was Ariel from Disney's Little Mermaid.

Lo and Behold, when I picked up the bottle at Sephora, I found out the name of the polish was "Mermaid to Order." It was a sign, I had to have it and I bought it.

Along with a base and top coat, Ash is wearing 2 thick layers of Sephora OPI "Mermaid to Order."



Same routine, fresh layer of top coat every 4-5 days and the polish stayed on for a good 2 weeks until I had to take it off and paint my nails green for a wedding to match my pretty green dress.

Closet Pink Lover

I love pink although I don't like to admit that to the world. Pink isn't a color I or anybody else would associate with me. I gravitate towards strong dark colors, like black, gray or red... Although if you noticed the color scheme of this blog, you'd think otherwise...

On to the today's Ash Appeal--> I couldn't help myself when I saw OPI's "Pinking of You" and "Princesses Rule." So sweet and girly, my heart gave a little squeal when I saw them sitting on a shelf in all their pink glory. I didn't know if they would suit my coloring but I thought, what the hell, give it a go. And I was very pleased with the results.



For my "Pink Overload" as Ferniebeanie calls it, I had 2 thick coats of "Pinking of you," followed by "princesses rule." I was of course using a clear base coat and finished my nails with a top coat.

One thing I love about OPI nail polishes, they last and they don't chip easily. To be fair, the polish lasts much longer when I'm not doing any heavy cleaning or lifting. I do wash dishes everyday and I make it a point to reapply a thin layer of top coat over the polish every 4-5 days. If I have bling on my nails, I reapply that top coat every 3 days, just to keep the stones in place.

My pink nails lasted slightly more than 2 weeks.

The Accidental Beauty Queen

10 years ago if someone were to tell me I would one day work in the beauty industry (albeit part-time), I would have laughed in their faces.

I was always a tomboy, an outdoorsy, no fuss kinda girl. In the early 90s, I was fashionably grunge. I loved my big baggy jeans that hung off my butt and over-sized flannel shirts that hid everything.

I refused to wear make-up for the longest time, even when I lived in Japan for a while. Big No No in the land of the rising sun. But I figured since I was there to study, no one would look at me, much less remember me since I was there for such a short period of time. I didn't need to be pretty and waking up extra early every morning to put on my face was, to be blunt, a pain.

It was mostly laziness and a little bit because I didn't care enough. This shocked the Japanese family I lived with to no end. The women- my host mother and sister were scandalized that I didn't wear make up. And after they got over the shock, they thought I was brave for leaving the house without any war paint on my face.

Eventually I got over my irrational fear of make-up. I didn't use it everyday but I learned how make-up could be used and applied to enhance a person's natural beauty. And why not, who doesn't want to look and feel pretty? So once in a while, I'd dust off my make-up box and pretty up for a Friday night out.

Being the occasional wearer of make-up, it surprises me (and everyone else who knows me), that I suddenly got a part-time job in beauty retail to help pay my bills. When I got the job I knew how to put on my own make-up, barely. But working in store, I suddenly had to know how to put make-up on other people. That's only one aspect of working in beauty.

Tools, skin care, make-up, fragrance, etc etc... I suddenly had to know what all these things were, and what they were for. A little overwhelming at first, everyday at work is an adventure and a learning experience. Best perk of the job, getting to look at all the gorgeous merchandise.

And because I've somehow ended up in beauty, I find myself getting more interested in beauty. I still think putting on make-up is a pain but it's a necessary evil. i figured that if I have to do it all the time, I might as well find something about it that I enjoy.

So this blog is about all the beauty products that have "Ash Appeal," or what appeals to Ash. Ash likes 'em pretty and Ash is a sucker for merchandising. However, merchandising and packaging will only go so far. I won't buy it if I think it's crap, no matter how pretty it looks.

Stay turned for what has Ash Appeal and product reviews.