Month: March 2016

Strangely enough one of the biggest obstacles you face as a Stella & dot Stylist is booking Trunk Shows. Why? You ask. It seems like a no brainer, especially when you have previously attended Trunk Shows and you know that they’re a blast! For those of you that have never attended one or have no idea even what a Trunk Show is, then this is for you! I’m going to take you through the whole process and hopefully answer all your questions and ease your concerns about hosting!

First off, what is a Trunk Show?

In the Stella & Dot world, a Trunk Show is a pop up shop in your living room, kitchen, garage, back yard, lunch room at the office or anywhere where you decide you would like it to be. There are no rules when it comes to location! Whoever your S&D Stylist is will be happy to set up wherever it works for you!

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Does it cost me anything?

No! In fact, the majority of Hostesses earn free product credit as well as discounts to the entire Stella line. So not only is it free to host, you actually walk away with fabulous new accessories!

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How long is a Trunk Show?

Generally speaking a Trunk Show will last from 2-3 hours, but once again this is entirely up to you as the host. If you would like a lunch hour Trunk Show at the office, then an hour it will be!

What if I don’t know enough people to invite or what if no one comes?

When booking Trunk Shows I encourage Hostesses to invite 40-50 guests, knowing that not all of them will be able to make it. Often people voice they feel they don’t know enough people and unless you’ve moved to a brand new country, then you definitely know that many people. Invite your family, your co-workers, your neighbors, your close friends, you’re not so close friends that you usually only talk to on Facebook. Reach out and make a connection, I know that life gets busy and often people loose connections they once had, but I guarantee if you reach out to them, they will be delighted to hear from you!

Are my guests required to make a purchase?

Absolutely Not! Your guests are more than welcome to just come out, try things on and socialize. There is zero pressure to purchase anything. Although the S&D collection is so beautiful it is hard to resist! I like to remind everyone that half of S&D’s product line is actually under $50 and there is also a number of beautiful pieces under $30, I truly feel there is something for everyone regardless of your current finances!

So what are the drawbacks to hosting a Trunk Show?

There are none!

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In a nutshell that’s it! That’s all there is too it! You simply invite over you friends, sip, shop and socialize! Take a couple hours out of the day to catch up with people in your life and shop in the comfort of your home! Bring your babies, bring your toddlers, bring your husband for his credit card! There are no rules!

Feel free to contact me with any additional questions, and lets get your Trunk Show booked! Stay Beautiful!

Sondra

Welcome Back! This weeks post is going to be dedicated to my all time favorite, tried and true hair care products! I have to be honest and say I was definitely a hair girl before I was a makeup girl, therefore I have tried soooo many different hair care products! Now I’m not claiming to be an expert but I think I can certainly offer up some decent intel! I’m going to be breaking this up into subcategories and I’m sure you’ll find I’m partial to one specific brand, this is only my opinion and this is in no way, shape or form a sponsored post, I just happen to REALLY like them! One last thing to keep in mind is the difference between Professional/Salon products and Drugstore Products. Besides the obvious price factor, Salon products often contain less “fillers” than Drugstore ones. Meaning less of the stuff you don’t want such as sulfates and water and more of the stuff you do want, like minerals and oils and hair healthy goodness. If you’re a female who regularly blow dries, flat iron, curls or colors your hair, I 100% recommend using professional products! If you are a male or a female who just has naturally glorious hair, you can probably get away with Drugstore Shampoo’s and Conditioners! Now that that’s out of the way, on wards!

Shampoo’s

Best all around for every hair type :

CHI – Infra Shampoo

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Best Volumizing :

CHI – Magnified Volume

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Best Curly Hair :

Catwalk – Curls Rock

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Best Travel Friendly :

Lush – Shampoo Bars

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Conditioners

Best all around for every hair type :

CHI – Infra Treatment

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Best Volumizing :

CHI – Magnified Volume

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Best Curly Hair :

Catwalk – Curls Rock

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Best Travel Friendly :

Lush – Big Solid Conditioner

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Best Deep Conditioner :

CHI – Nourish Intense

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Best Leave in Conditioner :

Healthy Sexy Hair – Soy Tri-Wheat Leave In Conditioner

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Hair Sprays

Best Everyday :

CHI – Infra Texture

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Strong Hold :

CHI – Helmet Head

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Humidity Proof :

Kenra – Volume Spray

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Best Hair Serum

CHI – Silk Infusion

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*Note if you take only one thing away from this post, let it be this! It’s a-m-a-z-i-n-g

Best Dry Shampoo

Johnson’s – Baby Powder

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*Legit, works better than any aerosol dry shampoo and is way cheaper!

Best Heat Protectant Spray

Kenra – Hot Spray

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That’s all folks! If you have questions about anything listed please don’t hesitate to ask! Stay Beautiful!

 

 

As part of my Stella & dot favorites, I’ve decided to make a Look Book of sorts and incorporate my selected jewelry and accessories with outfit choices to give everyone a vision of how certain looks can be created and styled. This month’s look is about being Styled & Chic, keeping it minimalist yet adding a pop of glamour! The accessories really pull the whole look together and of course I would happily flaunt this everyday! To shop this outfit click here and to shop Stella & dot click here. Stay Beautiful!y

 

#pursegate2016

I recently joined a Facebook group called Just Glam it, a page where other makeup and beauty enthusiasts can post pictures, ask questions, give advice etc. on all beauty and makeup related topics. Shortly after my joining, I started to notice my feed being filled with pictures of purses. At first it was just members posting photo’s of a cute purse that closely resembled a Michael Kors bag for a fraction of the price. Now they aren’t ‘knock offs’ just purses with similar shape and function. They had purchased them at Payless Shoe Source as there was a huge 50% off bags promotion plus many people had additional discount codes. It started off sweet an innocent, a “hey look at this cute purse I got for $20” and turned into a full blown obsession. Before I had even caught on, every single post was a picture from a different girl and the bag she bought. Soon it wasn’t even just one bag, girls were buying multiples, different colors, ordering them online if their local Payless didn’t have them, it was chaos!

Now I own a few Michael Kors purses of my own, mostly purchased at outlets as I know they can be quite pricey. So at first I thought yeah that’s a cute bag, but I already have the Michael Kors version so why would I want the look alike version? Well day after day of seeing these purses being posted, in all the different colors, at such great prices, I felt myself being sucked in! I started out slow and discrete, just looking at the website, checking out the colors. Then I thought well hey why not just go look at them in the store? So after a coffee date with a friend, I sauntered on over to my closest Payless to have a look at this purse. To my disappointment that particular location didn’t even have the purse, so I perused through the store and found a cute pair of pumps also on sale for $19.99. Alas that location did not have my size, so the ever so lovely sales associate got onto her computer and found my size at the next nearest location. She even called over, had them place them on hold for me and gave me a $6.00 off coupon for the ‘inconvenience’ of having to visit a different store. Well inconvenienced I was not as I was secretly thrilled for an excuse to visit another location and find my purse. A short 10 minute drive later I was there, I hurried inside, over to the bag section and there it was. I’m pretty sure there was one of those sun shining down breaking through the clouds, choir singing awwwwww moments when I saw it. I grabbed that purse like it was a bottle of water and I hadn’t drank in days, it was the only one there and it was mine! Up to the cashier I went, asked for the shoes I had on hold and paid all in a matter of minutes. I didn’t even think twice about buying this bag that I clearly didn’t need but I had become obsessed with having! It was a great deal and the bag is actually very lovely and I will most definitely use it.

The moral of this story you ask? Well it’s the huge role that social media and attention on a specific product play in our everyday life. It’s amazing how so many people talking and loving and wanting a specific item can make you want it just as much. It’s peer pressure ala the 21st century. So I guess what I’m trying to get at, is just because something is popular and everyone has it, wants it, loves it, doesn’t mean you have to as well. Advice that I clearly need to take! I have now dubbed this #pursegate2016, I encourage everyone who also fell into the hype and purchased the bag to comment and post on here or Instagram your bag with the #pursegate2016! Might as well spread the love of the Payless Purse! Stay Beautiful!

Sondra

Blonde Ambition Beauty

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#pursegate2016

February Favorites!

Welcome back! I’ve decided to start a new mini blog series in which at the beginning of every month, I’m going to be posting a highly coveted selection of everything I loved in the previous month! Not just makeup items but clothing, shoes, purses, wines and pretty much anything that struck my fancy over the last month! If I liked it and thought it was mention worthy you’ll find it here! Check back every month to see what I’ve been loving and hopefully you’ll love it as much as I do!

First up, a very anticipated, in my books at least, Netflix series! Fuller House! I feel like I have pretty much been waiting for this since I was 11, and I must say it did not disappoint! Brought back a warm fuzzy nostalgia feeling and I think everyone needs to see it! Plus I’ve had the opening credits theme song stuck in my head for the past week and it would be nice to have someone to harmonize with! Two thumbs up for Fuller House! I won’t be mad if you take a break from reading this to go watch it 😉

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Next up! The cutest pair I shoes I discovered in February! I guess if I’m being totally honest my sister actually discovered them first, but since she doesn’t have a blog I’m taking credit! I purchased them here and I won’t mind if you buy them too so we can be shoe twins!

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http://www.asos.com/park-lane/park-lane-love-suede-slipper-shoes/prod/pgeproduct.aspx?iid=5733581&clr=Black&SearchQuery=love&pgesize=21&pge=0&totalstyles=21&gridsize=3&gridrow=5&gridcolumn=2

Lastly but certainly not least, because I am an old soul and 90 year old lady at heart, I love me some good ol’ crochet! I stumbled upon this pattern on Pinterest and loved it so much because it reminded me of a stained glass window! The link from Pinterest was in another language, just my luck, but google chrome has a handy translate button and because the pattern consists of only granny squares it was easy enough to figure out! Here is the link from Pinterest and a picture of my work!

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http://kungenomajkis.blogspot.ca/2013/12/virkad-grannywheelsquare-plad.html

That’s all folks! Thanks for reading, stay beautiful!

Sondra

Blonde Ambition Beauty