Online Shopping!

Hello!

Today I would like to introduce some of my favorite shopping websites to you because Armada will begin to take online orders very soon!!

I'm a shopalohlic and I love finding great deals online, especially when it comes to make-up, clothing and jewelry.  I love shopping on Ideeli and Hautelook because they sell designer makeup, hair products/tools, clothing and jewelry with a huge discount, usually 50-75% off.  I like to buy high end makeup from these websites because I wouldn't feel bad if I don't like it.  I hate itsy bitsy samples. 

The only catch is you have to be quick!  They have new sales of different brands everyday and their quanities are quite limited so you have to snag it quick!  You only have 15 minutes to check out, or else someone else can add it to their cart.  Make-up brands include Urban Decay, Vincent Longo, NYX, Rock and Republic, and many more.  They have a lot of popular brands of shoes, purses and clothing as well.  I always look forward to their blow-out sales every few weeks! Everything is ridiculously discounted! 

For jewelry, I personally like Jewelmint because Cher Coulter and Kate Bosworth personalize jewelry selections for you every month.  You take a style quiz when you join, not sure how accurate that is, but they get to know your style based on what you like and dislike as you shop.  I've received many compliments whenever I wear jewelry from their line.  They're 29.99 for any piece on their website and they give 50% off your first purchase.  They're better quality than what you can find at forever21 and it's very well designed. Packaging is absolutely amazing.  I keep all the boxes.  Please comment if you would like me to do a collective haul for all my jewelmint purchases. 

Comment and let me know what are your favorite shopping places online! 

What I'm Up To At Work

So many salons are phoning in to order our sample kit that I couldn't find a spare moment to blog!  We are getting ready for our next shipment of samples.  We've been preparing fliers and order request forms for more than a week and I really hope all the hard work pays off.  I'm so excited to ship out these sample kits because I'm sure stylists will love it as much as I do!  And since they're hair experts, I cannot wait for them to call me back and let me know how it turned out on themselves or on their clients!  I love success stories and happy experiences.  I can hardly contain myself when I hear good news!  As a swimmer, I had damaged hair for more than half my life and I'm so happy to see improvements with Armada-style products.  I no longer feel sad and disappointed when I run my fingers through my hair.  I came across a stylist who was a bit relunctant to try our products when I was making up follow-up calls.  She called me back yesterday, RAVING about the products and was so glad I talked her into trying it out!  All I can say is: I told you so! 

I also had the experience of stylists loving our products so much that they call in just to give us new tips and ideas on how to use our own products!  After understanding the chemistry of M-32 through our newsletters, they experimented on their own to incorporate our products better in chemical processes such as coloring and perms.  It really makes me proud of what I'm doing to help salons and their clients! 

One frustration:   I do not understand why stylists request a sample and do not try it!  They leave it lying around for weeks!  If they will not use it, I wish they would ship it to my home address!  I would love to have hair care companies send me free things!  Perhaps, pushy sales people and cold callers automatons have given us a bad rep because we do not make sales call at all!  We genuinely only want to know how's everything going with our products and there is no obligation for salons to order anything.  We believe sampling is the best way to get you to believe that our products really works!

Trending: Emma Stone

I absolutely love Emma Stone! Especially her low, raspy voice and her gorgerous hair! I'm thinking of dying my hair red because of her!

1. Red Hair

Emma Stone's red hair makes her gray-blue eyes stand out!

2. Cute messy ponytail!

So cute and playful!



3. Shiny, wavy locks!

Wavy curls are so flirty and romantic.



Fall Trends

1. Lacey tops-- Lacey tops was really in spring 2011!  Lace is fun, flirty and feminine!  It's also a very easy cover up for tank tops.  Be on a lookout for tops with patches of lace!  Shades of black, gray, navy and burgundy are perfect for a sexy fall look. Here is a Twilight-inspired top that I adore: 

Top from M&Co. Pair these with leggings and some heeled booties!

2. Fun tights and leggings

I have a collection of awesomes leggings and tights that I purchased in Japan!  I love lacey rose patterned tights and cutt out leggings!  They're great for showing some legs for the fall and you can wear them under oversized t-shirts or tunics.

This one is from david lerner!  Sooo sexy without showing too much skin!

3. loose fitting sweatery (crop) top over a bandage skirt

Crop tops were huge this summer but it doesn't mean you can't wear them in the fall!  Wear a high wasted skirt or even dress with your crop tops and show off your legs instead!

Kitty Loh's collection-http://kittywebstore.blogspot.com/

Love her fashion taste!  

4. Laced up booties~ For an alternative to the oxford trends, go for laced up heeled booties! 

Opallo Booties from Guess- on sale now!

I love trend forecasting! I hope you enjoyed reading!  Comment and let me know what trends you foresee! 

Display your talents by blogging!

Bring more customers to your salon by starting a blog!  Your blog posts do not need to be lengthy.  You do not even have to blog about hair all the time.  You can post up pictures or artwork of inspirations.  You can post up what you had for lunch on a busy day.  I'm sure people will be interested in checking out your before and after pictures of some of the clients you've worked on as well.  Clients will feel more personal with you when you share parts of your life with them. 

I frequently find myself going back blogs of complete strangers just because they seem so down to earth and genuine.  My favorite beauty blogger is Jen frmheadtotoe.com

As a stylist, you probably see many clients a day and it's not hard to gain publicity when you already have a clientele. Good luck!

Dinner at Nyonya

Hello all! 

Horrible weather in New York City this past weekend and for the next few days. I make the best out of my gloomy days by spoiling my tastebuds with flavorful food!  I had dinner at a Malaysian restaurant called Nyonya, located in Chinatown, NYC on Grand St.  It's quite famous--it won a lot of awards and has been featured in lots of magazines. 

This is called Roti Canai or the Indian Pancake.  It's one of my all time favorite apetizers. The pancake is very thin and crispy and the texture just goes so well with the spicy curry dip.  What you do is you rip the pancake into pieces little by little and dip it into the curry.  I love how it's so hands on!  I love spicy food and always crave it!  The curry isn't really as spicy as it looks (at least not to me) but it has a lot more flavor compared to Japanese curry dishes. 

Did this picture make you hungry? HAHAHA

What do young and vain people want?

I frequently catch my thirteen year old sister taking pictures of herself with my camera.  She will kill me when she reads this, but here's evidence of my own vanity:

A geisha on Halloween

Watching her snap photos after photos reminds of what I read a while ago about how Facebook and Twitter have created a new culture of self consiousness.  To feed their hunger for constant feedback, they are willing to spend lots of money on clothes, make-up and make frequent visits to your salons. 

I have no background in human psychology, but I do believe that it is part of human nature to want to be appreciated and be the object of envy and attention.  What I'm saying is that their self-obsessed behavior isn't necessarily a result from Facebook social networking and Twitter's micro-blogging. Instead, virtual tools have surfaced what was within us all along and became the medium to provide us with self-satisfaction. 

My point is everyone wants to look good, but beneath it all, everyone needs to be fed with attention and real-life feedback.  Think of it this way: giving your customers a great haircut is only the minimum requirement.   It's important that your client will walk out the door looking good, but can you also provide the "comments", "pokes" or "thumbs up"  to make them feel good? 

The forgotten sense of smell

The sense of smell is the most powerful of all of our senses and it also happens to be the sense that's most overrated and forgotten. 

I remember the time I finally persuaded my boyfriend into going to a nail salon with me.  Within split seconds of entering, he had to step back out immediately.  The smell of nail polish, acryllics and chemicals did not bother me so much because I was so used to it.  Poor Will, it was just too much for him. 

I read in Buy-ology by Martin Lindstrom, that restaurants and retails stores are using scents to get people to buy more things.  That perfectly explains the overwhelming smell of cologne even before you enter stores like Abercrombie and Hollister.  What you smell is signaled directly to your brain and it has the ability to transport you to settings of forgotten memories. 

Have you ever thought about what it might be like for your clients to step into your salon for the first time?  Perhaps you are so used to the scent of your beauty parlor that it no longer registers to you?  I'm sure your clients can sniff out excess chemicals and hair spray right away.  The scent she smells from the moment your client walks in may also determine whether she will come back again.  You decorate your salon for your client's visual pleasure.  You ask her if the water is too hot because you're considerate to her sense of feel.  Now you might want to consider how you smell...

How I choose my salon and stylist

I'm a native New Yorker, born and raised in Manhattan.  You're probably thinking that since I am a New Yorker, I must have had lots of experiences of spoiling myself at high end beauty salons and getting cheap haircuts at hipster barber shops.  Occasionally, I do go to higher end salons (only after I search for promotions or deals--New York is expensive!) but I have to admit that I am loyal to one stylist in my Chinatown neighborhood. 

She is a very  nice, pretty Chinese lady.  She does not have the best fashion sense but she has very beautiful hair.  She works at a little shop around the corner from my apartment and I visit her every three months or so.  As a local salon, they charge a fairly cheap price, a lot cheaper than a lot of the newer salons that opened up in the neighborhood.  However, that is not the reason why I keep going back to her.  The reasons are: I like her and I like the atmosphere of the salon.  What I like about her most is that she got to know me throughout my visits.  I remember the year bangs became popular and I debated whether I should get bangs.  Most people told me yes- I had the face for it.  However, when I asked her for her advice, she told me no-- she liked my forehead and she said, "knowing you, it would bother the heck out of you.  You can barely sit still when you get a haircut.  You rarely blow dry so your layers and your bangs will be a frizzy mess. you'll get acne from the hair oil and the face touching."  She was totally right.  I would have winded up waiting impatiently for months for my bangs to grow out again. 

Sometimes when I visit a higher end salon, I feel out of place.  The thrill of being there and waiting to be overcharged for a haircut is awseome, maybe once in a while.  Not because I feel inferior to the other customers, even though they do own Louis Vuitton everything.  I do love the decorations in higher end salons, it's so tasteful and modern but honestly, I have to say I don't really like the overall atmosphere of the higher end salons. The receptionists and stylists are welcoming and friendly, but they don't give me the same welcoming, homely feel.  I speak for myself but aren't all women just too tired of wearing a mask to a salon at the end of the day?   I mean, they want to appear exclusive, I understand that.  If I want to feel like I'm part of something exclusive, I prefer a club or restaurant.  For a salon, I just want to sit there, put my trust in a stylist who knows me, knows what I want and won't mess up.  Can you do that for your clients? 

First Week at Armadastyle

Hello readers!

はじめまして！

I am starting a very exciting chapter in my life and I would love to share my experiences with all of you! 

I just graduated Barnard College and I'm starting my career in the beauty industry with Armadastyle!  Founded only 6 years ago in Japan, Armadastyle is now introducing their wonderful hair treatment products to the U.S!  Based in New York City for less than two years, Armadastyle has a strong and growing clientele across the U.S.

My first week here has been amazing!  I spoke with many successful stylists across the U.S. and learned so much about competitiveness of the beauty industry and the hardships salons face daily. 

Those who know me can tell you that I'm obsessed with Japanese make-up and hair products.  As a lover of make-up, fashion and all things cute, I will be blogging about my opinions and advice on make-up and hair products! Armadastyle encouraged me to start a blog so the beauty community can get to know the armadastyle girls.  Hope you guys enjoy! 

July Favorites

This year's July has got to be one of the hottest ever! July was a very relaxing month for me. I finally found some time to catch up on reading, hang out with friends and tan on the beach!  Even though summer is a season of minimum makeup, as a makeup junkie, I cannot stop myself from trying out new products!  Here are the beauty products and random things that I've been loving July:

1) Perfekt liquid foundation: I got a sample of this product from Sephora (shade: Radiant) and I've been using this all summer!  Coverage is on the sheer side but I love the glowy, dewy finish it gives me!  The consistency is super smooth, making it very easy to blend and it feels super soft on your skin.  It doesn't need a primer or finishing powder!  Best part: it doesn't make your skin feel oily at all and it's sweat proof!

2) Paul and Joe lipglosses:  I bought these on sale at urban outfitters and I've been wearing both all summer!  I adore the packaging. I hate sticky lipglosses and these are not sticky at all!  The pink one is super pretty and I usually wear it on top of a baby pink lipstick, (I like Revlon 616: Wink for Pink). The orange one is a bit sheer, but I love wearing it with a neutral eye look because it makes my lips stand out with a very nice shimmery pop of orange.

3) Urban Decay Naked Palette:  Bought this for myself as a graduation gift!  I absolutely love this palette! I use all of the colors in this palette.  Lately I find myself wearing the colors toasted with sin a lottttt! In the summer, I rarely put on eyeliner, instead I usually go for a shimmery neutral look with a bit of mascara. 

4) Clinique cream blush in Rosy: I've been using this rosy pink blush all summer long.  (Sorry, it looks a bit gross because it got smushed by the cap)  I dab this onto my cheek and I'm ready to go!  It gives me a very natural flush.  I like that it doesn't have any shimmer or glitter. I prefer a more matte face for the summer because I get oily and sweaty throughout the day. 

5) 3 L'IMPERATRICE

I love fruity scents and this one is by far the best one I've ever used!  It's super summery and refreshing.  Smells like grapefruit and sunshine!  Here's the description from sephora: a heart of pink cyclamen, watermelon, and jasmine; and a base of musk, sandalwood, and grapefruit wood.  It's sweet and airy without being overwhelming at all. 


5) This is what I use to stay nice and hydrated!  I've been carrying this water bottle all summer long!  I'm trying to save money and be eco-friendly by not buying bottled water.  I got this from target for $10.  It's BPA free and I love how theres a protective cap over the mouth piece.  You press the round button and the cap pops open--super fun to play with.  Best of all: it's pink!! They also have it in green, blue, gray and purple.

6) Jewelmint: Borgia Ring: I'm obsessed with this chunky ring! The turqoise stone can actually open like a little locket. I was totally sold by Elle Fowler from youtube: allthatglitters21.  She keeps lipgloss inside!  Definitely one of my favorite pieces from jewelmint.com.  I have a lot more jewelry and accessories as well, let me know if you would like me to blog about my collection! I'm not a great hand model but I really want to show you how I paired it with my bracelet!  I'm wearing a stretchy, vintage-y studded bracelet from forever21.  

I hope you guys enjoyed reading my July favorites!  Please comment if you have any questions on the products I've listed or would like me to visit your blog!