AleanElston.com

Author: Alean “@TopModelWithBottles” Elston

  • Found a new fav Red Lipstick…and I cut My hair!!!

    Found a new fav Red Lipstick…and I cut My hair!!!

    In my never ending search for a good red lipstick, I decided to pick up a “cheap-y” brand.  And my #1 go to for a quick cheap-y is Wet N Wild.  It never fails me lol.  I decided to try one of their liquid lipsticks and I picked up a red and a pink, Cherry on Top  and Rose to the Occasion. Both of which I looooove!

    I’ve searched for other reviews online and the common complaint was that it was sticky. Well, most stains are sticky until it’s completely dry, and if you press your lips together while it’s still wet you’ll mess up the finished look. So for those reviews, I basically wrote those people off as not knowing what the hell they were talking about lol.

    I also did a hair show earlier this month and my hair was very broken and damaged to the point where the stylist suggested that I cut it, so I did and thus my new short do’! (The styles pictured are not of the original style that they stylist created. If you want to see that, click here.)

    But any who… Check out my results:

    CHERRY-ON-TOP
    Cherry On Top
    ROSE-TO-THE-OCCASION
    ROSE TO THE OCCASION

    I love that these colors are so pigmented! If you are like me and have 2 different colors of lips (my top lip is brown and my bottom lip is light pink) you see how you can’t tell that I have different skin colors for my lips. Most liquid lip colors don’t really work that well for women of color like me but with the amount of pigmentation in these $3 lippies has me sold.

    Just so you know, I only did one coat for each of these colors, no primer, and no lip liner. ANNND The color doesn’t BUDGE! Check out my kiss test below:

     

    There is a down side to these though. I wore each of these through an entire day and they lasted without fading or peeling etc… UNTIL I ate something that contained oil. For me it was buffalo wings on one day and a salad with italian dressing on another day. Everything else I ate, the colors lasted and I had no issue with them.

     

    So my final verdict on these lip colors is that it is a STRONG contender for the Stila lipstains and the Sephora lipstains, its VERY budget friendly especially if you dont want to spend between $12 -$25 on a lipstain

    The products mentioned in my post were purchased by me and I am not being offered any compensation for my thoughts/views on this product.

  • The hairstyle that made me stand out to modeling agents #modellife #modeladvice

    The hairstyle that made me stand out to modeling agents #modellife #modeladvice

    Over the weekend, I was in a Modeling Competition that one of my agencies holds every year. I’ve been with them for about 10 years now and I’ve never entered it, I never entered ANY modeling competition before but I’ve worked numerous events behind the scenes of them. They have a bunch of agents come from all over the country and the world to judge it and give out some amazing prizes. What made me enter it this year was the opportunity to go to China for an all expenses paid, paid model booking. Who could give up a chance for a free trip to China, international modeling creds to add to my resume, and did I mention being paid to model in China?! lol

    Memories of my Last out of the country modeling related excursion. Ready to blow the dust off of my passport.
    Memories of my Last out of the country modeling related excursion. Ready to blow the dust off of my passport.

    I was a little self conscious about entering the competition, mainly because MOST of the people competing were literally half my age or younger (if you can guess how old I am, theres 50 brownie points for you lol), and a tad bit slimmer than me. I’m still slim just not supermodel skinny like I used to be! lol But I entered this competition because it was for a lingerie/swimwear client in China, and swimwear and lingerie is PERFECT for my body type so I thought I could walk away from this competition confidently with the winner’s trophy in the bag.

    So did I win?

  • 5 “Business Models” who are great at minding their business

    5 “Business Models” who are great at minding their business

    They say it takes several streams of income in order to be wealthy. Which got me thinking about other models who have done more than modeling to create more revenue streams. I like to think of it as Business Models Minding their Business. (cute right?! :-D)

    As a model, you should always conduct yourself as a business and these models have done that plus created seprate businesses that have generated more for them in addition to their modeling. Click  the next page to check out my short list.

  • How to Get Work as a Promotional Model #modeladvice #modellife

    How to Get Work as a Promotional Model #modeladvice #modellife

    Follow my blog with Bloglovin
    It’s a lot simpler than you think. If you follow me on Instagram, you have seen that I work a lot of events as a model for various beverage brands, in addition to the work that I do with my company (Pour Models) as a special events bartender and model. I make a good portion of my income as a promo model for various brands and I am always asked how others can get started doing this type of work. I know if looks fun and it is, fun that I get paid for having and I get paid to travel to do.

    Me as a Promotional Model for Remy Martin!
    Me as a Promotional Model for Remy Martin!

    With that said, here’s my advice on how you can get started working as a promo model making anywhere between $20 and $50 per hour and more!

  • Recap: Funny Moments at #NYFW – #ilaughed

    Recap: Funny Moments at #NYFW – #ilaughed

    New York Fashion Week comes around but twice a year and every time its filled with the seriousness of FASHION and STATUS (insert glitter sprinkle here). I personally did not attend any shows this season but with my poppin Instagram Feed, Chef Roble, and Nicki Minaj, I caught all the hilarity without having to hop the train the NYC.

    With that, here are 3 moments that occurred during fashion week that I found funny. If you don’t laugh, chuckle, or crack a smile…drink some prune juice 😉

  • #Goals…Let’s just say I’m setting some more…

    #Goals…Let’s just say I’m setting some more…

    Welp, summer is over according to the calendar. Labor Day marks the unofficial end of fun in the sun. For me, today marks the start of a fresh new month. What I usually do at the start of a month is plan out my bookings and figure out how to fill it a bit more or if its packed, how I’m going to survive such busi-ness! Lol I also take the time to review goals that I have set for myself in the past and think about new ones or keep the old ones and try my best to achieve them all. Some of my past goals have included:

    If you have been following my blogging habits (or lack thereof), that first goal that I mentioned was a failure lol but it only failed because I became busy with more client and model bookings. Even though it was a failure other goals were a great success and there’s more time for me this month for me to modify that goal, among others, and of course set new ones to achieve.

    With that being said, I wanted to take a different approach to my goals. I’m a firm believer in “The Secret” and I noticed that a few people that I follow on social media following the law of attraction and I’ve been watching their goals come to pass. The way I see it, if they can bravely put their goals out there and I can watch it unfold, I should have no problem doing the same. So here I go, my goals for September 2014:

    1. Acquire a booking or contract that builds upon my strategy for financial and career growth
    2. Do 3 photoshoots with various phenomenal photographers and clients
    3. Consistently blog EVERYDAY
    4. Vlog at least 2 times a month
    5. Continue to develop my ‘jumping’ skills
    6. Reach and maintain a new account threshold

    So now that it’s out there, I’m going to work on making it all come my way!

    Be sure to follow me on social media to watch it all unfold!

    Facebook – facebook.com/AleanElston

    Instagram – instagram.com/completebeauty

    Twitter – twitter.com/completebeauty

    Pinterest – pinterest.com/AleanElston

  • My Review of #TreySongz’s – “#TRIGGA” and details about his next album…

    My Review of #TreySongz’s – “#TRIGGA” and details about his next album…

    Ok, so I’ve been a fan of Trey Songz for a long time. Wanna know how long? Let’s just say loooong… yeah, I know.

    But anywho.

    Of course I made it a point to buy the newest album that came out July 1st. Soon as I bought it, snapped a flick of me and the album for the ‘gram (click here to see the pic), then proceeded to pop the cd into my car player to give it a listen.

    The 6th installment following his “Chapter 5”, Trey Songz gives us “Trigga”. The difference between this and previous albums from the singer, well theres a ton. Let’s start with the obvious, the track listing. For this album, Songz enlisted the collaborations of various artists from Justin Bieber to Juicy J, and Nicki Minaj and more. As someone who is a fan of Trey, I’ve never seen more than one or 2 features on an album. I wonder what made him pursue making this album so feature heavy. I have a few speculations such as marketing strategies to get him to a higher visible level of mainstream notoriety, but I think that’s something for another blog post…

    If you follow the previous albums of Songz, you would notice that he attempts to give you some type of vision of the love life, or lack thereof, dealings that he has experienced during the creation of an album. Everyone mentions that all he talks about is sex, how he invented it and whatnot. But what he mentions on this album is the effect that fame has on his dealings with women. From women that he links up with for a night or 2 when he’s in their city, or women that he may have began some type of minor commitment to and he details the extent of those relationships. One might say that if you go by the songs that he puts out, he’s not looking to settle down and there’s isnt a key woman in his life just yet.

    As for the sound of “TRIGGA,” Fans of R&B music have been longing for ‘real’ R&B to make a comeback. There s more of a hip hop influence on the genre and less melody/harmony going on as of late. With “Trigga”, Songz attempts to give a balance of the classic style of music that he started out with when he released “I Gotta Make it” and “Trey Day” with today’s more common blend of Hip Hop/R&B. While I will ALWAYS love Trey, I would have been happier with more of his classic R&B style than a ton of collaborations. I understand that he’s attempting to reach a broader audience with these features but I need all that “jazz” on a mixtape and not so much on an album…

    Also, I wanted to note that Trey says this is his best album yet.

    For me, I love this album, but nothing he’s put out after 2009 is topping “Ready”… so far. There’s been a bunch of singular hits on albums since then, but not a quite a solid “play all the way through album” as ‘Ready.” So, until the next release, I’m looking forward to what he has to come.

    With that here are a few of tracks that really stood out for me  as favs.

    • Cake
    • Foreign
    • Nana (of course)
    • Smartphones
    • Y.A.S.
    • Mr. Steal Your Girl

    and every bonus track on the deluxe album

    • Hard to Walk Away
    • Serial
    • Sneaky

    A little birdie told me that the bonus tracks are a sample of the next album to follow “TRIGGA”

     

    TRIGGA Deluxe Tracklist:

    1. Cake
    2. Foreign
    3. Na Na
    4. Touchin, Lovin (featuring Nicki Minaj)
    5. Disrespectful (featuring Mila J)
    6. Dead Wrong (featuring Ty Dolla $ign)
    7. All We Do
    8. Foreign Remix (featuring Justin Bieber)
    9. Late Night (featuring Juicy J)
    10. Smartphones
    11. Yes, No, Maybe
    12. Y.A.S.
    13.Change Your Mind
    14. What’s Best For You
    15. Love Around The World
    16. I Know (Can’t Get Back)
    17. Mr. Steal Your Girl

     

    “TRIGGA” in stores and online

     

    PS the next album from Trey is going to be called “TREMAINE” – just remember, you heard it here first!

     

    xoxo

    -Alean

    *My face when I heard “Mr. Steal Your Girl” lol*
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  • Want Success? “You gotta Jump off that cliff…” according to #SteveHarvey [VIDEO]

    Want Success? “You gotta Jump off that cliff…” according to #SteveHarvey [VIDEO]

    Sometimes it can be a bit hard to make it in business, but Steve has a point when he tells you you have to jump…

    It can be a bit scary and I experience this everyday. Sometimes I don’t jump and I remain safe, but then I realize I’m missing out on soaring. So with that I’m learning to take more jumps…I’ll tell you how that all works out for me.

     

    What are some of the things that you need to jump for?

  • Have you tried a Hypnotiq #Martini?

    Have you tried a Hypnotiq #Martini?

    One of my favorite drinks is the Hypnotiq Martini. Never had one?! You should give it a try, I promise you’ll love it. While you are at your after work bar spot or if you are at home and want to try something different. Check out my recipe for it and let me know what you think.

    Hypnotiq Martini

    Add equal parts of Hypnotiq and Grey Goose Vodka (any brand is fine, but I like to mix this with Grey Goose or Ciroc, depending on whats available) and a Splash of Sour Mix. Shake all ingredients together and strain into a martini glass or the glass of your choice. Add a cherry if you would like. an enjoy!

    martini

    Drink Responsibly!

    Alean

  • The cost of doing business rises, should customers pay for it?

    The cost of doing business rises, should customers pay for it?

    Today so far has been a very interesting day.

    Its the last week of the month, of which I am usually preparing to pay bills and organize my budgets for the following month, and after looking at a few receipts and invoices I noticed, things just keep going up and up and up!

    I personally hate the fact that things keep going up, like my car insurance…smh Not only did I not have any incidents or claims, but my insurance increased! When I asked why despite having no issues or claims, they said it costs more to repair cars nowadays.

    Really…

    So because, I never filed a claim and everyone else drives like idiots, and messes up cars and property, I’m paying for it… its not fair. (currently searching for new car insurance by the way.)

    Anywho, the point of my blog post is this, everything in the world is increasing for me to handle business but I don’t want to have to pass my expensive costs on to my clients/customers.

    Currently seeking ways to keep business moving without reasonably raising costs for customers.

    How do you cope when your expenses get higher every year?

    (The video, fyi, just illustrates general costs of being in business, whether you are a photographer or not. Plug in what applies to you)