I'm baaack!

I am back! All things Ally is about to see some changes! I am currently working on a blogging schedule so that you can expect a post certain days a week! I am starting to like Monday, Wednesday, Friday as my schedule. 

I've already got a clothing haul and review of an etsy shop in the works so stay tuned for the both of them!

Happy to be back blogging!


Til next post!

Clothing Haul!

Boy has it been forever since I have blogged! I was so busy with school and work I could never find the time to post. However, the semester is over! Thank goodness. So be prepared for some posts! I will be blogging at least twice a week!

So enough babbling and let's get into this haul! 

Skater Skirts!

• Lately I have been loving the skater skirt trend and definitely wanted to get my hands on some! I got two simple ones and a dressier one for my Christmas outfit!

Store: Target

Price: ON SALE: $7.48

Store: DEB

Price: $16.90

Store: Rainbow

Price: $12.99

Palazzo Pants!

• When I first saw palazzo pants the first thought that came to mind was "hmm way to roomy for me". I am definitely all about skinny jeans and leggings. However, the girl at Wet Seal talked me into buying a pair and I now love them! They are so comfortable!

Store: Rainbow

Price: ON SALE: $10.00

Store: Wet Seal

Price: $22.90 ( if i recall correctly)

Shirts!

Store: DEB

Price: ON SALE: $8.50

Store: Rainbow

Price: ON SALE: $7.00

Store: Walmart
Price: $9.88

Sweaters! 

Store: Wet Seal

Price: ON SALE: Around 12.50, can't remember the exact price!

Store: Target

Price: ON SALE: $12.48

Store: Wet Seal

Price: ON SALE: $10.30

What are some things that you have purchased lately? and what are some trends that you are just loving??

Let me know if you guys want to see a look book featuring some of these items!

Til next post!

Beauty Through The Decades: 80s!

Holy cow! I actually have a picture up for this post! YES! I finally found my camera and cord and had some free time to finally participate again!

Today my lovely guest blogger is Patricia from Beauty Informer! We are rocking some 80's looks for you guys today! Let's get started with Patricia's look. 

Patricia says "I kept true to the vibrancy of the 80's and used my 88 color palette from Coastal Scents to achieve the look. I used a blue for my lids and pink in the crease area. I then used an orange shade above the pink and highlighted my brow area with yellow. I used a bit of the blue, orange and yellow  under my eyes too." 

"For my face, I used some primer, a foundation, and some blush and contour powder. 

I followed this up with a light coat of mascara and pink lipstick and liner. 

Notice my side ponytail with the blue band to match the eye shadow ;)"

I love Patricia's look! I love that it is still completely wearable! Make sure to stop by her blog Beauty Informer! 

I was definitely excited to do an 80's look because, well, I love bright colors! I really went for a bright obnoxious look. It may not be everyone's cup of tea and may not be "wearable" for everyone lol. I consider it wearable, and I actually do normally wear my eye looks like this. My mom always says I should have been born in the 80's!

 

 

I used an e.l.f. brightening eye quad in Punk Funk and a Rimmel London ScandalEYES eyeshadow pencil in witness white to achieve this look. I took the scandalEYES eyeshadow pencil and applied it all over my lid and lined my lower lash line with it. I applied the pink shadow from the quad all over the lids and the purple in the crease. I lined my lower lash line with the blue shadow in the quad. It is a very quick and easy look!

Hope everyone enjoyed this beauty through the decades post! Next week I'll be rocking the 90's with another guest blogger! Don't forget to stop by Patricia's blog, Beauty Informer!

Til next post!

Beauty Through The Decades: 70's!

It's Monday already! Which means it's time for this weeks beauty through the decades post. Today we are going back to the 70's! [insert disco dancing here]. Our guest blogger is Farrah from IT Girl! Unfortunately (again) I was unable to do a look for this post. I promise I will be back next week with a look. Everything is still hectic and I have no idea where my camera cord is. I must go on the hunt for that asap! -End Rant-

Today is all about Farrah and her 70's look, be sure to head over to her blog IT Girl to check out her post on her 70's look. 

For Farrah's 70's look she wanted to go for bold makeup. 

Farrah had 5 steps that went into creating her look. 

             1- Blue eyeshadow

                2- Wing your eyeliner

                         3-Tons and tons of mascara

 4- Pucker up!

5- Final Touch

For more info on her steps click here to be redirected to her post!

Doesn't she just look lovely?! I love all the exaggeration of the eyelashes! 

To head on over to Farrah's blog click here and be sure to check out some of her other posts as well!

Til next post!

Beauty Through The Decades: 60's!

Wow it sure has been awhile! I know these beauty through the decades posts are supposed to go up on Monday's but we just got our wifi set up yesterday so I had to post it late. This week is the 60's featuring the lovely Tori from Notorious Beauty Blog! Unfortunately I was unable to do a look for this post because I have been extremely busy. Between my jobs and unpacking I just haven't had the time. Don't even ask me where my camera is nonetheless my camera cord! I have no idea where they are, I need to hunt them down asap. I feel really bad that I couldn't do a look because of the craziness   going on right now. I don't know how frequently I will be able to post especially when school starts back up I will probably neglect my poor blog once again. But enough with my ranting! Today's post will be focused around Tori from Notorious Beauty Blog! and her 60's look!

Tori's 60's Look!

Here's what Tori had to say!

"I was looking up photos of iconic makeup looks from the 60's and I decided to model my look after Twiggy. I realize I look nothing like her haha but I love the intense cut crease and huge lashes that she always wore! I decided to kind of make the look more wearable for everyday as it wouldn't look as dramatic on my anyway since when I open my eyes you can't really see much of my eyelid, unlike Twiggy who had large perfect for eyeshadow eyes. When doing 60's makeup it is important to Go for neutral colored eyeshadows and apply them all over the lid and to define the crease by choosing a darker eyeshadow and apply it in your crease. I used my Urban Decay Naked Palette for this look. I used the color Naked all over my lid and up to the brow bone and the colors Darkhorse and Creep throughout the crease and along my lower lash line. Next I applied Wet N Wild Black liquid eyeliner on the upper lash line to create a cat eye and completed the eye look with Ardell Wispies eyelashes. (For more photos and a full list of products I used make sure to check out my blog!) :) I was so excited to be invited to do this look on Ally's blog because she was one of the first people to really support my blog and encourage me to keep working and I appreciate that more than she knows <3 Hugs and kisses xoxo Tori"

Doesn't she just look gorgeous! I love the look and seriously love that lip color!!

Thank you so much Tori for being a part of beauty through the decades and I am extremely sorry that I couldn't do a look for the post. 

Everyone make sure to stop by Notorious Beauty Blog! for more about her look and to explore the other things she blogs about! :)

Til next post!!

Beauty Through The Decades: 50's!

It's that time of the week again! Beauty Through The Decades. This week is the 50's and my guest blogger is Stephanie from Elegant Rebel Beauty! Let's just jump right in with Stephanie's look!

Stephanie said  "My initial plan when I snagged the 50's was to go with the iconic Marilyn Monroe look, but the more I thought about it the more I realized what an obvious choice that was, and I wanted to do something a little more unexpected.

I chose this Lucille Ball look, which was a promo for her classic show I love Lucy. The show first aired in 1951, and Lucille's portrayal of a strong-willed, mischievous housewife with a penchant for slapstick humour catapulted her into super-stardom. 

She made such amazing headway for TV actresses in wife roles, who up until then were cast to basically just stand there in the kitchen and look pretty. She was outspoken and funny, which was such a huge and courageous statement for a woman to make at that time. It also doesn't hurt that her flaming red locks make her my ginger sister!"

Get The Look

Face: She applied Revlon colorstay whipped creme makeup in ivory, in two coats, to get that flawless, matte finish, followed by Painted Earth HD concealer in fair. 

Eyes: She started with an off white matte (Painted earth mineral eye shadow in Toast) all over her lid to her brow bone. She added Painted earth mineral eye shadow in polished copper over the lid halfway to the brow bone. In a windshield wiper motion, she added a medium matte brown (Key botanicals mineral shadow in Hazel) to just above her natural crease, to create a higher, exaggerated crease. She then added Chickaboom jet set gel liner in black to her upper lash line, very thin from the outer corners and gradually thickening the outer half. She swept Hazel on the outer half of my lower lash line. Quo falsies and Painted Earth super lash mascara in black finished the eyes!

Brows: She drew thin, high arches with big curves, using Painted Earth super wear felt tip brow liner in blonde.

Cheeks: just a little sweep of Painted Earth baked blush in Rose Gold for subtle rosiness. 

Lips: She drew a heart shape, adding two half circles above my upper lip, and a larger half circle on my lower lip, avoiding portions of the lower lip on each side, which she had applied concealer to (to make my bottom lip look longer and more narrow, which creates the bottom of the heart shape). She used Essence lip liner in Red blossom. Then she added Essence lipstick in Red carpet.

Doesn't she just look gorgeous?! Absolutely love the heart shape effect she did with her lips!

Make sure to head on over to Elegant Rebel Beauty to check out Stephanie!

I just want to apologize now for my photos. I have been EXTREMELY busy to the point where I almost forgot to do my look :/ I didn't have a lot of time to do my look and take pictures so they aren't the greatest and I feel bad.  

When I was thinking of my 50's look I had no idea what I wanted to do. Stephanie sent my a picture of Liz Taylor so that was the look I was going to try and recreate! It was out of my comfort zone because of all the eyeliner. I can't wear that much eyeliner because my eyes look extremely small and weird! 

I used a thin coat of the Rimmel London Clean Finish Foundation in Soft Honey. I used the black  e.l.f. cream liner to line my upper and lower lash line and my water line. My eyelashes are naturally pretty long so I applied a few coats of my Wet N Wild Megalength mascara to enhance them.The one thing I was happy to see what Liz's thick eyebrows! It was very easy for me to do that since my eyebrows are already pretty thick! I use the e.l.f. brow kit in dark to fill in and shape my brows. Lastly for the red lips I used the Wet N Wild megalast lipstick in Red Velvet. 

I again want to apologize for my photos!

I also want to thank Stephanie for being apart of the series! I loved your look. Make sure to visit her blog Elegant Rebel Beauty.

Next week we will be visiting the 60's with another guest blogger!

Til Next Post!

Naturally Radiant Summer Skin Featuring a Guest Writer!

Hey everyone! Today I have a special post for you all. I was recently contacted by Michelle from Skana Spa in New York to do a post about the dangers of the sun and some all natural skin treatments that anyone could make at home. As we all know it is summer and most people are spending a significant amount of time outside under the sun. There can be many dangers associated with prolonged sun exposure and safety should be everyone's primary concern when outside in the sun. Michelle put together a wonderful piece including an exfoliating scrub that you can make on your own at home! 

Hope you enjoy her piece as much as I did!

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Naturally Radiant Summer Skin

Healthy, glowing summer skin doesn't happen without some work. Heat makes sweat, and sweat can lead to breakouts. The sun doesn't do the skin too many favors either. Those damaging UV rays can lead to fine lines and wrinkles. Let's face it, the heat and sun are rough on your skin, but radiant summer skin does not have to be difficult or expensive.

Regular exfoliation works wonders to combat the damage that heat and the sun do. Exfoliation helps remove sweat, oil and old, dead skin cells that clog pores and make skin look dull. However thanks to the experts at Skana spa of the New York resort Turning Stone we have a recipe to make your own exfoliating scrub at home.

What you need:

1/4 cup coffee grinds from coffee maker or french press

1/2 cup aloe vera gel

1/2 cup coconut oil

To create your radiant summer skin recipe, begin by straining the coffee grounds. They should not be soaking, but do not have to be completely dry. Next, you will melt the coconut oil in the microwave or on the stove-top. When it is melted, pour it over the coffee grounds and stir. The aloe vera should be added last. This mixture should be set aside to cool at room temperature or can be refrigerated until it has set. The coffee grounds will settle, but as the mixture is setting it can be stirred several times for better consistency. This stirring, however, is optional. Once the mixture is no longer hot, it can be used to exfoliate the skin.

This scrub works best in the shower. It can be used all over the body, particularly on rough areas such as elbows and feet. Areas such as the belly, thighs and bum that tend to develop cellulite could use a little boost from this scrub as well.

For best results, gently scrub in circular motions. Using hands, you will scrub towards your heart. Rinse the skin clean after several minutes of scrubbing with cool water and pat dry with a towel. The face should be scrubbed very gently.

Done twice a week, this all-natural remedy produces beautiful, glowing skin without the use of chemicals. This recipe is effective because of the combination of ingredients. Coffee grounds protect the skin with powerful anti-oxidants and tighten unsightly pores. Coconut oil rehydrates the skin better than most commercial lotions, and being natural is a healthy option. Finally, aloe vera moisturizes and helps fight acne. This quick and easy recipe will leave skin feeling soft, fresh and summer ready!

Sources:

http://www.webmd.com/beauty/sun/sun-exposure-skin-cancer

http://lenalena2013.hubpages.com/hub/-Used-coffee-grounds-fantastic-skin-treatment-at-no-cost

http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-7654/the-benefits-of-using-aloe-vera-for-skin-care-and-more.html

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Did anyone else know that coffee grounds could benefit your skin? I definitely didn't! That was one of the things I learned from her piece. I can't wait to give this scrub a try! If you try it out let me know how you like it!

Thanks so much to Michelle from Skana Spa for putting this piece together!!

Til next post!