The Salon at Ulta...

Once upon a time, there was a princess named Mallory. She was young and hip, and Ulta was her kingdom. She would spend hours swatching the brightest most pigmented eyeshadows on her hand, testing the fabulously rich lotions on her skin, debating which of the perfume bottles would look the best in her bedroom, and gathering her thoughts while searching for special treasures in the clearance bins. Ulta was her refuge, her therapy, her home... until September 2, 2009. On this fateful day princess Mallory strolled into Ulta in search of something that many girls don't even dare to dream of, the perfect haircut. Her judgement was clouded by visions of hip, short layers and edgy bangs that she didn't even realize she was being lured into a trap by the wicked witches of the salon at Ulta. After an hour of excruciating snip snipping, the witches decided that their evil deed was done. They cast princess Mallory out into the world with bangs that were so short they were in the middle of her forehead, layers that were in a straight line across her head, a mullet in the back, and uneven lengths in the front. Princess Mallory was overcome with anxiety at the thought of facing the judgement and scrutiny of the world that she went straight home, shame and tears stained her face. After princess Mallory and her room mate, Kandi, tried to fix the disastrous cut and realized that nothing could be done, they went back to Ulta to face the witches. They fought, but in the end princess Mallory's tears were too powerful for the witches, and they were forced to give her money back. Then, suddenly, the princess remembered something. The good witch, Tracey, was in nursing school with Mallory, and being 36 years old, had been cutting hair for quite some time. Frantically, Princess Mallory called the good witch and asked her if she could fix her hair. The good witch said that she would do what she could, and in a flash, Mallory was off to the magical salon, Divine Appointments, to have her hair cut for the second time that day. The good witch waved her magic scissors and in one flick the layers were more blended, the front and sides of the hair were the same length, and the mullet was gone. Unfortunately, the witch could not give the princess's bangs back, but over all, princess Mallory was very pleased. In fact, if it all was a little longer, it would have been exactly what she wanted! Princess Mallory is going to live happily ever after, but is too traumatized to venture back into Ulta anytime soon. Maybe we'll get a Sephora that's a little closer...

Here is what the princess looked like after the Ulta witches cut it:

Maybe when the princess's bangs grow out a little more, I'll post a picture of the haircut after the FABULOUS Tracey cut it. The moral of this story is, if the person who is cutting your hair says, "I've never cut bangs before", get up and leave. Unfortunately, she said that after she already hacked the rest of my head so I didn't have that option.

Boo to the swine flu!

It seems as though the H1N1 virus is going to cause quite the stir this cold and flu season, making things like hand sanitizer and face masks stylish (so of course having the swine flu would be a major faux pas). The Center for Disease Control (CDC) is estimating that 1.8 million people in the US are going to get the swine flu, 50% of those people will be hospitalized, and 80,000 people will die. So be part of the in crowd this fall and follow these steps to prevent H1N1 infection:

1) Wash your hands. Wash your hands after going to the bathroom, wash your hands after touching other people, wash your hands before putting ANYTHING in your mouth, wash your hands after washing your hands. Get it? It really is the most important thing you can do to keep from getting sick. We all know that Bath and Body works has those really great smelling hand sanitizers. Stock up!

2) Give your immune system a boost. You can do this by eating lots of fruits and veggies, getting enough rest, taking a daily vitamin, and taking something like Air Borne. There are also immunity boosting yogurt and juices being sold in grocery stores. I don't really know a lot about the efficacy of these products but who knows, it might be worth a shot.

3) Get the vaccine. It's going to be available mid-October and it's free to students, the elderly, and health care providers. Along with all the other nursing students at my school, I'm going to be administering them on my campus. Find out where you can get yours!

This is how the swine flu is transmitted:

This is what you look like when you catch it:

How to get smooth as a baby's bottom legs!

So one of the things I'm pretty obsessive about is my legs! I can't stand those annoying little prickles and I LOVE the feel of silky smooth legs on clean sheets when I'm going to bed at night. It took hours of dedicated research and hard work, but I've finally perfected my method for achieving the smoothest legs possible, and here it is:

1) In the shower, wash your body and hair first. Make shaving your legs the last thing you do in there. This gives the hot water and steam enough time to really open up your pores (every hair follicle is in a pore) and soften up your leg hairs.

2) Before you shave your legs exfoliate to remove dead skin cells so you can get the closest shave possible. I use the Pink Sugar Glossy Body Scrub by Aquolina ($30, Sephora).

3) Shave your legs. I use the Venus Spa Breeze razor (about $10 at any drug store). It's the one that has the little shave gel strips on it. It claims that you don't have to use shaving gel when you use this razor but I do it anyway. I don't think you could cut yourself with this razor if you tried (PLEASE don't try!) and I really can't recommend it enough!

4) As soon as you get out of the shower, gently pat your legs dry. While your skin is still warm and moist, apply a light moisturizer that absorbs quickly. I use the Pink Sugar Body Mousse by Aquolina ($30, Sephora).

5) Wait about 5-10 minutes and apply a thicker lotion to lock in the moisture. I use Mineral Therapy Advanced Body Moisturizer by St. Ives (about $4, drugstores). It has a really light scent so it doesn't compete with the smell of the pink sugar.

And that's it! I usually only do this when I change razor cartridges because that's usually when you get the closest shave, although I do shave my legs every day! And of course you can use whatever products you want, I just wanted to let you know what I like! Now go smooth away! - which reminds me, do NOT buy Smooth Away, but that's a whole different post!

ps- all of your products do not have to be pink :)

How drinking more water can make you beautiful!

We all know that you're supposed to drink 8 glasses of water a day, but have you ever wondered why? Well there are actually a lot of very good reasons, but my main motivation is that it's good for your skin! The body's way of eliminating wastes and impurities is through urine. Water helps wash them away and carry them out of your body. If you aren't drinking enough water your body has to find an alternate method to dispose of waste. That method is usually through the pores in your skin. This can lead to clogged pores, blackheads, break outs, and other things that are basically gross! Also, your body's vital organs need water to carry out their functions. If you aren't drinking enough water your body is going to allow the organs that need it the most to use the water, leaving your skin with a water deficit. If you have dry skin, try drinking more water! You will notice less flakey, smoother skin in just a few days. Also, one of the main fibers in your lips is collagen. Collagen has an amazing ability to absorb and hold water. If you drink more water you will probably notice a slight improvement in the fullness of your lips (no, you won't look like Angelina Jolie but every little bit counts, right?!). So how do I get my 8 glasses a day? Frankly, I don't. 8 glasses is a lot and I don't think I could do it if I tried, I also don't want to spend a third of my day running to the bathroom. BUT, I do drink one pitcher of water everyday. I use this water purifying pitcher by PUR.

It's only about 5 glasses, but that's better than nothing! So that's it ladies! Water is the universal beauty product. It's free, it works with every skin type, and it's multipurpose! Now go get one of those cute aluminum water bottles and start sip, sip, sipping away!

Beach Haul! Soap and Glory, MAC

So in between summer and fall semesters in school I had a 12 day break, and I used that time to visit Orange Beach, AL (it's on the Gulf of Mexico, near the area where I grew up). During the 4 hour drive down there I saw this place called Dirt Cheap. I was intrigued by the title and the picture of the chicken on the sign so I decided to check it out! I wasn't expecting to actually find anything so I was pretty excited when I found this:

It's a little travel set from Soap and Glory and it comes with the Great Shakes hand cream, The Righteous Butter body butter, Flake Away body scrub, Clean on Me shower gel, Calm One Calm All bubble bath, a bag, and a little loofah (which I'll probably never use). I got this whole set for just $5! The original price was $25. You can find Soap and Glory products at Target, I'm not sure that I've ever seen them anywhere else. I also got the Bumble and Bumble styling cream for $1.10 (I've seen it at salons for almost $20). When I was checking out, I saw a Maybelline Lash Stiletto mascara that came with a waterproof liquid eyeliner for $0.75! I was SO excited about that because I acutally use the lash stiletto and it usually costs about $8.00. On my way home from the beach I stopped at the CCO (Cosmetics Company Outlet) and got two MAC eyeshadows.

The one on the left is Phloof! and it's from the Emanuel Ungaro collection but I believe it's also in the permanent line (correct me if I'm wrong). The one on the right is Time and Space and it's from the Neo SciFi collection. They're both gorgeous and extremely pigmented but I have to say Phloof! is one of my new favorite eyeshadows! That's it for this haul ladies! If you want a review on anything, just let me know! See you soon!

Hello!

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog! I thought an appropriate first post would be an introduction, so here it is! First of all, my name is Mallory and I'm a 22 year old, born and raised, girly girl. I love everything from clothes, shoes, and accessories to fragrances and hair and skin care products, but my first and true love is make up (as the great philosopher Madonna once said, "We are living in a material world, and I am a material girl".)! As a nursing student at the University of Alabama, another one of my passions is health. In this blog, you can expect to see any and everything beauty related, including hauls, reviews, and looks from a purely superficial, what I do and don't like stand point, and also from a scientific stand point. You should also be on the look out for fitness tips, healthy recipes, and random posts about my life. So I hope you enjoy and I'll see you all very soon!