What's in and What's out - Beauty Edition

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Sponsored: Spongelle products were given to me in return for a honest review. All opinions are 100% mine.

I've recently been trying a lot of new makeup and beauty products because I've actually been paying more attention to my skin, I'm trying to be a good blogger and take more photos of myself, and the fact that I'm single again also adds to that. So here's what I've been trying recently:

What's In

L'Oreal True Match Compact Makeup - Thank you L'Oreal! I use their powder foundation and it's my absolute favorite. Not only it is cheap, but it's lightweight, has SPF, and matches perfectly. I tried out this compact to carry around with me and I love it juts as much! Lightweight but has just enough coverage and SPF 17!

Neutrogena Nourishing Eyeliner - I've previously been using pencils but they don't come out intense enough for a good cat eye. This one is a pen that comes on nice and smooth, but has a smudger built-in if I want to soften up the line. 

Nyx Eyebrow Cake Powder - Alright, so I'm still learning with this. I've only just started to fill-in my eyebrows so maybe this product isn't the best of all products but I like it for what I need right now. It's cheap, easy to use, and stays in place. They give you these silly tiny brushes though. I just use my own from my set.

Elf Eyelid Primer - Cheap, easy to use, works well. What else do I need to say? I think most Elf products fall under this category!
Spongelle Infused Body Buffer - I had never heard of these until just recently when my roommate got some from Anthropologie. They are amazing! Spongelle sent me one body buffer that was Ginger Bergamont infused and a pedi-buffer that was Mandarin Mint infused.

The body buffer already has body wash, so you can literally just use the buffer as a loofah. Another problem when I usually exfoliate is that the exfoliators are too rough on my skin and don't feel so great, but the Spongelle buffer felt awesome and as soon as I got out of the shower I felt fresh, clean, and smelling great. I can't wait to use them both up and buy some more.

What's Out

Maybelline Master Kajal Eyeliner - Honestly, when I put this eyeliner on, I love the way it looks, how easy it is to apply, how it's thick and dark enough but not too intense. The absolute worst part about it is that is it super smudgy. I end up looking like this after about 30 minutes (even with primer!)

Maybelline Hi-Light Bronzer - I was definitely disappointed with this. First of all, they have the same product as bronzer and blush. Of course, I accidentily picked up bronzer instead of blush but whatever, because in the summer I tend to use a bronzer as a blush (I hope that's not a make-up faux pas that I don't know about...) I had to put a TON of it on for it to really show up. I like my old Milani bronzer better. 

Have you used any of these products? What do you think of them? Or maybe you can send some suggestions my way!

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A Day in My Real Life

I decided to join up with the girls for their Beautiful Mess link-up. The prompt this time around was "A Day in My Real Life." So here goes. This is a Monday in my life.

5:55 a.m. -  The time my alarm wakes me up, typically accompanied by Starla being naughty and jumping on the bed and licking my face. She thinks the alarm is meant for her to pounce. She gets a 15-20 minute walk depending on how many times I snooze my alarm. Then shower, get ready, and run out the door. 

7:30 a.m. - After about a twenty-minute drive, I'm at work. I live in spreadsheet and database world the majority of the time. Don't let that telephone fool you, I rarely have to pick up the phone, thank god. 

3:30 p.m. - Time to head home. I'm always greeted by this lovely face who can't wait two minutes for me to change out of my work attire into walking attire. I try to walk her at least 45 minutes, but since it's been so hot and humid out, sometimes it gets cut a bit short. We were able to get a nice long walk in, and I even let her romp around leash-free on the soccer fields because there was no one else in sight. 

5:00 p.m. - If I didn't jog with Starla during her walk, I'll typically end up back down at the gym in my building for a quick work out. I've been trying to be good since I've moved into a new building and only use their facilities, but sometimes I just crave a group cycling class or zumba. We'll see how long I can motivate myself without splurging on a new gym membership. 

6:00 p.m. - It's bad how lazy I've become with cooking now that I'm only cooking for myself. I have an inane amount of take-out or leftovers in my fridge most days. I'll strategically eat out at a restaurant and save half of my meal for tomorrow's lunch or dinner. Otherwise, I'll cook something simple like chicken and rice, pizza, tacos, you know, the healthy stuff...

7:00 p.m. - I am so happy that the sun stays out so late now. I can usually get to the pool earlier if I don't end up going to the gym. I've been good recently and putting on sunscreen! It's so easy to forget since I rarely ever burn, but I really need to start being better to my skin. Thank you Ashley for packing sunscreen in my gift box, because that's what I'm using right now! I've been able to knock out a bunch of reading at the pool, too. 

8:00 p.m. - Around this time, I'll head back in since the sun sets behind the concrete tree-tops of high-rises surrounding my building. I pull out my laptop, turn on the Netflix and Chromecast and find something good to watch. I'm notorious for having restless hands, so lots of my blogging gets done when I'm multitasking sappy romance movies or SVU marathons on Netflix. 

If I'm done blogging for the evening, sometimes the knitting gets pulled out. Honestly, this picture is a bit inaccurate, because most likely I'll be drinking wine instead of a Diet Coke but I was being good this evening. 

10:30 a.m. - Did I ever tell you how much of a grandma I am? Yes, my bedtime is around 10:30 every night. If I make it to 11, that's a late night for me. So I put my knitting away in it's basket, take out my contacts, wash my face, brush teeth, plop in bed, and it's lights out for me. 

Now looking back at this, dang, I have boring and predictable life. I think I might come back later and do "A Day In My Real Life - Weekend Edition" because that is a lot more interesting, I promise!

How do your days look?

Say hello to this month's sponsor:

The Most Overplayed Songs of 2015

As you know, I typically do a monthly, "What am I listening to post." Well today, I'm changing it up a little bit and I'll be writing about what I'm not listening to right now.

You Know You Like It by Aluna George and DJ Snake. 

Do you remember when I told you guys about this song back in January? Why did the radio just find out about this song, and why do they have to play it 10x within one hour?!

GDFR by Flo Rida and a few others.

Agh! If I hear that trumpet part one more time...I swear. 

Talking Body by Tov Lo

Bless you, Tov Lo for appearing out of nowhere and becoming famous seemingly overnight. The radio and Spotify love you too much. Emphasis on "too".

Love Me Harder by Ariana Grande

Cool Kids by Echosmith

Any/all Meghan Trainor songs 

Earned it by The Weeknd

See you again by Wiz Khalifa

Somebody Natalie La Rose

Classic by MKTO

I hope you all enjoy your long weekend and most likely hearing all of these songs in a row! What songs are you sick of recently?

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Also don't forget about my reader survey. It's really quick and only 7 quick questions. Also, the plus side is that I will be offering a $10 Starbucks gift card to one lucky submitter!

To complete the reader survey, please click here.

Once you have completed the reader survey, you can enter the giveaway here. You must complete the reader survey to enter the giveaway and entries will be verified. The reader survey will be open throughout the month of July but the giveaway will only run through July 3rd and the winner will be announced after that weekend.

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Say hello to this month's sponsor:

Summer Training Vol 2

10,000 Steps a Day

Since I have to walk Starla three times a day this has been a breeze to accomplish. In our short 15-minute morning walks, I usually end up getting at least 2,500 steps, and that's all before 7:00 a.m. I also join the fitbit challenges pretty much every week, so if you ever want to join me in one, add me on Fitbit! 

Drink three bottles (~60 oz) of water a day.

Doing really well. This goal is a lot more easy to achieve and maintain than I expected. 

Work out three times a week. 

Last Wednesday - Hour of tennis.
Last Thursday - 30 minutes of running and upper body lifting.
Saturday - 30 minutes of running, a bit of yoga, and abs.
Monday - 40 minutes running (outside!)
Tuesday - Light 30 minute walk/jog.

If you know me, you know that I'm not a very strong runner, but I've really been trying to pick it up and be better. Anne over at Love the Here and Now has some great tips for learning how to love running and Rachel has a great playlist to help motivate you. 

Snack healthy.

Luckily, there's a farmers market down the street from me on Tuesdays. I try to pick up some fresh veggies and fruits each week (Support local!) that I can snack on in between meals. 

Limit my wine habits.

Ehhhh....it's summer and I like Chardonnay. Whoops. 

Did you join Christine and Jaelan for the Blogger Booty Challenge of 3,000 squats in 30 days? I actually did it. One week though I completely forgot about it and had to double up on the third week and that was a bit of a killer. I can't wait for another challenge!

What are your fitness goals for this summer? 

Linking up for

Say hello to this month's sponsor:

PicMonkey Tutorial: How to Make a Round Borders + Reader Survey

It's been a while since I've written up a PicMonkey tutorial! This one is simple, but I guess not a lot of people realize that they can do this. I use a round border for a lot of my photos. Primarily because I like my images to stand out a bit more from the others (guess not after I share this tutorial!) and it can also draw focus to the center of the photo without any distracting background elements.

You can see a prime example on my side bar to the right for my header image. I also use this image on Twitter and Facebook.

*Pro tip: It's a great idea to keep your profile picture between your social media accounts and blog accounts the same! Even if your handles are different, for whatever reason, people will be able to recognize you quickly and easily.

So let's get into the nitty-gritty!

Step One: Find the photo you want to edit, select and open it.

Step Two: Crop away! I'm showing you this tool because most people just drag and drop the corners. Picmonkey has tons of options including a facebook timeline cover, avatar sizes, etc. Play around with them some day when you have the time. For now, I'll select "square" and then move it around Starla to cut out the background I don't want (like my knobby knees). But keep it as big as you can, you'll be cropping out the corners in the next step.

Step Three: Frame it. Go to the frames option in the left navigation. Hit Shape Cutouts and then Round! You can edit around it, change the size, change the color of the background (I typically tend to keep it transparent). 

Viola! You're all set. Hope you all learned something new today. 

Also, a big thank you to all you readers who have been following along with Alanna & Company! I would love love love for you to complete my reader survey. Like I said in my post earlier this week, I really want to focus on writing good no-fluff content and would love to see what you enjoy the most. It's really quick and only 7 quick questions. Also, the plus side is that I will be offering a $10 Starbucks gift card to one lucky submitter!

To complete the reader survey, please click here

Once you have completed the reader survey, you can enter the giveaway here. You must complete the reader survey to enter the giveaway and entries will be verified. The giveaway will run through July 3rd and the winner will be announced after that weekend.


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Say hello to this month's sponsor:

What's in my bag? & Giveaway

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I don't know how, as a lifestyle blogger, I haven't written a "What's in my bag?" post. If you know me, you know I am a purse-a-holic. I actually put myself to Purse Hoarders Anonymous and banned myself from buying any new purses as of last summer.

So with great pleasure, I bring you, what is in Alanna's bag!

Don't let this picture fool you. This purse is purple, not poop brown, I swear.

So let's start from the left and go right. 

Disclaimer: Not all items are pictured here for neatness sake

Hair clip, neatly tucked on the purse strap for easy access. All girls need an emergency hair accessory. Whether it be a clip like mine, a hair tie, ribbon hair tie, or sock bun, you got to have one for those humid or windy days. 

Hand Sanitizer. I'm honestly not very much of a clean freak, but as soon as I have some hand sanitizer in my bag, I'm a lot more conscious about using it. Think of all the nasty things you touch on a regular basis. Don't even make me think about how many germs live on my iPhone. 

Mini Hair Brush. You can get this conair one at pretty much every CVS ever. It's nice because it won't weight down your purse and goes hand in hand with #1, hair clip. For us girls who live in humid places, it's a necessity!

A pen. How many times have you ran into a situation where you needed a pen but didn't have one? I'm also kind of anal about this pen, which I feel like most people who carry pens in their purses are. So don't even think about asking to borrow it and think we'll lend it to you without watching you like a hawk. 

Lip balm or lipstick of some sort. I always have an EOS lip balm on hand and a lipstick for color. I use Maybelline 14 hour lipsticks. 

Sunglasses. I think this is kind of obvious for summer, right?

Re-wetting Contact Drops. Like I said before, I wear contacts pretty much constantly until I go to sleep, so having re-wetting drops is necessary. Especially if you're at work staring at a computer for hours on end. 

What's not pictured? Hmm, lots. 

Headphones. I totally forgot my headphones at the gym when I took this photo. Headphones are a must. You can't risk having to talk to someone that you don't want to. 

Pepper Spray. I cannot stress that pepper spray is the bare minimum to protecting yourself. Maybe I'll write up a full post on how much I feel that women should learn how to protect themselves sometime later. Let me start by saying that the pepper spray is not in a mist form anymore, and if you still have that type of pepper spray it's probably expired and you should get rid of it. It is in a liquid form that sprays out like water, so there's no risk that you would ever accidentally pepper spray yourself. I carry one in my purse and also on Starla's leash when I walk her. The one I have is Sabre Red pepper spray and is police grade. It's hardcore. There's tons of videos that you can see how intense it is. Seriously, get it. Get two. 

Change and a metro card. Yes, I have a card and try to not take public transportation as much as possible, but sometimes it happens and you need to hop onto a train or a bus. So it's always better if you have these handy, just in case. 

Make-up. Again, obvious. But my make-up bag crowded the photo and I decided to take it out of the photo. In there, I also keep a mirror. 

Gum and breath mints. Sometimes you need to double up. 

Wine opener. You never know....

What does your purse look like? Do we share some of the same items?

And guess what?! Another giveaway!

Fine Print: This is open internationally, pending shipping laws/restrictions. You must be 18 or older, or have a parents permission to enter. This giveaway is open for exactly one week and the winner will be announced July 6, 2015. Winner must respond within 48-hours or a new winner will be chosen. Your form of entry will be double-checked.


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Current Confessions

Hey guys and gals. I feel like I need to apologize a bit for writing a whole lot of fluff and boring posts (this one included). #Slacking. Life has been a bit wild and crazy, and of course I've had issues with keeping up. I used to schedule my posts out a week in advance and that is just not happening right now. I need to get a laptop or tablet that I can take to the pool to type out my posts. So here it is.

Currently I'm...

Loving:
My gallery wall that I've started.
Starla's new life jacket.

The fact that my pool is about 10 yards outside of my apartment.

Writing:
This blog post and writing up my blog post inspirations for later.

Planning:
July Fourth weekend. I still don't have plans and need to get some!

Reading:
I'm finishing up Ladie's Night by Mary Kay Andrews and then I'm either going to start Goldfinch or Ashley's books that she gave me for the summer book swap.

Needing:
A new purse, more money for rent, some more wall art for my new bare apartment, more tanning at the pool, a new gym that's inexpensive. #alltheneeds

Eating:
M&M's. Yes, I know it's not even 9 a.m. right now. #judgeme

Drinking:
Water, water, and more water. Gotta keep hydrated!

Wishing:
A new purse.

What have you been up to lately?

On a second note, my girl Ashley from That Southern Mama has just opened her Etsy Shop and has some great stuff! Since she's so awesome, she's giving away one free digital print. Enter below!

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Linking up with this awesome group of bloggers today.