Fashion - Five Wardrobe Staples Every Girl Should Have

Welcome back to my blog!

I'm all for trying out new trends, but I believe there's five items that every girl should have in her wardrobe, no matter what her individual style is.




1. Leather Jacket 
This is my go-to item in my wardrobe and probably my most worn item of clothing. At the moment, I have a black jacket with gold buttons I'm wearing in the photo there that I've worn in a previous blog post (see HERE), and just can't get enough of it. I got it in Penneys (Primark) for only about €20 too, so don't for a second think you have to spend a small fortune to get a decent one.

The best thing about a leather jacket is that I can wear it with skinny jeans and a plain white tee and ballet pumps for running errands in town during the daytime and then wear it to toughen up a dress to party at the night-time. There's loads of different styles available, with studs and what not, but I find the more basic the better, and the more likely they are to go with whatever you're wearing. A black one will go with pretty much every colour as well.



2. Good pair of skinny jeans

I realise I'm a budget blogger, but I'm also an honest blogger, so although I love Penneys (Primark) for their makeup, and shoes (oh my God, the shoes!) and their jewellery and most of my wardrobe is from there, I really must say that I dislike their skinny jeans with a fiery passion - I've found over the years that after about three washes they stretch quite a bit and are pretty much finished for and good to bin. Good thing that they're range around the ten euro mark or I'd be fierce angry!


My theory is that if you're going to wear an item of clothing a lot it's fairly acceptable to spend a reasonable enough amount of money on them - I feel it's more of an investment than anything else. I invested in those pair of jeans I'm wearing on the right and even though they were €70 at the time, they have lasted me nearly five years, I practically wore them to death at college,  and when you think of the amount of Penneys jeans I would have gone through in five years you'll know that it worked out a lot cheaper for me in the long run!

Much like the leather jacket, the skinny jean is a very versatile item to have in the wardrobe. They went quite well with and balanced out the crazy print top I'm wearing in the photograph there, but they also work well with just a plain white T-shirt and a leather jacket.

Blogpost which features the outfit there is HERE.

3. Dress that you can dress up or down
I wouldn't describe myself to be the girliest of girls, but I do like wearing dresses during the day and for night. I particularly like dresses that can be worn at both times! The flowery dress that's I'm wearing above is a good example of such a dress. Usually for day time I wear it with black tights or leggings with ankle boots or black ballet pumps and a black leather jacket, and for night-time I ditch the tights and ballet pumps/boots and apply tan and stick on a pair of heels. Going from casual day time to dressy night time has never been so easy!

4. High heels that you can walk in.
High heels have always been a wardrobe staple among women for many reasons. The obvious one being is that they look so pretty. The styles in Penneys as well as other high street stores at the moment (leaving out designer shoes because to be honest they're in a league of their own - too fecking pretty), and I say this as someone who wouldn't even consider herself to be that crazy about heels.

Other reasons behind why they are staples - can make you look taller and legs look longer, works your calf muscles (who doesn't want leaner legs?), self confidence (encourages you to walk tall) and can help you go from a day in the office outfit to a night out outfit without much else change to your outfit (great when you're rushing!).

You would imagine that this would go without saying, but an important point I must add is that you should practice walking in them and make sure you're able to walk in them. I've lost count of how many girls I see constantly walking up the street on nights out like something that resembles a new born calf. I can't lie - I've often been like it myself - but these days I try to stay away from ridiculously high heels that I know I can't walk in (and to be honest, I look odd in anyways given how tall I am anyway).

I find it's easier to walk in high heels if I have a strap on them. The metallic heels below are one of my most worn pair of shoes because of that very reason, I got them in Penneys (where else?) a few months back for the barganious price of €7 reduced from €16. I also find they glitz and glam up any outfit I wear them with.

I bought the pale pink wedges also pictured below because sometimes I like wearing something with height in the day time with a pair of jeans or a skirt, and these beauties fit the bill. As well as looking so pretty, they are also so comfortable to wear, I've often worn them all day and my feet don't feel sore after. They cost €16 in Penneys.

5. Statement Jewellery
I've mentioned throughout this post that you sometimes need an item that takes you from office style to nightclub style within minutes, and statement jewellery is possibly the easiest way to do so. Be with rings, bracelets or necklace, it jazzes up a plain dress/shirt within minutes and makes it more eye-catching. I will offer some words of advice though: resist the urge to go overboard. Go with statement ring or necklace or bracelet, not all three together. Also, try not to go too bling bling when it comes to picking out this kind of jewellery keep it fairly simple. There is a fine line between classy and trashy and it's ever so fine when it comes to this kind of jewellery. I found this image on Pinterest and immediately fell in love with the whole outfit. The skirt is the statement outfit piece, and the white shirt balances it out, and you can also see the statement necklace jazzing up the top half a little to make it less drab and dreary to fun and quirky. As to where other statement necklaces can be bought, Penneys have a humongous selection, ranging in price from €3-8 so depending on your budget you can find something that suits you, you don't need to go super expensive.

As always do not hesitate to check out my social media links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shellsaysso

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/shellysayso_

Instagram: shellysaysso_

Snapchat: shellfoody92

Beauty - Beauty Trends Autumn 2015

I wouldn't describe myself as being a slave to trends, but as a blogger it's part of my interest to keep an eye on what's going on regarding them. Over the past few weeks, from checking out beauty websites, other blogs and social media, I have been compiling a list of beauty trends that are going to be huge this autumn and what better day to post this than the first day of September (really feels strange writing that, I thought the day would never come but it has actually come around so so quick!). I hope to do a blogpost tutorial on each of the looks I'll mention here over the course of the season, but I am about to become a full-time university student soon so you'll have to bear with me on that one!

1. Face
The harsh regime of contouring that the beauty world has been experiencing the last while is out the window this season and in it's place comes a much more wearable regime. This trend is all about natural makeup. Picture the scene - you're coming in from work/college/school after a chilly windy day and look in the mirror (unless you're like me, then you do not look at yourself after a day of college as you're confident you look like shite). Chances are you'll have a natural flushed, peachy, rosy colour in your cheeks. This beauty trend is not only so nice on but it's so, so easy to recreate. You don't have to be fiddling with 1237 brushes and wonder if it's all blended in or whether someone can check out your contour lines (a genuine concern of mine on most nights out!). Bit of blush, natural lips (lipstick or gloss, whatever one most floats your boat) and simple hair and eyes. Rosie Huntington Whiteley has the look nailed and looks stunning as always (though in fairness, the girl would look stunning with any kind of makeup or clothes on her).

Now where's my modelling contract?

2. Lips:

(i) Bold red lips are a huge trend this autumn. I find red lipstick so glamorous and so effortlessly sexy that it is a beauty trend that will never go out of style ever and it's one beauty look I really like to embrace not just in autumn but all year round. At the moment the red lipstick I'm currently loving is Boots Seventeen's Stay Pout, as it applies to the lips well and is matte so will stay on all night. Oh, and it's a steal at €5.60 too.

To really rock a red lip, keep the rest of your makeup simple (as the red lips really are the star attraction here), with matte skin, a bitta light blush and a slick of winged eyeliner. Taylor Swift knows the craic. Fab!

.

(ii) This one is a bit of a no-brainer - vampy, dark sultry lipstick is always a huge beauty trend come autumn. The trend of black lipstick is floating around recently, and even though I'm keen to give it a go just for experimental sake, I really don't think it's flattering on many people and it isn't exactly that wearable unless you have lips the size of Kylie Jenner as the really intense black tends to make lips look a lot thinner and plus it seems too costume like even for me - I really can't imagine anyone walking around my local Tesco wearing it!

Dark berry lips and dark purple lips are a hell of a lot more flattering on us mere mortals with not plenty of cash to flaunt on lip fillers like the pampered Jenner sister.

First thing's first - don't be put off or intimidated by wearing a darker lipstick shade. Makeup is all about experimentation and if you don't like it, you can always wipe it off and say you gave it a go.

I found two pictures of two talented actresses online - Lily Collins and Selena Gomez - both rocking the dark, vampy lip colour to perfection. Lily, like myself and like many of my readers, is pale and fair skinned while Selena is olive skinned and tanned. As you can see, it suits them both, and so it's not so much about your complexion but rather what makeup you accompany your vampy lip with. Like the red lipstick mentioned earlier, you should focus on keeping the rest of your makeup fairly simple, which is exactly what these two girls have done. Eyes should be simply made up, with just a nude colour and a hint of mascara, and blush should be kept to a minimum to let the dark lipstick take centre stage.

I have been loving dark lipsticks since earlier this year and I'm obsessed with Rimmel Lasting Finish lipstick in Starry Eyed. As you can see from the swatch on my hand below it's a beautiful dark berry shade, which complements my pale skin so so well. It costs €5.50.

3. Eyes

(i) As our lives become more dramatic going back to school and college and all, so becomes our eyeliner! The key with this trend is to not take things too seriously and just have fun with it. Go dramatic as you dare! If you don't feel comfortable, even just extending a basic cat eyeliner flick out a few inches and making the eyeliner slightly thicker will do the job just as well. If you suffer with shaky, granny hand syndrome like myself, invest in an eyeliner pen like these beauties from Catrice that will allow you to draw a thin line to get a gist of where your eyeliner is heading in, they work well for me and better still, they only cost about three or four euro. If you are really struggling with the eyeliner but want a dramatic eyeliner shape, not to worry! I'd recommend you to check out this innovative eyeliner called 'The Curve' by NYX Cosmetics. It has a unique shape that basically makes the eyeliner easier to hold and grip so you can apply eyeliner without a hitch. I am very keen to try out this product soon, I've heard such good reviews about it, it's definitely one on my wish list! I haven't actually tried out any products by NYX yet, so I hope to change that very soon! It costs about sixteen euro if you're interested in checking it out.

Here are just a few pics to get you inspired:

(ii) Another big trend for the eyes this autumn is a metallic eyeshadows, with golden and copper tones. It looks fabulous in the picture below, doesn't it? I think it looks amazing teamed with a nude lipstick as seen on the beautiful Lily Collins (does that girl ever get it wrong in the beauty stakes?) but I think it just looks exquisite with a purple or a berry lipstick. Again, the rest of the makeup must be kept quite simple to allow for the eyes to be the standout of the look.

I hope you enjoyed this blogpost, and found it informative and learned a trend or two from it! I'm really excited to show you my interpretation of some of these makeup looks too, so stay tuned for that over the coming season!

Don't forget to follow me on social media!!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kissandmakeupnow  (send me a message and I'll like your page back)

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kissmakeupnow_ (I follow back).

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/shellysaysso_(I follow back all bloggers).