As all collegiettes hit the mid-to-late January mark, it can be hard to keep up with all of those resolution that we made on the first day of the brand new year. Yes, we would love to keep the energy up to go to the gym, do all of our readings and enthusiastically sit in class, hanging onto the professor’s every word. However, some things are just easier said than done, aren’t they? Although personal resolution are hard to keep, here are five easy style trends and habits that every student can add to their new year’s resolution list – and check off easily!
1. Goodbye Microbeads, Hello Au Naturel
One of the best ways to keep your skin glowing and moisturized during the winter is exfoliation. However, many of the exfoliating scrubs on the market contain microbeads. Though these pesky little plastic beads might do wonders for our skin during the winter time, they wreck some serious damage on the environment. Not only do these microbeads pollute our waters, thanks to the food chain, we might also be ingesting the very same plastic that we scrub our face with. Collegiettes should check out this article by NPR, which provides some insightful background on the effects of microbeads in our waters. We should try to eliminate microbeads within our skin care products not only in the spirit of protecting the environment, but also protect ourselves! For scrubs that work just as well without the sneaky bead, one of my favorite scrubs to try are the Lush exfoliation scrubs. An added bonus to Lush products is that the brand loves bunnies and does not test on animals!
2. Goodbye Excessive Branding, Hello Statement Piece
Comme Des Fuk Down? Homies? Other fashion puns? I am sure that collegiettes have seen these logo’d sweatshirts and apparel at one time or another in the lecture halls. No matter what your opinion on this particular trend is, it speaks to the power of branding and logos. But since it’s the New Year, maybe we should try a new way to channel our love for our favorite brands. Looking at the latest collection by designer Anya Hindmarch, we can see our favorite everyday brands represented in items accessories such as clutchs and cell phone cases. Not only is it quirky and cute, it definitely makes a statement about you and your style at any event!
3. Goodbye Rollerballs, Hello Solid Perfumes
I bet that every collegiette here is familiar with rollerballs: the nifty, purse-sized perfumes that allows you to smell amazing, always. But as convenient as these fragrance rollerballs are, sometimes they can be hazardous for our purses and bags. Not only can they spill or leak, they are prone to breakage if dropped too often by a clumsy collegiette (such as myself!) In order to solve that problem, I tried solid perfumes as a new means of easily transporting scent on-the-go. Tiny, compact yet still potent, carrying these perfumes around is practically the same as carrying lip balms around. Additionally, it seems that most solid perfume packages have the cutest packaging, which make them even more lovable to carry around. For the collegiettes who love to indulge, I recommend trying some of the luxurious scents by the infamous candle brand, Diptyque.
4. Goodbye Unethical Buys, Hello Transparency
Do you know where your clothes are from? This is the question that the documentary of the summer, The True Cost on Netflix attempted to answer. Yes, the label may tell us where our cute tops from Forever 21, H&M and other fast fashion brands were manufactured, but there’s more to the story than the ‘made in x’ text on the label. This documentary showed us the harrowing working conditions behind the brands, the desolate work environment as well as the untold experiences of the workers. The overall stories of the workers make a plea to the public to be mindful of where and what we buy. But where can a collegiette start looking for ethical clothing? Everlane is a great place to start, in my opinion. Not only are they transparent about the nitty gritty of their operation, Everlane is also a chic alternative for every student looking to add some ethical consciousness to their wardrobe.
5. Goodbye Bucket Bags, Hello Structured Trunks
Remember the revival trend that was the bucket bag back in Spring of 2015? The bucket bag was perfect for carrying everything you ever needed – be it for a trip to the beach or for back-to-back classes. Although collegiettes can always count on the bucket bag to be a wardrobe staple, its spotlight might be moving over to the structured trunks that have been steadily appearing on the runway since the Louis Vuitton show in 2014. Not only are these trunk bags chic, they are also reminiscent of the travel luggage days of yore. Trunk bags are the perfect example of a fabulously vintage, utilitarian yet stylish accessory.
Image Sources: (as listed by order)
Cover Image: http://weheartit.com/entry/194573143
http://www.philocalist.co.uk/are-your-exfoliators-damaging-the-environment/
http://www.polyvore.com/anya_hindmarch_kit_kat_clutch/thing?id=134320533
http://www.theraeviewer.com/2014/10/review-diptyque-home-personal.html
http://httpster.net/website/everlane-factories/
http://www.purseblog.com/kate-spade/peek-kate-spade-holiday-2015/