New Queen of Rap

Many of us know the famous song "Fancy." It's a song by the Aussie, Iggy Azalea. Besides being a fan of her music, I'm also a fan of her style. I watched an interview with Iggy and she talked about her style. She said when she lived in a small town in Australia she didn't have access to a lot of the new fashion that she saw on T.V. but when she came to America she suddenly had access to all this new clothing and she said she went a bit crazy. Her fashion idols are Gwen Stafani and Grace Kelly. In her music video "Work" she fashions a lot of high waist pants with crazy patterns with high heels. Shes not Lady Gaga crazy but she has her own unique style that I can always respect.

Besides her style her makeup and hair is surprisingly simple. She has long bleach blonde hair that is normally parted down the middle. She wears plain black eyeliner on her eyelids and wears classic red lipstick in most of her appearances. Known for her rear end and rapping, Iggy is quite a classy woman and I definitely look up to her and her style.

Fall: A White Girls Dream

We all know us white girls loooooove fall! Fall means pumpkin farms, corn mazes, pumpkin spice lattes, sweaters, boots, etc! The most important part of fall is the weather. Living in Michigan fall means you better start bundling up because mother nature is about to cast a spell on our state for at least five months, usually more. I''m going to give you some tips on how to be warm (and fashionable) this coming fall and winter season.

Leather jackets are definitely a fashion this fall. The more zippers the better! Most people are used to the classic black leather jacket and that's always a promising style but I've seen a lot more browns and greys than normal. A jean jacket would also be a good alternative.

A perfect pairing with a jacket is a pair of knee high boots to match. Combat boots are a big fashion last fall and stuck around for this fall so those would be great to pair with a matching jacket. A big pet peeve of mine is when people mix black and brown so DO NOT wear black boots with a brown jacket or vice versa. It's a fashion no-no and if you ever commit this crime, I will judge you.

An accessory that would go great with the boots and jacket would be a scarf. Infinity scarves are very popular and you can get them for only $5 at Charlotte Russe! Who can turn down a deal like that? I usually wear something made of a light-weight material in the early fall and by the time winter hits, I break out the warm knitted scarves.

A pair of dark skinny jeans or black or grey knit leggings would look amazing with the rest of the accessories. I like to wear either a thin sweater or long sleeve for warmth and I'm good to go! Cute, comfortable and ready for fall!

Nail Art

There's nothing I love more than painting my nails. In my free time I love looking at pictures of nail art on Pinterest and watching tutorials on YouTube on the newest designs and trends for nails. From the brands of polish, to colors and tools, to nail care, I love everything about it. A few summers ago I started practicing more and more designs on my nails and every time I went to summer league for volleyball every week my friends would make fun of me saying I have a different design on my nails every day, which was true. Then that year I started to go to Career Center and was in the Physical Therapy/Occupational Therapy program which meant no nail polish was allowed. In the medical field, nail polish is considered unsanitary which meant I couldn't paint my nails anymore. I was upset at first, but I got over it quickly, the class was more important to me. After nine months of no nail polish, I realized how healthy my nails were, I would have to cut them every week because they grew so fast. Moral of the story, you nails need to breathe! At least mine do, this little inadvertent experiment showed me that all those harsh polishes made my nails weak and brittle and slow-growing. I still love doing my own nails and doing them to other people.

Finding Your Perfect Style

If anyone has watched Mean Girls, we all remember the part where Regina George is being tortured and Kady's friend cuts holes in her shirt relvealing her bra.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPwrmfRVwoA

The next thing you know, everyone around the school is wearing shirts with holes in them because someone popular was doing it. ANYWAY, the point of that clip is that people are way too influenced by the people around them. Especially in fashion, it seems that no one ever has their own sense of style anymore. You see something in a popular magazine you read and you go out and buy it but soon after you notice everyone else is wearing the same thing. The media has a lot of influence on the way people dress, especially teenagers these days.

There are a few simple steps to take to find your own style:

- When choosing pants, pick something comfortable. Don't settle for the "two sizes too small" jeans just because you like the design on the pocket. You may like them in the store but after you take them home and spend a whole day in them, you're never going to want to put those things on again.

- When choosing dress clothes, pick something classy. You may find a neon pink skin tight dress that you just cannot leave the store without but if you show up to a wedding in that, no one will be able to take their eyes off of you, literally.

- When choosing shoes, again, comfort is key. Those six inch platform heels may be cute but there's no way you will make it half way across the parking lot in those things.

- Be YOU. Wear something you like. Who cares what other people think of you? Too many people do these days, but if you like what you wear, then work it!

The Importance of Not Showering

We all grew up, well hopefully, being taught that personal hygiene is an important thing. This is not discouraging personal hygiene in the least bit! However, there are many disadvantages of showering everyday. There is more bacteria on your body than cells that make up your body. Daily use of soaps, shampoos, etc. can separate this necessary bacteria from your body, which your body needs! Your skin produces natural oils that keeps your skin and hair looking and feeling like real skin and hair. When you shampoo your scalp, whether  you have a lot of hair, or only a few hairs, its depleting your pores of those natural oils which in turn, dries out your skin. I know I experience itchy skin in the winter time after I shower. Especially in the winter time, peoples skin dries out because there is less moisture in the air, causing dry hands, cracked lips, and itchy skin. Moisturizing during the winter time is so important, even for guys! Now, if you decide not to shower every day, it doesn't mean you aren't clean. You can still brush your teeth, put on deodorant, and wash your face, if necessary. Being an active individual and working at a fast food restaurant, that's a different story and I go against my advice. Do as I say, not as I do. Sweating brings up another point, too. Actual sweat is not the thing that smells. What you're smelling is the bacteria on your skin breaking down the sweat. On that note, stay clean. :)

Leggings, Jeggings, and Yoga Pants

I'm just going to start off by saying if you're of the male species and don't really understand what women are wearing these days, this is the post for you! Talking about skin tight clothing might interest you a little bit also.

Yoga Pants:
I think many women these days can agree that yoga pants, more often than not, are not used for yoga. When I think of yoga pants I think they're for lounging around when I'm just not motivated enough to put pants on. Originally they were supposed to be used for... well... YOGA. They're a tight, stretchy fabric that wouldn't get in the way of doing head stands and downward dog. The material used in yoga pants is mostly spandex and/or a sweat wicking fabric for more physical activities including yoga, biking, running, etc.

Leggings:

Next are leggings. My first experience with legging was when I was in about fifth grade. Leggings were something like tights but they were open on the bottom, they had no fabric covering your feet. They were also a little bit thicker, typically. Usually you wore them under a shorter skirt, my mom always made me wear them so I didn't look like a "floozy."  As the evolution of leggings made it's way into today's world, girls wear them as pants. Now I personally don't find anything wrong with that, as long as I can't see undergarments. At that point I think you need to reevaluate the mirror and lighting situation in your home. Also I would be mad at anyone that you live with that let you walk out of the house with your underwear showing through your leggings. There are plenty of leggings on the market that are thick enough so your goods don't show.



Jeggings:
Soon after people discovered leggings, nobody wanted to wear jeans, but not everyone wants to flaunt their goodies all the time either. So someone, somewhere, was creative enough to think up the idea of jeans that were as comfortable as leggings, but still looked like jeans. These days you can't even tell what someone is wearing. Leggings, jeggings, jeans, yoga pants. Whatever you decide to put on in the morning, be comfortable, have your own style, and most importantly, be yourself.