Author: Natalie Geisel

This Simple Beauty Routine Can Do More Than Save Time

Three years ago, I started to do the unthinkable—wear only the bare necessities for makeup. This was before the simple beauty routine was actually popularized by Glossier and fresh-faced models. My decision to begin this no-makeup makeup routine required no complex thought process; it was simply a result of saving time in the morning. While I didn’t realize at the time that this change would result in anything more than a shorter morning routine, the benefits started pouring in. If you’re on the verge of cutting your beauty routine in half but are still unsure, keep reading below to see the hidden perks nobody tells you about. P.S.—your skin will thank you.

PHOTO: Cassidy Clark

1—You’ll focus your energy on your skincare routine

A lazy beauty routine implies putting minimal effort into your routine, but who says this applies to skincare? When I spent 30 minutes on my makeup every morning, I had zero skincare products. Fast-forward three years later, and now I own too many to count. Cutting back on beauty products that block your skin allows you to actually stop and care for the largest organ on your body. I now moisturize at least twice a day, use vitamin serums, and try to use a face mask on a regular basis. You know that meme where skincare can magically cure all of your ailments, even if every other aspect of your life is crashing and burning? I can confirm that to be 100 percent true. Just as Glossier says, skin is in.

PHOTO: Natalie Miller

2—Makeup will become a tool to enhance your features, not hide

Using only three to four beauty products makes it nearly impossible to hide your flaws, and will enhance the features you love. Like your cheekbones so much that you want to make them glow? Use a dewy highlighter. Have naturally bushy eyebrows but want to make them just a little more defined? Apply a simple brow gel to your brows. This technique not only saves money, but it also allows you to realize the features you love about your face. Say hello to a huge boost in confidence.

PHOTO: Jordyn Wissert

3—You’ll have more time to do, well, everything

It’s clear that a simple beauty routine will literally cut minutes of time, but the free time will show up in more ways than the obvious. Time to decompress and take care of yourself will increase; instead of spending 20 minutes on eyeliner, you could meditate every morning. You won’t be worried about always looking your best when you leave the house, and this automatically gives you the energy to worry about more important aspects of your life, like your future summer internship. You’ll learn that makeup is only a tiny detail in your life instead of its basis—as it should be.

How has turning to a lazy beauty routine changed your life? Leave your response in the comments!

Additional photos by Amber Sudra and Lex Kelly.

Here’s How to Transition Everyone’s Favorite Summer Shoe Into Fall

With every summer comes new trends, making the greatest season of the year even more exciting. As everyone’s in a scurry to hop on that trend that’s seen all over our top clothing stores and on our favorite Instagram influencers, credit cards are usually swiped before thinking about how these pieces can transition into new seasons. Many pieces, like denim jackets and vintage Levi 501’s, will last a lifetime, making it a smooth process to transition into many seasons and even many years. Most trends are called trends for a reason—but they only last a certain amount of time. When thinking of this concept in relation to this past summer, mules, or more generally, slides, first come to mind. They have to be the summer staple of last season, at least for me, as I wore my favorite black mules every day this summer.

PHOTO: Kelly Rogowski

But how can we wear these shoes during the fall season to get the bang for our buck? It can get tricky when it starts to actually get cold outside, as the only way to work these into low temps are to pair them with socks or tights. However, fall trends start way before temperatures actually drop. All that’s required is a little extra styling, and voilà—your favorite summer shoe just became your favorite fall shoe. Here are three different ways to work those shoes into September, October, and even November.

Denim will always be the easiest way to transition from summer into fall, as denim is practically a year-long staple. Instead of opting for a simple pair of cropped jeans, go for ones with cool embroidery or a unique hem, like the cropped fringe jeans above. Because most of us are still in summer mode, complete the look with a simple T-shirt to make things easy—that mule plus statement jean combo already speaks a thousand words.

PHOTO: Kelly Rogowski

Instead of working with the mules you already have, try fixing the fashion dilemma at the root of its problems. If you’re still into mules but don’t feel like showing off your toes, opt for slides that do the opposite. These loafer mules are just as easy to slide into as the typical open-toed mule, which is something we all wish to do when we’re still stuck in summer—tying laces or pulling on shoes is far too much work. If you’re feeling risky, add fur for when the fall weather actually hits. Your feet will thank you!

PHOTO: Lex Kelly

While pairing mules with jeans and calling it a day sounds like the easiest route, it can get more interesting (and fun!) by adding something extra, especially if it fits into fall trends. Adding a vintage blazer or a jean jacket instantly makes the shoes seem as if they’ll last far longer than the summer months.

How do you style your mules into the fall? Let us know in the comments below, or share your look by tagging @CFashionista!

STYLE GURU STYLE: Festival Season

Festival season is among us—music festival season, that is. To some that means an ungodly amount of glitter, flash tats, and probably some sort of bohemian maxi dress that imitates the tapestries seen in almost every freshman girl’s college dorm room. While this is a suitable way to go about a festival, as it is the most popular style, I see festivals as a perfect manner to wear the perfect outfit showing off your personal style. It’s almost like your last meal—what would you choose to wear for a full day filled with sweat, tears (for some), and unforgettable memories? And maybe to impress your favorite band if you’re front row? Maybe even more importantly, comfort is key. Standing all day with the sun beating down on you does not call for heavy knits, pants, or shoes that do not fall under the category of sneakers. So, personal style and comfort equal the perfect festival outfit? Easy as pie.

I used these guidelines to help me get dressed for Shaky Knees Festival in Atlanta, aka the festival that has made me fall in love with music over and over again four times in a row. So for my fourth time, I put my festival fashion knowledge to work. I declare overalls as my favorite article of clothing, but they just don’t seem to work for every occasion. I slipped on my Calvin Klein overalls, otherwise known as my festival overalls, as I’ve worn them to two festivals in a row now—shamelessly. A knit, off-the-shoulder top peeked out from underneath the overalls, and a chambray shirt was tied around my waist, mostly as a layering mechanism just in case it rained (which it did!) but also as a way to not fall under the less-is-more category. What a way to oppose a style that seems like it was invented for festivals! On my feet, I wore glitter socks to make up for the lack of glitter on my face and my go-to festival shoes, my Stan Smiths. Not featured is my favorite Man Repeller hat to keep the sun off my face and my Madewell sunglasses to keep the sun out of my eyes. It was a sunny weekend!

I always attempt to make my festival experiences not about fashion, as it should be a weekend full of music and far too many popsicles eaten in one day. But adding style to the mix doesn’t hurt. Also, it makes for some amazing photos.

STYLE ADVICE: The Secondhand City

I spent my last few days of spring break in Seattle visiting a friend, and I fell in love with the city. As an avid traveler who would rather spend her last paycheck on an impromptu trip to a new city instead of a new outfit, coming to a new place on the West Coast was inspiring, refreshing, even eye-opening. It’s a completely different atmosphere than both my college town of D.C. and my hometown of Atlanta, and not just because the city is perpetually under rain clouds (which actually isn’t as depressing as it sounds). The overall attitude of Seattle takes a full 180-degree turn from the other two towns, carrying completely different politics and mindsets that make the city unique. The laid back nature was visible in the countless number of local coffee and thrift shops, the grungy music scene, and, most notably, the fashion.

Style is something I immediately notice when traveling to new cities, like how Paris emanates effortlessly cool and New York is all about making a statement. Seattle definitely doesn’t fit in with the top fashion cities of the world, but it does carry an eccentric style that only Seattle natives can truly own up to. This Fashionista truly exemplified Seattle style, where comfort and sustainability come first but don’t necessarily take away from the look—they actually add to it! Knowing 95 percent of your outfit is thrifted is far more than satisfying. Secondhand shops, which are practically on every block in this city, are not only helpful to the environment and your bank account, but they also have some amazing selections that you couldn’t find at typical retail stores. They make the vintage look that everyone has been obsessing over for years attainable without having to overspend at companies who have this aesthetic, like Urban Outfitters. So let the thrifting begin!

To obtain a look that both fit in with Seattle’s fashion scene and also her own personal and playful style, this Fashionista paired a thrifted floral turtleneck under a (once again) thrifted linen slip dress that plays on the slip dress trend in a completely unique manner—no lace or velvet seen here. She completed the outfit with ripped black tights and thrifted Dr. Martens, a mix of grunge and practicality that perfectly resembles the values of Seattle. This is one of the reasons I’m already so in love with this place—its residents seem to all fit in with what they choose to put on their bodies, but their individual looks are so personal that it’s difficult to say they conform to the city’s trends. A fashion juxtaposition, I suppose?

WHAT TO WEAR: 70 Degrees in Winter

The recent weather forecasts have proven that climate change is, in fact, real. This is not only detrimental to the future of our planet, but also detrimental to our styles. It’s winter, and I’ve finally gotten in the mood to wear my puffer jacket with two pairs of tights under my jeans. This kind of layering is strangely exciting to me. But when it’s above freezing, or even 70 degrees, layering is impossible. Even wearing pants is a hard feat to accomplish. But it’s not even spring yet. It seems like we have to wear winter clothes and a hundred different layers just to feel sane in these winter months.

Seeing many Fashionistas/os walk around GW’s campus on this warm and sunny winter day was actually the opposite of depressing. It was inspiring! Legs were out, necks were bare, and sunglasses were on. It was a strange sight, but also quite a refreshing one. It was nice to not see fashionable college students covering up their outfits of the day in huge coats and scarves. This particular Fashionista played an act right out of my fashion book, taking trends that work well for warmer temps, but that also fit in with a winter mood. Her long sleeve off-the-shoulder top worked as a spring trend and as an arm warmer, which definitely was not necessary for the weather, but it’s really hard to say goodbye to long sleeves this early in the year. She paired this with ripped jeans, which also completed two feats—the pants being a winter necessity and the holes allowing her legs to breathe in the heat. Her outfit was the epitome of two birds with one stone, winter and spring styles practically merged into one. The details seem to make this simplistic outfit noteworthy, enough to grab my attention—that high pony paired with a thin silver chain necklace, diamond studs, and black ankle boots really pull the transitory look together.

It may be below thirty a few days from when these photos were taken, which is actually true of today’s weather as I write this, so it’s important to always be prepared. The climate has been drastically shifting like this for the past few years, and we can’t let this weather drastically shift our personal styles (unless we want it to, for some odd reason). So always be ready, for wherever this peculiar weather will take you. If it’s warm in winter, keep it simple, and if it’s cold in summer, more is always more. Maybe it’ll be below freezing this June, which leads us to one last reminder: always check the weather app before you get dressed in the morning.

ALL IN THE DETAILS: Mesh On Mesh

There seems to be some sort of familiarity, even comfort, when an outfit consists of like materials. Having this kind of consistency in a look can prevent the chaos that often occurs in fashion, kind of like the role of similar textures and complementary colors in paintings. And who says creating an outfit isn’t the same as creating an art piece? This tendency in fashion leads us to a few long-lasting trends, like denim on denim, white on white, and even pantsuits. They’re almost like confidence-boosters, even when your life isn’t put together, at least your outfit is.

What if you want this form of stability in your looks, but the current trends just don’t seem to fit your personal style? That Canadian tuxedo is a bit too ’90s, white on white is a bit too Club Monaco, and that pantsuit is a bit too, well, Hillary Clinton (#pantsuitnation still lives on, though). For this fellow Fashionista, she usually finds comfort in other styles that usually lean more towards edge, grunge, or even goth. Many times, this style can look the opposite of organized—clashing layers and distressed fabrics don’t necessarily scream put-together. However, there are ways to decrease this chaos into some form of structure by using the tactic I mentioned above. Mesh has recently resurged from our ’90s grunge dreams and has gone under practically everything (fishnets under cropped pants, long sleeve mesh bodysuits under going out tops, you name it). This Fashionista decided to combine the two trends and try mesh on mesh, a look which I haven’t seen before, but would immediately like to start trying.

To tackle a mesh on mesh outfit, she completed half the task by pairing fishnets under high-waisted ripped jeans (which she later told me she cut herself!). To fulfill the other mesh requirement, she layered a long sleeve mesh top that directly resembles those fishnets on her legs under a glitter cropped tank, which brightened up the double-mesh she was rocking. She finally slipped on a classic pair of Dr. Martens and dark lipstick that both fit in with her edgy style and completed a look that has her covered in mesh from head to toe.

At a time when fashion is constantly evolving, personal style is a necessary component to keep Fashionistos/as true to themselves, even when trends take over. But why not try both? Incorporating one’s personal style into trends seen on the street can eliminate the tiresome aspect that usually accompanies overdone styles and create looks that are refreshing and can make anyone look 10 times cooler and like themselves, which is always a plus. So go at it. Experiment in other ways that can manifest your personal style into something even greater. Because at the end of the day, we’ll always be left with the style that makes us, well, us, and that’s really all that matters, no?

STYLE GURU BIO: Natalie Geisel

Greetings and salutations! I’m Natalie, a freshman at George Washington University studying communication, and this is my first of hopefully many semesters I’ll be spending with CollegeFashionista. If you hadn’t noticed, I started this introduction to myself with J.D.’s first line in the movie Heathers, which proves myself to be an avid film lover where all of Wes Anderson’s films are included on my list of top movies. This fascination also leads me to love things that can transform reality into something more beautiful, like books, photography, and most prominently, fashion. My interest in creating and admiring aesthetics has allowed me to be in love with fashion since a young age, and to, more recently, be in love with writing about fashion. These two loves of mine make me more than thrilled to be a part of the CF team!

My interest bloomed when I discovered that getting dressed in the morning was the peak of my day, and the passion continued to grow as I realized its other perks: self-expression, its empowering nature, and the transformative qualities of clothes. The day I realized I could work 40-hour weeks in the field I continue to fall in love with more and more each day was when I decided this would be a lifelong contract, and I continued to pursue this passion in more active ways, like starting my own blog “Fractured Aesthetic.” Recently, my love for fashion has expanded due to its liberating nature—choosing what clothes to put on my body and how I arrange them is one of the few things I can decide for myself, and I tend to stray away from how other people tell others to dress. Currently, I’m really into experimenting in ways that aren’t found on the street, but may be found on the runway, similar to what Leandra Medine of Man Repeller would do (W.W.L.M.D.).

My outfit for my first bio showcases the art I discussed above, revealing how I can best display my personal style. Currently, I’ve been wearing pants more often than I used to, especially these wedgie cut Levi’s. I’ve also been wearing turtlenecks over and under just about everything, so I opted for this skin-tight black turtleneck. To add my personal touches, I layered a ruffle tank over the turtleneck to add a fun twist, and I also tied a neck scarf around my turtleneck-clad neck because a) it was freezing and b) adding a neck scarf to the mix makes any outfit more me. To add a feminine touch to the jeans, I chose to wear blush clogs with socks and add a tassel cuff to my wrist. I completed the look with my faux fur coat, which acts as a barrier from the harsh D.C. cold and makes an obvious fashion statement.

As you can tell, I’m always interested in exploring new territories in fashion, doing the unexpected, but always staying true to my personal style. And this exact reason is why I’m so excited to be a Style Guru for CollegeFashionista. I can’t wait to explore other people’s styles and attempt to understand their own fashion processes.