Beauty and Style

During the mornings when your alarm failed to work or you got stuck dreaming about your next vacation, all that you can do is rush to get to the door so you won’t be late for work or school. This situation leaves you with little time to mix and match your outfits, forcing you to go with the easiest clothing piece to wear – your good old T-shirt. Nonetheless, a plain shirt – no matter what colour – can still be turned into something fancy if you just apply the following tricks:

1. Accessorize With a Statement Necklace
By wearing an attractive necklace, you can already divert people’s attention from the monotony and plainness of your shirt. Just make sure that you choose a statement necklace that complements or matches the shirt you’re planning to wear.

2. Wear a Bold-Coloured Scarf
Other than wearing a statement necklace, you can also tie a bold-coloured scarf around your neck or let it drape over your shoulders. Whichever way you wear it, it’ll definitely add some glamour to your boring, plain shirt. Plus, a coloured and nicely patterned scarf can also help you feel warmer when it’s cold outside.

3. Sport a Nice Watch or Bracelets
Draw attention to your arms instead of your shirt by wearing your favourite watch or stacking up your bold-coloured bracelets. Wearing either of these pieces will give people the impression that you weren’t that lazy to just sport a shirt, since you still had enough time to accessorize your arm.

4. Put On a Cardigan or Blazer
Make your shirt appear more coordinated by covering it up with a cardigan or a blazer. This’ll help you add dimension to your shirt, while achieving a more formal look. If you want to make your ensemble appear less formal, opt for a patterned cardigan than a solid coloured one instead. But whatever you choose to wear, blazers and cardigans are a definite must-have to make your plain shirt seem less casual.

5. Apply a Bright Lipstick
Wearing a bright lipstick is another way of perking up your plain outfit. Just ensure that your chosen shade doesn’t clash with your shirt colour. Simply think of a bold brown or red lippie worn with a plain black shirt, or a dark pink shade worn with a plain white tee. Both these shades just scream “supermodel”.

Whichever way you choose to spruce up your shirt, what matter is how confident you are in wearing it. If you feel like questioning your outfit decision, then other people will likely question it too. So be confident and just own your good old shirt.

Pack light. That’s the real struggle every time we travel. As girls, barely making the weight limit of our luggage is the norm when going on a two-day trip to Bali. And going on a vacation outside Singapore is even a more valid reason to go out and buy more things to bring.

Travelling is never easy for a beauty junkee, and leaving that other shade of red lipstick is not even an acceptable option to pack light. To make your vacations a bit easier, here are the top tips to help you choose the best beauty essentials to bring and how to pack them (so there’ll be more room for your cute OOTDs and bikinis).

1. Consider the Season/Weather
Before packing, make sure to bring the right products. The weather in your destination will play a big part in determining what beauty products you’ll need. Creamy moisturizers are great for the skin in colder climates, but you’ll need lighter skincare for the tropics.

2. Be Smart About the Tools
If you use hot tools on your hair on a daily, it would be smarter to invest on travel-sized ones. However, remember that most hotels provide blow dryers that you can use without worrying about the plugs in different countries. As for the make-up tools, dual-ended brushes and beauty sponges are your best space-saving options.

3. Go for Sachets and Travel Sizes
Save those samples and travel sizes every time you hit a minimum spend at Sephora. Some department stores even give away samples for free, so grab the opportunity when you know you’ll be travelling soon. For your shampoo and conditioner, get some in sachet packs. These are more ideal than full-sized bottles, since you won’t have to bring them back when you return home—which means more space for new things!

4. Choose Palettes Over Singles
Bring a versatile eye shadow palette. A neutral-coloured palette is always a good pick as it can create various looks and can be used as contour, bronzer or even a blush. Aside from its versatility, palettes often come in compact cases, so they’re easy to slip inside your luggage.

5. Pack Your Favourite Multitaskers
When travelling, tinted moisturizers and BB creams are the way to go for a flawless base. Aside from the fact that they are quick to apply, they offer almost everything you need, from sunscreen to skin hydrating properties.

6. Get Treatments Done Before Setting Off
Get your legs shaved, your brows shaped and your nails done before heading off. This means you don’t need to lug around extra items like razors, shaving cream, nail polishes and tweezers. Plus, it saves you a lot of time prepping up in the morning, too.

So there, hope this helps. Packing light may be a real struggle for girls, but it doesn’t have to mean leaving the essentials and forgetting about looking your prettiest when miles away from home.