Tag Archives: ballin on a budget

Dec8

All Done Christmas Shopping!

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All Done Christmas Shopping!

Hey everyone and happy Tuesday! This past weekend I was SO happy to finally finish my Christmas shopping! I got a vast majority of my shopping done at Kohl’s, TJMaxx, and some local shops in downtown Kent. But this weekend, I broke out the big guns and let Amazon take care of the rest. I ended up saving a lot of precious time and moolah this year thanks to smart shopping and all I can say is…I’m glad it’s over. Let’s discuss:

I was really pleased with all of the items that I bought in person and because I had lots of great coupons and gift cards, I was able to save a lot of money, too! But after spreading the wealth in stores, I knew that there were things that would just be simply easier to buy online. That’s when Amazon and a beautiful gift card that my mom got from work came in.

I affectionately call myself the “Queen of the Amazon” because I really am. Give me an hour on that site and I’ll have a shopping cart full of the perfect gifts for everyone on my list. I spent some time writing out ideas of what to get everyone who I still needed to shop for and then I logged on to Amazon to browse what might work for each of them.

When I’m doing a big online shopping haul, I have a tried and true technique that I return to year after year:

  • Step 1) Make a handwritten list of gift ideas.
  • Step 2) Browse the ideas on Amazon and bookmark anything that might work.
  • Step 3) Mull it over.
  • Step 4) Return to the site a few days later to make your final decisions.

I bookmarked so many items on Amazon that I lost count and ended up forgetting a lot of the things that I had saved. But that’s the beauty of expanding your options far and wide. Because I picked out so many possibilities, there were only a chosen few items that I really remembered and those were the ones that I ended up going with each time. I’m all about picking items that are memorable, useful, and relevant to the person that I’m shopping for.

After I had time to think of each gift, I returned to Amazon one last time to make my final decisions. This is when I start the nitpicking. I look for the best price on the product, an item that will ship for free, and the one with the best reviews and ratings. My rating rule of thumb is that if it has less than four stars overall, then I don’t even consider it.

Once I’m 150% sure that I have the perfect gift for the best price, I add the item to the cart and repeat the process for the next product. Thanks to this ballin on a budget method, I ended up spending under one hundred dollars for SEVEN items and still had cash to spare on the gift card! Nice!

Thanks to smart shopping, coupons, gift cards, and having a keen eye for the best deal, I ended up spending a grand total of…Eighty dollars of my own money for multiple gifts for seven people! Not bad, not bad at all!

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I can’t say what I got for everyone because you never know who’s tuning in to lifewithlilred! BUT, I know for a fact that my dad doesn’t read my blog so I can say that I’m pretty excited for what I got him! My dad loves to travel and plans fantastic vacations so one of the gifts that I got him will definitely come in handy…A brand new atlas for 2016, which will be a vast improvement of his torn and used 2005 atlas that has never been updated. I think that after eleven years an upgrade was much needed! 🙂

I’m All Done Christmas Shopping and I couldn’t be happier! Now it’s time to sit back and relax until it’s time to start wrapping all of the presents up! Who is all done with their holiday shopping? Where do you usually do all of your shopping at? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Dec1

Ballin On A Budget

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Ballin On A Budget

Heyyy everyone and happy Tuesday! As a college kid, I’m always looking for ways to save a buck in everything from beauty and clothes to eating out and buying textbooks. In the past few weeks I’ve demonstrated some frugal efforts at its finest in my beauty routines and now I’m here to share them with you! Let’s discuss:

1) Dye your hair at home!!!! – Back in the day, I would get my hair dyed and cut monthly. I was obsessed with keeping my hair as fabulously red as possible (I still am) and would eagerly shell out about seventy bucks per month at the salon to satisfy my needs. Once I started school, I knew that my hair dying habit had to die. I began to search Target and drug stores for the box color that would match the color I would get done at the salon the closest. Lucky for me, I found a perfect if not better match in Vidal Sassoon’s London Luxe collection. Their Runway Red box color is literally the best thing that’s ever happened to me because now I pay a whopping eight dollars per month for salon quality color!

runway1.jpg

I went from spending over eight hundred dollars yearly to about ninety dollars thanks to using box color on my luscious locks. Every month I now look forward to my pampering time when I throw on a robe, apply my hair color, and watch the water turn red as I wash it out. There’s nothing better! And the sweet smell of savings and freshly dyed and washed hair ain’t too bad either!

Have makeup free days: In the past month, I’ve spent at least twelve days makeup free. These are the days when I’m working on school work from home, when I’m having girl time with my best friend, or hangouts with my boyfriend (because if he can handle my bad breath in the morning he can handle seeing me makeup free, damnit!). I used to do my makeup every day no matter what but then I realized that it’s kind of silly to do that when no one but your family is going to see you in it. Now I only apply my makeup on days that I know for a cold hard fact I’ll be going out and about running errands, to school, or date nights with my beau.

By not using my makeup every single day, I’ve been stretching out how long the product lasts. My black eyeliner, for example, usually needs replacing after one month but as November comes to a close, I still have a little less than half of it left. This has dwindled down my spending at Target significantly because I no longer have to go to the store to do my monthly stock ups. Yes, I’ll be buying the products eventually but if I decrease the amount of eyeliner I buy per year by three, that’s saving close to twenty dollars! And that doesn’t even include mascara, eye shadows, blushes, and whatever other products you might use! My makeup free days have been stretching my dollar for this month which means more moolah to spend on holiday shopping!

ryan

^^^ Thanks, Ryan. ❤

So there you have it, just a few of the ways that Lil Red is Ballin On A Budget! What are some of your money saving secrets? What box color do you swear by? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Nov27

The Body Shop Black Friday Disappointment

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The Body Shop Black Friday Disappointment

Helloooo everyone and happy Black Friday! I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving doing whatever it is that you do. As I mentioned in a previous post, my mom and I love hitting up The Body Shop on Black Friday but unfortunately due to a raise in their prices, we’ll be staying home today. Let’s discuss:

For forever and always, The Body Shop has run their “3 for 30” deal but this year the price got jacked up to “3 for 36”. Not only did the promotion increase in price but so did the gift that you can purchase if you participate in the 3 for 36 deal. Instead of the usual $25 gift bag filled with product that you can buy, it is now $35. This increase in prices equals sixteen extra dollars that you will be spending at TBS if you decide to shop their sales.

Now, “sixteen extra dollars? That isn’t bad,” you might think and I guess maybe it isn’t. BUT STILL! For years and years I’ve looked forward to shopping the 3 for 30 deal so this raise in prices seems cruel and unusual. Have they not heard of the motto “if it isn’t broken then don’t fix it”? The 3 for 30 promo always seemed too good to be true and now it is just a figment of my imagination. Shameful.

In all reality, the deal is okay if you’re buying more expensive items BUT I’M STILL BITTER!! Their Black Friday promotion for 2015 is definitely not worth venturing out to the mall for. In my opinion, I’ll be better off shopping their deals online when they are running one of their beautiful “50% off site wide” promotions. I plan on waiting until the holiday season is over for a promo like that to happen so I can stock up on all of my necessities as opposed to doing so today.

shame

^^^ This basically sums up my feelings about the Black Friday promotion price increase. I’m boycotting!!

Please tell me that I’m not the only one who feels pissy about The Body Shop’s new Black Friday deal. PLEASE?! Who is going out shopping today? What store has the best deals? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Nov23

Monday Update: Early Christmas Shopping Edition

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Monday Update: Early Christmas Shopping Edition

Hellooo everyone and happy Monday! I hope you all had a fantastic weekend! The holidays are approaching quickly and because I’m a big fan of planning ahead, I’ve been doing a lot of my holiday shopping nice and early. I made my list of what to by and who to by for, checked it twice, and crossed off three people on my list already this past week! Let’s discuss:

Last year I did all of my shopping on Amazon and I plan on doing a vast majority of it on there again this year. However, thanks to some wonderful coupons and gift cards from Kohl’s and TJMaxx, I was able to knock out gifts for my sister and best friend. I can’t post what I got for them in case they read it, of course, but I can say that for both of them I purchased a gorgeous cloth decorative basket to fill with some of their favorite things. I’m excited to give my gifts to them because this year I went with items that I knew for a fact that both of them would love so there’s absolutely no way that they’re going to dislike anything and deem me a horrible gift giver!

It’s always fun to shop around and try something new that you think someone might like but it just causes so much anxiety! This year, I’m going for gifts that I’m 100% sure are going to be used and enjoyed by the people who I’m buying for. Believe me, the last thing that I want to do when Christmas rolls around is retreat back to the stores to return or exchange gifts that I went out on a limb to purchase with a hope that the receiver just might like it. This rings especially true for my sister, who is literally the hardest person ever to shop for! It’s not that she’s picky, she just knows what she likes and what she doesn’t so it was especially important to go with tried and true favorites for her!

I mentioned above that I did some shopping at Kohl’s and TJMaxx but I also did some purchasing at a few small businesses in Kent, as well. I think that it’s so very important to shop local when you can during the holiday season and in general so I was really pleased that I was able to find some nice presents from some fantastic little boutiques that are relatively close to me. Thanks to the fun downtown shopping area in Kent, which is close to where I coach figure skating for the Special Olympics, I was able to buy an add on to my sister’s gift basket and an amazing gift for my boyfriend. I wish that I could tell you what I got him so badly because it’s seriously the best gift ever and I got it for the best deal ever, as well – which you know is something that I always look out for! #ballinonabudget

I’m really glad that I knocked out some shopping last week because now I only have four people left to shop for and to me, that is so relieving! For these last few gifts I’ll probably stick with Amazon and other online shopping sites because I already have items from there in mind. Another big relief is that I won’t have to venture out into the craziness that is the mall or other shopping centers during the next few weeks because it’s much too overwhelming for me. When I went to Kohl’s and TJs they were both fairly crowded already but the local shops that I hit up were nice and vacant for the most part which made shopping so much more enjoyable…another benefit of shopping local!

As far as any hardcore Black Friday shopping goes this week, it’s strictly out of the question…sort of, anyways. The past two years my mom and I have went to the mall probably an hour or so before they close up for the day, and each year it’s been quite empty – so fingers crossed that it’s like that again this year for a threepeat! We go to the mall with one store to go to and one store only…The Body Shop! Each year TBS runs their three for thirty sale as well as an awesome gift for a great price that you can purchase, which is typically a cute tote filled with one hundred or more dollars worth of product. During the three for thirty sale we stock up on our more expensive necessities and end up saving a small fortune! It’s seriously the best, but if we don’t make it out to the mall this Friday then it’s okay because the deal runs throughout the entire holiday season. Our yearly tradition is fun though, so I hope that it will happen again this Black Friday!

black-friday-meme

^^^ Lololololol, so true!

So there you have it, this week’s Monday Update: Early Christmas Shopping Edition! Who has gotten some holiday shopping done already? Who plans on going Black Friday shopping this week? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Nov14

Letgo App

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Letgo App

Heyy everyone and happy Saturday! Usually I’m not big on “apps” or technology in general (ha!) but I found a handy little download for smartphones or iPods that has proven to be very beneficial in my effort to clear up some closet clutter. I decided to give the app, Letgo, a try after my semi annual closet clean out. The app is basically like an online garage sale where you can post pictures of your items, a brief description, and price, then whomever is interested in buying it can message you to make an offer.

I’m not really keen to going to resale shops like Plato’s Closet because I feel like you never get enough money for your items and they often pass on some really nice pieces. I also felt like I wanted to give making some money off of my more used items a shot because despite their wear they were still in fairly good condition. I like that this app lets you control how much you would like for each product you list and gives your not so “next to new” pieces a chance at going to another owner.

Thanks to the Letgo app, I was able to get rid of five pairs of shoes yesterday that have been sitting in my closet for months waiting to go to a new home. I had a brief meeting with my customer in Starbucks where she looked at the shoes that she was interested in from my listings, picked the ones that she wanted, and paid me the price that I determined. I made some quick cash (much more than I would ever get if I brought them to Plato’s), eliminated some clutter, and met someone who wanted to meet up again to look at more of my items. Score!

I’ve always toyed around with the idea of selling items online but I never knew how to go about doing it. Letgo makes the selling process so simple because your listings are shown to people who are within a 15 or so mile radius from you so it’s easy to find a good public meeting spot that is within a short driving distance for the seller and customer. I drove about seven minutes to meet with the darling lady and her daughter that I sold to yesterday and made enough money that the trip was worthwhile twenty fold. You can’t beat that!

I can’t recommend Letgo enough and you can download the app on their website at: http://us.letgo.com/en !

^^^ It seemed appropriate!

I hope all of you are having a great start to your weekend so far! Has anyone used the Letgo app or anything similar? What was your best purchase or sale story from a resale shop or app? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Nov3

Bath & Body Works November Freebie

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Bath & Body Works November Freebie

Hellooo everyone and happy Tuesday! As you guys know, I love receiving my monthly Bath & Body Works freebie coupons in the mail. This month I got a coupon for a free full sized signature item (lotion, cream, or shower gel) so I stopped in this morning to pick up my pay free product. Today I went with a body cream of my favorite fragrance B&BW has to offer: Beautiful Day. My cream was a thirteen dollar value and it was definitely an awesome treat to ring in the holiday shopping season with!

beautifulday

Unfortunately, this month’s freebie excursion wasn’t as pleasant as it usually is thanks to the rudest employee ever but it was still nice to be able to go in and pick out a full rather than travel sized item. If you have a Bath & Body Works around you, I can’t recommend Beautiful Day enough! I’m a fan of anything apple scented and Beautiful Day is perfectly apple-y with the slightest hints of pear and poppies. It’s a flawless combination of tart green apples and sweet flowers and I just love it.

My hoard of free B&BW products continues to grow, which is great because as I mentioned before, they’re going to make terrific little additions for Christmas gifts. Even though I didn’t have the best experience with one of the employees, I still walked away with a thirteen dollar lotion that I didn’t pay one penny for and that’s good enough for me!

I know I mentioned in my Monday Update yesterday that my Trades Of Hope article would be publishing today but my client pushed it back until tomorrow so make sure you tune in on Hump Day for that! Until then, what is your favorite fragrance from Bath & Body Works? What was the worst customer service experience you’ve ever had? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

PS: Click the following link to shop the scents at B&BW: http://www.bathandbodyworks.com/home/index.jsp

Oct13

If The Shoe Fits – Apt. 9 Edition

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If The Shoe Fits – Apt. 9 Edition

Helloooo everyone and welcome to a new edition of If The Shoe Fits – Apt. 9 style! I got these beauties for an incredible bargain while shopping at Kohl’s and they have become one of my go to pairs of heels – especially since my beloved Vera Wangs are not what they used to be. Take a look at my shoe babies and then let’s discuss:

aptapt1

If there’s one thing that you guys should know about me by now, it’s that I love a bargain! Target, Kohl’s, and TJMaxx are my favorite stores to ball on a budget at and my Apt. 9 wedged heels were no exception! These shoesies were purchased with my shopping partner in crime…My mother. We always have such a blast when we go out together and I vividly remember our shopping trip that resulted in my Apt. 9s like it was yesterday.

Kohl’s always has the best end of season sales so my mom and I had a mother daughter rendezvous at the end of April. Usually when we go shopping together we divide and conquer the store and then meet up in a place we can enjoy as a pair…the shoe department. :*) Not gonna lie, the shoe section was looking a hot mess because of overzealous shoppers but we perused the aisles and found multiple winners to try on. I locked eyes on two gorgeous Juicy Couture heels (which I ended up purchasing) and I was so focused on them that I almost left the shoe sanctuary altogether because I thought I had found “the ones”…

Little did I know, one of my favorite pairs of shoes would be found after one last look around of the shoe department before we checked out our goodies. I scanned through the aisles, rejecting the pairs that I deemed “shameful” before and giving a slight nod of approval to the shoes that I thought were cute but not cute enough to try on. That’s when my slight nod at my Apt. 9s turned into a shake of disapproval that I hadn’t plucked them from the shelf earlier. I don’t know what made me shy away from them before – they have everything that I like! A heel, zippers, and most importantly – they’re black! But better yet, the price was only seventeen dollars! Seventeen. Freaking. Dollars. That’s when I knew that they were coming home with me.

I sat my sweet ass down, pulled off my shoes one last time, and gave the Apt. 9s a try…and they were fabulous!! They reminded me SO much of my beloved black lace up Vera Wang wedges but they were still unique and cool in their own right. I only needed about a thirty second inspection in the full length mirror to know that my edgy wedges would be an excellent addition to my collection. I returned to the bench and added the Apt. 9s to the pile which resulted in three pairs of shoes for under one hundred dollars! #SCORE

My pretty babies truly are my Vera Wangs reincarnated because I seriously wear them everywhere now. They were my first day of school shoes this semester as well as my go to-s for running errands, date nights, hang outs, and concerts. You name it, I’ve probably worn them for it! I loveeee wearing my Apt. 9s with my black skinnies from H&M which can be seen in my featured image photo. They have zippers starting at the bottom of the jean that go halfway up my calf and it makes such a rocker effect to have the zippers from the jeans and shoes staggered on each other. When I want to sport an All Black Everything look, pairing my outfit with my Apt. 9s is a no brainer!

So there you have it, the newest issue of If The Shoe Fits – Apt. 9 Edition! What is your favorite pair of shoes that you got for an amazing deal? Who is your favorite person to go shopping with? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Oct10

Bath & Body Works Freebies

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Bath & Body Works Freebies

Heyyy everyone! I hope you’re all having a fabulous weekend so far! I’ve raved before about my freebie addiction to Bath & Body Works and in the start of this month alone I’ve received two freebie coupons in the mail which I was so excited to use! I got a free PocketBac hand sanitizer and a new travel sized lotion which brings my tally of no pay goodies to ten products in barely over half a year! Nice!

applesunshine

For my free PocketBac ($1.75 value) I opted for their new Apple Harvest scent. I told the young lady working that apple is my favorite fragrance so I was very excited to try their interpretation on a tried and true fall flavor. I was definitely not disappointed, either! The sanitizer smells SO insanely apple-y with just the faintest hint of spices and it leaves my hands feeling so clean. The nice thing about the PocketBac sanitizers is that they don’t leave your skin feeling dried out like Purell, either. Apple Harvest is a lovely scent for fall and I plan on purchasing some of the lotion if it’s still available during their winter sale!

When I pick out my free travel sized lotion ($5 value) I’m never too picky with my choices. Half of the fun of going to get my freebies is selecting the fragrance and trying something that I might not normally pick out for myself. I went with their Love & Sunshine lotion which I was actually shocked by. It’s a somewhat floral fragrance as you can see by the daisy packaging and I’m not usually a big fan of florals. But the sweetness of the flower scent was balanced out by tart lemon and strawberries and it made for a very fresh and girly smell. Making a selection from the entire wall of travel sized goodies is always a tough choice but I’m really pleased with what I picked!

Wanna know how you can get a stock pile of free Bath & Body Works goodies? Sign up for their emails at http://www.bathandbodyworks.com, for starters. And if you go into the store to do some shopping make sure you enter your email or phone number with your purchase. Every time you buy something keep on adding your info so it updates every time and you continue to receive emails and coupons! I’m so glad I did – my hoard of lotions will make great add on gifts this holiday season and will be a nice little treat for me, too!

So there you have it, my newest Bath & Body Works Freebies to add to the collection! What is your favorite B&BW fragrance? What store do you get the best freebies from? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Oct3

If The Shoe Fits – Michael Kors Edition

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If The Shoe Fits – Michael Kors Edition

Helloooooo everyone and welcome to a new issue of If The Shoe Fits – Michael Kors style! In association with my post yesterday entitled “Fall Shopping Fun” these beautiful Michael Kors booties were also purchased with the intention of adding them to my cold weather wardrobe. Take a better look at my pretty new babies and then let’s discuss:

mkmk2

Alright, first let me just say that I am far from a label whore when it comes to my clothing. I don’t care for designer anything. I live for a good deal at Target, Kohl’s, or TJMaxx so it’s extremely out of the ordinary for me to own anything from what I consider a “high end” designer. BUT I saw these boots while shopping with my mom at TJ’s and I fell in love. So how did these MK buckle adorned beauties end up coming home with me? I’m so glad you asked!

I LOVE going to TJ’s with my mom. I can remember going shopping there with my grandma when I was really young and ever since I’ve been a die hard Maxxinista. Whenever my mom and I hit up our favorite store, we always always start in the shoe department. The past few times we’ve shopped at TJ’s we’ve been unimpressed with what they had to offer but not this time around! As I ambled through the aisles of boots, heels, and flats my eyes locked on the industrial style booties. I hurried over and plucked them off the shelf and immediately turned them over to inspect the price. When I saw the tag was far out of my normal price range, I realized that they were Michael Kors. “Oh, that explains it”, I thought to myself and put them back with a heavy heart.

Once my mom caught up to me she asked me if I saw anything that I liked and I pointed out the booties that I just recently returned to the shelf. “Well are you gonna try them on?” she asked. “No, they’re too expensive and I know that if I try them on I’m going to like them too much.” My mom didn’t argue with my logic and we continued to peruse the shoe department together. As my partner in crime tried on some cute new booties of her own, all I wanted to do was try on the Michael Kors. I voiced my insatiable desire deep in my loins to her and she urged me to give them a try. Well, she didn’t have to tell me twice. I rushed my sweet ass to the MK’s and snatched them so fast I was worried that I was going to break a nail. I brought them back to the benches to try them on for the moment of truth…

I sat my sweet tookus on the bench and slipped off my knee high tan riding boots all while thinking, “Sarah, you really shouldn’t be doing this”. But it was too late, my shoes were already off and the Michael Kors were sitting there, waiting patiently to join forces with my feet. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes tight, and shoved the right boot on. I zipped up the zipper on the side and told myself that “that wasn’t so bad” and pulled on the left shoe to complete the pair. I hoisted my sweet badonk off of the bench and walked slowly to the mirror. “Damnit,” I thought as I saw my reflection, “I love them”.

As soon as I saw them in all of their rocker chic glory I knew that I couldn’t leave the store without them. They. Were. Perfect. These Michael Kors booties have legitimately everything that I love. They’re black, buckled, zippered, and edgy as hell. As I previously mentioned, I don’t care about labels. In fact, I hate them. BUT for my first and only pair of designer shoes, I think that they hit the nail on the head!

I don’t plan on buying any more “high end” heels or boots to add to my collection because I really do think that they’re unnecessary. However, I deemed my purchase “worth it” because it really is a one time splurge and the only harm in that is to my wallet. Yes, I do have a lot of beautiful clothes, shoes, and accessories but 99% of them were purchased with price in mind. I’m a smart shopper, I always wait for the best deals, and I like to think that I ball on a budget – but I don’t know any girl that’s going to turn down a pair of Michael Kors booties that were literally made for you!

So there you have it, my latest purchase documented in If The Shoe Fits – Michael Kors Edition. With my amazing new booties and fun new shirt that you can see in “Fall Shopping Fun”, I think that I’ll take a break from the mall for a while…But I really do love both of my new editions to my wardrobe! What has been your favorite splurge purchase? What are you most looking forward to wearing this fall? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Aug29

My Issues – Teen Vogue Edition

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My Issues – Teen Vogue Edition

Whatsup everyone and happy Saturday! I hope all of you are having a wonderful start to your weekend! So I’m not gonna lie, as a twenty-one year old adult, I still enjoy flipping through the pages of Teen Vogue…but after my latest encounter with the teen mag – not so much. As I skimmed over the pages, I realized that I had a problem with so much of what the magazine was preaching. Allow me to explain:

First of all, the articles of clothing featured in the magazine are so ridiculously expensive – what teenager other than the filthy rich have the money to purchase clothing like that? Teen Vogue is teaching young women to idolize material goods and vapid celebrities rather than teaching them how to make a look that is uniquely their own. I would much prefer to see a teen magazine that’s teaching young folks how to manage their money and one might say “ball on a budget”. Yes, the clothes shown are great inspiration, but they’re just so unattainable to the point that it doesn’t seem fair. With the Kardashian girls seen on almost every page it almost feels like the only people who are worthy of great style are those who are famous simply for being famous. How can a teenage-something girl achieve a lifestyle like that? Making a sex tape maybe? #burn

My second bone to pick with the magazine is actually something that I’ve mentioned on lifewithlilred before but is worth talking about again. I am SO beyond annoyed with Teen Vogue for consistently lumping the way the “punk” or an “All American Girl” should be dressing just by the stereotype of how people assume these styles are dressed. Spoiler alert: Punk does not mean gothed out girls with black lipstick and clip in piercings. The “American Girl” does not equal a blonde haired blue eyed beauty in cutoff shorts and a flannel knotted at the waist. There are countless ways of outfitting different styles without giving in to the norm that everyone is familiar with. The best part about fashion is playing with it, not dressing up in an over exaggerated costume because a magazine suggests that that’s how it should look.

As I flipped more angrily through the pages, all I could see were caricatures of styles according to a looks stereotype. What “sporty” girl runs around town in her sports bra for every day errands? NONE. How in the hell can young girls develop a personal style if they are dressing exactly how a magazine thinks that they should look? Featuring slender models in high end couture clothing is NOT the way to teach girls how to dress. The more I looked through Teen Vogue, the more I felt that the originality of my own style was being sucked away from me as my grungy/rocker look was categorized into a costume.

Maybe I’m overreacting. Maybe my opinions are not how everyone else feels. But I literally got so worked up after I slammed the magazine shut that I had to go write notes about the thoughts that were going through my head as I perused the pages. Magazines, especially ones directed towards young people, should be focusing on the cool and creative not the celebrity cookie cutter version of fashion. My teenage self loved Teen Vogue, but looking at it from the perspective of a young adult definitely made me see things from a more critical eye. So I say, screw the message that that magazine is sending out. Focus on staying true to yourself in your personal style and don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise. The end. *Drops mic*

So there you have it, My Issues – Teen Vogue Edition. Has anyone felt similarly to me while looking through fashion magazines? What is your message for young people developing their own style? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah